Chapter 9: Storm before the Calm

I was shocked, sad and could not believe what I heard. How could someone be so evil? What was the trigger behind this message? Was she bluffing or did she indeed speak to airport security? I mean she did have a lot of connections in Qatar, so I assumed she could have done this. 

All these questions running through my mind, while I was sitting on the bed looking outside the hotel room window. Looking down, looking up, thinking, thinking hard. Nervous…mind full of scenario’s. I always say that my personal strength is keeping myself calm in hectic situations, however this was not the case anymore..

As L.L and myself were not sure if B.N. was bluffing or not, we agreed that we wouldn’t answer the phone until 30 minutes before leaving to go to the airport. If she messaged us again, we would know it was a bluff. I mean, if you are sure that the airport security will stop us, there is no need to worry or text us again. The time was going slow and even going backwards, well it felt like that… Eventually it was 4:00am, 30 minutes before our meeting on the airport…. No Message from B.N….
What…….Are you serious?? Suddenly everything went blank..hectic...what….are you sure? I remember throwing my suitcase..All these scenes playing in my head..Never seeing my family again…being stuck in a country where you have no one, where they had never heard of human rights..and people disappear…It was Chaotic..and scary

I must and will always admit, I was scared. Really scared. But as the time was passing, there was nothing else to do then preparing myself for a horrible scene at the airport. B.N, together with the airport security were telling me I can't leave the country.

L.L at that time was thinking about scenarios and how to deal with them. I think we thought of every possible scenario and which action should be taken. 

We again called people, asking for advice and assistance on the actual situation. People were on speed dial and ready to take action when needed.  The last action was rescheduling L.L. his flight to a few hours later in case they stopped me at security, so he could be there as well.

We then went downstairs, checked out of the hotel and ordered an Uber. As the Uber arrived, the final ride to airport was emotional and full of silence…Looking outside of the window, I looked at all the buildings we were passing. Eventhough I was scared, I tried to see the beauty in it and try to hold on to the part.. the beautiful part and story Qatar showed me. And this is something I pursue in life…seeing the beauty in evil things. We often focus on the bad habits of people but forget the beauty they have shared with us. 

At some point I heard the first call of the mosque prayer. I then again looked outside the window but this time directly into the sky. As I am a catholic, pray every night before sleeping and practicing this belief in my own way…I remember hearing the sound of the prayer somewhere in my head while I was praying to my god...“God…Please, help me get through this… help me as I really need you right now..and just tell me everything will be alright”

As I finished my prayer and the prayer call also stopped, I suddenly felt this warm rush going through my body calming me down. I wasn’t really aware, but.. it was a sign of god for sure! I knew it! It was a sign of god and this was the first time I experienced such a clear message from God. I always knew god existed and was looking after me! But this was again a confirmation, which I will always carry with me. 

Finally we arrived at the airport and we agreed to enter the building as discreetly as possible. This by going via the arrival hall to the departure hall. As we were walking, we were constantly looking if we could see B.N. After some time we met the immigration guy and we went to the check-in counter. She helped both L.L and myself. As she was busy, we continued to look around us if we see B.N. At some point it became a bit obvious and the lady suddenly asked if I was looking for someone. I nervously laughed and said no

After some time, it was time to go through immigration. Still no sign of B.N….but this was the moment.. immigration control usually takes up to 1 a 2 minutes… and these 1 a 2 minutes could determine my future for the rest of my live… Will they let me through or not.. The line was going quite fast and after some time, it was my turn!

I handed my passport and boarding pass to the immigration officer.…He then started looking at the computer and looking at me… I kept looking at him with a straight face but a bursting nervous heart…I think my heart never reached soo many beats per seconds…He again looked at me…but this time quite strange…Suddenly his phone rang and my heart was beating faster.

"’he is here yes’ 'yes correct'…Should I tell him to come to the office?" My heart was reaching a point, where I thought it would at some point STOP.......