| |
I pulled my hand in front of my face trying to see who was holding the flashlight.
"What are you doing here, George?" Omar's voice sounded in my ears calling me with my name with no titles for the first time.
"I am back to get my... you know,"
"Do you usually leave your phone in the ladies', George?"
"What are you doing here, anyway? Aren't you supposed to be at the main gate?" I was trying to know if Omar had heard anything or if it were his regular patrol.
"You know it's my job to patrol the whole empty building, George. Is there anyone else with you searching for the phone with you in there? I can hear the water running. Maybe, somebody who needs a little cleaning up." Omar was pointing at the ladies' room with a stupid smile on his face, but that was a relief. He didn't know what needed cleaning in the ladies'. However, I didn't know what to say or do for I also could hear the water running. Omar came closer, but fortunately, security guards in our company did not carry weapons.
"Stay where you are. Don't come any closer, Omar. You have no business to know who is inside the bathroom." I was pulling a threatening tone, or that was what I hoped. I could see fear striking in the eyes of the poor guard who stopped at his tracks and moved back. Not with the meager salary the security company gave him would he risk anything at all.
"George," my heart stopped when I heard Pamela calling my name from the ladies'. I turned around and saw her head sticking out from the door capturing the focus of Omar's spotlight.
"What are you doing here, Omar? Go now, and I won't tell Mr. Rachidy that you have followed me here to the ladies'." Pamela said with her usual firm condescending tone she used with almost everybody in the office.
"I am sorry, Miss. I didn't mean to bother you." Omar got the message.
"Forget what you have seen. I will appreciate it." I whispered in Omar's ear.
"Anything you say, Mr. George." Omar was smiling with hopes of getting a fair price for his silence, and judging by the look he gave to Pamela, maybe a shot with the hottest lady in the company.
"Finish your patrol and go back to the main gate. We'll finish in no time."
"Whatever you say, Mr. George." Well, I became Mr. George again.
Omar took the stairs back down, and I went to the window to see if he got back to his station at the main gate. The man did not disappoint.
"Why did you do this, Pam?"
"What do you mean why I did this? The man was about to come in and see that old bastard on the floor."
"But now, it will look as if..."
"As if what?"
"It will look as if we did this together; as if we were planning to do this."
"What? Are you blaming me now? What was I supposed to do, let you kill another man?" Pam's tone was not friendly, but neither was mine.
"What? Do you think I am..."?
"I am sorry. I didn't mean it. I can't think straight. What are we going to do?" Pam interrupted.
"Do you think I should have left? Do you think I shouldn't have killed him?"
"Listen, George. You killed no one. Well, not on purpose. I was standing there at the corner helpless. I thought you would leave me with that monster. I will never forget what you have done." Pam cried, and she threw her head on my chest.
That was one time a woman's head was on my chest, and I could not feel the weight of a stranger, friend, lover, female or a human being's. Nothing could have outweighed the world I felt on my shoulders. Pictures of my wife and children flashing past my eyes as if they were shooting away like dying stars never to come back. If only I could go back one hour in time, but wouldn't I have done the same?
Pamela interrupted my being lost in thoughts; she must have raised her head back up for some time looking at me before she said,
"You are right. Now we're both involved. Should we go to the police? I will tell them everything. I will tell them how you came in trying to defend me, and..."
"You know we can't do that. Nobody will believe us. Omar has seen us coming out of the ladies' together, and you didn't make things easier by threatening him to leave. But even if they do, you know who the man I killed was. If you tell me we stand a chance against all his influence and political power, I might believe you, stay here and call the police."
Pamela followed me down the stairs as every camera in our way caught us going out. We passed the main gate where Omar was sitting in his booth peeping towards us with a cheeky smile on his face. I didn't know why I smiled back at him and raised my thumb as if to tell him we understood each other.
"We need to get in your car. My car is at home. You know I..."
"Yes, I know you walk home every day. I have known you long enough, George," Pamela wasn't even looking at me. She had reached for the keys in her purse and grabbed my arm leading me to her car, which was the only one parked at the far end of the parking lot in front of the main gate. I didn't have to look, but I knew Omar was still watching.