Interlude (32 page)

Cal shook his head comically and said,
“Sorry. I was trying to figure out how you make everything look so
beautiful.”

Karen blushed and leaned in to kiss him. As
he tried his best to initiate an impromptu make out session with
her, she playfully pushed him away.

“I just applied everything, thank you very
much.” She teased.

“Ugh, can't you let me de-apply it?” He
begged.

“Very funny. Now weren't you mentioning
something about Phoneticians or something last night?” She
probed.

“Oh yeah, you'll love this place. It’s one of
the oldest settlements on the island. It dates back to when the
island was under Greek control.” Cal said excitedly, adding, “It's
over in Ibiza Town. We can take my car.”

“How did I know you were going to offer to
drive?” Karen teased him.

“I'll let you drive if you want.” He offered
nonchalantly.

“No. I can't deprive you of the ability to
look like James Bond.” She confessed.

She and Cal spent the day touring sites that
had been on the island since before Christ. Karen's mind wandered
as she watched him point out landmarks and spew information like he
was an expert tour guide. She got a laugh when he halted his
conversations with her to correct a real tour guide that was
showing a group of tourists around! The group stopped to ask Cal
more questions about the local archeological sites. Karen watched
the ladies in the group as they eyed him from top to bottom. Their
hungry looks, and fidgeting legs, would have been enough to make
her possessive as all get out normally. With Cal it was different
though. She was so secure with him that she didn't mind these other
girls ogling her smart-as-a-whip guy. As he chewed the earpiece of
his sunglasses he continued with his and Karen's private tour, only
now they had some new members to their party as the girls tagged
along listening to his narrative of early life in Ibiza.

“....This grouping of structures is a UNESCO
World Heritage site. There was a developer that tried to build
here, but the town council was able to pass an edict at the last
minute to protect the site.” He continued on.

“Hey, where did you want to have lunch? I'm
starved.” She interrupted.

“I know the perfect spot. You'll love it, but
it's going to be a little bit of a drive.” He said.

“I'm game.” She said, adding, “Besides, I
don't want those girls from the tour you just hijacked to get any
ideas.” She said in a suspicious tone.

Cal looked over his shoulder at the departing
group of girls. “Really, Cool!” He said boyishly.

Karen playfully grabbed his tie and led him
to the car. “Come on, cowboy.” She said.

The drive up into the hills above Saint Josep
was beautiful. Cal's rented Aston Martin made quick work of the
winding mountain roads. As he banged through gears and checked the
navigation screen, Karen watched the scenery slide past. The
afternoon sun was getting to be almost oppressive when they finally
reached a dirt lot.

“I hope you're up to walking a little.” He
asked.

“Um, sure. Where are we going?” She said,
looking around at the pine trees lining the hillside.

“I'll tell you on the way.” He smiled to her
as he pulled a wicker picnic basket out of the trunk

They made their way along a short trail to a
clearing that dropped into a dilapidated concrete amphitheater. The
whole place looked like some kind of post-apocalyptic movie scene.
The concrete walls of the large complex were touched with varying
styles of graffiti. It held a beauty that was bare and violated.
Cal spoke up to answer the questioning look on her face.

“This is the abandoned Festival Club. It was
built as a tourist destination in the late sixties, but there was a
fuel crisis in the early seventies that ended its run. This spot
used to be where they would have music, mock bull fights, it was
really something. Now, it's just a quiet place with lots of pine
trees.” He draped a red, checkered tablecloth over one of the
remaining concrete tables and motioned for her to sit. He produced
two wine flutes and some wrapped sandwiches from their basket.

As they ate in blissful silence, they heard
two voices approaching from the trail. Karen gave Cal a cautious
look as the two people came closer. They were wearing ratty clothes
and carrying armloads of spray paint. The metal cans rattled
together in the silent place as they made their way past her and
Cal. They smiled to them and shook their heads as they walked down
to the bottom of the amphitheater. They both said something in,
what sounded like Spanish, and Cal chuckled to himself.

“What did they say?” She hissed at him. She
was wary of being here with these vandals.

