The Intern Affair (36 page)

“Thank you,
Ghali
.
That’s all I needed to know for now.
Will you ring
Charles
and tell him what you’ve concluded.”
He sounded uneasy.

“No problem. But before you hang up, I just wanted to tell you that I have checked with a colleague of mine regarding this type of behaviour. He warned me if this wasn’t the first time she had done this—as you mentioned when we were searching for her last wee
ken
d—it wouldn’t be the last either. In
Paris
and where you are she’s not in danger, but once she gets to
Africa
, I’ll ask you not to allow her to do this under any circumstances. Because, during these periods of instability, she may go for a walk or take a trip, and every time, she’ll be trying to escape from remembering what’s haunting her.
And when she’s in that state, she renders herself completely oblivious of her surroundings, and that’s where the danger lies, she wouldn’t recognize a friend or a foe if either approached her.”

“Do you mean she may go into some sort of trance?”

“Very much like it, but being self induced, she keeps some sort of control over her movements and actions, so I wouldn’t worry too much about it this time. She should be back within a couple of hours.
If she’s not then, we’ll see.
But I trust it won’t come to that.”

“Thank you again,
Ghali
. That tells me a little more about how I should prepare her for what lies ahead of us.
But we’ll phone you before we leave.”

48

Talya came out
of the lift at about midnight.
She had gone for a long walk, ending on the Champs Elysée and stopping at a street café where she ate some delicious grilled chic
ken
with
real
pommes-frites and a salad.
She drank a glass of
Beaujolais
and felt quite restored and fit to go back.
Talya regretted her behaviour, but in moments like these, she didn’t seem to be able to control the insatiable need for solitude she experienced each and every time. She hoped Samir had understood, and she hoped that he knew how much she appreciated the spoiling and the cajoling. Too much of a good thing was not for her, however. Talya couldn’t handle it.

When she entered the apartment, she saw no one. Suddenly she was panic-stric
ken
.
Maybe he was in the restaurant? Maybe he was taking a bath, maybe…
She was beside herself with fear, irrational fear that he had left her. She was horrified at the prospect of flying back on her own.

49

When
Charles
heard
that Talya should be okay, and that it was just a matter of letting her be, he breathed a sigh of relief.
He wondered however, how he and
Ghali
were going to handle the weeks ahead.
He wished he could be on a plane flying to
Dakar
immediately.
At least he would be in reach and he would be able to attend to
Alhassan
’s care and, last but not least, he could work with
Ousmane
and with
Sir Reginald
without being at the mercy of the darn phone. On an impulse, he picked up the receiver and called
Carl
.

“Yes,
Charles
, what can I do?”
Carl
had seen
Charles
’s office line lit up on his phone.

“Would you come in for a minute please?”

“What, right now?”

“Yes, if you don’t mind.”
Carl
knew
Charles
was not an exigent man and if he was asking for an impromptu meeting, the matter was important enough to be discussed face to face.

“I’ll be right there.”
Carl
hung up and called
Terrance
.
He wanted to nip any opposition in the bud if
Charles
was planning to do something that would be unreasonable or unwarranted in the face of it.

Both men entered
Charles
’s office, cleared some of the files from two of the chairs and sat down.
Charles
looked at them seemingly relaxed.
However,
Carl
knew his long-time friend and partner much better than that.
Charles
stretched to the back of his chair and crossed his legs, one ankle over one knee.

“So what’s up?”
Carl
asked with half a smile.

Terrance
settled back in his seat ready to listen to what ever was said.

“What’s up is this; I’ve decided to go down to
Senegal
tonight. I’ll take the night flight to
London
and I’ll be in
Dakar
tomorrow night.”

Carl
was stunned and unbelieving.
Terrance
was nonplussed.

“Why on earth would you do that?”
Carl
asked when he had recovered slightly from the shock he had accused from the news.

“Let me explain how I arrived at that conclusion…” and he did.

Terrance
nodded. “Well, as far as I’m concerned, it sounds like the right move. It would relieve some of the pressure from us. And it would put the Sabodala projects on tracks faster.”

“Sure, I agree but what about preparing the team to get down there, in two weeks?”
Carl
wasn’t quite satisfied.
“We’ve got this
John
Valdin coming in next Tuesday; what do we do with him?”

“
Marcel
is a good man, he’s been dropped in, as it were, on worse situations than this, believe me.
He’ll take charge within hours, without having anyone telling him what to do.
I’ve no worries on that score.
What I’m worried about, however, is to be able to get the Development Funds agreements signed as soon as possible and I won’t be able to do that, if I sit here waiting for a phone call.”

The door of
Charles
’s office remaining always opened; anyone could hear the conversation within, while passing in the corridor.
Thomas
did at that moment. He entered unannounced and stood behind
Carl
, crossing his arms over his chest. None of the men was offended at the intrusion; they actually smiled and nodded to the late comer.

