Chapter 7: Distraction

The next morning Eleanor and I left the house early, leaving Chris to nurse his hangover alone. He wouldn't have been up anyway, so we - Eleanor - just left a note saying we were going out.

The sun was beating down. It was less than a ten minute walk over to the medina. Djema el-Fna. I had never been before, but I assumed Eleanor had.

I was a lot calmer than I was last night and just wanted to forget the whole thing. We weren't mad at each other or anything - but we hadn't spoken since we got out of the house. The walk so far was silent.

I turned to Eleanor. "Hey El..." I began.

"Yes, sweetheart?" She asked, turning to me.

"I don't think I ever asked you why you had a house in Morocco anyway. Is that a usual thing for you...buying property in foreign countries?"

"Oh, no", she scoffed. "I'm not that rich. Anyway, I didn't buy it." Eleanor paused. "It's my husband's place."

So, Eleanor is married. How could I have not known that?

"Well my ex husband." She continued.

"Oh." So she was divorced. I still didn't know that. She certainly didn't seem like it, but how does one seem divorced anyway?

"His family's Moroccan, but he was born in England and when we divorced, I asked for the house here. The home he did business from occasionally. Instead of...anyway, I said he could have our home back in Liverpool. He didn't want it, so it was sold. He left me the profit...which I didn't expect." She trailed off.

"You didn't want it?" I asked. "The one in England?"

"No, I... I wanted to get away. Plus the place here is old and they were gonna sell it so...So that's why I signed up to teach English here instead. A fresh start. We had travelled down here a bunch of times anyway. I knew my way around...for the most part."

"I had no idea you were married." I mused aloud.

"I don't usually tell people right away." Eleanor laughed. "It wasn't even that long ago. The divorced had only been finalized a few weeks before we met on the plane."

"Oh," I said. It made me think back on our meeting in a whole different way. Eleanor was recently divorced and about to permanently move to a new place. I originally thought of her as one of those annoying overly happy travellers, but all she wanted was the company of two strangers when she probably felt at her lowest. It made me feel worse than I already did about all the things I assumed about her. She just cares a lot.

When we arrived at the medina, it was just a bustle of commotion. It was crowded with a lot of tourists and locals. There were storytellers...People trying to get you to buy their henna tattoos, juice, spices, carpets, or jewelry. Eleanor and I continued to walk and look around. We hadn't yet decided to stop anywhere.

"So tell me more about this man, the one who let you stay the night," She said with a cheeky grin.

She had answered some my invasive questions. I guess it was only fair I answered her.

"Well, I was on my way home from the store," I began." ...But then I saw there was this man who was being attacked by a bunch of ...thugs." I didn't know what to call them. Isort of shrugged like it was no big deal.

We were interrupted by men came over to us with a bunch of hand-made jewellery adorning their hands. "Ladies you buy...you buy," One said gesturing to a necklace.

"No thank you. I'm sorry, but no thank you." Eleanor kept repeating. She brushed them off as politely as she could. Typical Eleanor. "You didn't intervene, did you?" She asked me, as we continued walking.

"No, but after I followed him home to return something they tried to take from him. Uh, we talked for a bit at his place. I kind of left - sort of - then came back. Some time had passed and it got kind of late, so he let me stay the night. That's all. I barely know him."

"Oh, OK," was all she said.

"What?" I smiled at her, suspiciously.

"I didn't say anything." Eleanor shrugged.

I raised an eyebrow at her. "But you were thinking something?"

"Just that those seem like a very interesting series of events." She replied, grinning.

"They were," I agreed. "Last night was pretty interesting."

"But I do have one question." Eleanor began. "Are you planning on seeing this guy again?"

"I don't know, maybe." I lied. Than answer was yes, obviously. "Why? Would there be a problem if I did?" I asked her.

"I mean there has to be a reason he was attacked by thugs, right?" She asked. "So he probably isn't someone you want to get involved with."

"I don't even know that they were thugs. They were just guys who attacked some helpless man and who said anything about getting involved?" I asked, getting defensive.

"Get involved. Be friends. Whatever. It just - wouldn't be smart," she said.

I hated when Eleanor got this way. Her and Chris both were so preachy and all knowing and always going on about what's best for me. What books I should read, what historical sites I should see, what foods I should try, yada. It got tiring after a while no matter how good the intentions. I think I prefered the questions.

"Anyway the attack was just...random." I told her.

"You know that for sure?" She questioned.

I didn't, but I answered anyway. "Yeah. He 's an older guy. Late thirties- and he can barely walk." I embellished a bit so El would think Bane was more helpless than he really was . "Like I told you, he's injured."

"Oh, OK. My bad then. I just think you should just be smart about the whole thing."

"I think you're reading way too much into this." I said, shaking my head.

"I have a sixth sense about these things." Eleanor mused.

I began taking a closer look around. Looking for things like clothes, but I didn't see any of that at all. Just a lot of bodies. Perfect for disappearing into.

