The Intern Affair (6 page)

At hearing her nickname, and not knowing why, Talya closed her eyes and began crying quietly.

Then in the space of a moment, taking a tissue out of her pocket, she lifted a furious pair of eyes to him. “
Face the music!
” she shouted. “
Face the music, you say? Is that the same as keeping focused?
Do you know what he’s done to me?
Do you really know,
Charles
?”

He was stunned. He looked down at her. “Talya!”

She pointed a finger at him. “Don’t Talya me! He…, he flopped his gut on me, he held me down like a bloody animal… I’m not a dog that you can f
…,
… I am a human being….” She wiped her eyes with the tissue, her hand shaking. “I’m telling you…, I won’t go … and … face … and face that piece of grotesque trash. He’s already with me every single bloody minute of every day, and you want to send me to face the bastard…?
You can go to hell…!”

“
Cecilia
!” she heard
Charles
call from the door.

“Yes, what is it?”
Cecilia
scuttled down the hall.

“Would you please take Talya home and call
Dr. Defray
.
She needs to talk to someone before she goes to pieces.”

“Sure thing.”
Cecilia
stood at Talya’s side and patted her on the shoulder. “Come on, let’s go….”

Talya shoved
Cecilia
’s hand off her shoulder. “I’m not going anywhere,” she yelled to her face.

Cecilia
nodded to
Charles
to step aside for a minute.
“Look, Talya, no one is going to force you into going anywhere, but you need to go home. You need a few more days away from this madness.”

Suddenly Talya broke down. It seemed as if all the rage she had displayed moments ago had
left her as abruptly as it had erupted. She was weeping quietly and couldn’t stop now.

“I want to stay,” she said, choking on
the words and getting up unsteadily from the chair.

Charles
put his arm around her shoulders and led her away from his office. “And I say
you don’t
. You’re going home and I’ll phone you tonight after you’ve talked to
Dr. Defray
.”

Talya saw that
Jim
had come out of his office and was watching the scene.
She felt utterly embarrassed.

“But,
Charles
—”

“Talya!
I’m not joking.
I need you as soon as possible.
So I won’t hear another word out of you until I’m satisfied that you’re able to do what’s expected of you.”

“Okay then…, but please call me.”

“I will, you can be sure of it,”
Charles
said, returning to his office, and to
Cecilia
, “
you
call
Dr. Defray
before you leave.”

“I will, not to worry.”

6

Two hours later
Talya was sitting on the sofa in her living room, wishing the weather would have been nicer so that she could have sat on the terrace and relax.

“Yes, who is it?”
she said,
hearing a knock at the door.

“Ghali, Talya.”

“Hi, please come in.”
She closed the door behind him.
“But you didn’t have to come during the day…. Anyway, I told
Cecilia
to call you back—”

“Talya, shut up.” He took her in his arms and kissed her.
She fought him off for a moment only, and then she couldn’t resist.
She was desperate for affection.

“Why did you do that for?
We broke up last night, remember?” Talya glared at him as he released his embrace.

“And I told you that I was in love with you.
And I think I said that I’ll always be responding to your calls—”

“But
I didn’t
call you.
Cecilia
did, on
Charles
’s orders.”

“I’m glad she did.” He sat on the sofa, dragging Talya down with him. “And you know what else I’ve decided?”

“No.
I’m afraid to ask—”

“We’re going away this wee
ken
d! I’ve phone for a reservation at
Sunset
Beach
.”

“You what?
And what makes you think I’ll go with you?”

“Oh, you will.
Even if I have to drag you there, you’ll go.”

“Why?”

“Because, Talya, last night I’ve decided to
fight
for you.
At least it will be a fair fight.
Alhassan
had you for a month and I’ll have you maybe for a month as well before you go back to him.
You’ll have a choice then.”

“Just like that?
What about the fight I’m fighting right now?”
Talya said, unable to control the tears that were welling at the rim of her eyes.

“And what fight is that?”

“
Kareef
.
That’s whom I’m fighting.
I can’t get him out of my mind.
Every time I close my eyes or someone is touching me, I feel his ugly paws on me. Can you understand,
Ghali
?
I’m so sorry—” She started crying again.
She was in a sad shape.

“Talya, come here…” He closed his arms around her in a consoling gesture.
As she nestled her head on his chest, she felt like a helpless child.
She was tired of it all.

“Who’s
Kareef
?”
Ghali
asked, caressing her hair.

“He’s a murderer, going on trial … in about a month … and he’s the one who attacked me a week before I left
Dakar
.”

“What do you mean attacked you?”

