Read Online Alexandra Singer by Tea at the Grand Tazi - Free Book Online

expecting this work to be finished.”
    “But you must have some enjoyment too, my dear. That is what you come for, no, a new life?”
    For a moment, Maia remained silent. “Well, not only that.”
    “You are too alone. It is never good for a young girl to be too alone.”
    “I am happy.”
    “As you say, my dear, as you say. Come this afternoon, this evening, whenever you wish. Consider this an invite, and you know, one must be invited to visit the bar at the Grand
Tazi,” said Mahmoud proudly, with an unmistakable tinge of snobbery.
    “I’m not sure... ” She was nervous to meet new people, and beginning to enjoy her reclusive lifestyle.
    “But of course you will come!” It was clear that Mahmoud was of a persistent nature.
    “I will come this evening,” said Maia, accepting her fate. There was to be no escape, no more revelling in her self imposed loneliness.
    “You need to see people,” said Mahmoud in a softer voice.
    She could almost imagine him saying he had her best interests at heart. He was so convincing that for a moment Maia forgot that the man barely knew her.
    “Well, that is settled then! Make sure that you bring a bathing suit,” said Mahmoud, and the click on the line signalled the call was over.
    Maia decided to take the least revealing bathing suit she could find. She didn’t know that the Grand Tazi possessed a private pool, but then, thought Maia, why should she? The Historian
had not mentioned it to her. A thought struck her; perhaps the Historian would not be pleased if she were to visit the Grand Tazi. He might consider it an intrusion into the life that he had built
for himself, a life about which he was so secretive. Maia decided to ignore these doubts. She was beginning to resent the Historian; surely in his absence she could visit the Grand Tazi, if she had
been invited. The Historian had left her here, with piles of his work, leaving all of his affairs in disarray, publishers hounding him to return advances, and she, alone in the city. A sudden fury
overtook her; she began to forget how she had arrived here searching for peace and a tranquility in which to concentrate upon her art; she now resolved to immerse herself again in the world.
    Going down into the street, Maia found herself intrigued by Mahmoud’s invitation. She was apprehensive at the prospect of entering his private bar and meeting his ‘regulars’.
Weaving her way through the crowds, all that she was able to hear were the angry voices of shouting men and women and the wail of an ambulance. She could see a mass of people peering round several
police cars, with a camel at the centre of the chaos. Resisting any fruitless attempt at seeing anything further, Maia tore herself from the growing crowd, and continued on her way to the Grand
Tazi.
    Arriving at the hotel, Maia went through the empty foyer until she heard a voice frenetically calling her back. A woman was standing at the desk sporting a visibly black moustache that lined her
upper lip. Maia was unable to tear her eyes away; the thing wriggled. The woman appraised her from top to bottom.
    “I have been invited by Mahmoud. He knows I am coming. Where is the pool and bar?” Past events had disposed Maia to take a harsh position towards other women.
    “It is a long, long way away,” the woman said mysteriously. She then spoilt the effect by smirking widely.
    “Your boss has invited me.” Maia felt herself go pale with hostility. The woman relented, and she bowed low, with a false sycophancy.
    “ Par ici, mademoiselle, ” she said, pointing to a half open door in the corner of the foyer.
    Maia crouched slightly and passed through the windowless, smoky corridor. Crumbling and peculiarly low, the few feet she took seemed endless, until she emerged into the sun.
    A gloomy sight greeted Maia; a dried up old courtyard filled with weeds, a wall at the far end peeling with paint, and a small, square shaped pool with sea monsters carved of stone