Cal shook his head and took a sip of wine.
“If I heard right, they basically said I was trying to get in your
pants by being romantic.” He said with a smile.

Karen raised an eyebrow at him and smirked.
“If they only knew,” She joked.

Cal looked at her. She could tell his wheels
were turning. He was thinking something over, but what? He got up
all of a sudden and said, “Be right back.”

Cal wound his way around the dilapidated
tables and benches down to the bottom where the two vandals were
setting up their stuff. Karen watched as he approached the one with
shaggy, black hair. He was explaining something in Spanish to them,
and occasionally motioning up to her. Both of the boys smiled and
nodded excitedly. Cal pulled out his wallet and handed them some
Euros. He strode proudly back up to her and sat down.

“What was that about?” She asked him.

“You'll see...,” He said confidently, sipping
from his wine glass. A breeze kicked up, rustling the silent pine
trees into a fragrant whisper as Cal insisted on switching spots
with her. With her back to the graffiti artists, Cal asked, “So,
what's the deal with this Saudi princess we're meeting tonight?” He
asked after a while.

Karen poured out the rest of the wine between
them and put the bottle back in the fragile basket. She searched
for words to describe the acquaintance that had caused her so much
grief growing up. “First off, she's not a princess. If you actually
call her that to her face, she gets really mad. Her name is Aamina
Fahim.” Karen paused, adding, “She has a thing about obtaining
whatever top of the line stuff I have. She has a store house of
state of the art hardware that she just sits on and never really
sells. Even though she's a gun runner mostly, she dabbles in bio
weapons as well.” Karen paused at his look of apprehension.

“Do you sell bio weapons too?” He asked
slowly.

Karen could sense his tension at this new
revelation. She moved to quickly put him at ease. “No, not ever. It
was one of daddy's limits when it came to selling arms. Other
'runners do sometimes, but they're pretty rare. You fall out of
favor with the CIA pretty quick when you do.”

“Oh, that's good.” He said in a relieved
tone.

“No, the girl we're meeting tonight is just a
glorified collector. She likes to buy and sell because it seems
dangerous and illicit. She's rich enough to buy her own island, so
she just does it for kicks.” Karen tried to come up with more
information to prepare him for tonight's meeting. “Just stay by me,
and try not to let her flirt with you. If she fixates on you, then
things might get kind of weird.” Karen said firmly.

“If this girl is so complicated, why not just
leave me behind for this one? It won't hurt my feelings or
anything.” He said reassuringly.

“No baby, I want you there to show off too.
Plus, after all these years, she still kind of scares me.” She said
with a forlorn look.

Cal peered over her shoulder and smiled down
toward the two vandals. Karen had heard them spraying away on the
cracked concrete behind her. Cal nodded for her to turn around. She
turned as the two boys stood away from their illegal artwork.
There, in four foot tall letters were her and Cal's names in an
ornately painted heart. She held her hand to her mouth and stared
at the detail that the two had put into their illegal artwork. She
turned back to Cal just as he was snapping a picture of the wall
with his phone. He had the biggest grin on his face!

“What do ya think?” He asked proudly.

“Oh God, I love it!” She said quietly. Cal
gave the two boys thumbs up as they continued on with their own
tags.

“I love you too babe.” He said.

Chapter 14

Cal's nerves were starting to get the better
of him as the evening drew nearer. He wanted to pretend that he was
just meeting one of Karen's snotty friends, but he knew there was
so much more to it than that. As the sunny day drew to a red
sunset, Cal tied his sapphire blue tie and tucked in his white
shirt. He was glad he packed light clothing. The Mediterranean
temperatures were putting his antiperspirant to the test. As he
stood by the bed in the little hotel room, he watched Karen as she
strode out of the bathroom. He was amazed at her ability to bang
through her primping routine like a NASCAR pit stop. While his
ex-wife would take almost an hour struggling with makeup and
clothing choices, Karen just managed to throw stuff together that
worked every time. It probably helped that she was just drop dead
gorgeous too! Cal found himself staring at her statuesque figure as
she fumbled with her remaining earring.

