Interrupted Romance

by Baxter, Topsy

  The concert was a dress-up affair and Dafna took particular care with her grooming. She brushed her black hair until it crackled and gleamed, then piled it up on top of her head, with a few stray tendrils artistically left to frame her face. Satisfied with that, she applied her make-up with skill and stepped back from the mirror to check on the effect.

  'Hmm, not bad', she thought. Then, speaking aloud, she said to her reflection, "But it would be a lot safer if you had some clothes on!"

  She grinned to herself as she walked to the wardrobe in her underwear. The intention had been to wear her black dress, but a the last moment Dafna chose a deep burgundy, slim-fitting, ankle-length frock which hadn't seen the light of day for some months. It had shoulder straps barely as wide as shoe-strings. Her gold sandals with the three inch heels were beside the bed and the gold evening bag was already on a chair waiting for her to pick it up. As she wriggled into the dress she was deciding on the jewellery to go with it… the chunky gold necklace and matching earrings, her gold watch instead of her 'everyday at work' watch. The overall effect was stunning.

  When she opened the door to David, his eyes travelled slowly down the length of her body, taking in the shiny black hair, the olive skin, the gorgeous burgundy-coloured dress draping her figure, the gold sandals and the painted toenails, which matched her fingernails. He whistled appreciatively. She laughed.

  He held her hand in the foyer of the concert hall, rarely taking his eyes off her face, even when friends approached to speak with him and he introduced Dafna to them. He was making her nervous with his open admiration. She began to think that maybe the little black dress would have been a better choice than this striking red attention-seeker.

  The warning bell rang to warn the patrons to make their way to their seats. As David led Dafna along the aisle, following a crowd of other people, Dafna caught a glimpse of a familiar figure up ahead. Tall, dark-haired, broad shoulders… surely not Adam, not here, she asked herself. She craned her neck to see over the heads of people in front of her, but was unable to see far enough. David looked at her enquiringly as she was almost walking on tip-toe beside him. Guiltily, she dropped back to normal walking, smiled at David, and said, "Thought I saw someone I know."

  Throughout the first half of the concert, Dafna barely comprehended what was going on around her and she certainly missed the music entirely. Her thoughts were on trying to find the tall man again. Without showing David what she was doing, she was systematically looking from side to side, not moving her head, but eyeing the rows of seats within her range of vision. However, she was unable to find the person she was looking for among the hundreds of heads in front of her.

  David had taken her hand in his as soon as they had sat down but Dafna wasn't even aware of it. If Adam was out there somewhere, she wanted to find him, to see him. Who had brought him to the concert?

  During the interval, they stood with friends of David, chatting about the performance so far. Dafna listened carefully to the opinions of the other young people in order to gauge the reaction to the musical programme, just in case she was asked for an opinion. As she couldn't recall anything about the concert thus far, it would be a few minutes well-spent. This didn't stop her from looking about her at the milling crowd of people trying to buy a drink before the bell rang again. Try as she might, she couldn't spot the tall man anywhere.

  The bell rang for the second half of the concert and David and his friends shuffled her along with them, back inside the hall, where they settled down for the continuation of the entertainment. She tried to listen with enthusiasm to the wonderful orchestra, under the baton of a maestro, famed for his excellence of style and interpretation. Parts of a Haydn symphony infiltrated into her senses as she concentrated on the shapes of heads in the semi-darkness.

  Dafna had no idea what she would do if she did find the man and it was Adam. Would he want to talk to her?

  Before she knew it, the audience was standing and applauding all around her. Whether it was the end of the symphony or the end of the concert, she didn't know but she joined them in showing appreciation for music she had hardly heard. All her thoughts had been on Adam, and the times they had been together, so happily.

  Finally, the people started making their way to the exits, slowly, talking amongst themselves. She realised that David was talking to her, too.

  "What, David? I'm sorry, I was miles away," she said to him.

  "Well, I know that. Did you enjoy the concert, Dafna? What did you think of the finale - wasn't it brilliant?"

  "Wonderful," she replied. "It was just wonderful."

  "Would you like to go for coffee now? All the others are going," David asked.

  "Oh, yes, that would be nice," Dafna said, not meaning a word of it. All she wanted to do was to locate that tall man, to see if it was Adam.

  Walking within the group of friends to a nearby café, Dafna tried her best to involve herself in the conversations going on simultaneously. They were laughing at a joke as they went through the doorway and Dafna almost stopped dead in her tracks as she saw the tall, dark-haired man at a table, his back towards her. Behind her, David stumbled as he tried not to walk on her heels when she hesitated so suddenly. A waiter came forward to point out a table on the opposite side of the room, which would be large enough for the whole group, and they trooped over to it, with Dafna locked in the middle of the huddle of bodies.

