WHO IS IT?

It was the elevator lobby of the Dubai Hilton. She was standing there, dressed in a short, shining, blue dress, waiting for the elevator. The doors of the elevator in the far corner opened and she rushed to get in. Not noticing the man coming out, she collided with him and the bag fell out of her hand.

She took hold of herself and said: "Извините пожалуйста."

The man bent down, picked up the bag and handing it over, said: "Ничего страшного!"

She looked at the man, dressed in a fawn safari suit, with astonishment and said: "Вы из России?"

The man said, with a smile: "К сожалению, нет."

The elevator doors closed and pressing the button again,she said: "Вы хорошо говорите по-русски?"

The man again smiled and said: "Вам виднее."

She said: "Можно обратиться к вам за помощью?"

"Смотря в чем!"

She reached inside her bag, brought out a visiting card and handing it to him said: "Если вы хотите помочь, пожалуйста, приходите по этому адресу завтра."

The elevator doors opened and going in she said: "Это вопрос жизни и смерти."

The doors closed and she disappeared behind them. He took a look at the card. It was the address of a cabaret at a renowned luxury hotel. He put the card in his front shirt pocket and headed to the main exit.

All that evening he thought about that girl. Her last words about “life and death situation” were really disturbing him. She had asked him to come to a cabaret. This could be just another of those low life scams, but she didn’t say it artificially. She didn’t act it out or if she did, she did it very professionally. It might not be something as dismal as she painted it, but closing his eyes on it, he couldn’t. Before he went to sleep that night he had already reached a decision about it.

Next evening at around 12:25 Am he got to Cabaret Maxim. He was dressed in a half-sleeved linen shirt and light green trousers. He had a gold watch on his left wrist, gold bracelet on his right wrist and a few thick gold chains in his neck.

He took a look around and finding a vacant table by the stage, where the show had to take place, he sat down. He eased himself in the chair and called the waiter.

The waiter came and putting the menu in front of him said: “Good evening monsieur!”

He didn’t bother to see the menu. He ordered a Royal Salute on the rocks. Before the waiter could leave he asked: “What time does the show start?”

“It’s about to start monsieur”, said the waiter and went away.

A few years back he had been a regular Cabaret goer. He used to spend his nights in the company of those go-go girls, who would shower you with affectionate talk just for earning the commission, which they go for each drink that they consumed. His committed visits to the cabaret in Nicosia, where Jameela worked, took the good of him. Jameela was a Syrian, a ballet dancer and an absolute beauty in her mid 20's. She soon understood that he didn't come around daily, for just passing his time.

He had fallen a victim to her killer looks. But Jameela, instead of robbing him emotionally and materially, helped him understand the uselessness of intoxicated laughs, artificial happiness and love that was always up for sale. She asked him to stop wondering around in that world of virtual reality and as he had promised her, he decided to never enter a cabaret again.

He had broken his promise and had come to "Maxim" just because he couldn't put himself at ease, forgetting the words: " It's a matter of life and death."

The show started and his eyes got fixed on the stage, where he expected to see her. Normally at the cabarets, the girls, before and after their acts, sit with the customers and entertain them. He had been looking around for her, but she was nowhere to be seen. As usual, since the moment he had settled down, three different girls had approached him and had left after a beer each, noting his lack of interest and enthusiasm.

The show had been going on for more than an hour, but she hadn't appeared on the horizon. He had already started thinking that may be he had been tricked into coming there. May be it was one of the new scams, designed to attract people, but he also knew that businesses like cabarets, needed no promotion in the Arab Emirates. The Arabs were always ready to leave their multiple wives to play with white European flesh.

Then a familiar face appeared on the stage. It was a little difficult to recognize the Russian girl, from last night, in that very Arabic attire. But after looking at her for more than 5 mins, without blinking his eyes, he did get sure that it was she.

He called the waiter and said: " Can you ask the girl who's dancing, to join me at my table after her act!" and finishing his sentence, he put a 10$ bill on the table in front of the waiter.

The waiter, replacing the bill in his pocket, said: "Sure monsieur!» and went away.

A short while after finishing her act she came up to his table. She was dressed in that same Arabic attire. She sat down and readily said:"Thank you for coming. Please speak only English."

He asked: "Why?"

"Because no one should know that you understand Russian."

"O.K"

"Buy me a beer please!"

Signaling the waiter, he asked: " What's your name?"

"They call me Pinky."