"Um, Eleanor. I don't think there's a lot of clothes shopping to do here," I noted.

"I think you're right," She said.

"I thought you've been here before. It's like less than an hour away from the house." I said to Eleanor.

"No I've only heard of it... I guess I just assumed." She laughed. "We can still look around though. There's still performances, and jewellery to buy I guess. We can go to the mall later if you want."

Passing a circle of tourists, I glanced down the medina as a familiar head of dark brown hair caught my eye by one of the alleyways. Barsad. What was he doing here? Bane couldn't have been with him, but he was standing with a man though.

"I'm going to go look at something. I'll be back, OK," I said to Eleanor, not even looking at her anymore. I was already starting to walk away.

"Yeah sure. I'll be over here getting some...orange juice I think," she called out.

I headed closer to Barsad and the man. I was too far to hear exactly what they was saying. The man he was with, a native probably, had walked away and it revealed saw a small brown paper package in Barsad's left hand the size of a VHS tape.

"Barsad." I called out as I approached. "Hey. What are you doing here?" I asked.

"Business, so leave me alone and go back to your little friend," he said, flipping me off. His eyes never met mine for more than a second. He kept glancing around like he was looking for someone.

I smiled a little, despite his tone. He knew I was with someone. So that must have meant he must have saw me since before I began walking over...and that he saw me trying to spy.

"Who was that guy you were with?" I asked like I had actually expected him to answer.

"I was right about you...fucking distraction," he said bitterly, finally looking down and facing me.

"Excuse me?" What did he mean he was right about me being a distraction? I don't know how I felt about them talking about me while I wasn't around.

"How about you stop worrying about what I do," He said. "If you know what's good for you," he added. "You shouldn't even be here."

"So I can't walk around in a public place?" I asked. I knew I probably shouldn't have been so bold in coming up to him when we had only just met and he was acting all sketchy, but I liked pushing his buttons. "Anyway, I was just making conversation. Why are you getting so defensive?"

"I'm not," He was fidgety with his hands in his pockets and kept looking off in the distance.

"Yeah you are. You have something to hide. You keep looking around."

When I said that, Barsad stopped looking around and instead looked deep into my eye with a cocky smile on his face that was neither kind nor sincere. He was trying to prove me wrong. He chuckled. "No, I do not."

"Well, whatever you say. This place is pretty boring, so I can't think of any other reason for you to be here anyway." I told him. "So where's Bane?"

"Getting a kebab. Where do you think?" Barsad spat back, sarcastically.

"Alright, I deserve that for asking such a dumb question." I said.

"Dammit," he said, still clutching the package in is hand.

"What is it?" I asked.

"I need to give this thing to Bane right away, but I'm supposed to meet someone first and he's late."

"Oh... Well I could give it to him if you want." I offered.

"No..." he began, shaking his head. "I don't think that's such a good idea."

"Honestly, it wouldn't be a problem." I tried to assure him.

"You really want to go?" He asked me, like he assumed I had something better to do.

"If it'll help Bane or whatever, then I'll do it. He's been...nice to me."

Barsad just looked at me for a moment. Then he spoke."Fine. Here. Just remember that I didn't force you to do anything and you tell him that."

What did that even mean I wondered.

"You can go down there and give it to him, but don't even think about looking inside this thing," he warned me.

"I wont," I assured him again. "So you trust me then?" I asked after a moment.

"I'm very good at reading people," he told me. "So yeah, I think I can."

I wanted to tell him how wrong he was, but decided against it.

"Any chance you'll tell me what's in it?" I asked teasingly. I didn't really think he would.

"Don't make me change my mind about sending you," He smirked. "Hey, If you're lucky, maybe he'll let you take a peak inside."

I laughed. I doubted that, but at least I finally had a reason to see Bane again.

"Take this." Barsad went into his pocket and held out a small flip phone for me to take.

"Um, why?" I asked, taking it from him carefully.

"So I can call and make sure you actually delivered it..." he replied.

"I could just lie to you if I wanted," I reminded him.

"You won't," Barsad said with assurance.

"Also, can't you just call Bane?" I asked. "He has a phone right?"

"And to make sure nothing happens to you," he finished and shrugged, but he didn't meet my eyes.

"Oh... Thanks," I said quietly. It was nice to know that he was looking out for me. In today's world no one could really be safe.

"Yeah," he muttered, turning back to me. "The subway's that way." Barad said, pointing down the street. "Alright now get outta here,"

"I know...See you later." I walked away from him and looked around for Eleanor. I couldn't see her anywhere. I had almost forgotten about her. I would have to call her cell and tell her she can take off without me.

"Hey!" Barsad shouted from a distance.

I turned around. "What is it?" I called back.

"If you think this place's boring, come back here at night," he smirked. "It'll liven up a bit. I promise."

A/N: Another chapter on the way. Trying not to be as slow with updates this time.

Wanted to post this right away so nothing is edited or double checked, so if you see any mistakes (even small ones) please PM me and tell me. I would appreciate it because I sometimes miss things when I go over it.