Confession of an Abandoned Wife - Box Set (Books 1-3)

by Hartstein, Michal

  Only when I got that reassuring phone call from Itay was I finally able to relax and devote myself completely to the dreamy weekend I had ahead.

  I carefully checked out all the people who boarded the plane, and I was sure that I didn’t know any of the passengers, or more specifically, none of female passengers, for the flight was packed with amateur belly dancers. Only then did I allow myself to fawn over Manny. Unlike in the restaurant, where at any given moment someone could enter and see me, the advantage to flying was that there were no guests who could butt in in the middle. For the first time since the beginning of the affair, we allowed ourselves to be affectionate with each other in public.

  We reached the hotel and I was amazed to find that Manny had booked us a huge luxurious suite. I entered the suite and walked around it in a state of shock.

  "You're not normal," I said after I finished a hurried tour. "It must have cost you a fortune."

  "It's not cheap," he confirmed.

  "So why then?" I was uncomfortable with it. I sauntered up to him and wrapped my arms around his neck. "You know all I need is a bed."

  "I wanted to spoil you."

  "I can be self-indulgent in a normal room."

  "When Batya was alive," Manny’s mention of his late wife made me retreat a little, "we always dreamed of going to a hotel suite like this in Eilat. Always dreamed of feeling what all the rich and famous feel… and we never did it because it always seemed such a waste."

  Manny sat on the couch and continued. "We were supposed to go to Eilat a few months before she died, but we didn’t because she was in a bad way, and then I felt sorry for all the times we thought it was a waste." I looked at him, mesmerized. "Do you know what’s a waste?"

  I shook my head.

  "A waste is not enjoying something like this when you’re alive and well."

  I still thought it was a bit excessive, but Manny swore that because it was January and low season, the cost of the room was high, but not crazy.

  I calmed down and sat next to him.

  "Don’t you have to go to some festival meeting now?" he asked, softly stroking my hair.

  "You want me to go?"

  "God forbid." He looked almost offended. "I don’t want you to miss out because of me."

  "Don’t worry, I checked the program. I have some time."

  "How much time?" I recognized Manny's desire.

  "A little more than two hours," I replied and Manny attacked me. He should have enough time, I thought.

  Manny was in the shower when I returned from my class. I walked around the impressive suite and stopped by the big picture window overlooking the beautiful Gulf of Eilat. The room was almost dark, and I stared out of the window, shocked and thrilled by the scenery.

  Manny emerged from the shower and came over to me.

  "Amazing, isn’t it?" I said without turning. I reached up my hand and stroked Manny's shaved cheek. He smelled good.

  "Beautiful, almost like you." He complimented me and drew me closer to him. He began to stroke me, and I flinched.

  "Enough, Manny." I tried to duck away from him. "I need a shower. I probably stink of sweat."

  "You smell good," he replied as he dove into my curls.

  I tried to pull away again, but Manny didn’t let me move. He even used a bit of force. He was strong and forceful, but remained gentle as always, and I gave myself to him completely.

  He pulled my hair and kissed my neck. Pleasant and intoxicating chills came over me.

  His hands began to caress my body. I tried to turn around and hug him, but he didn’t allow me to turn, pinning me to the window.

  I stood there with the huge window and the Gulf of Eilat in front of me and Manny behind me, caressing and kissing, undressing and licking.

  Within a few moments, I stood completely naked in front of the window, naked in front of the whole Gulf of Eilat.

  Every time I slept with Itay, we were closed and reserved. Itay was always really anxious that someone would see or hear us, and now here I was, completely naked in front of an enormous window.

  I was more turned on than I had never been.

  Manny still didn’t allow me to turn around. I stood against the window while he caressed and kissed me. His hands slid deftly down my tingling body. Only when I was in a state of near coma did he finally enter me, without once allowing me to turn to face him. Another position I’d never tried, let alone in front of a balcony window.

