The Intern Affair (33 page)

“Don’t you think I should take the next flight out and follow you?
Sir Reginald
—”

“No,
Charles
, absolutely not;
Carl
would never forgive me, let alone your wife, if anything happened to you. Besides you know I’m the target. As soon as
they
realize that I’m on my way back, they’ll call off their dogs here and concentrate on finding me in
Senegal
.”

“Okay, now let me talk to Samir.”

“Sure, here he is—” Talya handed him the phone.

“Samir, once again I have to say thank you.”

“There is no need.
Ghali
is the one who’s pulled this off. Without him we wouldn’t have been able to get off the ferry.”

“Yes, I know.”
Charles
sounded impatient. “Now I have a question for you: where will you be landing in
Africa
? Talya hasn’t said anything about it yet—”

“That’s because, I haven’t told her what my intentions are and I won’t tell you either!”

“What? And may I ask why not?” Samir’s reluctance to reveal this vital piece of information annoyed him.

“Yes, and it’s simply because if you don’t know you can’t tell anyone. But once we’re in
Paris
in the safety of my apartment, and once I’m sure the arrangements I plan to make can be achieved, I will then tell you both.”

“I don’t like it. Although I understand why you’re doing this, I still don’t like it when I don’t know where she is.
Do you understand what I’m saying? I can’t help her if she’s out of reach.”

“
Charles
, please trust me. When the time is right and before we leave
Paris
, you’ll know.”

“Okay, and now what about the rest of us, will you be ready to take us down when we reach
Paris
in two weeks?”

“I can’t tell you that for sure.
If not, I’ll make sure Air Location takes you down and I’ll pick up my aircraft later when this is cleared up and we can start working again.”

“Good.
Just watch over Talya, will you?
I need to—”

“I know,
Charles
, and again Talya will be well looked after, I promise you.”

“All right, I won’t tell you that I feel better because it wouldn’t be true, but I’m still grateful you’re watching over her. Now I’ll let you go, and please tell
Ghali
to phone the minute you take off so that we can get what Talya needs in an envelope and out of here by this afternoon. I’ll wait by the phone for your calls. Oh, I almost forgot, what about your luggage at your hotel in
Vancouver
?”

“Just bring the suitcase with you when you come down.”

“No problem. What about expenses, do you need any funds to be forwarded somewhere?”

“No,
Charles
, that won’t be necessary, but thank you for offering.”

“Not at all, Samir. As one of my staff now, I need to look after you.”

“Okay. We’ll see you in
Dakar
in two weeks. We’ll have breakfast at the
Meridian
to celebrate our safe return.”

“That’s a date!”

42

Two hours later
,
Talya and Samir were sitting in first class seats on their way to
Toronto
.
When they arrived at the airport, Joe dropped them off near the ambulances’ entrance, which had led them directly into the departure level. They said their good byes in the vehicle and headed straight to the Air Canada counter where Samir purchased their tickets. Once they knew when they needed to be at the gate they went shopping. They bought two leather suitcases, a couple pairs of jeans and some T-shirts, sweaters and running shoes. They changed in the washrooms close-by and packed their individual case. When they came out, Talya almost didn’t recognize her friend.
He looked a little rough around the edges … and so did she, in fact.

As soon as they sat down, Sylvia, the flight attendant came to ask what they would like to drink.
Talya wanted to order a cognac but didn’t dare at that time of the morning. She was still trembling.
She asked for a strong coffee instead.
Samir opted for a tea.

They breathed a sigh of relief as the pilot pulled the aircraft off the ground.

“Talya, you don’t know how I feel at this minute. I wish I could prostrate myself in front of
God
right here in this aisle; I’m so grateful you’re safe.”

“You know I was going to be anyway. . . Or you should have known.”

“Please take my hand.” She stared at him. The request was quite unexpected, but she did as he asked.
It was cold as ice.
His whole body was shivering.

“You’re not sick are you?” Talya remembered
Alhassan
’s hands when he fell ill.

“No I’m not, and don’t worry I’m not plagued with Malaria either. It’s just that I wanted to show you that I’m still cold at the thought of you being injured. I couldn’t stand it.”

“Hold on a minute. You’re the strong one between you and me. You’re not permitted to have such fears.” She was smiling.

Samir returned the smile.

“Okay, Princess. Now, tell me where are we staying tonight?”

“Well, we have a couple of choices but I suggest we get a room at the Airport hotel and wait for my passport to be delivered in the morning.”

“Definitely, at the one condition that we can go to a restaurant where you can wear your blue dress.”

“You’re impossible!”

“Won’t you grant this
old
man this last wish?”

“Cut it out, Samir, if you’re an
old man
than I’m ancient and decrepit.”

They both burst out in laughter.

Sylvia came with the coffee and tea at that moment; she smiled at their good humour.
She also asked them to look at the lunch menu, which she handed to them and to make their selection from it at leisure. “Lunch is going to be served in about an hour.”

“About wearing the dress tonight,” Talya said, “I don’t want to wear it until the day we return to
Paris
and celebrate our victory while dancing in your arms at the Hotel de Crillon.”

