Cristal(28)

“Get over the problem you have with learning another language,” he said, still in her head.

What? Now how did he know that? She knew he was able to sense things about her, but how in the world would he be able to sense she had a problem with languages? And how come she could hear him in her mind?

“It just started when you had your eyes closed earlier, Cristal,” his voice in her head said. “I could hear your thoughts. They weren’t clear, but the more upset you became, the clearer they were.”

“Okay, that only half answers my questions. How in the world are you talking to me in my head?”

“Not sure, but I think when you started listening to your music, I could hear it, too,” his voice said. “And for some reason, through the music, I felt I could reach you. The feeling was so strong that I sang the message to you in my head. “

He sat up turning to her, his mesmerizing eyes gazing deep into hers.

“And you heard me…didn’t you?” he asked her.

Her heart started beating harder, her breathing faster. Everything around her started spinning. Kerim grabbed her hand.

“Breathe, Cristal, breathe.”

She felt her hands shaking. Oh no! The plane started rocking violently. Screams from the passengers filled the cabin. No, please don’t let this happen again. Tears streaked down her cheeks as she imagined the worst thing that would happen next.

Kerim held her hand tight and pulled her towards him. She glanced up to see his lips so close to her face. “Everything is going to be fine, Cristal,” he whispered, stroking her hair.

She could smell his scent in her nostrils. Her body felt magnetic energy move from inside her towards him.

Kerim pulled her tighter into his embrace. Before she could push him away or say anything, his head bent down and his mouth pressed down on hers. She felt her body flush with excitement as she melted into his kiss. Her hand was on his chest, and she could feel his heart beating hard. Her other hand found its way to his wavy hair. Pulling a handful gently into her hands, she marveled at how soft it felt in her fingers. Suspended in the first kiss, tongues searching each other, their hands explored each other’s body. While enjoying the moment, a part of her suddenly realized that the plane had stopped shaking. She opened her eyes and looked to see the flight attendants were running around.

“The plane just passed through a small batch of turbulence. Everything is fine,” the Asian flight attendant said to them as she rushed by.

She looked over at Kerim. His eyes were warm and dreamy; his smile was relaxed, and his face seemed to have an afterglow. It was then that she picked up her cell phone, and pointed the camera lens at him.

“I want to keep the way you’re looking at me now in my memory forever,” she whispered.

He tilted his head and raised his fingers in the “peace” sign, the pointer and middle fingers up.

“Actually, it means victory,” he said as she snapped the photo.

She liked that it could mean both peace and victory.

She cuddled up close to him and slept for the rest of the flight, listening to the songs on her phone with Kerim’s voice singing along in her head.





Chapter 16


Calm before the Storm


KERIM WAS MEETING HER in the hotel lobby soon. It was their first full day off since they arrived, and he had promised to show her around.

The first few days going to the Global Nation office in Haifa was awkward to say the least. Every morning at 7:00 a.m., like an alarm clock, Harry waited in a small silver Subaru hatchback, outside the hotel—never a minute late. Although it was annoying, she was comforted knowing he would be there. Life was different here. Not that it was a bad thing. It was difficult for her not being able to speak or understand the language. Hotel workers were generally polite.

“How are you, Miss? Do you need anything, Miss?” they would say, always with their well-rehearsed smiles.

But if she wanted something, an extra towel or bar of soap, suddenly no one could understand English.

***

Every night, Kerim patiently tried to teach her conversational Hebrew and Arabic. His creative teaching style using music was experimental, but she had to admit that it was working. The only phrase she was able to say in both languages was “Ayph hshyrvtym?” and “Wayne hamam?” which meant, “Where is the washroom?”

“Well, at least I will never worry about you finding a bathroom,” he teased her.

She smacked his shoulder playfully.

During the day, she and Harry were supposedly restoring the server networks at GN, but in reality, they were downloading data for Cristal to decode. If it were all about work, she wouldn’t have minded so much. The problem was that Harry was always trying to corner her.