  Manny finished, almost roaring into my ear. I collapsed at his feet. I was on the verge of exhaustion. Manny picked me up and laid me next to him on the giant bed. I had tears in my eyes. I didn’t know I could reach such heights of pleasure. It wasn’t that I’d never had an orgasm before I met Manny - and I don’t think I’d had an orgasm, I knew - but like many other things in life, there are several levels of pleasure, and tonight I’d reached a height that I’d never reached before.

  "Why are you crying?" Manny asked, looking scared. "Did I hurt you?"

  I smiled. "Are you kidding? I'm crying in pleasure."

  Manny smiled back.

  We lay naked and delighted for a few minutes and then my mind started to wander. I wanted to know if Batya had also received such treatment from him.

  "Tell me…" I said, breaking the soothing silence that engulfed us.

  "What?"

  "Did you have sex like this with Batya too?" I felt that he was uncomfortable with the question, but I had to know.

  "Do you do it like that with Itay?" he asked me back.

  I sighed. "You know I don’t, and I also told you… the few times I’ve slept with him since I've been with you, I only did it so as not to provoke suspicion." I felt bad for Manny, but at the same time, I was turned on by the fact that it made him jealous.

  "Batya wasn’t sexual like you."

  "What do you mean?" I was curious. We hadn’t talked much about Batya.

  "I showed you pictures of Batya."

  "Yes." I remembered the pictures from the album. Batya had a beautiful and radiant face, but she was fat and had rather neglected herself.

  "I don’t know if it was related to the fact that she was big and didn’t accept her body or if it was her closed nature, but Batya wasn’t open to anything spontaneous."

  "And you didn’t try?"

  "Not too much. During our early years I tried here and there, but at some point I gave up."

  "And you never went looking for excitement on the side?"

  "No."

  "Really?" I was a little embarrassed. I was ‘getting excitement on the side’ at that very moment.

  "I had no time for thrills on the side."

  "So was it just because of a lack of time?"

  "I don’t know."

  I thought about the pictures of Batya and looked at my naked body in the mirror that stood next to the bed. In all modesty - my looks versus hers? No contest.

  "Were you attracted to her?"

  "In our very first years, very much. Later, less so."

  "So you weren’t attracted to her, but you still didn’t cheat on her?"

  "I loved her," he said, his words echoing in my ears for a long time after they were said.

  Almost instinctively, I covered myself and curled up on my side of the bed.

  I felt this conversation was so stupid of me. A few minutes ago, I’d had the best sex I’d ever had and I’d ruined it all by probing into Manny's life. I suddenly felt so cheap, a reckless young lover who could never fill the giant shoes of the great and beloved late wife.

  I lay like that for a few minutes in a kind of oppressive silence, and suddenly Manny began to sing to me one of Itzhak Klepter's hit song.

  "La-la-la-la-la…" I hummed and turned to him with a crooked smile. My eyes were red and watery.

  He drew me into his arms and kissed my face, trying to swallow the tears.

  "I loved Batya for half my life, but I assure you, I now have only you in my heart, and I was never attracted to anyone, including Batya
, like I’m attracted to you," he said.

  That was all I wanted to hear.

  CHAPTER 16

  We fell asleep wrapped in each other’s arms.

  It was the first time we had spent the whole night together. I woke up at around one in the morning and remembered that I’d missed some performances at the festival. I didn’t mind. I preferred to be in bed with Manny than anywhere else in the world. I also remembered that I hadn’t showered. I sneaked into the shower and washed myself. I went back to bed naked and hot. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d slept naked. I stared at Manny breathing deeply, and I wondered when his heavy breathing would bother me. Everything about Manny was perfect in my eyes at that moment, but at some point in the past, Itay’s heavy breathing had sounded lovely to me. Now I kicked him whenever he began to snore, making him turn and sleep on his side.

  I was enjoying this so much, I didn’t want it to end, but I knew it would definitely end. Our weekend would be over in less than forty-eight hours, and our infatuation would relax at some point and become routine.

