Interrupted Romance (21 page)

Back in Australia, when you got very sunburnt, one remedy was to cut a tomato in half and gently smooth the cut side over the burnt area.
 
It seemed to draw the fire out of the skin and soothe it.
 
It also left the skin a bit sticky, with the odd tomato seed clinging to it, but it did ease a burnt patch, and could easily be washed off later.

It was a remedy that her grandmother had used on them as children and Dafna decided to try it on her shoulders, arms and feet - her face would feel only the moisturiser.
 
She got up and lifted the kaftan over her head, standing semi-naked in the kitchen, while she prepared the tomato.
 
Smoothing a cool tomato over her skin felt so good that she ended up using two whole tomatoes to do the job.
 
However, Dafna hoped that nobody would ring the doorbell as, apart from smelling like a salad, she would probably look a bit strange.
 
The tomato juice was left on until she was ready to go to bed, when a quick, tepid shower was all it took to wash it off.
 
By that time, the skin was less stressed.
 
It could be repeated the following day if the necessity was there.
 
Otherwise, the moisturiser could handle it from then on.

Dafna slept well that night, dreaming again of walking on a beach holding Adam's hand.
 
She had gone to bed so tired that she hadn't moved in the night, and when she got up the next morning, her bed looked as though it had already been made.

Her sunburn had eased enough to allow full movement of her limbs and she applied liberal quantities of moisturiser to take over from the tomato juice's original efforts.
 
In a few days, her skin would be a golden, glowing tan -'cooked to perfection', she thought, and gave a soft giggle.

The day was another bright, sunny one, but Dafna had no intention of going out in the sun as her skin would probably burn again, and she didn't fancy the idea of being uncomfortable when it could so easily be avoided.
 
If only she hadn't fallen asleep in the sun on the beach!

She was saved from finding a distraction for the day when the phone rang and several of her friends announced they were coming over to see her.
 
It was Saturday, the last day of the weekend in Israel - Sunday being the start of the working week.
 
Dafna set about preparing food for a cold lunch and laid a fresh snowy-white linen tablecloth over the table.
 
There was time to set the table and then rearrange the flowers in a display for the centrepiece.
 
She'd bought them on her way home on Thursday evening.
 
In fact, the apartment had a pleasant perfume from many flowers arranged in the living room and the dining room.
 
Dafna liked to have fresh flowers around her.

The girls arrived within minutes of each other and there were kisses and hugs all around, everyone talking at once for the first few minutes until they sorted themselves out.
 
They exclaimed over Dafna's flower arrangements, her sunburn (was it sore?), the apartment which had been redecorated since they'd last seen it, the weather etc.
 
Each of them had brought a plate or bowl of food, prepared that morning, to help with the catering for lunch.
 
It was going to be a happy, noisy day with everyone talking at once all the time.
 
As usual.

And so, they talked, ate their lunch, played cards afterwards, talked some more, drank coffee.
 
All the things you usually do when friends drop in.
 
Everyone was eager to catch up on Dafna's life since the bomb attack.
 
She'd left the country again before they had a chance to hear the latest gossip following her recovery from injuries received.

The day flew by and the girls were all surprised to see that the time had passed five o'clock.
 
There was a hurried collection of bags and keys and washed plates.
 
They went through the kisses-all-around again, accompanied by promises to 'do it all again soon'.
 
They left as rowdily as they had arrived, leaving Dafna in sudden silence.
 
She hurried to the CD player to put some music on, filling the void with sound.

Her visitors had already done the cleaning-up in the kitchen, so there was nothing to do in there except put the jug on again for more coffee.
 
Dafna leaned back against the bench, ankles crossed, thinking about Adam, when the phone rang.
 
She hurried into the living room and lifted the receiver.
 
It was Adam.

His deep voice spoke softly into her ear:
 
"
Shalom
, Dafna, how are you today?"

"Well I'm fine, thank you.
 
And you?
 
I was just thinking about you.
 
You must be telepathic to call right now!"

He laughed.
 
"I've been thinking about you, too, and I wanted to talk to you, to hear your voice."

Dafna took a deep breath.
 
This was more like the Adam she loved.
 
This was more like what she wanted to hear.

"I've missed you," she said to Adam.
 
"Is midday still OK for you tomorrow?"

"Yes, I'll be ready and waiting."

"How are you really feeling these days?
 
You sound much better, Adam."

"I am feeling better now.
 
That’s really why I wanted to talk to you.
 
I'm so sorry for the way I've been
 
acting… for the way I spoke to you that day.
 
I didn't mean it.
 
I just couldn't help myself.
 
I get so frustrated at not being able to do all the things I used to do, and it came out of me in rage.
 
I'm really sorry."

"Apology accepted."

"What have you been doing today, darling?" he asked her, relief obvious in his voice.

"Oh, I've been entertaining," she said.
 
"Some of my friends dropped by and we had lunch, played cards, laughed a lot.
 
It was a fun day.
 
But I’m just filling in time until we meet again."

They spoke in general terms for another twenty minutes, finally saying their 'goodbyes' when Adam's mother called him to come to the table for his dinner.

Dafna hadn't missed the 'darling' he'd thrown into the conversation, and wriggled with satisfaction that he seemed to be back to his old self once more.
 
She went back into the kitchen to reboil the jug.
 
Tomorrow would be a very special day.

CHAPTER 22

The 'big day' dawned overcast, threatening rain with the dark clouds skidding across the sky in angry swirls.
 
Dafna pulled back the curtains and groaned in disbelief that her perfect day was going to be so imperfect, as far as the weather was concerned.
 
