The Intern Affair (46 page)

“We are honoured by your presence and we hope to serve you and bring you to your destination in peace,”
Abdullah
said in perfect French.

“Inshallah!” Ishmael said with a mischievous smile.

He must be the youngest of the three brothers,
Talya thought.

From behind the tent,
Afilah
and another young man then brought ‘their ride’ and told it to kneel before them.
As a beast of burden, the camel (or in this case the méhari), had no peer in the arid regions of the world until the advent of motorized transport.
It remains, however, the favoured means of travel for many Bedouins and desert travellers of today.

Samir’s méhari was a big animal. A thickly woven blanket and cushions covered its hump, over which rested an exquisitely tanned leather saddle that had been strapped around its fore-belly.
Bridled of a heavy red camelhair rope, a tassel dangling from below each temple, with the reins extending to the pommel of the saddle, the méhari chewed on cud while he waited for Talya to climb aboard its hump. Samir carried her in reach of the saddle and asked her to mount the beast, which she did with great awkwardness and embarrassment.

The thawb was impairing her movement, not to speak of a useless hand and throbbing ankle that did not help her lifting progress any.
She felt utterly ridiculous once again. Samir came to join her in a swift and elegant mounting movement.

It took no time for the caravan to be organized and in a half-an-hour, they were on their way to their first stop—Nimjat—seventy miles south of
Nouakchott
.
They would arrive at sunset.
There were only seven hours of daylight left and a méhari’s average speed being twelve to fifteen miles per hour, they couldn’t stop on the way for more than a few minutes; not that Talya intended to disturb a whole caravan for anything.

Samir put his right arm around Talya’s waist. “My Lady, how do you feel?”

“You can’t imagine how I feel.” Talya turned her face toward his. “Being here with you, it’s like living a dream. I never thought we would be together, riding a camel with your brothers and your family.”

“You made it happen, Princess.
You wanted to be here from the day I arrived in
Vancouver
.
I saw it in your eyes.”

“But I didn’t say anything.”

“Perhaps not in words, but my wearing the school blazer disturbed you.
You wanted me as I am.
You wanted me for who I am.
And for that, Princess, I will always love you.”

Talya smiled.

After a moment, he returned the smile. “I will not let you ride alone. Even if you have no more injuries, even if you were to become an expert rider, I wouldn’t.”

“And may I ask why not?”

Don’t even think of putting a leash on me
!

“Because I couldn’t ride without you anymore; the feeling I have right now could not be replaced. Your absence in this saddle would create such a void that I wouldn’t be able to control the beast.”

“What will you do when I leave to return to
Vancouver
then?
Will you never ride again?”

“Maybe not until you return—”

“Return?” Talya lifted her eyes to his. “How do you know I would ever return?”

“Because,
I know
you will.”

They were silent for a few minutes, and Talya’s mind went back to
Alhassan
.
She wanted him to be all right. She deeply felt for him; for all he had been for her. She thought of their many arguments about her wanting to leave. Then, Talya thought of how much she had wanted to stay away, for fear of being ta
ken
again in a whirlwind of sensual and uncontrollable yearnings.
Now, she was in the arms of another, who was putting the world at her feet and she was still afraid. “Tell me something; have you ever thought that you were betraying your friend for having come alone to
Vancouver
and sweeping me off my feet the way you did?”

He laughed heartily.

I don’t think that was such a funny question.

“You’re so beautifully honest and candid it brings me joy. But, to answer your question, yes I have thought about it many times, especially, since he has been assaulted.
I feel responsible for letting that happen.”

“What do you mean?
You’re not responsible—”

“Oh yes, in many ways I am.
As
I’ve told you, when I said to
Alhassan
that
Charles
invited me to
Vancouver
, he wanted to come with me, and I said no.
If I had
allowed him to accompany me
, he wouldn’t be lying in a hospital bed right now.”

“What about betrayal?
Because your feelings for me have caused you concern, I know that much.”

“Yes, but I cannot take away what Allah has put in my heart.
In my defence, I have to say that if
Alhassan
hadn’t forced himself on you, I wouldn’t have even considered coming to your apartment, when you were so distressed by
Charles
’s comment, on that night in
Dakar
.
I knew
Alhassan
had gone too far.
I knew he hadn’t shown any respect for you since he met you.
He literally wanted you for himself.
His jealousy was the one thing I abhorred.”

“I know; we had words more than once about my attitude toward other men when I was in his company.”

“You mean Ahmed
Ousmane
?”

“Yes, him in particular… But I was afraid he wouldn’t like for you and I to be together either—”

“Did you hear what you’ve just said?”

“No, what?”

“You said you were afraid of him.”

“In a way, yes, but he wouldn’t have hurt me.”

“Perhaps not physically, but he would have emotionally.
He had already done so. I saw it with my own eyes.
And what did I say to him just before we left to visit Mama Lea, do you remember?”

