I was super scared during my first day in Lebanon until I met James Punjabi.
Ida and I travelled from Montenegro to Beirut with a layover in Istanbul. I was super anxious about the trip because it would be my first time in the Middle East, a region known for its troubles and violence. In addition, I was there to “rescue” Jessica, my former love interest that had destroyed my trust in the last months.
Jessica didn’t adequately explain what was happening with her, and I received strange calls from a guy called James Punjabi who “needed” to talk to me about Jessica. These two elements created great confusion; Ida even called the Danish consulate if things went wrong.
We met Jessica and James Punjabi in a Café. Jessica was devastated. She had a significant hematoma in the face because Pietro had punched her. She smiled when she saw me but changed her face when she saw Ida.
James Punjabi was an Indian dude, Jessica’s spiritual coach and the only friend (in addition to me) in the whole world. I wondered if they also had sex.
Punjabi, now living in Panama, met Jessica during her trip to Iceland. During that time, she had many therapy sessions with him at his apparent Reykjavík wellness centre. After that, he moved to Panama to “Pursue business there,” and Jessica continued with online sessions. He didn’t mention to her that he was on another continent. When Pietro and Jessica had a fight in Beirut, James came right away to give her support.
Jessica’s parents were in Italy when Jessica and Pietro met last year in Iceland. While in the North, Pietro took advantage and invited Jessica’s parents to his winery town in Southern Italy. The next day, Jessica’s parents told Jessica they were back in The Bahamas and cut all communication.
Since Jessica had a bad relationship with the family in Nassau, she didn’t contact anyone there. On the other hand, Pietro used this to convince Jessica that their parents had revealed in Italy that she was adopted. Jessica, who had fallen in love with this guy, became easily manipulated, and she believed all that he said.
Pietro controlled all about Jessica, including her WhatsApp and text messages. However, there was one thing he couldn’t control, the communication between her and James Punjabi. Since Punjabi is a very mysterious person, he made Jessica memorize the numbers of a zoom call where they met every other week. So that Jessica could contact him without leaving any trace. She was the one that shared my contact with Punjabi; they believed they could trust me.
Pietro’s relationship was wrong since the beginning. Still, she figured it out when she tried to leave him in Italy. After Jessica and I met in Rome, Pietro reappeared with more lies and manipulative control that damaged Jessica’s confidence. So she ended up with him again. After the Geneva event, they travelled to Cyprus, where Pietro told Jessica their real parents were. Then they came to Lebanon when she discovered everything was a farce, and he used that excuse to move her between countries.
Jessica managed to escape one day when he was sleeping but left her passport at the hotel. She took some money to stay in a different hotel. Punjabi appeared days later to help her get her life back.