O-Negative: Extinction (13 page)

Javeira decided the best thing to do was to keep her eyes on her plate so as not to look at her father or Rashid and inanely started breaking open her bread.

“Would you care for the humus?”

Javeira felt Rahmaniah nudge her knee under the table.  Rashid had picked up a plate of humus and was offering her it from across the table.

“Err yes thank you Rashid.” She reached over for the plate making sure that much as she might have wanted to her fingers didn’t come into contact with Rashid’s as she took the plate from him.  The conversation settled into its normal rhythm around the table.

“Salem tells me you’re the vice president of your father’s company.” The statement was said with just a hint of accusation but it was well hidden.

“Yes yes I am.  I’m very fortunate to be able to be of assistance to him”.

“Oh I’m sure you’re much more than just an ‘assistant’”.

She looked up at him and saw he had an enquiring look on his face knowing that she’d previously let him think she’d been Rahmaniah’s assistant.

“Please I’d be interested to know more about your work Javeira I’m sure you’re involved in all sorts of aspects of the business”.

She smiled at the statement.  He knew that she was obviously an integral part of her father’s main business but that it was highly unlikely that her father knew anything about the other enterprise she was running.

“I’ve been fortunate enough to learn about many different aspects of the business from the feet of my father”.

“I don’t doubt it.”  He paused for a moment and then sent a much more probing question at her “and will you continue to assist in the family business when you’re married”.  She immediately bridled at this and found herself blurting out “I would expect any husband of mine to be happy to allow me to do so”.  This statement had come out louder than she’d expected and a number of people turned their heads to look in her direction.  She was looking directly at Rashid now as if daring him to say otherwise.

“I agree that it makes no sense for women not to use their god given gifts in the service of the prophet.  I can see that this is a subject you feel strongly about” she realised that he was paraphrasing a well-known saying from the Koran and them more quietly he said “and it is good to see the fire that hides beneath the bushel” once again weaving in words from a well-known hadith.

She realised he’d pushed her on this point deliberately.  He hadn’t been convinced by the demure façade she’d presented to him so far.  She wondered whether her outburst had raised or lowered his opinion of her.  Before she could respond Rahmaniah decided to move the conversation to safer more traditional topics.

“Rashid I understand you’re from Tabuk do your family originate from there?”

As he turned to answer Rahmaniah’s question she saw her mother looking at her from down the table.  She raised a single eyebrow and nodded slightly to Javeira as if to say ‘aahhh maybe you’ve met your match daughter of mine’.  She turned away to listen quietly to Rashid speaking in his traditional Arabic to Rahmaniah but not before she saw Mahmud Mahfouz looking at her mother and father and then at her and then towards Rashid.

After that the meal proceeded as they tended to do.  Lots of small talk about current news events and the wider political and social issues of the day.  She contributed where appropriate to the discussions but there were no more direct one to one conversations with Rashid.  After the meal the men went back to her father’s drawing room for coffee and cigars and the women to the ladies sitting room.

A couple of hours later the gathering started to break up as the elderly women pleaded tiredness and the servants were sent to inform their respective men folk that they were ready to leave.  Her mother left the room to join her father in saying goodbye to the guests.  She and Rahmaniah stayed in the sitting room giving the more important and elderly guests time to leave.  A number of the other cousins were busily discussing the various merits of some of the younger men that had been present.  Usually she couldn’t stand these conversations and kept herself well out of them but her ears pricked up when she heard her well-endowed cousin Amira whispering overly loud to some of the other younger girls that she “wouldn’t have minded the ‘gorgeous’ Rashid giving her a lift home”.  Such a statement was entirely in keeping with Amira’s personality, who it was said in hushed tones hadn’t been too averse to visiting the servants’ quarters when her parents had retired for the evening.  Such a comment wouldn’t have caused Javeira to blink normally but she found herself opening her mouth to protest at such a crude remark.  Rahmaniah sitting next to her put her hand on her thigh before replying “Oh Amira you are awful and anyway I don’t think that will be happening anytime soon…after all Rashid hardly took his eyes off one individual all night”.

She found herself blushing and the attention of the other younger women focused in on her and Rahmaniah.  “Ah this is true Mani.” Amira said.  “So Javi would you mind too much if Rashid gave you a lift home”. This was from one of Amira’s protégé’s Lelani.  Javeira blushed again and said rather stiffly “Of course I would.  No respectful woman would ever do such a thing” and she looked deliberately at Amira when she said the words ‘respectful woman’.  Amira simply laughed and commented “oh you may talk the talk Javi but we all saw the way your skin flushed just now.  You’re as human as the rest of us underneath that prim exterior.  Anyway I agree with Mani he only had eyes for you this evening.  I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s asking your father for permission to court you right now”.  Javeira stood up affronted at this comment “I highly doubt that.  I suspect he’s looking for someone much more pliable than me”.  At this she stalked towards the door with Rahmaniah following behind with a smile on her face.

