2

"Flight AA5413 - Departs scheduled at 5:50pm - Terminal F - Gate 36 - Arrives at 6:56pm in Philadelphia with a layover of approximately 2h13min."

We would have two hours in Philadelphia before embarking on another layover that would leave us another eight hours and fifteen minutes in London. The route is not the smallest, but the results that this trip can bring make any obstacle satisfactory. Ursel was by my side, and of all the most exciting things that happened, having her as a partner was indeed one of the most exciting things, she really seemed to trust me, maybe it's this feeling thing.

I could already predict that for all this time away from home, it would be her and Mr. Gold the closest to me. They were the ones who sat beside me on the plane, patiently waiting for the first leg of our trip to end in one of the most hospitable cities in the United States.

For that short commute, I busied myself reading a few books, ditching the blazer and keeping as casual as possible while putting on my reading glasses and focusing on the tiny letters that seemed smaller each day in these currently published books, loved to take advantage of spaces to render the sheets, it is the only alternative.

I was on a very up-to-date section that cited historical passages from recent discoveries in Cairo, with very up-to-date dates, when the plane entered landing mode and I looked out the window, receiving a sunny Philadelphia. I urged Ursel that at least we could enjoy those hamburgers instead of sitting in the airport and looking at each other's faces in the waiting hall.

We were in a group of 15 people, among them six women and nine men, I knew most of them because they were all from Yale and had already taken some classes in the past, but here it was different, all the treatment had changed, I was a co-worker and not a student with a thirst to learn.

“Lauren, do you have a cable there?” I don't know where I put mine and my phone seems to be losing battery with my breath skimming the screen. – Gold asked me as I moved, laughing at the way her face was creased. I gave up the cable and watched him look for an outlet for his own survival.

He had a more stooped posture, wore a brown jacket, glasses, an almost visible bald head, and the kind of deep look you always know comes from a sleepless night. Delusional mind. Ursel and I were responsible for going in search of the hamburgers, we left our luggage in Gold's supervision and walked side by side to the food court.

“Gold is a little frantic. – She said while touching one of the menus. I understand him, this agitation sometimes even touches me.

“Maybe he just wants to do everything at once. – She laughed at my speech, focusing on the menu and choosing the best she could for each one. It was all up to his European museum, so it wasn't like even if I insisted I could afford it. It is an undeniable good stewardship.

Upon our return, I just sat quietly enjoying my food, before going back to reading my book and focusing exclusively on our long trip to London.

-

It was ten in the morning when our plane landed in London, as the waiting time was even longer, Ursel had already arranged for us to stay in a hotel near the airport. I took the opportunity to take a shower and get rid of the tiredness by resting as much as I could in the huge and comfortable bed, we would leave at five in the morning, to face a few more hours of flight and finally reach our final destination: Cairo.

Just by citing so much information I already felt tired, all this jet lag it was stressful and I confess to needing a good few hours or even a few days to recover perfectly.

When I woke up with my cell phone waking up, I took a quick shower and put on pants, the straightest cut and least marked on my curves, the least you can do when visiting a country with such different customs is to avoid following its rules. Even though in some parts of the city there is a greater flow of tourists and clothing with less fabric is more casual, for the most part, Egypt still had women with long sleeves and high collars.

I put on a white long-sleeved shirt and buttoned it up, covering what I could over my shoulders with my hair., it didn't cover much because I had recently cut it the cut was medium just below the shoulders, but it already helped with something. And sneakers, without exaggeration and heels even for flight comfort. I put on my prescription glasses and grabbed my things, covering myself with my jacket.

I met Ursel and the rest of the group in the hotel lobby, we had time for breakfast and we were going back to the airport. I was excited about what awaited me at that moment, it was the last leg of something unexpected and surprising.

- Anxious? Did you sleep well? – Gold asked me while nibbling his favorite toasts.

— Tiredness helped that I managed to rest a little, but I'm excited, I think we'll have plenty of time to deal with the news. - I replied quietly. I've always been an idealistic woman, I like the way new things can change our lives, I wasn't terrified of that, I left my family in the US with the awareness that I'll do my best wherever and whenever I am, with Yale.

“We'll go downtown Cairo when we get there to see some festivities, you'll like it. – He warned me when I focused and eat my yogurt. Festivities? In my personal book I had not yet arrived at the public festivities and their dates, I was aware of some that included the Muslim population, predominant majority in Egypt, a country that fit in the Arab sphere as one of the most important.

Our arrival went smoother than I anticipated, Gold was met by two men at the airport, they spoke to Ursel and seemed extremely suspicious, but they stayed on to take our luggage, while we went to the center just to visit a little, beastly tourists, I can read it on their faces.

As there were many of us, we divided into taxis and I made a point of taking a scarf from my suitcase to cover myself better, the taxi driver was so friendly and took us to the lively square. I smiled, even though the heat was too much and I felt overdone in fabrics, I accepted that it took getting used to.

Some young women with covered heads seemed to detect that we were too white and strange to be Egyptians, they beckoned us to go in their direction, I gladly accepted the delicate flower that each of them gave in exchange for some money. I put my hand in my pocket to give him the coins, but such a rude bump made me move, looking over my shoulder, it was a large group of men in dark clothes, I bowed when I saw a delicate handkerchief fall, a woman completely covered was walking between him, I touched him lightly on the shoulder to give him back what I had dropped, and everything happened too fast.

