The Intern Affair (7 page)

The old polished floorboards were gleaming under the light streaming through the bay windows facing the beach.
The dark wooden tables were barren of any cutlery, tablecloth, or even napkins.
The simplicity of the décor had always attracted
Ghali
.
He liked simple and yet beautiful things.

“Would you like a drink before lunch?”
Sandy
asked as the two men sat down.

“No, no drinks for me, just a club soda, thanks.
What about you,
Charles
?”
Ghali
asked.

Charles
pulled his chair away from the table to cross his legs, making himself comfortable.

He lifted his gaze to
Sandy
. “A scotch and water, please?”

“Coming right up,” she replied, walking away.

“So, what’s this about?
Don’t tell me someone died.”
Charles
was obviously trying to break the concern he saw in
Ghali
’s eyes. It didn’t work.

“Please, no joke.
I’ll come to the point soon enough, but in the meantime bear with me.
Yesterday, Talya and I came here and we broke up.”

“What? She didn’t! Did you really?”
Charles
didn’t like the sound of that. He was somehow hoping that Talya would have found comfort in
Ghali
’s company while forgetting the troubles she
had
faced in
Dakar
.

“Yes, but that’s not all. This morning she told me about this attack she suffered from a guy named
Kareef
.”

“I know; she went to pieces in my office this morning because she’d received a subpoena to appear at his trial. That’s why I asked
Cecilia
to call you.”
Charles
felt a little disconcerted at recalling the incident.

“I’m glad she did, but to come back to Talya’s problem; I didn’t want to question her.
I thought I’d ask you what happened instead.”

“Well, I don’t think we’d have time to go into details over lunch, but
Kareef
is a murderer who’s been after Talya since before she left
Vancouver
. None of us knew of his intentions, except for Talya who was first to uncover the drug operation, which
Kareef
headed for a time.
She became a target the minute he realized she was on to him.
Then, when things got too hot to stay around, he fled the scene, and everyone thought he’d gone back to
Mauritania
or to some other places to hide until things cooled down.
That’s where we were wrong.
He came back to
Dakar
and Talya found him in her apartment one night.
He attacked her and almost raped her.
Fortunately for her, she’s in a fair shape; she was able to fight him back and to escape, only to fall unconscious in the arms of a security guard.”

“That explains a lot. And where was
Alhassan
during all this time?”

“Oh, you know about him, too?”
Charles
shook his head in dismay. “I guess you would; presumably he’s the reason for you two breaking up?”

“Yes he is in part, but that’s another story. Where was he?”
Ghali
insisted.

“That night we had dinner together.
Talya was not with us. She was off having dinner with someone else.
I remember we left the table rather early and
Alhassan
went to bed—in his own room.
But tell me, what did she say about
Alhassan
?”

“She told me very little about him. Apart from the fact that he’d asked her to marry him, and that he’s Muslim, she didn’t say much else.”

“I guess you had to find out one way or the other.
And I’m glad she told you first, before you found out otherwise.”

“I would have anyway.”
Ghali
shook his head. “Besides the fact that Talya can’t keep her mouth shut, her feelings are painted on her face any time you look at her; and she can’t lie.”

“You’re right at that.”
Charles
knew how transparent Talya’s face could be at times. “But what’s making you so concerned?
Is she ill?”

At that moment, the waiter came to the table, bringing the drinks and asking what they would like to eat.
They responded almost in unison “grilled salmon and roasted potatoes,” which is the house specialty.
When the young man had gone to place their order, the two men continued talking.

Ghali
sipped his soda and looked at
Charles
. “To answer your question, no, I don’t think she’s physically ill.
But mentally and emotionally she is close to a depression.”

“How come?
She was okay when we left
Dakar
.”

“That’s just it. Did you ever have an accident or fell off a horse?”

“Yes, sure, but what’s that got to do with Talya’s depression?”

“Just bear with me.
So, how did you feel after the accident?”

“Sha
ken
and furious because the guy I’d rammed into had run through a red light.”

“And…?
Actually
, what I want to know is how you felt when you got back behind the wheel.”

“To tell you the truth, I was terrified.”

“Exactly!
And that’s what Talya is feeling right now.
She’s terrified to face
Kareef
. She is haunted by images of what happened, and to compound the problem, she is pursued by the memory of the relationship she had with
Alhassan
. It seems as if there’s something beyond this recent attempted rape, maybe something in her past that prevents her from loving him, or anyone for that matter.”

“Can you explain that?”

“Yes. When we were going out together, she was often talking about the future. That future didn’t involve a man. She was reticent at the mere mention of marriage, family or children. It was as if she couldn’t allow herself to go beyond sexual pleasure or friendship.”