" Look now Pinky, I'm not a first timer. I know the ways of the cabaret. I'll buy you a beer, which you'll gulp down in a jiffy and then another and so on. At the end of the day a 10% commission will be added to your account. I came here.»

She interrupted him and said: "… If you're not new then you have to know that I can't sit with you unless I drink. If you've come here to help then I need to sit here for sometime at least."

He followed her point and ordered a beer for her. The waiter brought the beer and readily put the bill in front of him and as soon as the waiter went away, he said: "Ok now, I'm ready. Spell it out!"

She said, gulping the beer: " I can't tell you anything here. There are too many ears and eyes around."

"You knew about these eyes and ears when you asked me to come here! Didn't you? So spell it out or I'm leaving."

"Well you can leave if you want. I'm sorry if I mistook you for a real human being. I thought that you came here because you wanted to help."

" I do want to help. That's the only reason why I've come here."

"O.K! Then arrange for us to be alone, away from these walls."

"And what do I need to do to arrange such a meeting?"

"If you're not a new comer to the cabaret then you must know what to do."

"Let's suppose I do, then?"

"Then talk to the manager and hurry in doing that, because there are only two Russian girls here and Russian girls are in demand."

Saying that she got up and wishing him to see soon, went away. His eyes followed her all the way, till she disappeared behind the bar.

He thought for a while and then called the waiter. He told the waiter that he wanted to talk to the manager and the waiter went to call the manager.

After about 5 mins a man came up to his table and said: "Hi! My name's James. I'm the manager here. How can I help you?"

He looked at the handsomely built young man, in his late 20's and said: "Hi! Well you see James, you've got a Russian brood named Pinky."

James nodded his head positively.

He continued: "I was wondering if it's possible to have an evening with her. You know what I mean."

The manager asked: "When would you like to have such an eve?"

"Tonight if possible."

"Well it is possible only if you won't mind following me to my office."

Getting up he sad: "Sure! Let's go!"

James led the way to the office and getting in, after taking his seat behind the table, asked the client to take a seat as well.

Then James took out a paper and starting to fill he asked: "You're Mr.?"

"I'm Nicholas Santiago. You can call me Nick."

"O.K Nick would you care to tell me your address?"

"Hotel Hilton, room # 2310."

While James was writing down the address, Nick asked him: " If I'm not mistaken, you're an American, ain't you?"

"Yeah I am and You?"

"I'm from Miracle valley Arizona. Where are you from?"

"I'm from a more crowded place, Chicago. How would you like to pay?"

"AMEX would do?"

"We accept all credit cards."

Nick took out his wallet and started withdrawing his AMEX card, but then if changing his mind said: "On the other hand, I think I'd better pay cash. You know I won't like my accountant to know about my personal life."

"I can understand that. Pay as it suits you. For us it makes no difference."

Nick reached inside his wallet and asked: "How much do I have to pay?"

"500 US$"

He brought out 5, 100$ bills and passing them to James said: "I hope these red babes are worth this kind of dough?"

Taking the money, recounting it and then putting in the drawer James said: "You'll find out for yourself in a short time. Now if you'll excuse me, I'll make sure that she gets to your room as soon as you get back."

Nick got up and started on his way out, after shaking James' hand and saying: "It's been nice talking to you James!"
James answered: "Same here. Good Bye!"

Nick came out of the office and headed straight to the exit, to get out of that dim lit hall and go back to his hotel.

About 5 mins after 3AM someone knocked at his door. He opened the door and there she stood, dressed in that same Blue, shinning, short dress, which hardly covered her butt and exposed the good part of her bust. He asked her in and his eyes followed her all the way in.

When he turned around, after locking the door behind her, she had already taken her seat in the armchair and had taken off her pumps.

He went straight to the bar and asked her: "What would you like to have?"

She said: " A beer."

He took out two beers from the refrigerator and coming to the table, poured her beer in the glass and passing it to her said: " Tell me about yourself. I can hardly wait to hear."

She took a sip of her beer and started: " My real name is Ludmila. I'm originally from a small Siberian town of Lensk. I lived with my mother, who was an English teacher at the local high school. Although my mother wanted me to follow a foreign language specialist's career and wanted me to join Moscow state university's faculty of foreign languages, but I had other ideas. I always wanted to be a theater actress. So after graduating from high school I moved to Moscow, where I got admitted top the Moscow state institute of art."

