The Intern Affair (5 page)

When he woke up, he grabbed the phone and
dialled
his friend’s number.
Mansur Dillon
was one of the Prime Minister’s advisors in
Mali
. He had seen
Alhassan
through the turmoil of the
Karim
Affair
and had remained steadfast at
Alhassan
and Talya’s sides, while the two were battling government authorities to redress
Tristan
’s damaged reputation and to apply for the Kankoon gold exploration permit in
north-eastern
Mali
.

“Hello,
Mansur
?”

“Good Morning,
Alhassan
.
What’s so important for you to call me at this hour? What is it?”
It was only seven o’clock, yet
Mansur
sounded wide-awake and even a little aggressive.

“Sorry.
I know it’s early but I’ve got to see you.
Talya rang this morning and I wanted to talk to you about it.”

“And how’s our dear lady?
When is she coming back?”

“Not now.
I’ll tell you as soon as we meet.
How’s breakfast at the Grand sounds?”

“Fine, but why the rush; can’t we have lunch together instead?”

“No.
I’ve got a court hearing at nine, which may last until later in the afternoon.
So, if you could make it this morning that would be helpful,”
Alhassan
insisted.

“All right then.
I’ll see you in an hour if that’s okay?”

“Yes. I’ll meet you at the restaurant.”

Alhassan
rushed to shower, shave and dress.
He chose the navy suit, which Talya liked so much.
He hadn’t worn it since he came back from
Dakar
and again the thought of Talya invaded his mind.
“This can’t go on,” he told himself.
If she wasn’t coming back; how could he ever accept her absence forever?

At eight o’clock
Alhassan
walked into the lobby of the Grand Hotel.
He hadn’t been there since Talya left so suddenly to throw herself in reach of that fiend, Ahmed
Ousmane
.
Monsieur Gerald, the manager, saw
Alhassan
first.

“Maitre
Sangare
! What a pleasure to see you again.
How is Madame
Gilmore
?
Is she coming back?”

“Yes she is, Monsieur Gerald,”
Alhassan
replied courteously.

“And when would that be?
We can make a reservation right now if you like?”

“I don’t know, not yet.
She hasn’t advised me of her plans so far.”

“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that.
In any case, we’ll make sure to have a suite ready for her whenever she decides—”

“Yes, thank you.
But I’ve got a favour to ask you—”

“By all means, Maitre, what can I do?”

“Would Madame
Gilmore
’s room be available this
wee
ken
d
?”

“You mean
Suite
42
?”

“Yes, that’s the one.”

“Let me see…” The manager went to his computer and looked at the screen intently. “Yes, there is no one assigned to that suite at the moment.”

“All right, could I reserve it then?”

“Of course, Maitre. I’ll make a note and we can do the paperwork when you get in. Would it be for Friday night or Saturday morning?”

“Make it Friday night, will you?”

“Done,” Monsieur Gerald said as he pressed a few keys on the computer console.

“Thank you for that.
Oh, one more thing, when you see
Monsieur
Dillon
come in, will you tell him I’m in the restaurant?
I’m sure he’ll know the way—”

“No problem, Maitre.”

Alhassan
nodded, thanked the manager and strode toward the double doors leading to the lounge.
He pushed them opened.
A pang of sadness hit him as he did so.
The place was dim and empty.
He took a few steps inside hesitantly, and stopped.
Everything around him was reminiscent of Talya—his very first meeting with her, their incessant battles for understanding of one another and so much more. Suddenly, all of it came to life eerily before
Alhassan
’s eyes as he stood staring at their
favourite
corner where they sat with
Helen
the first night.

Helen Dumarais
, what was she doing now?
Talya had saved her life.

When he reached the restaurant and looked at the table where Talya usually sat, he choked at the recollection.
The memory was too strong.
He was on the point of turning back when
Mansur
walked in behind him.

Seeing that his friend was about to leave, he barred his way. “
Alhassan
.
Where are you going?”

The latter sidestepped
Mansur
in the direction of the door. “I can’t be here without her.
She’s everywhere.
That wasn’t a good idea for me to invite you here.”

Mansur
looked at him. He grabbed
Alhassan
’s arm under the curious gaze of the few patrons already sitting and having breakfast. “Let’s go somewhere else then. You know,
Alhassan
, you’ve got to control these erratic moods of yours.
You’re acting as if Talya were dead.”

“But she is…. She is for me anyway.”
Alhassan
was shaking his head in desperation.

“What on earth are you talking about? Let’s sit down.”
Mansur
led his friend to a table near the terrace.

Alhassan
didn’t object, and finally sat down, his back to the room and facing the garden.
The waiter, who had been politely watching the scene from a little distance, not daring to interfere, approached the table now and asked if they wanted coffee, tea or if they’d prefer having breakfast first.

