Surrept (6 page)

The room is almost bare; just a table with four chairs where a chunky Middle Eastern man with a broad mustache rises from the table smiling at him and extending his arms.

The man approaches him with a hug and kisses both sides of his face "
A Salaam a Legum
."

Ahmed responds to his greeting "
A Legum a Salaam
."

The man motions for Ahmed to sit down at the table. He speaks in their tongue. "You look well, Ahmed. The time off has done you well. Praise is to Allah you have arrived. What happened yesterday?"

Ahmed answers in his tongue. "I did not get the message that you had returned until late in the afternoon, and please forgive me"

He looks at him. "Ahmed, the call has come and we are now many. Are you ready to keep your promise?"

Ahmed speaks as if offended. "Of course, that is why I am here."

"You shall be a part of history that has never before been considered by this world, give praise to Allah. We all shall live the rest of our lives by his favor. Does anyone other than you know about this?" Ahmed looks at the man with conviction, "No, no one, I would never share this with anyone."

The man stares deep into Ahmed's eyes as if to read his heart. Ahmed feels fear come over him as the man reaches down next to the table and picks up a large briefcase. He sets it on the table between them and opens it, blocking Ahmed's view. Ahmed moves his hand against the briefcase just in case this goes wrong.

The man sets a new Macintosh laptop along with cords, a charger, a broadband module, and a flash drive on the table. He closes the case and returns it to the floor. Ahmed looks at him curiously and waits.

"Ahmed, this is a Mac not a PC. Do you know this system?"

"Yes, it is popular with many students here in the U.S."

He pushes it all toward Ahmed, "This is a gift to you, there is only one copy of the flash drive, don't lose it."

"You need to review these files and memorize them, then destroy the laptop and the flash drive after you receive your first and only message. It will come online and tell you when to proceed. Then destroy everything as soon as possible."

Ahmed nods to him as he gathers the equipment.

The man speaks while Ahmed places the items in his backpack. "It is brand new and has only been used by me to prepare you and the others, who have all received the same gift. Ahmed, this is for you to gain the information you need, no one is to get this. Do you understand?"

Ahmed nods as he maintains eye contact.

"You are reviewing the flash drive, memorize it and then destroy it all, only by fire, do you understand?"

Ahmed's mind is filled with the images of his family as he answers him. "I understand: review, memorize, and destroy by fire only, as soon as possible."

"Good, now is the time for clear minds and focus." Ahmed puts his backpack over his shoulder, looks at him confidently, and replies, "Is there anything else I need to know?"

The round man smiles as he answers. "Just one thing Ahmed. You remind me so much of your father. He would be proud to see the man you have become."

They both stand. "You think so?"

He grabs Ahmed's shoulder. "I know so." He smiles and slaps Ahmed on the shoulder.

The man walks out of the office, turns the light off, exits the room and shuts the door. Ahmed waits a few minutes before he leaves the building and then walks quickly back to the van.

Ahmed arrives back at the market and goes inside with his backpack. Omar, in the storage area preparing his deliveries, meets him. Omar smiles at him and waves him over.

"How did it go with your class schedules?"

"It went good; I got all of the classes I wanted."

"I am sure that you will do as well in your studies as you did last term. I have already prepared most of the deliveries for you except for the perishable items. You will have to pull those, but everything else is ready. Have you had lunch?"

"I will put my things away, eat, and then load the van."

Omar sets down a box on the delivery table. "I will prepare lunch. What would you like today?"

"Anything that is easy. I want to get all of the deliveries done. I have some school work to do as soon as I get back."

Omar smiles and shakes his head as he turns to go prepare lunch.

Ahmed heads down to the basement to hide his backpack. He stashes it in some boxes that are never gone into.

He sets two boxes on top of it. He goes into the bathroom to wash his hands and face and catches himself looking into the mirror again. He grabs the towel, wipes his face, and returns upstairs for lunch. He did not eat what Kari had prepared that morning; he was too nervous before his meeting at the university.

Ahmed sits down at the table in the back. He watches Kari and Omar through the door laugh as they work together. There are no customers in the store, as lunch has ended.

Omar and Kari come in carrying lunch, and Omar sets a huge sandwich in front of Ahmed. "Here is one of my famous sandwiches, the Omar special."

"Thank you, Omar. This looks great—you read my mind."

Omar and Kari sit down. "We have gotten used to you being part of our family. You work hard at everything you do, and we appreciate that."

Kari says, "We have had an increase in all things since you came to stay with us. We give praise each day for you being in our life."

Ahmed is overwhelmed by their hospitality, and love; he does not really know how to handle it. "And I you for being in my life, thank you." Ahmed attacks the Omar special.

***

At the ad agency, Adriana Pucci is working at her desk putting together a large file for David Bloomfield. Her printer stops and she reviews the pages, arranging them in proper order.

She places other documents stacked neatly on her desk and adds them to the file, then reviews the entire file once again.

Satisfied with her work, she gets up from her desk and checks herself in the mirror on the wall. She raps on David's office door as she enters. David is standing at the window with his back to her, his shoulders are broad and his butt fits nicely in his slacks as he turns toward her.

"Hey, there she is. What have you got for me there?"

She approaches him. "David, here is your travel file for the Kiatsu account; I believe everything is complete and in order. Do you have a few minutes to go over it?"

She hands him a large file; he sits down, offers her a chair by gesture, and opens the file on his desk to review.

"Let's see what we have here."