She put down her glass and getting back to her prior position, continued: "A year after the fall of the Soviet union, conditions in Moscow were no better than in the smaller towns. State scholarships were not enough for living out a day, let alone a month. So I, just like the majority of the students, used to work in the evenings. I worked at the florist's near metro Taganskaya. One evening, a foreigner, who I later came to know was a French, came to my shop and ordered a bouquet of 21 roses. I chose nice roses and made a very attractive bouquet. After paying for the bouquet, he passed it back to me and asked me to dine with him that evening. I couldn't even think about turning down, such a gallantly made, offer. I agreed of course and in the evening we dined at a Georgian restaurant on the Tverskaya."

She got up, went to the window and looking at the clear, night sky, continued: "His name was Jean. He told me that he was a businessman living permanently in Moscow for the last some time and was there to establish a new regional office for his company. He was well dressed and well mannered. His every move showed her his high social class. We talked all the time while we dined. I told him about myself and he told me all about himself. Then we got out and decided to take a stroll by the river. Walking down the embankment he told me that ever since he had been in Moscow, he had met many girls, but when he saw me in the early evening, he couldn't stand the beauty of my accurate physique, long dirty-blonde hair and emerald green eyes. He even told me that he had fallen in love at the first sight. In short, we ended up making love at his apartment, that night.

She got quiet for a while, probably enjoying the thought of the good times. Then she came back to the table, took her beer and sipping at it, went back to the window.

She started again: "W had dated for a little more than a week, when one day, lying in the bed, he asked me to marry him. I did expect a proposal, but not so quickly. I didn't answer right away. I wanted to think over everything. He didn't rush me. I thought for a day and then I talked to my best friend Ira. She was also surprised by the haste, but then we thought that might be in the West they do it like this. He wasn’t teenager, right out of the school, who would make such a proposal just being infatuated. We talked over all the aspects of the matter and I decided to tell him about my agreement."

She continued: "He didn't want us to get married in Moscow. He wanted a church marriage and in Moscow it was not possible. So we decided to wait for the ceremony till I would finish my school year. I moved in with him and we lived very happily. I had informed my mother about my decision and she wanted to meet my fiancé Jean. But he was too busy to go to Lensk for a few days."

"After about a month of living together, one day he received a message from his head office to visit some client in Abu-Dhabi. He asked me to join him on that 3-day business trip, because he didn't want to be without me even for a day. I had no objections. I could take 3 days off from the school and I always fantasized visiting new places. We flew out to Abu-Dhabi from Moscow. The first day, while he went to attend to his business, I went around town alone. In the evening, he told me that he had to go for a day to Riyadh S.A. and since it was strictly a business trip and most of the time would be spent travelling to-and-fro, he offered me to stay behind with a friend of his in Dubai and enjoy my time."

She came back to the armchair, sat herself down and with a grim expression on her face continued: "The next morning he went in his car to Riyadh and I went with the driver to his friend James' house. When I arrived, James wasn't there. In the evening the driver took me to the club to meet James. At the club, I met him, for the first time. After the initial greetings he asked me to strip. I was more than shocked. I asked him are you drunk or is it some kind of a senseless joke? He said, " I am sober and this ain't joke. I want to see what I have paid for. I wanna be sure that you can bring me back my money.

He sure was intoxicated. I told him: " Jean is my husband, I think you 're his friend. But I'll tell him about your real face, when he comes back tomorrow ", and saying this I turned back to go out. The door was locked and blocked by the guard who looked at me and smiled. Then I heard James' voice; "That guy is not your husband. Moreover he is not jean and most definitely he is not French. He is my field agent he brings in girls from time to time. For the last sometime he was switched to Eastern Europe and you’re the second Russian, which he's brought yet.

I couldn't believe my ears. He was ling. This couldn't be so. But then he showed me videotape, where I was filmed naked in jeans', or whoever he was, Moscow apartment. I could understand the truthfulness of James' words now. I sat down and asked; " Is there some any way how I can go back"

" Yeah pay me back my 10,000 $ that I paid for you with 15 % interest and you are free to go. Otherwise you have to work out this money and till you do that you 're my property."

 After this there was nothing more to be known or asked. I stripped to show him the worth of his money and ever since I've been earning my freedom selling satisfaction."

She got quiet after telling everything. Nick broke the silence, when he asked: " What is it that you want me to do?"

"I'd like you to help me get away from here."

"And why should I do that?"

"Because you seem to be a kind person and more so.»

He interrupted: "Hold on! You mean to say that you decided to ask me to help you just because I'm a kind person? Well, to let you know, every hooker in this world has the same story. Every one of them has been tricked into prostitution. And I'm not gonna swallow this bull shit."

