a lot of work, running such an establishment,” Isaac said.
“Yes, but it keeps me active. I have found in my dotage that I am not good at relaxing. Even when I first started the hotel, I pictured myself dozing off in my chair in the afternoon sun, but there is really no time for dozing here. There’s always something to be done: windows to wash, floors to scrub, carrots to peel, figures to add. So I work just as hard as my employees. I know they find me a little odd. In Morocco, the boss doesn’t clean toilets and iron. But I would rather make beds or scrub bathtubs than sip sugary tea and stare out at the street.”
“I would make a good bellhop, you know. I could wear a fez. I always wanted to wear a fez.”
Ulli laughed. “I thought you don’t approve of obsequiousness.”
“Does wearing a fez make one obsequious?” Isaac asked.
Ulli laughed again. “Come to think of it, you wouldn’t look bad in a fez.” She went to the window and pulled it wide open. “Come,” she said. “If you lean way out, you can see a patch of the medieval wall.”
“I see it,” Isaac said. “Remember that time we ate snow from the windowsill?”
“With spoons,” Ulli said.
“That was Leo’s idea,” Isaac said, regretting it immediately. He had not wanted to bring Leo up so soon, before she even had a chance to get used to his presence.
“Yes,” Ulli said, pulling her head back into the room, but he kept his out for a few more moments, letting the hot, dry air fill his lungs.
The Medina
Isaac lingered in his room. He needed to catch his breath, steel himself for the next step. He took his time hanging his clothes in the closet, washing his hands, setting out his toiletries. He wanted to be prepared for their first real conversation. There would be tea waiting for him when he went downstairs. He would try to explain himself, why he had come. He took a shower. In the shower, he thought of climbing out the window, jumping to the street. Fleeing. How absurd. On the plane, he had not allowed himself to think of their meeting.
Ulli had not seemed disappointed to see him.
“Isaac,” she had said. “Isaac,” he said out loud in the shower. He emerged from his room invigorated and confident. “Isaac,” he whispered as he descended the stairs, stepping slowly, as if he were a dignitary, a Latin American general with a sash of medals.
“Ah, monsieur.” A middle-aged man with thick, graying hair and bad teeth approached him. “Madame would like you to wait in the dining room,” he said, taking Isaac’s arm and leading him across the lobby to the dining room. After a few moments Ulli appeared, carrying a plateful of oranges. “I thought you would like something fresh,” she said. She sat down, took up a knife, and began to cut carefully; the peel came off in one piece. She separated the sections, arranging them on the plate. “Take some, please.”
Isaac put a section of the orange into his mouth. Only when the orange had burst open did he realize how thirsty he was. He took another piece and another. “Aren’t you going to have any?” he asked.
“They are not good for my stomach,” Ulli said.
“But I cannot possibly eat six oranges myself.”
“Of course you can’t.” Ulli laughed. “But it would not be hospitable to offer only one orange.”
“But six?”
“I will not be offended if you do not eat them all,” Ulli said, smiling. Isaac ended up eating three oranges.
“In some strange way, I don’t think I was surprised to see you,” Ulli said.
“Don’t tell me you have turned into a psychic,” Isaac said.
“You know I have no use for such things,” Ulli said, and they left it at that. They were good at that, at leaving things.
“I thought the air here would do me good. The humidity is hard for me,” he said, knowing how ridiculous this sounded, for his decision to come had nothing to do with something as mundane as the climate. But he had to ease into things, give Ulli a chance to get used to his presence.
“The mountains are nearby, and so is the ancient site of Volubilis,” she said, following his lead. “I have not been on an excursion for a while. Perhaps we could go.”
“I would like that, but don’t feel you have to entertain me.”
“Of course not,” Ulli said, squeezing his hand. Had it really been almost forty years since he’d seen her?
“And now you must excuse me. I have to attend to my duties,” Ulli said.
“Can I help?” Isaac asked.
“Absolutely not. You are my guest.”
“Then I will explore the medina,” he said, for wasn’t exploring what one did when one arrived in a new place?
“I will ask Abdoul to accompany you.”
“Thank you, but I prefer to be on my own,” he said, resting his hand briefly on her arm.
“You are not too tired?”
“No, Ulli, I am not too tired.”
“You must take a card, then, in case you get lost, though you can’t, really. Eventually, no matter which direction you take, you will find your way out of the medina. And when you do, it will be like emerging from the Middle Ages.”
“And what if I just keep retracing my steps, only to find myself on the same street?” he asked.
“You have to have faith, Isaac.”
“Since when have you had faith?” he asked.
“Only in this. We are all allowed our occasional irrationalities, don’t you think?”
“I suppose,” Isaac said.
“The merchants can be quite aggressive, but it’s all an act, part of the charm,” she continued. “You cannot get angry. You must laugh or pretend that you’re hard of hearing. Or you can speak to them in Russian. That usually keeps them at a distance. I have found Russian to be very useful in that way.”
A young couple, looking as if they had not bathed in a while and were exhausted by the heat, entered the lobby and walked tentatively in the direction of the reception desk, so tentatively, Isaac thought, that if Ulli had not quickly moved to the desk, they would have turned around and walked out.
“Thank you,” he called to her, waving as he headed for the door, and she smiled, a smile both for him and for the couple, who had set down their backpacks and were taking out their passports.
Of course, she needs time, Isaac thought as he pushed open the door into the afternoon sun. What had he expected? For her to drop everything just for him? A hotel did not run itself. And he was perfectly capable of exploring on his own.
When Isaac was a child, he had wanted more than anything to visit