She seizes the opportunity to impress. "In the first clip you have your itinerary for travel; round trip e-tickets confirmed first class, hotel accommodations, and private airport transportation at both ends."

David flips through.

"The second clip has a cheat sheet in the phonics of Korean greetings, customs, and short phrases you may need during your trip, so I would suggest you could study them on the plane."

David turns the pages as she recites.

"The third clip is a schedule of your meetings and presentation. I got the information from the vice president's assistant at Kiatsu, and she pumped me for your likes and dislikes such as food preferences, room view, beverage preferences, and so forth. The fourth clip is an overview of all the names and titles of those who will be present during the presentation, including their assistants, also in phonics translation. Clip five has copies of your company American Express and Visa cards. They're both unlimited, and the cards themselves are attached in the small manila file with two flash drives, one each of the presentation in English and Korean. The other drive contains your PowerPoint presentation which I reviewed, and I must say, David, it is brilliant. You do great work."

She went on, "In addition, I have already sent via Fed-Ex fifty copies of the presentation, and copies of the two flash drives to Kiatsu in your name this morning. Finally, I have arranged a car to pick you up at home three hours before your departure and the driver will call you one hour prior to arrival to validate. All you need is your luggage, and don't forget your passport."

David looks through the file and identifies the manila envelope with cards and flash drives, and he nods his head in approval. "Well, Miss Pucci, you certainly keep my act here together and make my life easy; thanks Adriana, great job. Shit, maybe you should be the one going to Seoul."

Adriana looking sharp, professional, but seductive, as she holds a pen to her lips, looks at him. "Is that an invitation, Mr. Bloomfield?"

David realizes he just trapped himself with the wrong comment in trying to give her praise. He looks right at her dark-brown eyes and delivers his recovery, "As much as I would feel more comfortable with you there to translate and keep me ahead of the language and cultural obstacles, I don't think the brass would pop for it."

Adriana displays a mock pouting face. "I'll just stay here and prepare for the deluge of media and print buys and set up potential dates for the television commercial shoots." Adriana rises and struts in her heels in front of his desk. "I'll start reviewing audience color responses, the style choices on the target market, and other insignificant things like that. Because my boss will be across the world acquiring the biggest account this agency has ever seen."

David smiles at her enthusiasm. "You are Tony Robbins and Sammy Fox all wrapped up in one package, and my very own personal cheerleader. Where did we find you?"

Adriana gets up. "Marci Romero here in public relations stole me away from PBS when she was there on a public service shoot, and she saw me translating in three languages. She called it a talent robbery. But you would have known that if you reviewed my resume and bio. And by the way, David," she makes for the door with that walk that rocks and opens it as she turns to him, "I was head cheerleader in high school and college, and I still have my uniforms, and they fit." She closes the door softly as she exits.

David sits in his chair staring at the door as if smoldering to the floor and mimics Jim Carey. "Smokin'."

Late that afternoon the delivery van pulls behind the market as Ahmed returns from his deliveries.

He gets out of the van with his clipboard and goes inside where Omar is checking inventory with an electric ordering device that his import purveyor gave him to make his orders and maintain par levels for the store.

Ahmed hands Omar the clipboard. "All the deliveries were made except one to the lady at the fairgrounds. There was no one there again. It is dry goods only, so I left her order in the van. She will probably call tomorrow. I left her a note."

Omar, disgusted by the customer's repeat behavior, goes off on one of his tangents. "When she calls I will tell her that if she does this again, she will be charged a delivery fee from now on. What are the total delivery sales for the day?"

Ahmed points to the clipboard. "I think it was around four hundred thirty something. It's all there on the clipboard. The cash and checks are in the envelope."

Omar looks over the reconciliation. "Are you hungry, Ahmed?" Omar always wants to feed everyone. Food is his way of thanking people and showing his affection and gratitude.

Ahmed gestures to his stomach. "I'm still full from lunch today, maybe later. I have some work to do with my studies."

Omar nods and waves him off.

Ahmed makes his way downstairs to his room in the basement; he quietly closes the door and locks it. He takes off his jacket and falls on the bed tired from the day, he begins to fall asleep and then jumps up realizing his deadline. He goes into the bathroom to wash his face and revive himself. Ahmed drinks water from his cupped hands at the sink. He remembers that the water was as precious to him and his family when he was a child.

He remembers carrying water back to his family home with his brother and sisters during the conflict in Iraq. Remembering when he was young that supplies and public services were all interrupted by the aerial bombings, the fact that they survived in Iraq was a miracle. He removes the backpack from the box where he had stashed it and places the laptop and accessories onto a table. Ahmed connects the power cord to the laptop and the wall outlet and then plugs in the flash drive. The audio alert sounds off that it recognized the flash drive and Ahmed settles in a chair to review the contents.

The clock radio alarm goes off and is set to the channel for Islamic prayers; the Middle Eastern music fills the basement. Ahmed is startled and surprised once again that he has forgotten the time and his prayers.

He gets up, removes his shoes, and rushes into the bathroom to wash up again. He grabs his prayer rug and unrolls it. He then falls to his knees as the voice of an imam begins the prayers.

Ahmed forces the tasks ahead out of his mind and immerses himself into prayer, where he finds his greatest comfort and peace.

After prayers he sits in the dark basement and views the content contained on the flash drives. Ahmed is blown away by what he is looking at. A knock at the door interrupts him.

Ahmed shuts off the computer and closes the screen as he gets up and rushes for the door. He turns on the light and unlocks the door to find Kari standing there with a tray of food. She notices his posture and the intense atmosphere Ahmed projects.