“You said something like that I was not his yet … I can’t recall exactly….”

“I said,
‘It is time for you to realize that this woman is not yours yet, and that she won’t be yours until you step aside and let her accept your love with graceful and peaceful thoughts.’
Do you understand now what I meant?
And why I said it?”

“You’re saying that I have never
accepted
his love … but I have”—Talya threw him a mulish glare—“I have, Samir, and I have loved him.”

“You have accepted his
loving you
, but not his
love.
If you had, and your heart had been free and peaceful to do so, you would have accepted his proposal of marriage without giving it another thought.”

“You mean that I feared for my freedom—which is right, by the way—and that’s why I didn’t accept his proposal?”

“Yes, but also you feared to lose peace, don’t forget that a man needs to offer peace in marriage, and not turmoil.”

“Then why am I afraid to love you?
Your mere presence gives me peace, and as for freedom, you understand my need for it better than anyone I know, so what is it that I am afraid of?”

“Many things, Talya, many things. You haven’t yet known love because something has been destroyed in you a long time ago and you won’t let your heart be seduced.
At the end of our journey, you will be free to love.”

“Samir, I—”

“Hush…. Not now.” Samir
continued holding Talya tightly against him.
 

67

Ahmed
Ousmane
was sitting in his office waiting impatiently for the phone to ring and his secretary to announce
Charles
’s arrival.
He had received news of Talya’s attack late the previous night.
Sir Reginald
had phoned him personally and told him the reason why he shouldn’t expect
Charles
to stay at his house while the latter was in
Dakar
.
Ousmane had been incensed at the news of a renewed assault on the woman who had resurrected his dream from its destined failure.
He felt powerless however, and his hands tied to do anything to avenge her injuries.
Was she going to be all right?
Would she ever come back and smile at him again to give him comfort?
He felt the years of fighting for his dream to become a reality weighing on his shoulders.
He was tired.

As the three men arrived in front of
Ousmane
’s office building,
Charles
immediately recalled the day they arrived to meet him weeks ago.
He thought of how Talya was elated at the prospect of entering into negotiation with the man who had unwittingly, but through his obsession, led this affair to burst wide open and fall in Talya’s lap.
He felt ruefully vengeful toward
Ousmane
and yet he knew that Talya wanted him to be grateful to him.
She had said before she left, the words still ringing in his ears:
“We are going to succeed because of his obsession.”

They sat down in the anteroom of his office after greeting the ever so stern secretary, when
Ousmane
came out, much as he did the first time
Charles
had met the man.

“
Charles
, it is very good to be seeing you again. How was your flight?”

“Fine, Ahmed, thank you.
But let me introduce you to my advisors, Mr.
Thomas
Gerald
, our Exploration Manager and Mr.
Christian Sylvester
, our negotiation mediator.”

Upon hearing the title
Charles
just gave him,
Christian
couldn’t help but smile.
Charles
is as cunning as they come
.

“Come in, come in gentlemen.
I am grateful that you are here.
I have been extremely impatient to start working with you.”
They went into
Ousmane
’s office and closed the door.

68

Alhassan
opened his eyes
to see Yves at his side.
Tubes were coming out of his right side and needles had been inserted in his left arm.
Alhassan
felt like his body had been abused to the extent that he couldn’t move a muscle without feeling wrenching pain.
Fortunately, the pain was not from injury now but from healing.

“How do you feel, my son?” Yves asked, bending over to hear the response.

“Horrible, father, I want to get out and feel the sun and the wind on my skin.”

“You will soon, that I promise you.
Melinda has come with me and she will come in when I call her.
She’s already prepared your favourite food; when you are able to eat.”

“That’s good.
I am grateful for her kindness.”

“Don’t say anything now, but I have a surprise for you—”

“Talya’s here!
Please tell me she is, Yves, please….”

“I can’t,
Alhassan
, but Monsieur
Durant
is here and he’s bringing news.”

“Where is she?
I need to see her.”
Alhassan
wanted to rip off all the needles and tubes from his body and scream.

“Don’t upset yourself; otherwise we will have to leave.”

Yves went out of the room and called
Charles
.
He was talking with Khumar.
Thomas
and
Christian
were sitting on a bench outside the room waiting for the door to open.

“Monsieur
Durant
, please come in,” Yves said. “But I hope you have some good news about Talya, because my son will need to hear that she’s coming back, otherwise he is sure to let himself die.”

“Yes, I have some news, M
r.
Sandros, but I can’t tell him when or if she’ll be back because we don’t know ourselves what is going to happen.”

“What do you mean?” Yves was stunned by this latest announcement. “I thought you said on the phone that she was on her way back.”

“I know, but in the meantime she’s encountered some trouble and we only know that she’s safe for now. I can’t tell you anymore than that at the moment.
Shall we go in?”
Charles
put a hand on the door to push it open.