Chapter 7
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Chapter 7“What would you like to drink?” Khalid asked when they were about to sit down at a table near the Baccarat crystal elephant, the centerpiece of the celebrated conservatory of the hotel. I had been waiting for them. They looked carefree, although I knew Khalid would be on his guard.
“As if you needed to ask.”
Danny came to the table to take their orders. “Capitaine Sahab, Madame Kartz, nice of you to join us once again.”
“We will have champagne.” Their incredulous server looked down at their patrons agape. I knew that Khalid being a practicing Muslim, wines were not on his list of favorite beverages. Given that he had been living at the Hotel de Crillon since his father died many years ago, every server knew that champagne or wines were never a suitable proposition for their esteemed guest.
Talya was all smiles. “That’s a grand idea, Khalid. But if I may” – she brushed a glance in Khalid’s direction, seeking his approval – “could we have a dozen oysters with the champagne?”
“Of course, Madame, would that be a dozen for each of you?”
Khalid raised an eyebrow slightly surprised by Talya’s request. I had to laugh in my beard as they say.
“Yes. That should be fine.” Danny left the table with a smirk on his face.
“Do you realize that I am tired, Talya?” Khalid’s brow furrowed.
Then it must have dawned on her. Oysters. She blushed from ear to ear and they both smiled.
“I’m sorry. I just didn’t think... but I like oysters especially with champagne.”
“I think we will sleep very soundly tonight,” Khalid remarked, stretching to the back of his seat.
The champagne arrived. The sommelier came with it, and asked, “Would you like a ‘Veuve Clicquot’, Monsieur le Capitaine, or maybe a ‘Moët et Chandon’?”
“We will take the Veuve Clicquot – Brut – please, Jason.”
Khalid didn’t even turn to look at the bottles on offer.
The sommelier uncorked the champagne and poured some in each of their glasses while Khalid continued staring at her.
“Every time we’re sitting in this restaurant, you start staring at me. What is it?” Talya asked.
“At the risk of repeating myself ad infinitum, I can’t believe that you’re sitting across from me in my home.”
“But what is it about this place that makes you say it here and seldom anywhere else?”
“Perhaps because my father had been sitting in that very chair a long time ago.”
Talya smiled knowingly.
That was beginning to be a little too mushy for me. Nevertheless, I had to have my coffee, and stay put.
They both sat in silence for a few minutes, seemingly reminiscent of their pasts.
I was thinking of their camel drive through the Sahara and the Sahel, continually dodging Osnoir’s men and trying to elucidate the reasons for the murders of their friends. Meanwhile, they had uncovered the drug routes that were travelled regularly from the central location of Sabodala where Rasheed had stashed huge amounts of cocaine amid the shipment of nitroglycerin to be used on site for carving the mining benches.
In a few moments, Danny brought the oysters to the table. Talya was ravenous.
“Thank you, Danny.” Khalid threw a quick glance at their cheerful waiter.
Seeing that Talya wanted to tackle her plate immediately, he grinned. “Will you want something else after that? You seem quite hungry.”
“No, I don’t think so, thank you. Although I may want a dessert...”
“That will be all for now, Danny. Madame will have a dessert later.”
“Très bien, Capitaine, I will come back in a while. Enjoy the champagne with our best wishes,” Danny said, departing instantly.
“What’s going on? Why are you so hungry?” Khalid asked. “When we stopped in Marseilles for refueling we had a late lunch...”
“That’s the way I am. When I feel secure or when I am worried about something, I eat.”
“And which is it in this case?”
“I think it’s a bit of both. I feel secure here. But I don’t know how or why (yet) we’re going to spend two days here when I know that, one way or another, Osnoir will be informed of our arrival in Paris.”
“Before I answer your questions, would you do me the honor of drinking a toast with me?”
“I’m sorry, Khalid. Yes, of course,” Talya said, after she swallowed another raw oyster. Can’t stand them myself.
“To us, Talya, may our lives be long and our paths filled with joy and happiness.”
“To our friendship, Khalid.”
Talya looked ill at ease. That sort of formal declaration didn’t sit right with her it seemed.
“Now getting back to your questions; I don’t know quite yet how we’re going to spend two days in Paris hiding from Mr. Osnoir, while staying in this hotel, but I know that it will take two days for the Lear to be fitted to my specifications.”
Talya practically choked on the second sip of champagne. “You didn’t! You did, did you?” she burst out, obviously as astounded as I was. I put my napkin over my mouth quickly before I would spit out my last sip of coffee.
“Yes, Talya, I did. I got it through Pierre’s company. Air Location’s people did all the paperwork and brought the Jet down from the States last week. But the final adjustments could only be made between today and tomorrow night.”
Talya stared goggle-eyed. “Why? That’s not only a lot of money but what are you going to do with it? You can’t fly that baby to the mining camps or to any old airport. So is it going to stay in a hangar all the time? John told me about your intention when we were flying down to Nouakchott, but I thought it was only going to happen next year... Not now.”
“Don’t get excited, and I didn’t buy it. One of my extravagant uncles bought it for us.” Talya had stopped eating. “You see, my brother, Salamir, keeps in touch regularly with our family in Saudi and when he told my uncle that we would need to fly frequently between Africa and Canada, he decided that none of my planes would do, so he bought a Lear for us.”
“Good God!” Talya blurted. “Talk about a rich uncle!”
Khalid smiled with satisfaction.
He has done it again, hasn’t he?
“Tell me, Khalid, what does that mean; your uncle bought it for us? Does that mean that I’ll have to add it to my list of assets, like a wardrobe full of clothes, a television, a few pieces of jewelry and half of a Lear Jet?”
Khalid chuckled and shook his head. “You are absolutely priceless.”
“I don’t know about priceless; you’ve just added 5 or 10 million to my price tag.”
Khalid was chuckling now. Talya was still staring and not eating.
“How are your oysters?” He now began eating.
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