Two years earlier, June 7, 2007.

As summer approached, Camellia was doing everything she could to make their summer destination a surprise for Nadine. Camellia knew Nadine wouldn’t come if she knew who would accompany them. It was one week before their flight. Nadine was in her office as usual.

She was putting in extra hours to cover a month without doing any work. For her, spending the entire summer out of the country was not a complete vacation. She would eventually work wherever she was. Nadine was in the middle of an intense conversation with a client when her phone rang; it was Camellia, and she answered after she finished her call.

“Good morning, babe.”

“Get a boyfriend and stop calling me that.”

“You’re cranky.”

“I’m going to murder someone,” Nadine declared, covering her eyes with her left hand.

“You always say that what happened?”

“That stupid client. I really want to slap him across the face. He kept nagging, and he didn’t like anything. I changed the design for the third time, and he still wants more.”

“That’s perfectly normal. Not everyone has the same taste.”

“I’m not making a dress! I’m an architect; I must follow many rules! He wants unrealistic things that will cost a lot more money to build than he is willing to pay.”

In the background, there is the sound of an email notification. “Nadine, I just received an email from the hotel. Everything is in order.”

“Which country are we touring?” Nadine’s voice was both loud and distant. She was walking into her office, gathering reports from various drawers.

“It’s a surprise! but I will tell you this: two of my friends will be there, and it will be a lot of fun.” Nadine inquired once more about where they would spend the summer, but Camellia refused each time.

June 14, 2007.

Camellia went to DXB airport before Nadine; she was at her office signing some papers. She texted her multiple times and finally got an answer after a while, with Nadine telling her she was on her way to the airport.

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It took her forty minutes to get there; she was excited to know which country Camellia chose, but what she saw made her realize it wouldn’t be a pleasant trip. Camellia was standing next to two women.

They looked like diligent nerds. Each one of them was obsessed with history, ancient civilization, and folklore, and they were always loud and talking nonstop. Nadine dragged Camellia away without looking at them. “You have got to be kidding me!” Nadine said in a low, angry voice after they were safely away from her friends.

“Don’t get mad, please.”

“Why! You have many friends that are fun to be around! Why this duo?”

“It happened by accident, I swear,” Camellia said and cringed. “I was talking randomly, and they just hopped in, and I didn’t know what to say.”

“So, you said yes! Just… three months, Camellia! Come on!”

“I’m sorry; you know they are nice. You’ll love them.”

“That’s the problem! Both are weird to be around, and you know I don’t like them.” Nadine took a deep breath and continued. “I thought it would be fun this year.”

“I’m sorry, I’ll make it up to you I swear.” Camellia held Nadine’s hand begging her to be good to them and reminding her they wouldn’t ruin anything. Nadine kept herself calm and went to them to say hello. Camellia gave Nadine her ticket, with Seoul, South Korea, as their next destination.

Camellia and her friends talked about every place they wanted to visit; it was all about the country’s ancient parts. Even before boarding the plane, Nadine was getting bored. It was an eight-hour flight, and for the first two Camellia and her friends got into a heated debate about how Chinese and Japanese mythologies differed but still influenced Korean mythology.

Nadine was overhearing their conversation and wishing she could have stayed in her office instead of being there. She would rather fly back to Alexandria than stay with Camellia’s friends. She disliked them from the beginning of their friendship with Camellia, who is a very sociable person with a lot of interesting and fun friends.

She sighed with boredom and reached for her drawing sketch and a couple of pencils. As she glanced over the pages, one of them asked, “Nadine, Are you still doing that?” Nadine looked at her with no expression on her face. “You should give up now. Your parents previously refused to let you. Why are you wasting your time now? In my opinion—”

“Keep it to yourself.” Nadine put on her earphones and began to draw. The first three hours of the flight passed slowly as Nadine continued to draw. One of the cabin crew noticed her drawing of a blue lotus covered in blood in diverse sizes and angles while she was serving her cup of tea.

“Wow, it looks so real. You have an extraordinary talent.”

“Thank you.” Nadine took the cup and began to drink. Camellia was sitting next to her, talking to her friends in the next raw, while Nadine sat next to the window. Camellia became aware of what Nadine was drawing.

“Interesting, but why the bloody lotus?” Camellia inquired, intrigued.

“I’m bored and unable to sleep.”

“It’s dark.”

“I’ve seen it before. I’m not sure, it felt like a memory. Perhaps it was in a movie or something.” Camellia continued her conversation with her friends as Nadine closed the drawing sketch. Nadine leaned back and gazed out the plane window at the cloud.

Her eyes became increasingly heavy. She didn’t fight the urge to shut them. She felt a huge tug of energy, and she fell into a deep, peaceful sleep.