excerpt
Emily sinks into the lounge sofa waiting for her wine. Talal looks at her with a
smile.
“Still excited, my love?”
“I’m feeling overwhelmed with all that’s happened these past two weeks; it’s
amazing how people live here and how different it is from home, yet so nice in so
many ways. What impressed me the most is how well they treated me.”
“And how is that?”
“I’ve been treated better than a queen; it’s just amazing and very hard to put
into words.”
“When we come back everything will be easier for you because now you
know a few people, you know a little about the country, and you know how
people will treat you.”
She looks at him with a question mark on her face.
“Are you wondering how soon, my love?”
“Yes. How soon?”
“I don’t know exactly but I know it’ll be soon, sometime in January, I
suspect.”
Oh my God, she thinks, January is only two months away! That means she
has to take care of the house affairs quickly and talk it over with Jennifer to see
how she feels. But she’s happy with the thought and deep inside feels confident
everything will turn out fine as long as Talal is by her side.
The time has come for their departure. They board the plane and soon their
flight is underway. They relax in their seats and the flight attendants serve them
drinks once they get to the proper cruising altitude. They are flying on one of the
Dreamliner planes again. Their flight takes them northward over Europe and
then they veer in a westerly direction to New York for nine and a half hours. This
time it is a daytime flight and they will arrive home around two in the afternoon.
Their flight is smooth and Emily gets a chance to close her eyes and rest. Talal
takes a magazine from the pocket in front of him and keeps busy for a while as he
has difficulty sleeping on an airplane. He hopes the old man will find the chance
to take care of the family home for him although he knows Ibrahim’s days are
numbered. Talal had noticed that Ibrahim suffered a lot of discomfort during
the past few days and wonders if it’s the cancer. Hakim will have to learn that his
uncle has not been feeling well. On the other hand, the pain Ibrahim has been
having could just be side-effects from the chemotherapy. Talal realizes he may
have to look into the problem with his family home on his own. That is another
reason he must return to Iraq soon.
Libros Libertad 