  She positioned herself so that the man was facing her across the room. It was Adam. Dafna could clearly see his face, lined from so many weeks of pain-filled hours and days. He was with a group of men and women who looked vaguely familiar. Dafna realised they were the same people in some of the photos she'd seen in his apartment. Of course, they were family. His cousins and their wives. So he didn't have another woman with him. She realised this had been what was on her mind all evening.

  A waitress, who looked too tired to be interested in the people in front of her, took the coffee orders. The conversations around the table waned as she did this. David asked what type of coffee she'd like. She asked for Vienna coffee as she'd always liked the cream on top.

  She stood up, surprising David and the others, excused herself and headed towards the table on the other side of the room. Never before lacking in determination to go after something she wanted, Dafna approached Adam's table with butterflies in her stomach, but a firm step.

  Standing beside Adam, she placed her hand on his shoulder. His cousins looked up at her, one of them recognised her instantly and smiled.

  Before he could say anything, she said, "Hello, Adam. How have you been keeping?"

  "Dafna?"

  "Yes. I saw you at the concert, but lost you in the crowd. Did you enjoy it?"

  "Yes, I did. I thought the performance of Beethoven's symphony stole the show. What did you think?"

  "I agree, it was marvellous," she lied, not having heard it at all. "Well, I won't intrude on your evening. I just wanted to see how you are." Turning to the others at the table, she said, "Excuse me for interrupting your evening." To Adam, she said, "Adam, could we meet one day this week? I'd really like to talk to you."

  "OK. That's OK with me," he said. "When would suit you?"

  "How about Sunday for lunch? I could pick you up at your mother's place - about midday?"

  "Fine. I'll see you then," Adam said.

  Dafna walked back to her table, quietly pleased with herself. He hadn't said he didn't want to see her. In fact, he sounded very happy that she had spoken to him at all.

  David was waiting for her to return. He'd been watching her talk to the dark man, resting her hand on his shoulder as though she knew him well.

  "Who was that?" he asked, as soon as she was seated again.

  "That man saved my life some months ago. He was blinded as a result of his actions. I know him very well," she said to David.

  The rest of the party at the table had heard this exchange and perked up their ears about him saving her life. They clamoured for more informati
on. Quietly, Dafna gave them a brief rundown of the events that took place at the airport, the injuries both suffered, the recuperation. She left out the part about Adam staying with her at her mother's home, or that she had stayed with him in his mother's home. She didn't mention their close relationship either.

  She was relieved when everyone decided it was time to go and they all stood up to say their farewells before moving towards the door.

  CHAPTER 22

  Dafna woke late the morning following the concert. It had been a late night by the time David had brought her home. She'd invited him in for coffee, hoping he wouldn't accept, but he did. He was curious about Adam and had questioned her several times about him. At first, Dafna tried to avoid the questions, changing the subject, but finally decided to tell David more than he wanted to know.

  She told him about the difficulty Adam was having; the waiting on the operation which may, or may not, restore his sight; the mood swings as a result of the pain; the weeks and months of not knowing if he would ever see again or work again.

  "And," David said, after a pause, "you forgot to mention that you love him."

  Dafna gasped in astonishment. David went on, "You are wearing your heart on your sleeve Dafna. I realise now why you were so distant tonight. And when you went over to his table and put your hand on his shoulder, I think I knew then. You looked beautiful tonight - it's a pity he couldn't see you."

  David kissed her softly on the lips and turned on his heel and walked out, closing the door quietly behind him.

  And so, Dafna lay on her side in the morning light, watching the movement of the curtain, thinking about the previous night and David's words before he'd left her. Considering the fact that she'd hardly spoken to him all night, he'd been very understanding with her. She smiled then, when she remembered that it was only the day after tomorrow that she would have lunch with Adam. It was something to look forward to. She recollected how calm he had sounded last night. Something had changed him again.

  Feeling as though a weight had been lifted from her shoulders, she threw back the covers and jumped off the bed, moving quickly into the kitchen to boil the jug for coffee. It wasn't a working day and the sun was up… what a day for the beach!

  Following breakfast, Dafna showered and dressed quickly in shorts and sleeveless blouse, which covered her brief bikini, anxious not to lose a minute of this wonderful day. She packed a towel, sunscreen, floppy hat, and a book to read on the sand. Then, slipping her feet into comfortable sandals, she left the building and began walking towards the beach. It was almost nine o'clock when she set out, with the still-rising sun behind her, warming her back. She hummed a popular tune as she strode along, her dillybag swinging from her shoulder. A few people turned to watch her jaunty stride as she passed them, and one young fellow actually whistled at her. She smiled in delight.

  The sand was already becoming crowded when she finally walked down the steps to the beach. Plenty of bathers were in the water, some swimming, others playing and splashing about. Children lined the edge of the water, busy with buckets and spades, or holding boogie boards and watching the little waves washing into the shore.

