by Ilana Cohen
At the end of the day, she wasn’t particularly sorry. She felt free again from emotional complications in her workplace, unnecessary tensions and excitements, and of course, resentment toward her female colleagues. That was the right way to do it, maintain a pure business-like relationship with everyone.
Chapter 4
At the Gym
The guy looked fantastic, a sight for sore eyes, and she followed him while he passed through the women doing their exercise, giving them workouts, instructing them and adjusting the equipment. The cheap sport suit he was wearing complimented his beautiful body and perfect posture. His height, about five feet nine, created the impression he was a gentleman, in spite of his broad shoulders, narrow hips and strong arms and legs, which were extremely muscular. He was careful to fold the sleeves of his shirt high above the elbows to generously expose his arm muscles for all to see. His muscular arms were covered with fair hair, like a northern predator’s.
These were the first years of the new millennium, and the first few gyms in Israel had just now been opened. One evening, Alex, Edith’s son, invited his mother to join him at the new gym that had just opened in the settlement.
“Mother, you should come with me to the gym, a lot of old ladies like you are working out there. It’s a nice place, you’ll see for yourself.”
His invitation came just in time; the beloved son had noticed his mother was using workout videos and even trying to jog in the neighborhood and around the house. Not only were her attempts unsuccessful, the bored neighbors had taken interest in her activities and interfered in her jogging.
“What happened, why are you running? What do you need it for, anyway?” they stopped and bothered her and she had become the talk of the evening. What can you do, people get bored; she shrugged and stayed home.
She accepted her son’s invitation and finally went to the place designated for exercising. At first, engaging in intense physical activity and exercising at the new country-club was difficult for her. She was completely out of shape; the muscles of her body were weak and flabby. When she tried to use the gym equipment, she discovered very quickly that she was lacking physical strength and unable to perform aerobic exercises for two straight minutes. Any activity she attempted was accompanied by palpitations and shortness of breath. But she didn’t give up, she continued to exercise and her condition improved. She persisted and visited the gym regularly for an hour during the evening, two-three times a week. She got used to run on the slanted treadmill until she would reach a state of exhaustion and rivulets of sweat poured into her eyes and obscured her vision.
Exercise bikes, steppers and more – she tried everything, in order to nurture the petite muscles she had gradually developed over the course of an entire year. The regular exercising awarded the gentle, testosterone-free, small-muscled woman with physical strength and a fine figure. Following intense physical exercising, she would feel fresh and relaxed, as if she had purified herself.
The country-club gym was a nice, clean and aesthetic place. A complex containing two exercise halls, not particularly large, but well organized and air conditioned. The first hall contained the aerobic equipment for developing cardiovascular endurance, and the second one contained pneumatic exercise machines for muscle building. The entire floor was covered with a wall-to-wall carpet; flower pots containing greenery were placed in the corners to liven the atmosphere in the enclosed rooms. A stereo system played with the rhythm of the gymnasts’ movements and a television screen was placed in front of the rows of treadmills, so people won’t get too bored walking or running on them for long minutes. A fairly sophisticated gym for the first years of the new millennium.
Edith could not recall a time in which she had exercised in the past, even as a high school student she used to skip gym class. In a communist country, physical education lessons in school were very strict. The classes became a hunting ground, intended to locate young talent that could be trained and transformed into preposterous creatures that would successfully represent the communist nation for the world to see. Totalitarian regimes sent drugged and hormone-drenched monsters to the Olympic Games, so they would collect all the medals awarded to them.
Edith had been too gentle a child, especially compared with her Czech girlfriends, and had an intuitive fear of jumping with straddled legs over tall and dangerous wood instruments. She was afraid to break her neck while climbing down the rope ladder, embedded in the ceiling of the gym, with her head bobbing toward the floor. When the teacher demanded that she work these acrobatic instruments, Edith simply ran away.
