The wind in the sail

While many women in Kuala Lumpur wear headscarves, in the provinces they practically all do, often a light veil, but a veil nonetheless. So I wasn't surprised to find a woman wearing a headscarf working at the glamping site where I'd booked my accommodation for the week. But imagine my surprise when I heard her speaking impeccable French.

Glad to be using my language, which I'd neglected these past few weeks, we struck up a long conversation. I. arrived in France from Morocco at the age of six with her mother, siblings, and stepfather. I won't learn any more about him. He and her mother were entrepreneurial and opened a bakery in Paris. Five more followed, and I. spent her childhood and adolescence working there. She developed her entrepreneurial spirit and started a business providing training in the field of commerce. Things went very well, too well, leading to burnout in her early twenties. She then decided to quit everything and travel.

She is here as a volunteer for two months and is considering extending for another two months.

Not at all the submissive type of woman one associates with wearing a veil. I don't ask her any questions on the subject, but instead suggest that we discuss it in a video interview in the coming days. She is delighted with this opportunity to share her choice with me and the listeners.

In the days that followed, she proved to be a great help to me and the other clients. She even stepped in to help a French mother who was at her wit's end and struggling to care for her slightly hyperactive young son. I thought to myself that at this rate, she was going to have another burnout.

I come back every day to schedule a time for our interview, which I envision as a big moment. But day after day she postpones, only to promise me the day before my departure that we'll do it the next day after breakfast, at 10:30, even though my boat leaves at noon. I'm still not worried.

The moment arrives. Initially, she tells me she's uncomfortable being filmed and would prefer an audio interview. Slightly disappointed, I agree. Then she goes to see her manager and tells me he needs her and won't allow her to do the interview. At that point, I lose it. I've been here for six days, I'm the longest-serving client, and I can't just take up 15 minutes of her time; I used to be the boss, and it makes no sense. I run into her again a little later with her manager, who doesn't seem to understand what's going on. She insists that I not push it, that it's her responsibility.

I have to comply, but afterwards I think about it. Since I saw them together regularly throughout the week, I had imagined that they probably had a relationship that went beyond professional, and it was probably the lover rather than the boss who vetoed it.

The wind in the sail has, it seems, changed course.