Hi-Tech Hijack by Dov Nardimon Page B

evening in front of the TV, staring at the news and lost in thought, bouncing back and forth in his mind between the imaginary Santa Monica and the reality of the little slice of earth between Rehovot and Ness Ziona. He wished he had his best friend Amit to talk to about all this, but he was still on his travels; and Eddie wondered if he had already made it from South Africa to Australia. He thought of the talk they had on their way to Kenya about starting the Ebola project. He had been very articulate at that time, giving plenty of well-grounded reasons and explaining to Amit and convincing himself why he shouldn’t start his own company before gaining some experience in a bigger one. Now only a few months later, he was leaning toward changing his mind completely.
    The phone ringing shook him from his reveries, and he got up to answer it. The clock on the wall opposite him said 11:00 p.m.
    “Hello?” he said in a tired voice.
    “Good evening, Eddie.” Someone greeted him in English. He recognized the voice immediately.
    “Rose! Good evening to you. How’ve you been? I haven’t had a chance to write yet to thank you for the wonderful time we spent in London.”
    “I’m fine; at home in London right now. But I’m coming to Israel tomorrow with a group of young Jewish people for a weeklong tour. It’s part of some Zionist initiative; I don’t know what it is exactly.”
    “Yeah, I know Zionism isn’t your family’s strong suit.”
    “Be nice for a few minutes, Eddie. I was curious to see what kind of natural reserve a creature like you grew up in, and I decided to come check it out for myself rather than trust your stories.” She laughed that wonderful laugh of hers.
    “Sorry, Rose, I was just kidding. I’d love to meet you.”
    “What’s going on with you? Have you started your new job yet?”
    “I was supposed to; but there have been some last minute changes, and I still don’t know when I’ll be starting.”
    “Great! That means you’ll have no problem making the time to see me.”
    “Sure. How long will you be here for?”
    “The tour is one week, but I have an open ticket,” she said, dropping a very thick hint.
    “Your schedule must be pretty packed.”
    “It is, but they’re giving us tomorrow night off to settle in and rest.”
    “So will it be ok if I come to your hotel tomorrow evening?”
    “I’ll wait for you in the lobby at nine p.m. See you tomorrow, Eddie.”
    This girl is something special , thought Eddie. It hasn’t even been a week since we parted, and already she’s found a reason and a way to come to Israel. Maybe there’s more emotion hiding under that cynical British humor of hers than I thought .
    During their London week together neither Rose nor Eddie displayed any deep feelings. They had slept together from the first night in direct continuation of the brief affair they had in Africa and spent the entire week together. But in the background was always the understanding that in a few days’ time they would go their own ways, and that there was no point building any expectations beyond that.
    The word love was never mentioned, and even when Rose whispered in his ear after they had made love, “No one has ever made me feel this good,” her tone and manner made it sound like she was grading him for a good technical performance, not speaking from the heart. Eddie, whose mind was always busy with the next step of his life, never allowed himself to forget that he was headed back to Israel for the job that was waiting for him. Just like the previous time they spent together on the farm in Zimbabwe when he never forgot the task ahead of him at the Ebola valley. Anything else could only be considered if it wasn’t going to get in the way of the mission. Rose on her part was living her life between London and Zimbabwe and showed little interest in Eddie’s stories about Israel. It seemed they were both enjoying a temporary fling, and that was that. He never asked himself