Excerpt
She’s a pretty lady. Talal thinks that if he didn’t have
difficulty following her Australian accent he could easily fall in love with her. He
smiles at that thought and she detects what he is thinking.
“What are you smiling about? Is it one of those delusions of yours, again?”
Helena jokes with him.
He doesn’t mind her at all because he knows she means no harm. She’s
always playful and full of fun; as a matter of fact, he enjoys her more than other
girls he has met, because this Australian girl with the beautiful contours is
someone whom Talal has gotten to know very well by exploring and touching
and getting excited and satisfying. But suddenly his mind travels to a woman
older than himself with whom he had such a great morning yesterday. Helena
recognizes something from his glowing face and his faint smile, a smile that a
woman can easily see is the smile of a man thinking of another woman. She says,
“Thinking of her again, aren’t we?”
“Thinking of who? What do you mean?” He suddenly gets defensive.
They are interrupted by Ahmed as he comes back to the table. She turns to
Talal.
“I’ll leave you boys on your own. Don’t forget to pick me up about three on
Saturday.”
“No problem, beautiful. I’ll be there.”
Manolis Aligizakis 