"I thought you were different. You were human, but I think I was mistaken."

"Yeah you have surely mistaken me, but it's ok I've already paid your commission, so you didn't lose much."

She got up and dropped her dress to her feet, saying: "You can get the worth of your money."

 She was unhooking her bra, when he got up and picked up her dress. Throwing the dress in her face, he said: "Put it on, calm yourself and sit down."

She quietly started putting back on the dress. Then she sat down silently and picked up her beer.

He sat down as well and said: "Sorry! I didn't mean to hurt you."

She said: "It's O.K."

He said: "Tell me, have you attempted to run away earlier?"

Luda said; " I thought about it many times, but there is no practical way of doing so. The place, where all the girls live, is guarded round the clock. We are not allowed to go out in the day. When we attend customers, the people from the cabaret always keep a close watch. First thing is that they only send us to hotels. The guy who accompanies a girl to the hotel, Stays in the lobby, till she goes out. At many of the hotels they have floor attendants, who are informed about the presence of a girl in a room and their job is to make sure that the girl goes right down to the lobby."

Nick interrupted:" You mean to tell me they have floor attendants at every hotel and at every floor. This is senseless. It is too many people and too much expanses."

Luda said: "No! I don't mean that these people work only for 'Maxim'. They are paid every time when their services are needed. These floor attendants work for any pimp."

He asked: "How do you think that I can help you? I mean do you want me to pay the 10000$ or do you want me to help you get out of this place?"

She said: "Paying money won't solve the problem. I'm sure they'll not let me go. If you could help me in escaping… you'd save my life."

He said: "Even if I'd agree to help you out of this mess, do you think that you can pay me back the expanses later on?"

She gladly said: "Believe me I'll pay you back every cent that you spend, only if I could get back home."

He asked: "Where is your passport?"

"It’s with James, as are the other girls' passports."

He thought about something and then asked: "Luda do you have a photo of yours on you right now."

She said: "No! But I have them at my place."

He said: "That won't do.» and saying this he got up and went to the other room.

He came back with a camera and turning on the extra light said: "Sit straight, I'd like to photograph you."

She sat up straight and he snapped her. Then he put away the camera and sitting down in his armchair, with his beer in his hands, he said: "Ok Luda let me think what I can do for you. I won't promise, but I'll try my best to get you out of here."

She agreed: "Fair enough."

They got quiet for a moment. She broke the silence, when she asked: "Where are you from and what is your full name?"

He smiled a little before he said: "My real name's Akbar Hussain and I'm from Pakistan. I'm a businessman and I come here very often…"

He told her a little more about himself and they talked and talked, before she left at 6:00 AM.

A day later, Akbar took a P.I.A flight down to Karachi. Reaching Karachi he went to hotel "AVARI". At the hotel he went to the locker room and took out his Pakistani national ID card and passport and put away his Greek documents. After taking his breakfast he went to the passport office.

At the passport office he went to his acquaintance Lali, who worked as a private passport consultant.

Lali and Akbar exchanged warm greetings, before Akbar said (In Urdu): "Lali I need a little help form you."

Lali asked: "You always come to me when you need something. What is it that you need this time?"

"I need a passport for a friend of mine. She's not in Pakistan right now."

"Nice dame?"

"Yeah. I want you to get me a passport for her in any name. It should only be for a married woman and the husband's name should be Akbar Hussain."

"What's the game boss?"

"No game. It's just that I need to travel with her for some time. You know a little romance! And by the way I need to this passport very urgently."

Lali said: "It will take at least 3 days and will cost you 35000 Rs."

Akbar reached into his pocket and brought out his wallet. He counted 35 thousand-Rupees bills and along with Luda's fotos gave them to Lali.

Lali put away the money and looking at the photo said: "Yeah, she is worth a romantic journey. Don't guys need a companion?"

Akbar laughed and said: "No! We prefer one on one."

Finalizing all the details with Lali he said good-bye and took a taxi to the airport and took the first possible flight to Peshawar.

At Peshawar airport he rented a car and set off to the area called Dera Adam Khel. He found the guy that he was looking for and ordered a set of 5 different stamps, whose samples he gave him. The stamps could be made in a few hours, but he decided to come back the next day.

That evening at Peshawar he did the rest of the shopping and with that fulfilled the first part of the plan.