  Dafna looked about for a spot near the back of the beach, against the wall, where she could sit up and lean against it while reading the book. It would also be a great vantage point to observe the activities on the beach. A few minutes of walking along the sand proved fortunate, as she found her vacant area. Not far away was a large family gathering, complete with picnic mats and baskets, which had rigged up a rope on poles to act as a net for beach volleyball games. They were in full swing, with a vigorously contested match under way as Dafna slipped off her shorts and blouse and sat down on her towel. Each of the contestants, men and women, looked very fit, as though they did this often.

  The wall area was still in shade, and would remain so for another hour or so and then the midday sun would come over and start to cook the people sheltering there. Dafna wanted to swim first and read later. She smoothed plenty of sunscreen over her already lightly tanned body and moved across sand, which was starting to heat up. She increased her walking speed and stepped into the shallow water, only to gasp at the sudden coolness, which was a shock to the system after the early heat of the day and the sand.

  A child playing nearby saw her hesitate and laughed up at her saying, "Go on in, lady, it's really nice today."

  Dafna laughed back at the child, laughing at herself really, for showing cowardice at the thought of getting that cool water all over her body. She waded further out, standing on tiptoe as the waves rolled in towards her, dropping back onto her feet as they passed. Taking a deep breath, she plunged into the next wave, feeling the shock of the change in body temperature. However, as she swam out she became accustomed to the feel of the water and began to enjoy herself. The child was right, it was nice in! Swimming slowly up and down the beach, the water supported her weight and she gently bobbed about in the swell. She rolled onto her back and floated, looking up at the clear blue sky streaked with puffy white clouds. Apart from the lack of surf it was almost like being at the beach in Sydney, she thought. There, too, summer was all sun, heat, sand, blue skies, just like this. It was this comparison of beaches that reminded her that Sydney also had some of the most dangerous sharks swimming off its shores. Hastily, she dropped her legs and started swimming back into the shore, mindful of a danger she used to ignore as a young child.

  The small waves weren't exactly suitable for surfing into the beach, so Dafna had to swim all the way, all the time hoping nothing was swimming along with her. She was reliving a teenage horror of sharks, ever since reading the book 'Jaws'. It had been years before she was brave enough to watch the movie! Now it tempered her enjoyment of swimming at the beach. She'd forgotten all about it until she thought of Sydney's beaches. 'Damn that,' she thought. It was fun up until then.

  Before she reached the shallows, she had already recalled reading about the large hammerhead shark caught off Israel's coastline some months earlier. And then there had been that television interview with an Italian fisherman and his son, who had been terrorised by a great white shark. The man had had the presence of mind to use his movie camera to show what that shark was trying to do to his boat. The boy was screaming in terror for this father to take them home, away from the shark. It was unheard of that a great white had made its home in Mediterranean waters. They usually swam in mostly colder seas. But the film proved that theory wrong.

  Swiftly, she walked out of the sea, squeezing water from her hair. She walked back to where her belongings were waiting for her. In the shade, she patted the towel over her body, renewed the film of sunscreen, wiped her hands and sat down against the wall. With sunglasses protecting her eyes from the glare, she leaned back and watched as families arrived and set up camp, impatient children waiting to be rubbed with sunscreen before running, shrieking, down to the water's edge. Parents followed with less haste, and she realised, they were just as reticent as she had been to feel the cool water on their skin. Children never seemed to bother about the coolness, they just ran straight in and began swimming and playing.

  With the book in her hands, Dafna relaxed and stretched her legs out in front of her to catch the first of the sun's rays as it moved overhead. Not long after, she buried her feet in the sand to prevent them from burning. It was going to be a very hot day on the sand. She threw the towel over her legs about half an hour later to protect them, and settled back with her book again.

  The sound of a bell ringing woke her from a short doze. It was an icecream vendor moving along the sand, doing a roaring trade, ringing a bell as he went, exciting all the children who heard it. Dafna could feel that she'd burnt a bit during her little nap and stood up to go back for another swim to cool off, as well as to wash sand off her skin before reapplying sunscreen. With surprise she noted that the big clock on the dressing room wall was showing almost two o'clock. She was hungry, hot and thirsty.

  A quick swim to cool off in the sha
llows, where she stayed within a large group of other bathers, and she ran back to her spot near the wall to dry off. Pulling her shorts and blouse over her swimsuit, she picked up her towel and other belongings and went in search of a cool drink. There was a kiosk not far from the beach, where she was able to quench her raging thirst and buy a sandwich. These she took into the small park, which was the buffer between Netanya's beach and Kikar Haatzmaut. Dafna sat under a shady tree to enjoy her mini picnic, again watching the passing parade of people of all shapes and sizes, tourists and locals, listening to the sounds of several languages. Predominant amongst them were the Scandinavian languages and she guessed that a large contingent of Swedes, Danes and Norwegians had come to Israel for their holidays.