“And you can take that smile off your face Rahmaniah, you’re the one who started that”.

Rahmaniah replied mischievously in the manner of a servant “yes Mistress Al Shiddi”.

She gave her cousin a half-hearted punch on the arm at this “oh Mani you are just awful I don’t know whatever persuaded me to move in with you”.

The car journey home was largely silent.  She was lost in her own thoughts and Rahmaniah was being on her best behaviour.  She really wanted to ask Salem if Rashid had said anything about her but didn’t want to give Rahmaniah the satisfaction of listening in or seeing her desperately trying to glean information from him.  However as they pulled in to the underground car park beneath their building Salem spoke up.

“Well it seems you made quite an impression”.

She hated herself for the eagerness in her voice when she said “Oh who did?

“You of course”.

“Oh on whom?”

“On Rashid of course.”

“What did he say?”

“Oh nothing really.  He was the perfect gentleman.  He was just chatting with your father about business.”  He paused for a moment.

She sat back into her seat disappointed. “Oh right.  Business.”

“Yes apparently his father is due to be in Jeddah in a couple of weeks and he asked whether your father might consent to meet with him while he was in town.”

“Right right how interesting”.  Javeira said in a miserable tone.

“Yes perhaps not that interesting on the surface Javi but it was when he asked that question that was interesting”.

Javi perked up a bit at Salem’s tone “Why?  When did he ask about that?”

“When he was saying goodbye to your mother and father at the door.  He seemed to make a point of including your mother in the question.  I’m pretty sure your father was going to politely decline the meeting but your mother piped up and said “oh I’m sure you’ll be able to fit in such an appointment won’t you Ja’far”.  Your father looked a bit put out at this, I’ve never heard your mother get involved in your father’s business before this.  Anyway given your mother had basically supported such a meeting your father agreed somewhat reluctantly that “he would try depending of course on his schedule”.  He didn’t look very happy but what could he say?”

Rahmaniah squealed in delight.  While Javeira felt her heart racing before saying rather weakly “oh it’s probably nothing Salem I’m sure most of the Tabuk families would love to get a meeting with my father”.

Rahmaniah hit her on the arm as the car came to a stop.  “Oh stop it Javi.  Asking if his father could meet with your father in front of your mother.  Come on you know it’s more than that.  You know exactly what it means, and even if you’re not going to be superly excited I will and at that she let out another squeal.  Salem laughed saying “oh Javi the look on your face I wish I could capture it for posterity.  You look absolutely terrified”.  “And Mani I’m not sure why you’re looking so happy we’re going to have to find you a husband too – if Javi gets married off to Rashid you probably aren’t going to be allowed to be in that flat all on your own”.  The expression of delight on Rahmaniah’s face dropped somewhat and she said only half in jest “God you’re right Salem oh no this is the worse day of my life” before smiling wryly.  “Anyway I’m still super happy for you Javi.  You deserve it.  You’ve proved all those conniving strumpets like Amira that they were wrong about you never finding a husband.”

“Well there is that I guess” she said as the reality of what she’d set in motion started to hit her.  God she hoped she hadn’t made a huge mistake.  There was no way her mother was going to let this go now after all these years of trying to marry her off.

The bar wasn’t the sort of place he frequented so much these days.  Not because he didn’t like this type of establishment, which on the whole he did or at least ‘had’, it was more that in Washington it wasn’t the sort of place a US Congressman should be seen in if he was looking to progress his career.  Of course this wasn’t Washington.  This was Houston and if there were two diametrically opposed cities in America it would probably be these two.  Washington’s raison etre was politics and the machinery of government – most of the people who lived there were urbane, educated and white collar.  Houston’s reason for being was oil and more recently, the navy and air force, meaning the majority of its population were rawer, less sophisticated and more blue collar.  They were also, it had to be said, generally friendlier and more self-sufficient.

The patrons of the bar seemed to follow this stereotype.  There were a number of men crowded around a couple of pool tables, the lights from which struggled to pierce the fog of the cigarette smoke surrounding them.  Texas obviously hadn’t gone through the ‘californiaisation’ process yet that many of the Eastern seaboard states had, smoking still being allowed in public places.  Sitting on stools at the bar were 3 women who seemed to be associated with the men playing pool given the occasional whoops of encouragement they directed towards them.  Their raucous comments were interspersed with the downing of what looked like glasses of rum and coke.  The waitresses scattered around the bar all wore low cut tops and short skirts, which in Washington probably would have warranted some sort of feminist protest outside but here seemed perfectly natural and acceptable.