One evening, she went to the gym, right after work, as she would normally do, in order to stretch her arms, strengthen her muscles, break a little sweat on the gym equipment and blow some steam after a workday in which she had been sitting in a chair behind a desk for long hours. Suddenly, she met Alex there. The computer technician welcomed her, this time as a personal trainer in her gym.
“Edith!” he recognized her as soon as she arrived, dressed in a sport suit, his face flushed from strenuous movement and physical exertion. “Edith, what are you doing here?”
“I… this… this is my gym…” she stuttered.
“And I just started to work here as a trainer.”
“I thought you were working for a computer software and marketing company.”
“I’m working there, too. I work with computers in the mornings, and in the gym in the evenings.”
At that moment, his blue eyes were bluer than anything. The blue color of his sport suit reflected in them. The gym was crowded with exercisers and at first glance, it appeared all the machines were occupied.
“Alex, could you please come over?” Someone had called his name and he turned his head toward her.
“I’m going to change,” said Edith with excitement and turned to the dressing room. Interesting, we both wear blue-colored sport suits, she thought while wearing a trimmer belt around her waist in front of a large mirror. Both sport suits may be blue, so she thought to herself, but there was a small difference between them. His track suit was inexpensive and old fashioned, made with cheap, coarse jogging fleece. It looked like one of the track suits provided to labor camp prisoners somewhere in Siberia.
Her leotard was made of thin lycra and wrapped her beautiful body like blue and brilliant wax. She wore close fitting three-quarter pants and a tank-top with a plunging neckline, her red curls gathered into a tight knot on the top of her head. She wore a thin bangs across her forehead, up to her eyes, which were now bluer than green. Here too, at the gym, Edith was considered to be a beautiful woman, a woman in full bloom, at the age of forty.
She returned to the gym and noticed that Alex was busy with other exercisers. It was a perfect timing for all the treadmills to be occupied. She suddenly felt unfit and preferred not to show it to anyone. She sat on a low exercise bike and began to pedal without setting the level. She just sat aimlessly and stared at the television screen facing her.
Alex was busy helping others again, this time assisting customers who trained in the gym. This particular evening, they were all women. For one lady, he set up the digital clock intended for a workout program on the elliptical trainer. He held the hand of another to help her get on the stepper, straightened the hips of a third one from behind while she was laboring over push-ups to strengthen her lower back muscles. Edith sat close to him on the exercise bike and listened to him instructing and explaining.
The guy looked fantastic, a sight for sore eyes, and she followed him while he passed through the exercising women, giving them workouts, instructing them and adjusting the equipment. The cheap sport suit he was wearing complimented his beautiful body and perfect posture. His height, about five feet nine, created the impression he was a gentleman, in spite of his broad shoulders, narrow hips and strong arms and legs, which were extremely muscular. He was careful to fold the sleeves of his shirt high above the elbows to generously expose his arm muscles for all to see. His muscular arms were cov
ered with fair hair, like a northern predator.
“Take it easy, sweetheart, you mustn’t overdo it with this machine. Our lower back is very delicate, it’s composed of thin bones. You might injure yourself with overexertion.”
He approached her several times, even incidentally touched her, but never raised his head nor looked at her, as if he was ignoring her presence on purpose. She glanced at her watch and realized her time was up, it was nine o’clock in the evening and she should go home. Yossi was already back from work and the children were waiting for her. She had stayed in the gym for too long.
She dolled-up in the dressing room and thought of the fact she hadn’t done much today in the gym, other than looking at him. He was very busy and she left without saying goodbye or farewell.
The next day, she returned to the gym after work, but wasn’t able to find him there.
“Where’s our new trainer?” she asked the guy who had been working there ever since she began to regularly frequent the place.
“Who are you talking about? What new trainer? I don’t know any new trainer.”
“Was I dreaming or what? Yesterday, there was a Russian guy working here, a new immigrant.”
