Its 4.30am when I arrive back to my hotel. With a couple of hours of sleep on the flight the night before and an afternoon nap being the only rest I’d had in 2 days, the allure of sleep is too good to pass up, even if it is only 30 minutes. Any misconception I had held about alcohol not being available in Dubai had been shattered in the hours earlier thanks to Salmana and her friends who had taken me to a bar, a nightclub and a house party on my first and only night in Dubai. I drift off to sleep with memories of the night going through my mind.
I open one eye and see the glow of the sun against the curtain. Something isn’t right but it takes me a few moments for it to hit me. I roll out of bed and scramble over to the dresser and pick up my phone, 8.30am. No amount of rushing can fix this, my flight left over an hour ago.