“How do I look?” She asked simply.

His senses struggled to take all of her
beauty in at once. Her feet were pushed into peek-toed sandals that
revealed only the tips of her pedicured feet, as they wound up her
to her ankles in a convulsion of straps and buckles. Her light blue
dress stopped just above her knee and clung to all the right
places. His eyes flowed up to her hips as she shifted her stance
under his appraising eyes. The top wound around her bare shoulders
in a strappy halter, holding her breasts together in a profusion of
cleavage that dropped into the plunging neckline. As she turned to
look at herself in the mirror by the bed, he could make out the
trace of her underwear as the dress moved about on her. Her hair
spilled around her bare shoulders, framing her face and the gold
hoop earrings she was now struggling with.

“Babe, you're a weapon of mass seduction.” He
said, trying to sound suave.

Karen rolled her eyes at him, her eye makeup
pushing her green eyes into a powerful focal point. “Oh, God that
was corny.” She joked. Cal moved over to help with her with the
last earring. She closed her eyes and relished the sensation of his
warm fingers on her skin. Her heart fluttered as his hands slowly
spun her around. Cal attempted to lean in for a kiss as she blocked
his advance with her hand. He looked stunning! She felt bad
bringing him along for the sake of showing off, but she wanted to
flaunt something in front of that snotty little Arabian
princess.

Cal's blue eyes were brought out by the tie
he had chosen. His tan slacks fit just snug enough to show off his
developed legs and tight little ass. The fitted white linen shirt
showed just enough of his pecs and biceps to be showy, but not too
tight. She wanted to jump him, but she had business to worry
about.

“Nice try babe. If we start that now, we'll
never leave.” She said, as she slipped a row of gold and silver
bangles over her delicate wrist. Cal listened to the kinetic music
her body made as the bracelets jingled together and her sandals
clopped on the rough tile floor. “We best get going, the drive up
to her house takes forever, and she has a thing about people being
late.”

Cal pulled his car around to pick up Karen as
she waited by the hotel entryway. As she stepped into the car, she
fished out her sunglasses from her purse. The drive up to Aamina's
large villa was beautiful. As the sun dropped lower into the
waiting ocean, they made their way up through golden croplands and
the occasional almond orchard. As Karen guided him through the
different twists and turns, Cal's could feel his anxiety building.
How he wished he had a Xanax right now, He pushed the silly thought
out of his mind as they turned into a long, winding driveway. As
they sat parked at the gate, a voice crackled over the intercom
box.

“Karen girl, is that you?” Said a lilting,
female voice. Cal tried to place the unfamiliar accent. She didn't
really sound like she was from the Middle East.

Karen leaned over to the box and said, “Hey
Aamina! How have you been?”

“Good, really good, Come on up! I'm having a
little get together.” Aamina said cheerfully.

The ornate, iron gate groaned and shuddered
as it slowly opened. As Cal slowly inched his car inside, he
noticed a white stucco guard shack with a man standing inside
wearing a suit. The man gave them a stern nod as they drove past
and wound even farther up the hill to the enormous house on top.
Cal found a place to park in amongst the rows of cars circled
around a white stone fountain in the front of her house. Cal
finally felt justified in his rental of an exotic sports car as he
pulled in behind a yellow Ferrari and killed the engine. He sat
with Karen as the car's engine ticked and cooled in the quiet,
night air. He could sense her apprehension as he watched her
inhale, and exhale, like a true yoga enthusiast. How bad was this
gonna be?

“Hey sweetie? You're starting to freak me out
here!” He joked lightheartedly. Karen looked over to him. He could
see the tension in her eyes as she tried to alleviate his
worries.

“It’s really not gonna be that bad. We'll go
in and have a few drinks, I'll sell her some stuff, and we'll
leave. No problem.” she said with feigned confidence, adding, “It's
you I'm worried about. Ever since we first met, you’ve emitted a
kind of pheromone that draws girls to you like a magnetic field.
This place will probably be full of man traps and boy killers, and
they're going to fixate on you because you're not like the other
flaky, rich douche bags they're used to.”