“I don’t know, no one here updated me or told me anything about it. You know, there’re three of us here – me, Amichai and Tamar, a student from the Faculty of Agriculture. Yesterday evening, it was Tamar’s shift. Today, I’m working the evening shift. I haven’t heard about any changes, about someone leaving or someone new joining.”
Edith wondered and pondered, not able to understand anything. Suddenly, it seemed surreal and unrealistic that she had met the Russian guy in her gym. It seemed to her that she had dreamed a dream: She had met a strange and interesting man with an impressive appearance in her workplace, a man who had come to her to teach her the art of computers, a new chapter she needed at work, and here he suddenly became a diligent and sexy trainer. There in the bank as well, he had surprised her when he appeared right in front of her face and thrilled her, had managed to kiss her hand only to disappear, as if he had never existed.
While standing there lost in thought, daydreaming, she suffered a slight spell of dizziness. I won’t allow what happened yesterday to take place again. I won’t get confused again! ‘Today I’m going to have a proper workout, that’s what I came here for!’ she bravely instructed herself. She looked around her, and that very same moment, a treadmill became available. She mounted it, set the digital timer to the most exerting plan she had ever attempted and went for it – a four-mile run with a steep incline. She ignored her beating heart, which began pounding immediately with a dangerous pace, and the sweat that covered her. She ran, panting hard, until her lungs nearly collapsed from overexertion. She was going all the way, thinking about nothing, running as hard as she could, escaping from there quickly, yet remaining in the same place.
When she stepped off the treadmill, another spell of dizziness assailed her, this time because of the insane running session. Breathing hard, she wrapped her wet neck with a towel she had brought with her, gathered her hair which had come loose and approached the cooler at the corner of the room to pour herself a glass of cold water. She sat on the exercise bike, the one she had sat on yesterday, and gazed at the television screen. She turned the pedals effortlessly, just to release her hips, which were strained from effort, not thinking or feeling anything.
Chapter 5
A Meeting in the Rose Garden
“Oh, Edith’ka.” With a deep sigh, he pronounced her name in a special way, then sighed again heavily, with tempestuous emotion. He kissed her left hand, then kissed her right hand without looking at her, blushing with excitement. With a single movement, he removed his leather jacket from the armrest and left without adding a single word. With his magic wand, he had transformed her quiet house into a palace of desire.
“Mother, a man named Alex was looking for you,” Ruthie gave Edith the message when she had returned home from work during the evening.
“It’s not the first time he called looking for you. I always forget to let you know. This time, he’s left his phone number and asked that you call him back.”
“Not the first time he called…?”
This was a complete surprise for Edith. A month had passed since their last meeting, and Edith had already managed to forget Alex.
“Who is this man, mother?”
“Someone from work, you don’t know him.”
The phone number he had left had a Rishon LeZion dialing code. Edith placed the note with the phone number next to the phone in the hallway, and went to change her clothes to prepare dinner for her family.
The apron was already tied and wrapped round her waist, and she was chopping an especially large onion, three peppers and ripe tomatoes. Cooking everything on a high flame while constantly stirring with a wooden spoon, so the vegetables will get slightly seared and absorb the aroma of the embers. When the pleasant scent of shakshuka filled the entire house, she wiped her hands on the apron as usual and went to the phone.
“May I speak with Alex, please?” she asked the woman who had picked up the phone and said “hello” in Russian. A minute later, Alex took the receiver in his hand and said “hello” in Russian as well.
“Alex? Am I speaking with Alex?” she said innocently, as if she hadn’t recognized his deep voice.
“Govorit, da.[3]”
“This is Edith speaking. You called me; you were looking for me a few times. Today, you’ve even left your telephone number with my daughter and asked that I call you back,” she said in a single breath, excited.
“Oh, Edith, yes, yes, I’m so happy to hear from you.” His masculine voice sounded so familiar to her ears. “I’ve been looking for you. I miss you.” Much excitement could be heard in his voice as well.