  I thought that as long as it stayed as an affair on the side, the thrill might be preserved. But for Manny, it was not an affair on the side. He was a single man, and I didn’t know how long he'd want to stay single. I didn’t know where we were going. We’d been together for three months. When the relationship began, I’d given no thought to the future, but in my wildest dreams, I didn’t believe that I would feel a love so deep and strong. I’d gone looking for donkeys, but had found royalty[6]. I’d wanted excitement on the side, I’d wanted to feel desirable, but I’d found the man of my life.

  Eventually I fell asleep and woke up at ten in the morning.

  I woke up with a start. "Wow, what time is it?"

  "Ten past ten," Manny said, looking down at me from the book he was reading.

  "Oh, we probably missed breakfast already."

  "Don’t worry, I ordered room service. It’ll be here soon."

  I got up, ran to my bag and pulled out my phone. There were no missed calls. I called Itay and asked if everything was okay. The ship still hadn’t sunk in my absence.

  I got dressed and organized and joined Manny, who was waiting for me with the breakfast that had arrived during my absence.

  "Are you going to classes today?"

  "If you want me to stay with you, I won’t go."

  "No way. We'll have enough time for lunch and dinner."

  "You want to go to the evening show of the festival?"

  Manny madea disappointed face and said, "This evening, I’d like to finally see the show you promised me."

  Buried deep in my bag, I had the belly-dancing outfit I’d bought to entice Itay. Since then, it had been buried deep in the closet. I didn’t dare wear at the classes. I wasn’t professional enough to boast a professional outfit. I went to my class wearing a belly-revealing undershirt, baggy pants and a sequin-covered scarf. The truth was, I’d already prepared a little dance for Manny, but I thought that some private lessons before the show could only improve my capabilities.

  I smiled. "Then I’ll have to practice today."

  The classes I went to were excellent, especially the scarf workshop that improved my abilities and gave me some new ideas for my evening show. From time to time, I glanced over at the advanced classes, and I was glad that Manny and I weren’t going to attend any professional performances. He wouldn’t be able to compare them with mine.

  I so wanted the evening to come. At the same time, I didn’t. I didn’t want my time with Manny to finish, but I wanted to perform for him.

  We ate an early dinner and went for a walk on the boardwalk. We were enjoying ourselves. I wanted my food to go down so I wouldn’t feel heavy. At nine o'clock, all the festival girls crowded into the hotel foyer, waiting for the main show of the evening. Meanwhile, I set about getting ready for my main show for Manny.

  I put on a CD of the song that I’d chosen, and I told Manny to hit the PLAY button when he received specific instructions from me. I darkened the main lights and turned on the lamps. I wanted to give the show a dark, romantic atmosphere. I quickly got dressed in the bathroom. I was afraid Manny would fall asleep in the darkened room. I put on some dramatic makeup and added bangle bracelets to complete the ethnic look.

  "Press PLAY!" I called from the bathroom.

  I heard the sounds of my favorite music playing, and I came out of the bathroom and walked toward Manny. He was sitting on the couch, giving me his undivided attention.

  I started dancing, covered in a blue chiffon scarf that I’d bought almost a year ago. I responded to the music almost intuitively. I closed my eyes and gave myself to the dance. I played with the scarf, caressing, covering, uncovering and finally I threw the veil aside and showed off my revealing dance costume. I continued to move… My body just gave itself to the melody. Months of training just broke out. I was sure I’d become confused and stop in the middle, but I just went with the flow. Every once in a while, I’d approach Manny, but I tried not to make eye contact. I didn’t want to get confused and stop in the middle.

  I finished up on the floor, out of breath. I looked up and saw Manny. He had a dazed look on his face.