“How on earth did you know about the Hotel de Crillon?”

“Why?
I just thought it would be a great place to spend a couple of days celebrating.”

“I accept. That’s a wonderful idea.” He closed his eyes, smiling in contentment while stretching to the back of his seat.

Yet, he didn’t answer my question
.

“Don’t close your eyes on me so quickly.
I demand to know why you were so surprised at my mentioning the Hotel de Crillon.”

“Hush. You’ll know soon enough.” His eyes remained closed while he still smiled.

“I want to know.”

“And I said you’re not getting an answer until the time is right!”
This time he opened his eyes, took her hand from the armrest, and kissed it.

“Okay, if you put it that way, I’ll back off, for now.”

43

Charos
was seething
. He was on the phone with Jim in
Vancouver
who had just alerted him that his man had missed the mark.

“And where is she now?”
Charos
asked. “I hope you can at least tell me which flight she and this Arab took.”

“Once we got to the airport, the ambulance dropped them off and one of my guys spotted them—”

“Don’t give me the long
version;
just tell me
where they are!
”
Charos
shouted.

“In
Toronto
—”

“
Toronto
? What the hell are you talking about? What would the bitch be doing in
Toronto
do you think?”

“I don’t know, sir,” Jim replied, sweating bullets by now. He knew
Charos
for what he was—a ruthless, unforgiving little bastard. This mistake was going to cost him, he was sure of it.

“You don’t know!
But did any of you idiots thought to check if they’ve booked a connecting flight to somewhere else on the globe?”

“Yes. The guy that tailed them heard the attendant tell the Arab guy, they’re booked on a flight to
Paris
tomorrow sometime.”

“That’s better!”
Charos
sounded a little mollified—if there was anything that could ever mollify the man. “Yes, that’s much better, in fact.” He paused. “Just go back to whatever you were doing, and I’ll take it from here. I’ve got fellows here that won’t bungle things up!” At these words,
Charos
slammed the phone down, leaving Jim shaking his head.

44

It was 9:00 AM
Monday morning. The members of staff were all assembled around the table in the conference room.
Cecilia
was sitting beside
Charles
at the head of the table, pen poised, note pad in her lap.
Her eyes betrayed the confusion they all felt at that moment.

Charles
looked at everyone in turn and recalled the day Talya had been sitting beside him almost three months ago.
He knew what he had to announce today was going to be hard on her friends and colleagues, but it had to be done.

At the other end of the table,
Carl
, who knew
Charles
well, felt a pang of sorrow for him when the latter opened the meeting.

“First, I’d like to say that this is not a meeting of the Board.
It is a staff meeting.
I’ve asked
Cecilia
to attend, because I wanted a record of the meeting kept in file.”

“And now let me begin by welcoming the newest addition to our team, Mrs. Sandra Elliot.
Mrs. Elliot will be assisting
Terrance
in all the African projects for now. If her expertise is needed elsewhere, and when the time comes, she will also assist any of you in any of the projects we may handle overseas.”

Sandra smiled and nodded in response to the introduction.

“As all of you have noticed, Talya
Gilmore
is not with us this morning.
She’s gone back to
Africa
unexpectedly yesterday.
The reasons for this unscheduled departure will not be discussed at this meeting or anywhere in this office or by any member of staff under any circumstances.”

This type of announcement usually meant that the person had been dismissed under difficult conditions. However, they all knew that this was not the case and everyone gazed at the other people with querying looks on their faces.

“You may have noticed that our pilot is not present this morning either. He’s taking Talya back, that’s the reason for
his
absence.”

“Now we come to the difficult part of this meeting.
I regretfully have to announce the death of two of our colleagues in
Mali
, Mrs.
Helen Dumarais
, who had been instrumental in starting the processing of our Kankoon application, and Mr.
Mansur Dillon
who was a counsellor to the Prime Minister of Mali and a very dear friend of mine.
Both died as a result of injuries sustained during an attack on Friday night in the streets of
Bamako
. Maitre
Alhassan Sangare
, who has survived the attack, is currently getting treatment in a hospital in
Bamako
and will be airlifted to
Dakar
to undergo surgery in the next few days.”

The silence in the room was heavy with sadness. Not many had known these people; nonetheless, everyone was touched by the news.

“Because of the projects on the table,”
Charles
went on, “I will address each one of you in turn and tell you what
Carl
and I have decided as to their progress.
Jim
, I will start with you.
You have several agreements that will need review and ratification as soon as possible. You’ll tackle the Sabodala agreements first.
You’ll be working with
Carl
and Maitre
Sangare
as soon as he’s well enough to help you.
But, under no circumstances, should you mention to anyone that Talya has returned to
Africa
, and that goes for everyone around this table. We only know that she’s
taken
leave of absence and is on holiday on the
Sunshine
Coast
.
You have no idea where she is. That will be the way we will respond to any calls or queries as to her whereabouts.
And
Jim
, I stress that it should be your response when you receive calls from Mr.
Ousmane
, in particular, or from
Sir Reginald Carson
. It is absolutely imperative that everyone around this table understands that Talya’s life depends on our silence.”