Philip decided to stay at the Sheraton for the afternoon. A work crew at the building site, under Nigel’s direction, was still clearing up after the sandstorm and he had no urgent business to
take him away. Time off was an unexpected luxury for him, as was female company. The truth was, he was enjoying Alina’s undemanding attention and when Anna decided to take a last swim in the pool he was quite pleased when Alina declined Anna’s offer and suggested that she and Philip retire to their hotel room balcony from which an excellent view of the Nile could be enjoyed.
“Good idea!” agreed Anna. “You will be able to see me from there. I know two rescues in two days would be unusual, but I feel safer knowing you are on duty, Philip.”
Anna’s approval was another new feeling for Philip and with the confidence he gained he ventured into foreign territory and asked Alina what had transpired during the visit to Nefer al-Sayyid’s home on the afternoon of the previous day.
Alina was happy to fill in the frightening details for Philip although she was becoming aware that this knowledge might affect Philip’s future business dealings with the embassy representative.
“I don’t usually have any personal contact with the woman at all,” he explained, reassuringly. “The visa request and the dinner invitation were special circumstances. They have never happened before and will never happen again. Now that I have been warned about her, I will definitely keep my distance. The hotel job will be completed before spring next year and my responsibility there will be at an end.”
Alina knew Anna would be relieved to hear this. She wondered what Philip might think of another issue that concerned her.
“Why do you think the Madame is not known by her married name? If we had known that name, much of what followed could have been prevented.”
“I imagine her Egyptian title is used here in Luxor and probably when dealing with business in Ottawa. Her married name would be for her private life.”
“I guess so.” Alina felt emboldened by Philip’s willingness to answer her questions so readily. She decided to risk one more.
“What did you think of Anna’s ex-husband?”
“Nothing!” was the reply. “I thought he was some flunky from the government sent to pull out chairs and pay the bill. I had no idea there was a relationship with Madame al-Sayyid, never mind a relationship with Anna. I was stunned to hear about all that.”
“Then you can imagine how Anna and I felt when we recognized him across the table.
It was awful to find out he was so ill with cancer, poor man!”
Philip hesitated to ask a personal question about Anna’s marriage but things were going so well with her friend that he thought this might be his only chance.
“None of my concern, of course, but what happened in that marriage? Anna has never mentioned it in my hearing.”
“Oh, she wouldn’t mind me telling you, Philip. It was a long time ago and the wounds are healed now. I think they were both too young to understand the compromises that marriage requires but don’t take my word for that! I haven’t any personal experience of marriage to fall back on. I speak only as an observer who was Anna’s close friend then, as now.”
So, she is unattached like me, thought Philip, with some surprise. He stole a quick glance at the profile of the woman he saw beside him. She had an attractive face, a petite, trim figure, with short silvered hair and those startlingly-clear green eyes which were usually hidden behind dark glasses.
There were wrinkles round her eyes and mouth, of course, but didn’t they call these laugh lines nowadays? All in all, he thought she was a charming woman and pleasant company. It wouldn’t be a bad thing to spend more time with Alina but when would that happen? They lived on opposite sides of the Atlantic and she was younger than him with possible suitors in Canada.
A flush of disappointment at this realization shocked him into an adrenaline spike that provided the courage to think more positively for a moment.
What about Anna’s house in Scotland? They could possibly meet there and spend more time together. They could see how things went from there. No pressure. No rush. No way!
What was he thinking? A confirmed bachelor, as all his married friends insisted.
Devoted to his work.
Content to live alone in a big Victorian house with another architect and a housekeeper.
Happy with his circumstances.
No family.
No unmet needs.
Philip cringed inside as this roll-call of false advertising scrolled through his mind.
Each statement was more damning than the last.
Well, perhaps it was time to make a few changes? Hopefully it was not too late. He had his newly-discovered-sister Anna’s example to guide him. She had moved on past disappointments and created a new life and thriving business and reached out to other people, like himself.
Surely, he could manage to do some of this also? Did he have the courage?
Alina had filled her companion’s silence by watching Anna swim back and forth across the circular pool diverting now and then to allow some children to catch a ball thrown by their father on the poolside. Alina could tell how much better Anna felt just by looking at her relaxed movements.
She smiled, wondering what thoughts were going through Anna’s head. Was she glad to be going home, or pleased at how the frank talk with Philip had ended up?
Philip.
They had been sitting peacefully side by side without talking for several minutes. She always thought it was a good start to a friendship when two people could tolerate silence without the necessity to fill it with mindless chatter. The thought made her recall Philip’s comments about Nigel’s habit of talking endlessly.
“What are you grinning about?”
She turned and smiled at Philip. “Oh, I was remembering what you said about Nigel. Isn’t it nice that we can sit here comfortably and not feel we have to talk, unless we want to, of course?”
