Chapter 15: boarding

I head back to the hotel and sneak in as to not wake Marcel. Thankfully he’s still asleep. “Marcel, MARCEL” my whisper turns into a quiet shout as I nudge him, trying to wake him from his slumber.

He gradually turns to open his eyes “everything ok there my dear?” He asks sleepily, “yes all good, just wondered if you’d like to do some site seeing. I’m feeling a bit cooped up” I try to sounds casual. Marcel doesn’t seem at all suspicious though and agrees that a bit of leg stretching and site seeing will do us both some good.

“Where were you thinking to see first then” Marcel asks as he slides on some shoes, “how about we see Saint Augustin Basilica first so I can do some sketches of it then grab food and after we can take a walk by plage chapuis and see the sea?” I’d looked up all the places previously so I could make a plan of our evening. I needed to remember to get Marcel asleep by 10pm.

We set off outside the hotel and make our way to Saint Augustin, taking our time to get there as Marcel had just woken up so was still a bit tired, I was filled with dread thinking about how I could get him to sleep on time and get to the ferry. It was very important that I took this ferry seeing as it was the last one to depart and that I’d have no other way across after tonight.

Once we got to the cathedral, I was blown away at how grand and big it was, its architecture absolutely stunning with tall towers, domed on the tops and rounded windows. The inside was just as spectacular. I could sit and draw all day but I had to keep Marcel moving if I wanted to tire him out.

Next stop was something to eat, I purposely made the choice of restaurant a challenge by saying no to about 10 different places, making us walk for quite a while until finally I actually was getting quite hungry so settled with the next restaurant that came up, serving fish, salads, different rices and bean stews. We ordered our food and enjoyed a glass of wine, talking about the day we’d had, what we’d seen and what I drew. Marcel almost flipped onto a page in my sketchbook that spoke about how I was leaving Annaba behind and going across to France but I managed to grab the sketchbook in time for him to not see, he gave me a questioning look but didn’t ask anything about it thankfully.

Like planned we took a stroll along the beach, the sky getting darker and lamp posts switching on lighting up the walkway.

The quiet as we walk creating a tension only I could feel knowing what was to come next, for Marcel I’m sure we had just relaxed, having a lovely time.

“Feeling tired” I ask, hoping he’d say yes, “not really, that nap has giving a burst of energy. Think I will be going to bed quite late tonight” Marcel replied, oh shit! Well that’s just about ruined my plans.

It’s getting on to 9pm and I’m getting more and more anxious as the minuets pass.

“Shall we head back and watch a movie or something?” I suggest, “whatever you’d like, we’re going to be here for the next week or so, so there’s no need to rush the site seeing” he says casually.

Once back at the hotel I find a movie, any movie. After sitting through it for a while, I check my phone that says 9:50.

“I think I might go for a little walk on my own to get some fresh air. My thoughts have been all over the place recently” I say as I sit up from the sofa, Marcel nodded and said to just be careful and to not come back too late in case of strange people at night. I go and grab a small bag, trying to fit as much as possible inside withought looking suspicious. “That’s a full bag” Marcel exclaims as I exit my room, “oh just going to take my sketch book, some pencils and a jumper in case it gets chilly” I reply, again Marcel thinks nothing of it.

I say goodbye and leave the hotel feeling extremely guilty about leaving Marcel without a note or anything to inform him of what I will be doing and where I will be going, it’s not like he can come after me seeing as this is the last ferry, well that is unless he’s got another private plane to come over and get me.

I practically run to the ferry port getting there at exactly 10:30pm. I show my ticket and hop aboard, I was the only passenger there.

It felt eerily quiet as the boat departed and descended into the darkness. This took me back, reminding me of the ferry I took to leave England, the mainland lights slowly fading into the distance but instead of running away from the chaos and noise, I was now running towards it.

I had no idea what to expect on the other side, only that it may not be very pleasant because of the amount of people fleeing to Annaba and other neighbouring countries.

The journey was said to take up to 24hours. I’m sure by the time it reaches 12pm Marcel would be wondering where I am and why I haven’t come back to the hotel room yet. I kept thinking about different scenarios of what he would do, call the police? File a missing persons report? Go searching for me himself? Escaping the country? Whatever he chose to do, I doubt he would wait longer than 24hours before starting to take action. No doubt he’d call Carlo and ask him if he knows anything and then Carlo would probably tell him about the call we had that would evidently point to my whereabouts and plans to try find him in France.

I tried to go to sleep as the ferry made its way over the ocean, trying not to panic too much or stress about my current situation and the stress I was about to put on the only two people I care about and whom I have left.