Rule number one, don't touch anyone you don't know well enough to have permission to do. The multiple hands that wrapped around my arms and the hard push back made me frown. One of the men grabbed me by the arms, glaring at me as he spoke in Arabic so strong and gruff that I shivered in disconcerted manner.

— I'm not attacking, I returned the handkerchief! – I replied looking at him while trying to show the piece of cloth. He squeezed me tighter, like he didn't understand what I meant.

— Lauren! - Ursel called me scared, I looked at her confused, damn I just wanted to return the woman's cloth. She spoke something Arabic to the man, who roughly grabbed the cloth from my hand and gently touched the woman I tried to help, she just glared at me and walked away with that bunch of stupid troglodytes.

I can swear my face is red, I must seethe with rage. She felt some eyes on me, as if I had committed a sin.

"Watch out for that, he was going to take you to the police station, that one. woman who let us in here! - She said quietly, watching me align my robes and go back and face the girls who seemed to fear something from me. I just gave them the money.

- Who she is? Why were they so stupid? – I asked suspiciously. Ursel covered her neck with her own cream scarf.

— Come on, we're going to have to talk, let's enjoy a little before that. - She said walking with me through the square again. I swallowed hard. It can't possibly have already ruined something. We stayed for almost an hour, enjoying the dance and trying to taste typical foods in the region, until one of those strange men came to talk to Ursel and I didn't understand anything anymore.

We followed a few short stretches of street until we came to a tall building right in the center of Cairo.

I buttoned up the sleeves of my white shirt and wrapped the black scarf around my neck, looking across the monumental expanse of the hotel in front of us, floor to ceiling gold. Ursel gave me a sideways look encouraging me to climb more of the steps and be the first to face the impact of that country's culture on my life. It was noticeable by the women on the street, the looks of the men, the clothes they wore, the way they carried themselves around strangers.

“Hurry up, the princess cannot wait beyond what has been scheduled. – A tall man with a lush beard and a well-tailored suit approached us in a thick accent, speaking to our group of historians. I followed Ursel into the hotel and it was so oddly impactful to look at the row of men who were in the central hall lined up side by side in black robes with high collars, their gazes around each of us.

Stupidly intimidating to have so many security guards.

— Central hall to the end, turn left, there are 15 people, confirm for me. – The same man asked Ursel.

— Yes, there are 15 people, 6 women and 9 men. - She answered immediately. He just nodded asking us to go. The meticulous analysis of the security guards guided us to the end of the hall with a very high baseboard, the green leaves and the ostentatious decoration gave us high sliding doors made of old-fashioned and shiny material, like sophisticated wood.

— Your Highness.

The male voice asked politely, and I turned away from Ursel, feeling my skin burn deep as I looked at the woman in a long golden gown that covered her entire body, the long sleeves tighter, the gold strands elegant, her hair covered with exactly anything out of place, the jewelry around her neck, the bracelets around her hands with gloves, long and ostentatious earrings and the scarf over her mouth and nose that covered her face, leaving only her eyes outlined in black outlined in sight. An intense curiosity burned within me to know what his face looked like.

That she doesn't remember me and our wrong contact in the center of the city, that will be terrible if she hates me and hinders our research, or even manages, with the ease of a snap of her fingers, to expel me from her country for some accusation of disrespect.

She looked over her shoulder and stood where she was, looked up and Ursel asked us to go towards the woman. Damn it. I walked towards her with Ursel and our group of historians, my legs wanted to flee because they craved safety and not that confused madness, but I came to a stop a safe distance from the woman, and it was at the exact moment that her eyes left Ursel and were for me, as discriminatory as I thought. She accused me with those devastating brown eyes.

- I know you. Her voice was disturbingly low and pervasive in perfectly rendered clean English, as if it reached up from the depths of her throat and scratched at him.

“Unfortunately not in the best way, ma'am. – I didn't hold back from pouring myself out in a desperate attempt to break up my earlier mess. She seemed to resign herself.

— Your Highness. – His correction made me bubble. Damn it, shut the fuck up Jauregui, don't open the fuck up your mouth, you only say things that compromise you more! My mantra was my starting point to think better about what I said, it should be better with such honorable titles for a historian, what would she think of me? A supposed woman so studied calling her a simple Lady?

“We apologize for any misunderstandings earlier, Your Highness. We came to your country for nothing more than studies that generate good results for our peoples, we are not here with pretensions that will cause you any inconvenience, I am sure that Miss Jauregui did not mean to discuss with her personal security. – Ursel was better at justifying my earlier confusion.

She threw me her brown eyes, the long lashes curled perfectly and methodically. It even made me curious to touch it to mess something up, their perfect alignment made me nauseous with anticipation. Her posture remained rigid in superiority as I sucked it up and silently depended on this woman not hating me to keep my job. Do not hate me.

— My security guards are here to protect my well-being, my relationship with parliamentarians in that country is not the best, they have me as an enemy, if it is against those who protect me, then it is against me, and I ardently demand that they not be against me, of all the mistakes in choices, this is the worst of them.

I swallowed vigorously. She made a loud and clear threat to me in front of all my co-workers. Require. She doesn't ask, or request, she require. Ordinary woman, of course... who do I think I am to go up against an idiot security guard Princess of Egypt? Nobody, of course.

"Did you hear me Miss?" She appears to be deaf.