“But you two seemed to get along fine—”

“We did, yes, but
that’s only because I didn’t trespass on her past. I knew there was something she never wanted to talk about, so I left it alone.”

“Are you telling me that her relationship with
Alhassan
and her attack have brought back something that happened to her years ago?”

“In a nutshell, yes, I believe so.”

“And what can we do about it?” Determination laced
Charles
’s voice. He unfolded his legs and brought his chair back to the table.
“Because I tell you,
Ghali
, I need her back there as soon as possible. There is a lot riding on her ability to get the governments in
Africa
to play ball with us.”

“I know, and that’s why I have asked you to lunch today and not tomorrow.
I think the first thing to do is to let me handle her for a while.
I’m taking her away this wee
ken
d.
She’s accepted to come with me because she knows that I won’t pressure her into anything.”

“Can I ask you a question?”
Charles
wanted to know if there was any hope in their relationship.

“Sure, shoot!”

The waiter chose this moment to bring their lunch.
Ghali
felt relieved and grateful for the break.
He knew what
Charles
was going to ask and he felt a little awkward.

As soon as the plates were in front of them and the waiter had departed once again,
Charles
went for the jugular. “Are you in love with Talya?
Because if you are, you know what it means
,
don’t you?”

“Yes I am, and yes I do—to answer both of your questions.”

“Well, what are you going to do about it?”

“About what?”

“About her involvement with
Alhassan
; are you going to marry her?”

Ghali
shook his head, smiling. “No.”

Again,
Charles
didn’t like the answer. He began eating and he looked at
Ghali
quizzically, unable to speak with his mouth full.

“No, I am not,”
Ghali
added. “I’m not even going to ask her.
Maybe later, but not now, because I don’t want to add to her confusion.
I want to get to the bottom of this before I take one single step in that direction.”

“That’s all fine, but how long is that going to take?
And will she be able to return to
Dakar
for the trial?”

“I don’t know.
I’ll have to tread very carefully and take it one day at a time.”

“You know, there is someone who could be able to get her to talk about her past.”

“Yes? And who’s that?”
Ghali
took a bite of his salmon.

“Samir. He’s the pilot who we’ve contracted now for the runs between the projects. He’s the one who looked after Talya after the attack. He stayed with her every day while I was working with
Alhassan
.”

“Obviously, he’s African as well—”

“Umm, umm,”
Charles
mumbled, and shook his head, while munching on a potato. “Not exactly. He’s a Touareg, and apparently because Talya grew up in a Muslim school, she has some inherent understanding of his way of life and an infinite admiration for the man.”

“I need to talk to him … right now—”

“Hold on.”
Charles
put a hand up as if he wanted to stop
Ghali
and his runaway train. “Let’s think about this for a minute, and let me give you some rope before you go jumping off the cliff.
You’re getting worse than Talya.”

Ghali
threw him a smirk. “Thanks, but what we need is to get answers and fast, before I make a mistake. I can’t question her. I hope you realize that.
And if this Samir can provide some of the pieces of this puzzle, maybe I can get her back on her feet a little faster.”

“Yes, I understand that, but you have to consider who’s asking the questions and who will be doing the answering.
Samir is a unique fellow and a long time friend of
Alhassan
.
You, on the other hand, you’re now ‘the other man’ in her life, and believe me, I know Samir
;
he’ll be on to you in the blink of an eye.
He’s extremely protective of Talya.
One day you and I need to sit down and talk about what really happened out there.”

“I see.
But as her physician, I can approach him without letting on that I have other feelings for her or even designs upon our future together.”

“Sure, you could do that.
Just don’t underestimate the man, or you won’t get anything out of him.”

“Okay, I’ll watch myself. But, can we call him this afternoon?”

“All right.
Let’s finish lunch and we’ll go back to the office.
I think
Cecilia
may be able to raise him somehow.”

“Yes, if anyone can, she will.”

9

“Samir!”
Alhassan
yelled from the door of the hangar.
He knew his friend would be there on Saturday.
Like every Saturday, Samir was working on his
toys—
his planes.
He had two
,
and occasionally he would offer his services to other owners who would need small repairs or maintenance done on their aircrafts.

“Allah be praised,” Samir shouted, stepping down from the ladder.
“
Alhassan
, I am so grateful that you have come to visit me on such a fine day.
But what brings you here?”

“Good morning, my friend. How are you?”

Samir shook
Alhassan
’s extended hand. “I’m fine, and you?”

“I’m not.
I’m not, and that’s the reason I’m here.”

Samir looked into
Alhassan
’s eyes. “What’s troubling you?
Don’t tell me you have another lady in distress that you wish to rescue?”

Alhassan
lowered his gaze. “No, nothing like that.
But I still need to talk to you.”