“I think that’s only one of the nice things about this afternoon, Alina. I’ve really enjoyed our time together. I hope we can do this again another time, and in another place?”
Philip’s speech was tentative and required an answer. Alina found the answer came readily to her lips. “Yes, Philip. I would enjoy that opportunity very much. Don’t wait too long.”
Content with this promising response, Philip sat back happily, contemplating a future that had suddenly expanded before him to encompass possibilities he could never have dreamed of just a few hours ago.
He looked out towards the limestone hills of the Valley of the Dead across the blue, blue Nile, and was glad to be alive.
People said there was mystical power in Egypt. For the first time, he was beginning to believe that might be so.
FAREWELL TO EGYPT. FLIGHT HOME.
Seems an age since I wrote in this journal. So much has happened lately that it will take some time for me to process all of it. Perhaps I can think it through in the winter months.
My heart aches for Richard and what awaits him back in Ottawa. I hope he remembers to keep in touch somehow. I hope he can.
I must not let that sad memory of the final days in Luxor spoil the wonders that came before.
The sandstorm brought wild weather and even wilder events with it but once it was all swept away the sky, and the future, became clearer.
One thing remains there. In the charred fuel of a fire within the pita oven on the grounds of the Sheraton Hotel in Luxor, lie the tiny fragments of Helen Dunlop’s memoir. They will escape and descend into the sand, or the waters of the Nile, and be forgotten forever. It was Helen’s wish that her words should be destroyed and I have complied with that wish. Somehow I believe she would have been pleased to know her wishes were followed in such an unlikely place in the world. A place she had never thought to see, and where I have been happy to venture with my forever friend, Alina.
We will have a treasure trove of memories to pore over for the rest of our lives. The pictures will be amazing and the fabrics and souvenirs, we just managed to stuff into our luggage, will warm us through the worst that Ontario winter can throw at us. Alina is already planning new products for A Plus.
Hard to imagine winter when we have basked in sunshine for all these weeks but surely we will be better able to survive the cold with the added sunshine in our bones.
Alina is sleeping beside me leaning against the window of the plane. I can’t see out from here but we are high in the sky having left Africa behind us. Will we return one day? I hope so. There is all of Cairo and northern Egypt to explore. Inshallah! God willing!
Last night I asked Alina what she thought the most enduring memories of our trip would be.
She hesitated to commit herself to an answer so soon but thought it might be the sights along the Nile we saw from the deck of the cruise ship.
My answer is no more specific right now. I think what stands out initially is the sheer delight at the relics of an ancient time that still exist in Egypt today. I know from previous experience that what becomes most important from this trip may be neither of these first impressions. In time, it will be some small item we bought, or an event we can’t even recall at this moment, or a person we met, that will finally represent the enduring effects of this momentous adventure.
A long day of travel before we see London, Ontario, again. We will make it through together, as usual, with the promise of one last treat to welcome us home.
We will be in time for Christmas at Susan and Jake’s. A real reunion. With all the places we have been and wondrous things we have seen, it feels as if we have been gone for months instead of weeks. So good to think of seeing Maria and her family again. It will be great to catch up with them. During our last phone call home, Maria suggested she and Paul would pick us up from the airport as they were spending the weekend with her parents in Toronto. Such a relief to go home with friends instead of waiting around for that long, weary ride on the bus.
I am getting weary now. Better sleep while I can.
Just one more thing to note for future reference; Philip phoned to wish us a safe journey last night. He was in a strange mood; quite talkative for him. He wanted to talk about family and was thinking about his sister Lynn. He asked if I thought he should make an effort to spend more time with Lynn in the south of England. I tried to encourage him to do that as soon as possible.
Life is short and opportunities are not always there for us. It would be tragic if he missed the chance to repair the gulf between them. I reminded him that Lynn had welcomed him when we met at his mother’s bedside in Sussex.
It is good to be able to talk to Philip like this. He is not the easiest person to get to know but I feel we have made progress on this trip. He needs family in his lonely life.
Philip asked to speak to Alina after we had said goodbye. I was surprised at this but Alina seemed quite anxious to talk to him. I took the chance to tidy up our things in the washroom so I did not hear what was said between them.
When I emerged with our toiletries in my arms, there was an odd look on Alina’s face. I was about to ask her what had happened but she distracted me by reminding me that we had left some overnight washing and my swimsuit arranged discreetly on the balcony chairs and we needed to find a place for it in our already-groaning cases.
I’ll get the story out of her eventually. She can’t hide anything from someone who is as close as we have always been. There’s plenty of time ahead of us.
THE END.
The Prime Time Series continues in With This Ring, book 5.