  I stayed there on the floor, my knees still spread open. I was panting heavily,and Manny's gaze mademy heart quicken. He looked like he was going to pounce on me at any moment. When he realized that the dance was over, without a word, he raised himself from the couch, bent over and picked me up with a short and almost aggressive pull. He carried me to the bed, threw me on it and immediately attacked me as if he hadn’t touched me in years. He started to kiss me on the mouth and neck and then on my breasts and stomach. I wanted to take off my bra and skirt, but he refused to let me out of the costume. When we were so worked up that it nearly hurt, he rolled down my panties and entered me while I was still dressed in my dance-suit.

  "You're just amazing," he said, panting, trying to get his breathing back to normal.

  I blushed. "Thanks."

  "No… you don’t understand what you're doing to me."

  "Tell me, then." As usual, I was thirsty for his incessant flattery.

  "You just amaze me."

  I smiled as he stroked my cheek.

  "You just charmed me with your body. Your dancing is amazing."

  "You're exaggerating." It wasn’t false modesty. In the last two days I’d seen dancers several times more professional than I.

  "I’m not… it was just transcendental."

  The truth was that I, too, felt that the dance was a success. I’d just given myself completely to it.

  I got up. I wasn’t comfortable sleeping in the sequined dance costume with the coins. I went into the bathroom and took off my costume. I took off my makeup and put on a nightgown. I went back to the room and went to the table. I’d left my body cream there. I wanted to moisturize a little.

  While I smeared on scented lotion, Manny looked at me with a dreamy look in his eyes, and then he began to sing againAgain I joined in with him. “La-la-la-la… "

  "How I love this song," I told him when I lay down next to him.

  "I love Klepter."

  "I love you."

  I don’t remember the last time I slept as well as I did that night. I don’t remember when I ever slept hugging someone. But I slept the whole night in Manny’s arms and when I got up in the morning, I found it hard to break away from him. My body had gotten used to being connected to his body after a whole night together, like when you lay down and got used to a certain position and moving caused any other position to be uncomfortable.

  It was Saturday, and the festival was in progress, but it was a shame to pass my final hours in Eilat without Manny.

  We read the newspapers, ate leisurely, strolled along the promenade and simply enjoyed some quiet quality time as a couple. We sat on the beach, hugging each other. I was reminded of that fateful night, three months earlier, when I seduced Manny on his examination table and then we sat cuddled in a cafe in T
el Aviv. I felt like it was both yesterday and a million years ago. On the one hand, the time with Manny had flown by quickly, but on the other, my feelings for him had deepened. Our relationship had become so strong, I felt like we'd known each other for years.

  In the afternoon, with tears in my eyes, I arranged my clothes in my suitcase. I couldn’t believe that this dreamy weekend was about to end. When I finished, I went out on the balcony overlooking the spectacular view. I sat on one of the easy chairs, completely withdrawn into myself, my cheeks wet with tears. Manny came over and knelt beside the chair.

  "Why are you like this?"

  "Because the weekend’s over."

  "Only the weekend." He wiped my cheeks with a tissue. "I'm still here."

  I sniffed. "I know, but you know it's not the same."

  "It doesn’t have to stop," he said, and my heart skipped a beat. I knew this conversation would come up at some point.

  "What do you mean?"

  Manny dug in his pocket and pulled out a small box.

  "I mean it," he said, and opened the box. It held a beautiful, white gold ring set with an emerald of spectacular green.

  I'm not a woman who boasts about her jewelry, certainly not expensive jewelry, but the ring was simply amazing… and given to me in the most amazing way imaginable. I took the ring out of the box, and I put it on my right index finger, where I usually wore my wedding ring, which I’d taken off as soon as I’d gotten on the plane.

  "You're not normal," I whispered as I studied the ring. "What's this for?"

  "I want you to be my wife."

  I took the ring off and put it in the box. The ring had a price. I didn’t know if I could pay it.

  I was cold, and I went back in the room. Manny sat down beside me on the couch.

  "You waited until now because you knew that in the last hours of our lovely weekend, I wouldn’t be clear headed?"

  "No," he said, putting the box on the table. "I waited until now because I know it’s not a simple question, and I didn’t want it looming over our weekend."