Three days later he got the passport and with that he prepared to go back to Dubai. He had already called his contact there to arrange a visa for him. He bought a ticket out to Dubai and back and another one with the following itinerary:

KARACHI-CAIRO-DUBAI-KARACHI.

This Egypt Air ticket was booked in the name of Mrs. Sofia Hussain.

Getting everything ready he left for Dubai a week after he had arrived in Karachi.

The very first evening in Dubai he went to the cabaret. She came to his table, as soon as she saw him. He told her that the weather was warm and that he would come to see her before he had to leave along with his friend.

The next day he checked the schedule for all the inbound Egypt Air flights from Cairo and accordingly booked two seats out of Dubai to Karachi. In the evening, at his hotel, he stamped her passport with appropriate seals.

A day later he again went to the cabaret. This time it took him no sweat to order a girl to be brought to his hotel room. He paid those 500$ and went back.

Right after three AM she came to his room. They didn't have much time. The flight was at 5:25 AM, so they had a little less than 2.5 hours.

Locking the door behind her, he asked: "Are you ready?"

"Yeah"

He reached inside his brief case and brought out a green Pakistani passport. Giving it to her he said: "This is your permit out of this hell. Your name is Sofia Hussain. You're my wife…."

She interrupted: "Not a bad idea!"

He smiled and continued: "I'm a businessman, dealing in metal scrape. You've arrived here after a short visit to Cairo and today we are going back home together. You got it?"

She looked a little troubled. She asked: "I got the idea, but the thing is that I can't speak the Pakistani language. I even don't know what is that language called. What if someone would ask me something?"

He calmed her, saying: "The language is called Urdu, but don't worry immigration and customs officials don't speak Urdu here. Anyway I'll be with you so don't worry about this."

She started studying the passport while he took a Shalwar Kameez (Traditional Pakistani dress) out of his bag. Giving her the dress, he said: "Put this on."

She took the dress, but the look in her eyes told that she was at a loss about how to put it on. Noticing the lost look, he showed her how to put on that dress and she went to the other room to change.

When she came out, even he was startled. She had a totally different look. Keeping in mind the shortage of time, he admired her great looks just saying: "Looking beautiful."

Getting back to the problem at hand, he gave her a piece of paper and a pen and asked her to copy the signature from the passport. She sat down to practice the signatures, while he gathered his thrown around things. It took her about 15 minutes to perfect the signatures.

Then he showed her how to put on the veil and explained her how they were supposed to leave the hotel unnoticed.

At 3:55 he went out to the corridor, towards the elevator, where the floor attendant used to sit. Getting near the floor attendant he said: "Can you please come with me to my room. There's something wrong with the door."

The attendant said: "Sure sir!"; and followed him, to the room.

All the way down the hall Akbar looked around to make sure that no one saw the floor attendant going to his room. They got in and Akbar took the floor attendant to the bathroom to show him the door from inside.

As they had already decided, as soon as the two of them went inside the bathroom, she went out the room and headed to the elevator. She had to go down to the lobby and with the veiled face get out of the hotel and wait for him by the exit.

The attendant, bent over and busy in figuring out what was wrong with the door, didn't notice Akbar's hand reaching from back behind. In that hand was a chloroform-dipped handkerchief. The attendant resisted for less than 30 seconds before giving in to the effect of the chloroform. The dose was strong enough and would have lasted for more than two hours, but just in case, Akbar tied the attendant's hands behind his back and taped his lips. Leaving him in the bathroom, Akbar went out of the room and the hotel.

At the airport he first went to the left luggage section to take his bag. Then they went to the airline counters and checked-in. He checked his watch. It was already 4:45 Am. He asked her: "How are you feeling Sofia?"

She took a deep breath and said: "A little worried. What do we do now?"

He explained: "Now we're heading to the immigration counter. Remember, you can only speak Urdu. No English. Whatever the immigration officer might ask, don't answer. I'll take care of the rest. O.K?"

She nodded in acceptance. He patted her hand and said: "Just don't get nervous. Alright?"; and after a little pause said: "Lets go!"

They went to the passport control area. He looked around and they queued in front of a young officer's counter. When they reached the counter he handed in both the passports. The officer looked at the passports and then at him and said: "One by one please."

He said: "We're together. She's my wife."

The officer took a look at her and then first selecting his passport, went through the regular procedure of checking and stamping. Then he picked up her passport, looked at the picture and then at her and simultaneously entered her name to check the database. He browsed at the monitor and then re-entered her name. But after the second attempt his face showed his lose at something. Akbar took the initiative in his hands and asked: "Is there something that I might help you with?"