“How about we go down together?”
Thomas
suggested with decisiveness. “I don’t particularly care to be here at the moment either, and what’s more you’ll need a bodyguard, if anything of what you’ve explained
on Monday
is to be believed.”

“Well, if everyone agrees, I’ll have
Jim
prepare a press release to announce the imminent signature of the agreements for both Sabodala projects and our immediate warranted departure to follow matters through on site.”

Carl
hesitated. “
Charles
, tell us, honestly, and setting aside your personal eagerness to get on site, would that impair Talya’s investigation in any way?”

“I don’t think so.
On the contrary, that move would probably deflect some of the heat from her.”

Thomas
uncrossed his arms, put his hands on the back of his colleagues’ chairs and literally barked at
Charles
, “Yes, deflecting the heat is right! And it’ll be deflected directly on to you! If that’s what you’re trying to do, I don’t think we should do it.”

“Why not?”
Charles
was
taken
aback by
Thomas
’s reversal of attitude, let alone his aggressiveness.

“Because you have no idea what to expect down there, and from whom. You have never lived there, and if my memory serves me right, the last time you dealt with an African, it almost put this company through the shredder.”
Thomas
was one person on whom you could count to let you have it straight off the shoulder.
He never minced words.

“Yes, and Talya was the one who pulled us out of the mess,”
Terrance
said.

“She knows these people,
Charles
,”
Carl
added soberly. “And don’t think for one minute that you’re doing her a favour by going down and trying to ‘deflect’ the heat, as you said, because that won’t be the case and you know it. The minute she learns you’re down there, she’ll pull another stunt such as yesterday’s, and bait the drug lords to re-direct their attention on her.
You’ll end up having her killed in the process.”

Charles
seemed to be reflecting on what his colleagues had said.
They were right.
He couldn’t stay idle however; he desperately wanted to do something, anything. “All right gentlemen, you’ve made your point.
I agree with you, this manoeuvre may not be the best idea I’ve ever had, but all things considered, what can we do?
I can’t see myself spending two whole weeks by the phone, expecting the ultimate bad news.”

“
Charles
, listen,”
Thomas
said, “we can do exactly what you’ve suggested in the first place, but not with a press release, and not announcing our departure to the world.
We can go home and take a holiday.
I could go to
Mali
, instead of
Dakar
and get the low-down on the situation.
In
Bamako
, I’ll have
Francis
and his wife who could help me.
You, on the other hand, would have
Ousmane
in
Dakar
.
As you said when you came back, he’s never been involved in drug trafficking or money laundering of any sort. As I see it, he’ll be only too keen to help matters along, and you could stay with him. He’s got an enormous villa apparently; I’m sure he’ll put you up until the rest of the team gets on site.”

“Yes, that’s much better planning,”
Carl
said with some keenness in his voice now. “At least we would get the
Ousmane
’s and the
Sir Reginald
’s out of our hair, and
Jim
and I could get some
real
work done, such as getting you some reasonably written agreements for a change.”

50

Talya went to
her
bedroom, undressed and put on a robe, which hung in the bathroom closet.
It was beautifully soft and luxuriously warm. Feeling numb and uneasy, she went to sit on the floor in front of the fire and waited. Although there were many books on the small library shelves, nothing would distract her from seeing Samir’s face when she had walked out on him hours earlier.
His absence was not only worrisome, but also painful.
To think she had hurt the one man who had put his life on the line for her, and showered her with love and affection without asking anything in return, was indeed painful. She decided that she was an inconsiderate and selfish bitch. If Samir thought
Ghali
had been selfish, what must he think of her right now?

No, Talya, you definitely didn’t deserve to be treated like a princess, when you are only an ugly toad!

The flames were beguiling. They were singing a melodious tune of anger and rage.
They had the incandescence of fervour and the softness of betrayal. She was mesmerized by their ephemeral splendour in the consuming of the wooden logs.
Talya wanted to touch the magic, to feel the torture of burning and the cleansing of fire.

“
Talya!
Please don’t—” Samir was kneeling beside her. He had grabbed her hand before it had reached the flames. Suddenly, being aware of his presence, Talya threw herself in his arms and cried out his name. He lifted her to her feet and led her to sit down on the sofa between the two windows, away from the fire.
It was past one o’clock in the morning.

“Samir, why did you leave me?”

“Because you did, Talya, and I wanted to make sure you understood how I felt each time you left me without good reason.”

“It was hurtful.” Talya looked into his eyes. She could have sworn she saw tears gleam in them.

“You know now that we can’t part when we’re supposed to be together.
And let that be understood.”

“Shut up!”

His eyebrows shot up; he seemed somewhat surprised at her forwardness.

“I’ll probably spank you the next time you say these words, but for now I’ll only continue talking and ask you the next question.
Have you eaten?”