“It’s too long of a story, but
Kareef
wanted to rape me….” Talya’s words trailed off. She could not describe the event. She could not relive the assault in words let alone in her thoughts. She wanted to shut the whole thing out of her mind.

“I’m sorry, Talya. I’m sorry, I didn’t know.”
Ghali
pulled her away from his shoulder to peer into her eyes. “Why didn’t you call me when you got back?
I phoned
Cecilia
and she’s the one who told me that you had left
Bamako
to go to
Dakar
and that you were back in
Vancouver
last week.”

“I couldn’t bring myself to call anyone, especially you. When you didn’t phone or didn’t write to me, I thought it was over and you didn’t want to hear from me anymore.”

“
You
always assume too much
, Talya
.
But let’s not talk about all of that right now.
Let’s talk about the wee
ken
d.
Will you do me the
honour
of accompanying this humble servant to
Paradise
, My Lady?”
Oh God! Those words…
They were echoing Samir’s voice.
They were the chimes of joy and of so much sadness.

“Yes, I will,” Talya replied, sobbing now.

“All right then.
Now I’m going to give you a sedative so you can sleep for the rest of the day and I’ll come back tonight.”

“But, I don’t—”

“Talya! Those are doctor’s orders.
No buts about it.
You’re going to do what you’re told and go to bed.”

Ghali
was determined to take care of her. She only liked the
care
part of this and not the
determined
look in his eyes.
Talya knew he was right, however.
She hadn’t slept peacefully for far too long.

“Oh by the way, before I put you under, may I use my key tonight?
I forgot to give it back to you yesterday and I don’t want to use it if you don’t want me to.”

“Sure, at least I won’t have to answer every knock at my door; you don’t know how many there were in
Bamako
and
Dakar
, it was incessant—”

“Enough of that…, let’s get you to bed.”

7

Ghali
got back
to his car and decided to call
Charles
.
He wanted to take Talya away.
She was on the verge of a depression.
They needed to straighten this out. He
dialled
the number on his c
ell
phone.

“
Cecilia
?
Dr. Defray
here, may I talk to
Charles
?”

“Hi, Doctor, how’s Talya?
Is she okay?”

“We’ll see, but for now I need to talk to
Charles
, if he’s available?”

“Sure, I’ll put you through right now.”
Ghali
heard the ‘click’ and in a second,
Charles
was on the line.

“So, what’s the verdict,
Ghali
?”

“She’ll be all right for now.
I gave her a sedative and she’s going to sleep for a few hours, but you and I need to talk.
Can I come and pick you up to take you to lunch?”

“Well, I don’t—”

“
Charles
, this is important—”

“All right then, I’ll be in front in twenty minutes if that’s okay?”

“Sure, I’ll pick you up.”
They hung up.

Charles
looked at the chair Talya had occupied a couple of hours ago.
He was pensive.
What could be that ‘important’?

He had introduced
Ghali
to Talya during a dinner party he had hosted at his house to celebrate Talya’s appointment to the position of Assistant Director, only six months ago.
Charles
knew
Ghali
’s father during his lifetime, and he had cared for the boy when his father passed away.
Ghali
had proved to be worthy of his care.
Charles
had always been pleased to see Talya and
Ghali
together. They looked
comfortable
together. None of the upheaval
Charles
had witnessed between Talya and
Alhassan
existed when
Ghali
was around Talya.

Charles
dialled
Cecilia
’s extension.

“Would you mind cancelling my lunch with
Carl
.
I don’t know where he is this morning. Try to find him and tell him something has come up and we’ll make it tomorrow.”

8

“Hi,
Charles
, hop in.
We’ll go somewhere quiet, if you don’t mind?”
Ghali
opened the car door at
ker
bside
.

“I don’t mind, but why all the mystery? She’s going to be okay isn’t she?”
Charles
buckled his seatbelt.

“Frankly, I don’t know.
And unless we do something about it, and soon, I think she’s in for a whole heap of trouble.”
Ghali
looked straight ahead, concentrating on the midday traffic, driving toward
English
Bay
.

“What sort of trouble?
She seemed to be okay when we left
Dakar
—”

“I’ll tell you when we get to the restaurant.
Do you like the Boat House?”

“Sure, but is it going to be as quiet as you want?”

“I think so. The rain is keeping people away from the beachfront. I noticed that last night.”

Within a few minutes, they arrived at the rear of the restaurant where
Ghali
quickly slipped into a parking spot, which he found behind some old houses.

“Hello,
Dr. Defray
. How are you today?” the hostess asked all smiles.

“Fine,
Sandy
. Thanks. Do you have a table at the back near the fireplace?”

“No problem, Doctor.
If you’d like to follow me?”