The rest of the bar was made up mostly of men but there were a fair number of couples sitting at tables enjoying pitchers of beer and tucking into various kinds of grilled and fried food.  Sipping on his whiskey he caught a couple of appreciative glances from some of the waitresses, which purely in keeping with the atmosphere, he reciprocated – he was after all only human.  He began to relax a bit and on impulse requested a pack of cigarettes from the giant of a barman who bore a number of military tattoos down one arm.  He hadn’t smoked in years but the whole feel of the place gave him a nostalgic desire to do so.  He’d just paid for the pack when he felt a solid slap on the back and his Texan patron sat down next to him at the bar. 

“David good to see you, it seems like such a long time”.

He laughed.  “A long time since I’ve seen you too Chad and a long time since I’ve been in a bar like this”.

“I’m sure, not much call for such a joint in the circles you mix in hey son?”

“No not at all.  Such a shame really as it’s this sort of place that allows you to get a real feel for the pulse of the country – as opposed to all those surveys conducted by nerdy pollsters”.

“David you took the words right out of my mouth.  This is where politicians should be coming if they really want to know what the people are thinking”.

Chad paused to order a drink “Bobby I’ll have a bourbon, easy with the ice”.

“Anyway I’m glad you like the bar it’s owned by my wife Elizabeth, she used to waitress here about 15 years ago”

“Good thing I said I liked it then”.

“Don’t worry if you hadn’t I’d have had Bobby throw you out on to the street”.

He laughed at this as Chad turned his bar stool to glance around the bar.

“Well what do you think of the current serving staff?”

He gave Chad a quick look to see where he was coming from on this and caught a mischievous gleam in the older man’s eye.

“Their service is impeccable”

Chad laughed “Ah David you’re fast becoming a favourite of mine.  Teri come over here gal.” One of the waitresses who’d given David an enquiring look while he’d been sat at the bar came over.  “Teri I want to introduce you to my good friend David.  David’s down here from Washington on business and I want you to make sure he’s got a full drink while he’s here at the bar ok?”

“Sure Chad I’d be more than happy to attend to his every need”. She said this in a way that made him choke slightly on his drink.  Teri then proceeded to hold his gaze slightly longer than necessary as she turned and moved off to serve another customer.

Looking at David Chad said with a grin “A good girl that Teri…”.

He mumbled into his drink “err right well that’s good to know”.

Chad chuckled slightly.  “Ah to be young again.  Anyway listen David I’ve got a meeting I need to attend this evening so I can’t spend any time carousing with you tonight but are you good for an old fashioned Texas dinner tomorrow at my place over in Cinco Ranch?”

He hadn’t originally planned to be down for two full days but if he was honest he was rather enjoying being away from the hustle and bustle of Washington politics.  The meeting he’d attended with Lynch had definitely knocked the stuffing out of him somewhat so he replied “Of course Chad that would be great – just let me know when and where”.

“Great well that’s sorted.  Now I may look like I just got down off of a horse but I’m not such a bumpkin to realise that you wouldn’t have come all the way down here just to sample the Houston night life.  I’m also thinking that the fact that you’re here in person implies a need for a certain level of discretion?”

David glanced around the bar as it uncertain about how much he could say in such a public place. “I doubt very much that many people see you as a bumpkin Chad, you’re as astute as anyone up on Capitol Hill”.

Chad smiled and said “Maybe David maybe and don’t worry about these guys here, most of them work for me in some capacity or other and they’ll respect our privacy”.

“Ok well as you’ve already picked up this is definitely for your ears only at the moment.  I certainly don’t want to be the source of this information.  To be honest what I’m going to say has a definite element of unbelieveablility about it but at the same time I felt it was important enough to keep you abreast of it.”

Chad replied “ok understood son.”

He then proceeded to outline what had occurred in the briefing session with Agent Lynch and played Chad extracts of the briefing that he’d recorded on his mobile phone.  Chad interrupted proceedings a couple of times with a “Wow” and the occasional whistle of disbelief but he didn’t seem to immediately dismiss any of what had been said at the hearing with Lynch.

“David this is definitely one for the books.  Yes siree.  I have to say I knew something was going on but had no idea it had anything to do with meteorites falling on Antarctica.  Well you’re definitely proving your value and I really appreciate you coming down here to tell me.  To be honest I don’t know what to make of it at all.  When I was in the Army there were always rumours of some sort of Doomsday type group tasked with planning for catastrophic events and now we seem to have proof.”  Then almost thinking out loud Chad said “Maybe this could be the opportunity we’re looking for”.

