The small mall in Molenbeek neighborhood was almost empty at that time of the noon. Khaled was picking up some small items and putting them in a small plastic basket then he went to the cashier to pay. He looked up and their eyes met.
No. It was not actually a coincidence. Khaled knew that Zohra worked there irregularly. She used to substitute for another girl every now and then. He was looking forward to arrange this meeting.
He would have been completely disappointed had he not found in Huda’s email significant information. This was what he thought at the beginning. The only significant emails were between her and a person called Dr. Bernard Jansenz. It was evident that he was the architect of the whole operation. The last email he sent was, ‘The commodity has arrived. Everything ended safely.’
The date of the email coincides with the date on which the Moroccan Mona Lisa arrived in the American Museum, was hung up on its place and throwing him in the prison waiting for his trial.
Huda most probably then did not work directly with the gang except for exchanging some messages he could read.
He was lucky because Muadh considered such challenges the most entertaining thing ever. He looked up the name doctor Bernard Jansenz in the Yellow Pages. There were not many Bernards teaching History in a university in Brussels.
Within few minutes, he found out his residence in Waterloo. They decided to watch his villa for a day without drawing attention hoping to know some bits of information.
Waterloo is a neat, serene town. It could have been neglected and considered insignificant had it not that the famous French leader, Napoleon, chose it unwillingly to be the site of his last battle some day in June 1815 against four armies armed to the teeth. Waterloo then has become a touristic destination that displays everything that has to do with the battle such as works of art and cinema clips.
Khaled was walking around the site with a broken heart. What if Tangier found somebody who would exert all that effort for her? How many people from all around the world would visit her and fall in love with her?
He thought that with some negligence, the site of the battle would not have enjoyed that importance. By the end of the day, it was a place where a battle took place. Nevertheless, people there knew how to create achievements from nothing, whereas in Tangier, they succeeded in making nothing from everything!
He remembered the antiquities that Tangier was abounded with—the tomb of Ibn Battuta, Perdicaris Palace, Muhanned Shukri House, Harris Villa, Paul Bowles House, the Portuguese monuments etc. The touristic beauty of one of these places may exceed Waterloo site altogether.
They climbed the stairs of that green, grassy pyramid. They were trotting and panting. There was a stone lion that overlooked panoramically the whole place and Brussels. Khaled deposited a coin in a telescope that some people claim it would enable you to see the whole city of Brussels within a stone’s throw.
The sight made Khaled hold his breath. There were some tourists taking photos, and Bernard’s villa was plain with the naked eye from there as Khaled noticed. He had an amusing idea which he carried out. He turned the telescope to the villa, so it looked clearer and closer.
Khaled deposited another coin and continued watching the villa. A girl left the villa and was adjusting her clothes. Her features looked clearly Moroccan.
The girl took a microbus as Khaled was watching her astounded by the magnitude of the surprise. Is it a good surprise that would benefit him achieve what he came for or will she be another poisoned candy wrapped in shining piece of paper?
He remembered Huda then. He remembered her evil plan with which she baited him. Was it his right to use the same plan to reach that girl whose name was Zohra especially that it would be his best way to reach his goal?
It was ok. He would do it because his intention was good unlike Huda’s. However, did anyone ever say the road to hell is not paved with good intentions? He, by all means, was sure that he was not willing to inflict harm on other people. He would make sure not to do it.
Muadh managed to reach the Facebook account of Zohra. Khaled spent long times in the blue world again. He was closely awaiting Zohra. He was maneuvering and going around the bushes. He used to comment, make fun, and provoke her. At last, he managed to achieve his goal of daily communication with Zohra.
Shall he ask her for a rendezvous? It would be an ill-calculated adventure because the ‘delete’ button was still available on Facebook, and girls unfortunately love using it a lot.
In that way, he obtained more information and knew that Zohra worked in that mall. Accordingly, he arranged for the rendezvous. As he wanted his plan to be more perfect, he did not stay long with Zohra. He said ‘hi’ to her, wished her good luck, and left. Throwing the net carefully is far better than using the fishhook violently.