Chapter Two - Al Simhara

After a long, exhausting flight Laura arrives in Al Simhara at 8am. There's so much she wants to see and do - she wants to visit the local market, try the local cuisine, see the pyramids and the Sphinx and so much more. But upon arriving at the campsite where she'll be staying she promptly gets distracted by a pygmy shrew, and goes and spends half an hour staring at it. Hey, she's an animal lover, what're you going to do!

When she finally prises herself away from the shrew (who wasn't sure what to make of all the attention) she heads into town to visit the market. First stop: the bookstore. Laura browses for a while, but can't decide what to buy. And of course she has a more important purchase to make: a camera! She wanders over to the general store and asks the sales assistant there about cameras. She discovers that she can't afford the most expensive camera (those things are seriously pricey!), so she buys a Channon Outlaw EC instead. That still sets her back $850, but it's so worth it.

And then it's time to take her first photo! So exciting! She wants to get a good shot, so after discussing the local area with the shop assistant she heads up to a secluded spot where she can (apparently) get an amazing view of some of the pyramids. Pyramids! Wow! And the shop assistant was definitely telling the truth about how amazing the view is from there. So Laura's first photo is of two of Al Simhara's famous pyramids. She just can't get over how stunning this place is....

It turns out that photography is more expensive than Laura had expected. If she wants to be able to take more photos during her holiday she really needs some extra cash. And how to get it? Well, by selling her photos, of course! The sales assistant had told her that local resident Yousseff Nagi is a keen artist, and sometimes buys photos to help provide him with inspiration for his work. So she decides to go and introduce herself to him and see if he's interested in purchasing her photo.

And he turns out to be a really nice guy. They chat for a while, and he invites her to stay for dinner. When she finally dares broach the subject of him buying her photo, he asks to see it and then tells her it's a wonderful photo and he'd love to buy it off her. He gives her $83 for it, which will allow her to take a few more photos, and maybe even buy the photography book she'd seen earlier at the bookstore. By the time she leaves (at 3am! How did that happen?) they have become firm friends, and have agreed to meet the next day to go for a walk together.

The next day really flies by. Laura sleeps late after her late night, and when she gets up she heads to the market to get some lunch and buy the photography book she wanted. Before she has a chance to read it Yousseff calls her and suggests that they meet for a walk. So off they go, past the Sphinx and some of the pyramids before ending up at a small campsite, which is deserted other than them. They sit by the fire for a while, and then Yousseff compliments Laura's personality, telling her that he's never met anyone who's so much of an animal lover. They flirt for a while, and then Yousseff suddenly excuses himself and rushes off, muttering something about a prior engagement. Laura is sad to see him go, but decides to spend the night at the little campsite. Before bed she finally gets to read her book!

Laura spends the whole of the next day worrying about the way Yousseff had left the evening before. She decides to go round to his house to ask him why he left so suddenly, but it was dark before she'd plucked up the courage to actually go. He seemed pleased to see her, but nervous, and she didn't understand why. They were stood outside chatting awkwardly when he suddenly leaned in and kissed her. After the kiss he whispered into her ear: "You're so beautiful Laura".

And before she left for the airport to head back to Redwood Harbour, well, one thing led to another.... Laura didn't feel any regrets as she got into the taxi to go and catch her 'plane, but she did wonder if sleeping with Yousseff was really a good idea. After all, she barely knew the man, and he lived so far away. And a nagging voice in her mind kept asking "Why was he acting so strangely? Do you think that maybe, just maybe, he was worried that someone else might find out that he was flirting with you? Someone like, say, a girlfriend...?"