“Excuse me?! Who do you miss?” she got angry at first, his blunt words sounded like an insult.
“Have I said anything to offend you?”
“I didn’t understand, who exactly are you missing?”
“You see, that’s exactly the reason why I’m calling you and why I’m looking for you. My Hebrew, Hebrew is a new language for me, is still not a hundred percent right. People don’t understand me correctly, the words that come out of my mouth are not exactly what I meant to say, not what I want to say. I can’t get a good job, you see? I want to speak smart. In Israel, I want to be who I really am again, I want to suggest, sorry, I want to ask, you could teach me Hebrew perhaps?”
There was silence on the line after he had finished his little speech.
“I’m sorry, but I’m not a Hebrew teacher, or a teacher of any other language.”
“Please don’t be angry at me, I don’t always explain myself well. I don’t have time to join my family. They study in the ulpan during the evenings. I do off jobs in several places, just for now, a temporary situation, you understand?”
He drew silent, as if wanting to make sure she was still with him, and when she did not respond, continued.
“Once a week, once a week in the afternoon I can give you my time.” He lowered his voice a bit, his confidence diminishing in the face of her silence.
“I thought perhaps you will agree to give me your time and teach me Hebrew, just a few lessons.”
“I’ve already told you I’m not a Hebrew teacher,” she mentioned again, but quietly this time, without a hint of objection.
“You know what I need to learn, that’s the main thing and that’s all I need,” he insisted.
Edith listened to the Hebrew words, sung with a Russian accent, in a deep, heavy masculine tone, pleasant to the ear.
“You know, you may have just convinced me. I’ll think about the idea, but I want one thing to be clear, I don’t have any time to teach you Hebrew.”
She persisted, and yet felt that she wanted to find a place for him within her.
“I understand that you’re a busy woman, but I’m very interested. Think about it some more, I’ll call again t
omorrow, perhaps you’d agree to dedicate a little bit of your precious time for me.”
“Tell me, where you have disappeared to?” she couldn’t help but ask him. “You don’t come to our bank anymore and I don’t see you at the gym either.”
“I’ll tell you everything when we meet. You’ll see, I’ll tell you everything, I promise,” he finished mischievously.
He calls me just like that and wants to meet me? To learn Hebrew, and what else? Edith thought to herself while placing the receiver down. How did he get my telephone number? She wondered.
The conversation with him had not disturbed her; on the contrary, it refreshed her spirit. He sounded exactly like he looked, a gorgeous hunk. She smiled to herself and smiled at everyone, while serving dinner to the table. For each his own portion, straight from the pot. Fragrant, appetizing shakshuka with scrambled eggs.
The following evening, Alex called again. Edith was already impatiently awaiting his call.
“Tomorrow is Wednesday and you are welcome to come over in the afternoon. That’s the only available time I have throughout the week. Our bank is closed on Wednesday afternoons, and I can try and clear some time for you,” she said in a single breath. Then she explained to him how to reach her house.
The following day, at four o’clock in the afternoon, he arrived. A white Renault 19 stopped next to the hedge of Edith’s house. It was a spring afternoon, the entire settlement and the entire country were filled with the scent of citrus blossoms, and so was Edith’s garden. Rose bushes welcomed Alex in all their glory. He entered through a small wicket into the garden and stopped for a long moment. He had not expected such beauty. Fragrant rose bushes bloomed on both sides of the walkway in crimson, white and orange colors. A rich and colorful tapestry of blossoms was spread all across the garden entrance, dominated by the purple color.
Edith watched the visitor through the kitchen window. She followed him as he slowly advanced toward the house, passing from flower to flower, smelling them all with pleasure. He sunk his nose into a fragrant and swollen shell, inhaled the wonderful scent and raised his head to the sky with his eyes closed. Once more, he bent and smelled a different flower on a thorny bush. For long minutes, he delayed among the rose bushes until he reached the house entrance and rang the doorbell.