He picked up on Chad’s seemingly introspective comment.  “When you say opportunity, do you mean politically?”

Chad looked at him and nodded thoughtfully.  “We’ll have to see my boy.  Listen I’ve got my fingers in all sorts of pies at the moment and I can’t say anything right now but maybe I can fill you in a bit more at dinner tomorrow after I’ve spoken to some of my associates?”

“Ok sure.  Sounds like you might be able to turn this information to your advantage, though I’m not sure how and I would caution that it could also turn out to be a false alarm.”

“It could be; let’s hope it is because if it isn’t this could have the effect of turning the world on its head.  But if this does happen we need to be ready to act to protect - and maybe even advance - our own agenda.  Listen I’m going to have to go now as I’m late.  No need to get up you stay and enjoy a few drinks on me”.  Chad proceeded to shake his hand and then waving to Bobby and a couple of other people he left the bar.

A little while later Teri came over with a whiskey to replace David’s now empty glass.

“So are you going to open the pack?”

“The pack? Oh yes the cigarettes I’d forgotten about them”.  He reached open and ripped off the corner of the foil seal.  As Teri looked over he offered her one.

“Thanks I will if you don’t mind.” She sat down on the stool Chad had recently vacated and turned to shout over to Bobby “Bobby I’m on a break, table four needs a refill can you get Felicia to cover it for me”.  Bobby indicated that he’d heard as he poured a drink for a customer at the other end of the bar. 

Teri then reached into her skirt to pull out a lighter and put a cigarette into her perfectly made up lips.  She lit her cigarette, the smoke pulled exorable upwards towards the air conditioning system before holding the lighter closer to him.  He almost missed lighting his cigarette as his eyes were drawn to her low riding uniform.

“How long are you in town David?” She asked.

“Just a couple of days. I’m staying over at the Hilton”.

“The Hilton.  Nice.  Large beds as I recall?”

He saw by her expression that she was providing him with an opening should he wish to take it.  Despite being very much aware that he was in a relationship with Megan Washington suddenly seemed to be a long way away from where he was.

He found himself saying. “They are.  Mr McGovern arranged for me to have a suite, which comes with a King Size – probably far too much space for one person”.  ‘Jesus’ he thought ‘it seemed like he was throwing caution to the wind here as that last statement was definitely flirting with her’.

Teri laughed.  “Sounds like you might need to find some company to share it with”.

He turned his stool back and forth slightly indecisively before answering more confidently.  “Could be, if only I knew someone in Houston looking for an interesting evening?”  Teri reached across him to stub out her cigarette in the ashtray on the bar giving him an opportunity to once again admire her tight fitting top.  “Well David we can’t have you all alone of an evening can we?”

“No I guess not…”

She gave him another glance and then looked over at her colleague Felicia “and exactly how interesting would you like the evening to be”.

Continuing the unspoken conversation he said “Oh as interesting as possible I’d have thought.  You never know - the world could come to an end tomorrow”.

“Oh somebody definitely needs cheering up.  Well what if I was to tell you that both Felicia and I get off at 11.00?  We were going to catch a club but perhaps we might be persuaded to change our plans…?”

He looked over at the other blonde haired waitress serving across the room.

He coughed as he inhaled on his cigarette “Wow.  Well that is very kind of you to offer.  I only hope we can all find something to do.”

“Oh I’m sure we can find one or two things to do”.  As she said this she looked down at his trousers which had become somewhat less spacious than they had been at the start of the conversation.

“I guess I better be getting back to work, before you do yourself a disservice, catch you later big guy”  She laughed and walked away from him back into the main part of the bar.  He found himself reaching for his drink as she reached her friend Felicia.  There was a short whispered conversation and then they both looked over Teri winked at him and gave him a thumbs up.  ‘Woah’ he thought 'if this does turn out to be the end of things as we know it at least tonight looks like being quite some evening’.

The next morning after breakfast Teri and Felicia excused themselves with more than a few kisses and then with a lingering glance at their retreating figures he flicked open his laptop to check his emails.  Of course the first email was from Megan and in the cold light of day he felt a momentary stab of guilt at his indiscretion.  Nevertheless the feeling passed quickly as he rationalised his behaviour in terms of this being a one-time thing and it wasn’t as if he was married or anything?  Neither Teri nor Felicia seemed like the type to want any sort of long term commitment and neither did he – though that hadn’t stopped him from taking both their numbers “for when I’m next in town”.