“Just coffee for now, please.”
Mansur
nodded.

“Tea for me,”
Alhassan
said mechanically.

“Now what is this all about,
Alhassan
?
You told me Talya called?”

“Yes, she did this morning at four.
When I heard her voice I was on top of the world, I was happy.
Then it all came crashing down when she told me that she didn’t know when she would come back.
And—”

“Of course, she wouldn’t know,”
Mansur
interrupted. “She has only been home for ten days.”

“No, that’s not the reason.
She said that
Charles
has assigned two other people to the projects and they would be coming back before she does.”

“I see, but that doesn’t mean she won’t be coming back.
You know as well as I do that she has to be here for the Kankoon application hearing.
And maybe she will have to come back for
Kareef
’s trial.
We are all going to be called for that.
We should even receive a subpoena shortly, I imagine.”

“Yes, I heard something about it at the courthouse yesterday.
I think they’re going to be delivered from your office actually.”

“So, in a few weeks at most she’ll have to be back either here or in
Dakar
. And knowing Talya, she’ll be on the first plane out the minute a summons comes her way.”

Alhassan
said, “I was thinking that I should perhaps take a flight to
Vancouver
and travel back with her.”

“And pray tell what would that accomplish?”

“Only one thing,
Mansur
, only one thing—I’ll be able to be with her—”

“And hang around her like a sick puppy?
I don’t think that’s a good idea,
Alhassan
.
She doesn’t need you to pursue her again.
Remember what I told you about that.
You need to stand by her, not to be bothering her.”

“I don’t know her.
She seemed so disconsolate after
Kareef
attacked her that she only accepted Samir’s company when we were still in
Dakar
and before she left.”

“Oh? I didn’t know that part of it. Did you talk to Samir then?”

“No, I haven’t yet.
I’m afraid of what he might tell me.”

“What?
That he’s her friend; that he’s been there for her when she needed
just
a friend?”

“Maybe; but I can’t face the past right now. That’s why I have rented her suite for the
wee
ken
d
—”

“You what?
Why?
To fret and mope and feel dejected?”

“No, that’s not it.
I need to face the solitude.
I need to face her absence without feeling sick. I thought a wee
ken
d remembering where she was, would give me peace.”

“It won’t,
Alhassan
.
It will only make you feel her absence all the more.
Instead you should go to Yves’s place.”

“That’s what Talya said.”

“
You see
how insightful she is?
She knows you are aching for her and she could sense that one way for you to accept your separation is to go and see your father.”

“I can’t,
Mansur
.
Yves will chastise me.
He will treat me like a child.”

“But if you’re acting like one, that’s the way you should be treated.
Maybe his berating is exactly what you need.
I think you should cancel your reservation here and phone Yves to see if he’ll be at his place this Saturday and go and see him.”

“I guess….”

“In the meantime, you should call Samir and have dinner with him one night.
He should be able to tell you what happened in
Dakar
.”

“I suppose you’re right.”

“You know I am. Anyway I’m hungry; how about some breakfast now?”

“Sure.” They called the waiter back.

5

On Friday morning
,
Talya walked into
Charles
’s office at nine o’clock.
She was in a bad mood.
She had slept badly.
Her phone call to
Alhassan
had been a mistake.
He had roamed her dreams, which became nightmares with visions of
Kareef
—that horrid creature.
Again, and again Talya was seeing
Kareef
’s monstrous body over hers, his hand clawing her face.

“Hi,
Charles
. May I sit down?”
Finding an empty seat had always been a problem.
Charles
’s office was as cluttered as ever. Not waiting for his permission, and after carefully depositing a pile of disorderly files onto the floor beside it, Talya sat in one of the chairs opposite his desk.

“Yes, why don’t you?”
Charles
lifted his eyes from the worksheet in front of him. “Since you seem decided to get my attention…. What’s happening?”

“That’s what’s happening.” Talya handed him the subpoena that had been delivered by porter early that morning.

Charles
unfolded it, read the first few lines and raised his gaze to Talya. “I see.” He handed the document back to her.

“So, what am I suppose to do now?” Talya asked.

“Why ask me?
You know what to do.
You book your trip to be in
Dakar
by the due date and you get your notes together and get going.”

“But
Charles
, this is
Kareef
’s trial we’re talking about.
I don’t want to go and face him.
I don’t want to have to tell the story to everyone… I’m not ready for that.”

Charles
extracted himself from his chair to come and stand in front of her. “Talya, listen to me.” He rested his behind on the edge of the desk, crossing his arms over his chest.
“You’ve got to get a grip.
Granted you’ve been hurt.
You have bad memories of the event.
But those won’t go away if you don’t go and face the music, Kiddo.”