And someone who wouldn’t duck a cent from my fifteen million.
I did the math, and with that amount I can fix up my whole family’s payments, and still have three million and two-hundred-and-thirty-seven thousand shkeles left over. That’s more than enough for both me and Shaked. With three million you can live as if you have thirty. Though… only if it’s in dollars. Pounds would be even better.
I’m getting paid in shekels this time, so I need two more prime ministers and a foreign minister. Then we’re done. I’m Eran’s forever. If he doesn’t do a disappearing act.
I kissed his cheek gently. He slept like a samurai, as in, a fly could wake him.
That’s a good thing. It’ll keep him alive for me. I told you, I worry about him and keep him safe.
If I hadn’t said it so far, then I’m saying it now. I’d never breathe a word of it to Eran so he doesn’t get a big head. They’re all the same, when push comes to shove. They all want the unachievable, and when they get it, the unachievable becomes unwanted. I’m too smart to make that mistake.
I woke up.
05:47 AM… what the fuck…
Oh well, if I’m already up… I’ll wait for him to wake up, too.
I made a little noise, so that if he wakes, it’s nothing more than a happy accident.
Whoops. I dropped the glass in the bathroom, leaving it shattered on the floor.
Whoops. He woke up.
“Good morning, handsome. I’m sorry I made noise—”
“It’s no problem, baby. It’s all good. And good morning to you… you look so beautiful with your hair all wild like that. Yudke, Yudke.”
“What?”
“I said you look beautiful with your hair all wild.”
“And I got that—I knew it before you said it. What did you say afterwards?”
“I didn’t say anything.
“You said something—yudke, yudke, something.”
“Nothing, it’s from a movie. Two guys tried to trick this widow so they could steal the inheritance she got from her late husband. When they broke into her place, they saw a bust of Beethoven sitting in her living room. One of them thought it was her late husband who was called Yehuda. So, he stood in front of the statue and said sadly, ‘Oh, Yudke, Yudke.’ The widow never remembered hearing any symphonies from her husband… only a requiem. A requiem is a prayer for the souls of the dead, Noa.”
“I know that. Tell me, Eran. What were the Australians up to when they nabbed me about 2009? Are you sure we’re not walking into some kind of trap here?”
“If Timothy is cool, you can be too.”
“Are you?”
“I’m never calm, Noa. You should know by now. If I tell you something, can you promise not to get mad?” he asked.
“You can’t ask me something like that. I have no idea what you’re going to say, so how can I promise not to get mad? I promise not to open sanctions against you—that I can do.”
“And I thought that the embargo from the Smurf days was the limit, wasn’t it?”
“There’s always room for improvement, so watch it.”
“Right,” he surrendered.
I love it when he gives in to me. It makes me feel like a queen.
“You know, Noa, when you came here in 2009…”
“Yeah? So? I came for that silent headphone party on the beach.”
“I know. I followed you here, Noa.”
“What?”
“You heard right.”
“I can’t believe you. Why?”
“Why, Noa? Are you honestly asking me that?”
“Yes.”
“Well, are you sure you want to hear the answer?”
“Of course I do, you idiot.”
“Then the answer is I felt as if I’d die if I saw you with someone else.”
“So, did you?” I asked, my expression shifting… and I knew why. It didn’t mean I’d confess.
“Oh, I saw, Noa.”
“What did you see?”
“I saw you come back to your room wearing clothes that weren’t yours and that weren’t your size.”
“How do you know my size?”
“Noa… come on. Your sizes are known.”
I got out of it the same way I always did. I straightened, pushing out my ample chest—and ample means double D’s, right?
“I see, Mr. Stalker. So, what would you say this size is?”
“Amnesia inducing.”
“I’m so glad to hear… you know, I haven’t had a mammogram in ages, nor have I actually asked anyone to check me in so long… can you make sure that there’s nothing wrong? No unwanted lumps or bumps?”
“Of course. I’m a gynecologist, too.” He smiled at me. “Give me a moment to find my stethoscope.”
“It’s hardly a test that requires a stethoscope, Eran.” I smiled my own special smile back. The smile that meant I had a frontal attack on my chest in a matter of moments.
“Eran, is it possible that you’re checking me, and you’re the one suffering from a hard lump?”
“So, you’re a doctor now, too, are you, Noa?”
“You and Timothy—do the two of you work on your lines together? Am I imagining things?”
“You’re imagining, Noa… you’re imagining I’m completely undressed, too.”
“Eran…”
“Shut up for once, you.”
And, round two…
The first thing every woman has to do every morning is sit on her partner’s face. That way he’ll only ever work for her and not toward fucking other women.
It lasted well more than ten minutes.
I lit up for a post coital cigarette in bed and asked, “Is there anything else I don’t know about that you’d like to share with me, Eran?”
“Nothing you can’t figure out on your own,” he answered.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean what I said, Noa. Like I always do.”
“Sure. Once through your mouth and once through your heart—it’s all about your interests.”
“That’s true. You’re right. And it’s in your interests to kiss me as quickly as possible so you’d be in my mouth. You’ve already been a part of my heart for a long time.”
“Suave…” I smiled.
“Let’s go over the plan for tonight, Noa.”
“For the third time?” I asked.
“We haven’t been through it even once since