The officer looked up and said: "Yeah! What's her last and first name?"

Akbar said: "Hussain Sofia."

The officer mumbled: "Right, that's how I thought it had to be.» and he again looked at the monitor screen. Then he asked: "When did you come here?"

Akbar said: "I arrived three days ago from Karachi, whereas she arrived just this evening from Cairo. Why is there something wrong?"

"Yeah I found your arrival record, but I can't find her record."

Now was the moment. Akbar said: "Oh, it's probably because she just arrived less than 12 hours ago and she's on a transit visa, so maybe her data has not been fed yet.» and this sentence was followed by a maybe, maybe not, look.

The officer asked: "You say less than 12 hours ago?"

"Yeah."
The immigration officer got up and went out of the cabin. Akbar knew that the officer had gone to consult with his superintendent. He looked at her and could understand that she was worried. He patted her hand and said: "It's OK."

In the meanwhile the officer came back, accompanied by the shift in-charge. The new comer asked: "What flight did she fly in by?"
Akbar answered: "Egypt Air. I don't remember the flight #, but I do remember that the flight arrived at 7:10 PM. I mean it was scheduled at 7:10, but was delayed by half an hour."

The superintendent said: "Oh! I got it."

This meant that the shortage of time trick had worked. The two officers talked to each other and then the senior officer gave Sofia a blank embarkation card and said: "Can you sign it?"

Sofia took the card and looked at Akbar as if she didn't understand what to do. Akbar said: "Dastakhat kar do." (Sign the card)

He knew that she couldn't understand what he had said, but she had already understood what was needed to do. She signed the card. The immigration officer took the card back and compared her signature with the signature in the passport. Then the superintendent said something to the junior officer in Arabic and went out of the cabin.

The immigration officer stamped the exit and gave back the passport saying: "Good bye!"
Akbar took the passports and saying thank you they went to the waiting area.

The flight had already been announced, so they went straight to gate # C 23 and boarded the plane.

An hour and 35 mins later the plane landed at the Quaid-e-Azam international airport Karachi. Getting out of the airport after all those immigration and customs formalities, they took a cab to go to hotel "AVARI".

They stayed in most of the day to rest their tense nerves. In the evening they went to Clifton to dine at a seafood restaurant. While they dined she asked him: "I hope you won't mind if I ask you a very personal question?"

He said: "Go ahead and ask."

She asked: "You said that you are a Pakistani. If that's so why are we staying at a hotel and not at your home?"

He put down his fork and picked up his napkin to clear the edges of his lips. He smiled before saying: "Well I can tell you that we are staying at the hotel, because I'm from another town and this would be quite a logical explanation. Isn't that so?"

She nodded in acceptance and he continued: "But on the other hand there is no need for me to tell you something that is not right. I told you that I was a Pakistani, because I knew that I could take you out to Pakistan if I wanted to. And since I didn't know you very well I didn't want to risk telling you all of this earlier. I hope you understand now that we are staying at the hotel, because I'm not a Pakistani."

She put down her fork as well and relaxing back in the chair asked: "So is it ok for you to tell me now, where are you really from?"

He said: "Of course. I'm a Greek citizen."

She asked: "What is your Greek name?"

He said: "My name is Constantine Papadoupolose."

She held his hand and said: "Well it's nice to know you Costia. You won't mind if I call you Costia?"

He said: "No! You can call me as you like."

Then they talked about their lives all through the evening. If not for a dry country they must had gone to a bar or a club to celebrate their success, but in Karachi they had to limit themselves to a stroll by the sea and soft drinks.

The next day he explained to her the two possible ways of getting her Russian passport back. He told her that she could go to the Consulate General of Russia at Karachi and tell them that she had lost her passport, or she could tell them everything as it was. The second way would probably take longer in the decision of the problem, but she would avoid all the un-necessary falsification. She opted for the second method, went to the consulate general and filed an application.

The week, during which her credentials were verified, brought them a lot closer to each other. They got so close that she insisted on his going with her to Russia, to meet her mother.

After she got her passport, they went together to Moscow.

At Moscow they really had the time of their lives. They were un-separable. After a few days of such relaxed and happy life, one day, when they were passing by the central telegraph office on Tverskaya, he stopped to make a call to his mother. At the telegraph office he paid for the call, went in the cabin, dialed the number and after hearing someone's voice on the other end of the line, said: "Pronto Mama!"