Chapter 12

The following day, whilst Bobby had the Ford to take the others around, he went to the military tailors to have a new uniform made along with a couple of shirts. He was conscious of the fact that his current one was showing the signs of wear and age.

The tailors assured him it would be ready by the following day. He caught a taxi and gave instructions for the Cairo Museum and spent four hours meandering amongst the exhibits, not being too surprised to run into Prof as he was about to leave. It seemed he had been examining the ruins of Memphis for the past few days and was here at the museum to check up on some details appertaining to Memphis.

“Prof, why don’t you have a night on the town, meet a girl, have some fun.”

“Boss, doing what I’m doing is fun for me,” he said smiling.

Shaun shook his head in dismay as he left him there to return to the hotel. He found Bobby, Bill, and Tim in the bar and went over to join them.

It seemed they had been out with the three girls for lunch and were meeting them here for dinner later.

“So how is it going with them?” Shaun asked.

Bobby smiled, “Not too bad at the moment. Carol’s a great gir, l full of fun. How is it with the two stripes?”

“Oh, we’re having dinner tomorrow night so I’ll want the Ford.”

“Carol was talking about her. She was surprised she accepted your lunch date. Seems she doesn’t go out all that much with other men. She was engaged to a pilot who was killed in Malta in the early days over there. Her father runs one of the intelligence sections at headquarters, quite high up in the pecking order by all accounts.”

He left them to it to have an early night.

The following afternoon he picked up his uniform and shirts, having been satisfied with the fit. Back in the hotel he had his hair cut. It had grown shaggy out at the base, curling around his neck. Now looking in the mirror of the hairdresser’s shop he looked a little more like a soldier he thought.

He spent the day reading and glancing at his watch. I’m acting like a kid on his first date, he realised. He left instructions at the reception desk to have the Ford washed and polished before going to his room to change.

He pulled up by her block of flats. The doorway had little labels of the occupant’s names so he scanned the list, finding her name at the bottom against flat twelve, and pressed the button.

Her voice came over the speaker, “Shaun, the door should be open. Come on up; I’m at the top.”

He heard the click of the door and opened it, entering a wide corridor with plants strategically placed along it. A stairway was to one side, but at the end of the corridor was a lift. He entered it and pressed twelve.

On exiting the lift he found there was only one door with the number twelve on it. He pressed the doorbell and the door flew open, revealing Sharon.

She smiled. “Come on in. I’m running a little late and need to finish my makeup,” as she drew him into the room. “There’s drinks on the cabinet so you make one for yourself and I’ll have what you have,” she said, leaving him to go into another room.

It was a large lounge with a mixture of traditional Egyptian and European furniture that all seemed to match. A large cream coloured settee and two matching armchairs surrounded a low brass coffee table of Egyptian design. One wall contained the bookshelves that were crammed with books. In another corner stood a modern radio with a record player to one side and underneath were piles of records. He found the drinks cabinet and was surprised to find vodka amongst the wide selection of drinks available. In the small fridge at the side of it he found the tonics and ice bucket.

He poured out two and took them over to the coffee table. Leaving hers on it he took his over to the bookshelves.

The books covered a multitude of subjects; some were written in Hebrew and others in Arabic whilst he noticed German and French titles amongst them and was slightly amazed at the sheer volume of the books on display.

“Most of them are Daddy’s.” A voice said behind him. He turned and she was standing there beside the coffee table. She was wearing a pale blue sheath cocktail dress with a halter neck. She wore no jewellery except for gold studs in her ears. Her hair had a black velvet band to hold it in place behind her head. Her eyes had a sparkle in them as she looked at him,