She'd envisaged a lovely sunny day to match her 'sunny' emotions.

She let out a loud sigh, dropping the curtains back into place.
 
Her thoughts turned to clothes.
 
What would she wear that would suit the climate and the occasion?
 
Before meeting with Adam, she would need to go into the shop for a few hours, so business clothes would be needed.
 
'Work interferes with my life!' she thought.

Eventually, she settled for a pantsuit in soft beige with a cream blouse, adding a heavy gold necklace which showed off the golden tan above the blouse.
 
The chunky gold chain was a gift from her father shortly before his death.
 
Dafna often wore it to remember him as he was in those days before he became ill.

On the way to the shop, the wind picked up in intensity, rushing in off the Mediterranean and pushing dirt and sand before it into the town.
 
Papers were lifted and blown about through the streets, trees bent under the onslaught.
 
Dafna drove carefully, not wanting to be an accident statistic in these conditions, and not wanting anything to spoil her meeting with Adam later in the day.

After parking her car, she hurried to the shelter of the book shop, unlocking the front door and almost losing it from her grasp as the gusts of wind pushed through the square, looking for any opening to invade.
 
She managed to slip inside and push the door back against the wind.
 
The books in the front display stands would suffer a bit from the blowing sand and grit.
 
They would need to move older, less valuable displays into the position usually saved for the latest eye-catching titles.

Dafna worked quickly, moving books about to protect her best sellers.
 
Yael arrived as she was almost finished and helped with the last of the shuffle of titles.
 
They paused as Ilana dashed through the door, windblown and brushing grit from her face.

Yael said, "Trust you to arrive when the work is over!"
 
She was laughing at Ilana's hairstyle - hair standing on end in places.

"Isn't it awful?
 
There were two accidents on the way to work.
 
Fancy having to stand out in that wind, waiting for the police to come!" Ilana said brushing back her hair.

They headed to the office to freshen up before the first customers would come bowling into the shop - that is, if any customers were brave enough to come out in this dreadful wind.

Surprisingly, they were inundated with high school children, out on an excursion to look at local businesses and how they operated.
 
The swirling wind hadn't stopped them and they enthusiastically roamed through the shop, looking at titles, discussing various topics amongst themselves.
 
Dafna smiled to herself, thinking that if she were still in school she would take the opportunity to have a day in town, too.
 
They were well-behaved, although, every now and then, the accompanying teacher would remind them to quieten down a bit.
 
During their stay in the shop, some took the opportunity to talk to Dafna about the running of a book shop, how she chose the titles, ordered them, displayed them.
 
She quite enjoyed herself with these young adults, mostly girls, sharing information with the curious ones, discussing titles with the more studious types.
 
Time went by fairly quickly, and when the students left to find their next 'target' it was almost time to leave to pick up Adam.

She dreaded going out into the wind again, thinking about the grit flying around and how it would stick to her and her light-coloured clothing before she reached the car.
 
Still, there was no choice, and there was no way she'd miss meeting her man.

With final instructions for the display of new books, if they arrived that day, she was ready to leave.
 
The girls gave her sly looks, implying that Dafna was going to 'an assignation' instead of just a lunch meeting.
 
She gave them a 'Mona Lisa' smile in return and stepped through the door into the wind.

Just getting to the car was an effort, leaning into the wind one moment and being swept along by it the next.
 
Once she was safely in the car, out came the brush and comb to fix the hair, followed by the mirror for a close examination of her makeup.
 
Fortunately, there didn't seem to be much damage by grit and sand.
 
However, she applied a small touch of perfume in case the smell of dust clung to her.

Dafna drove as quickly as she dared to where Adam was waiting for her at home.
 
His parents were happy to see her and his mother threw her arms around Dafna, holding her close and rocking her gently.
 
Adam stepped forward, arms out.
 
"My turn," he said.
 
Swiftly, Dafna turned to him and walked into this outstretched arms.
 
This was a cuddle for which she'd waited a long time.
 
Adam's mother nudged his father in the arm, smiling a knowing smile, and they walked from the room into the kitchen, to give them a moment to themselves.

"Adam, it's awful outside.
 
Do you still want to go out?"

"Of course.
 
We can be by ourselves… or at least, another couple amongst a crowd of couples.
 
I'd rather go out than stay here."

"
Gam ani
," said Dafna, with her head against Adam's broad chest.
 
Once again, she enjoyed the clean fresh smell of his body and clothes, and his aftershave lotion that she loved so much.
 
"Let's go, shall we?"

Adam called out 'goodbye' to his mother and father and they hurried to the car.
 
Dafna opened the passenger door for Adam and he quickly sat in the car and pulled the door shut, while Dafna ran around the other side.
 
Adam had leaned over and pushed the door open for her by the time she got there.
 
She jumped into her seat, slamming the door behind her, and again pushed her fingers through her hair to brush it back from her face.
 
Really, she thought, it would have been smarter to tie it back, rather than let it hang down to her shoulders.

They travelled through streets still busy with traffic as some workers headed for home.
 
Dafna drove to a popular hotel, where the restaurant was known to give good service and wonderful cuisine.
 
Fortunately, they were able to park under the hotel, so they didn't have to brave the weather again.
 
Dafna led Adam from the car, with her arm through his, hands clasped, to the elevator, which took them up to the restaurant floor.
 
As the elevator door slid open, the perfume of masses of flowers reached them.
 
It was a lovely welcome, followed by a very courteous verbal welcome from the maitre d' hotel.
 
They were shown to a table for two in a quiet alcove.
 
Dafna was reminded of a similar setting when she sat in a hotel restaurant with Moshe, the night… 'Stop it' she told herself.