There she was the following afternoon. Sitting next to her husband. Just as he had seen her the first time. She avoided his long, hungry look as he sat in the lounge. She didn’t know the madness of his passion, or she wouldn’t provoke him so. She got up and went upstairs. As their eyes met for a moment, there was a clear warning in her glance. What does her look mean? The old man hadn’t changed in his behavior toward her. He was too old to hide his emotions. Saber thought of following her, but as though she had read his thoughts, she raced up the stairs.

His money was running out. The search had become nothing more than a meaningless farce. The nights followed in the same monotonous pattern. A meal and heavy drinking. Hope by midnight. Waiting in the dark, night after night.

“Someone called you today,” said the doorman one evening as Saber returned, drunk as usual. The telephone. Its ring lacked the excitement and anticipation it had had previously. But still a miracle could always occur.

“A woman’s voice,” continued the doorman, noticing Saber’s indifference.

“Concerning the advertisement?”

“No. She just asked if you were here.”

Elham. He had not seen her for a couple of days. His mood was such…He lay in the dark. A knock on the door. He jumped up like a maniac, opened the door, and dragged her violently inside.

“You!” he almost screamed out. He pulled her savagely toward the bed, unable to contain his passion. “You, damn you, you devil!”

“You’re tearing my skin,” she cried.

“You tore my nerves.”

“What about me! Don’t you know how I felt?”

He tried to tear off her gown, but she struggled.

“No, no don’t. It’s dangerous. I’ve got to tell you something, then I must leave.”

“The devil himself can’t save you now,” he snarled.

“Shut up! You’re drunk. One false move, and you’ll spoil everything.”

He sat her down on the bed. “What happened?”

“When I returned to my flat the last time I was here, he was awake. I made the usual excuses for being out of the room. But I think Aly Seriakous, the porter, saw me. I’m not sure, but I’m very scared.”

“You’re imagining things.”