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“I can’t just move around the world…”
“Why not? Are you so tied to your life in Washington D.C. that you would be giving up a lot?”
Shira shook her head, “This is all happening too fast. I only got here yesterday, and already I’m expected to agree to move here?”
Kale watched her and then decided that serious discussions had long passed. Holding out his hand, he invited her to join him, “Come. Let us enjoy the rest of the day. The ocean is warm and you have been in the sun for long enough. Let us cool off and then we will see what the servants have left us to eat.”
Shira smiled, eager to enter the ocean and feel the waves crashing against her body. She quickly located her suit and shook the sand from it. Sliding her bottom back into place, and then her top, she looked up to find Kale watching her with the heat in his eyes once again.
Stepping around the lounger, she took several steps towards the water and then hollered over her shoulder as she began to sprint for the water’s edge, “Race you!”
Kale laughed as he saw her attempt to gain a head start. He flung his towel into the sand and lunged after her, finding it difficult to catch her as she was very quick. She made the mistake of stopping once she reached the water’s edge and he took advantage of that fact. Coming up behind her quickly, he picked her up, holding her above his head and then tossed her into the incoming surf, laughing as she sputtered and rose to the surface.
They spent the next twenty minutes cooling off and taking turns trying to dunk each other under the waves. Anyone watching them would have thought they were watching a couple of teenagers play in the waves. No one would have guessed that they had just shared an intimacy some waited all their lives to find, only to realize it would never be found.
Chapter 10
After rinsing the salt water from their bodies at the outside shower, Kale led her to a small table where a luscious meal of fresh meats, cheeses, and fruit awaited them. A sweetened tea was also in abundance and soon they were both full and
ready to rest.
Kale looked at the pink already beginning to form on Shira’s exposed skin and knew that anymore exposure to the sun’s hateful rays and she would be a very miserable young woman. “You are becoming sunburned.”
Shira looked at her arm, pushing a finger into her bicep and noticing that it immediately turned white and then faded back to a gentle pink, looking up at him she nodded, “You’re right. The sun seems much stronger here than what we get at home.”
“It is. No more sun for you.” While the sun had already begun to sink in the sky, there were still several hours until daylight would give way to the moon and stars. “Tomorrow, I thought we could take a camel ride into the desert.”
“Really?!” Shira asked, “I can’t wait. You’ll ride with me, right?”
Kale chuckled, “Of course! I wouldn’t want you to fall off.”
“Good!” Shira exhaled. “So, is it hard to stay on them? And do they really spit?”
Kale laughed outright, “Yes! They do spit! And they will be saddled. The foolish tourists who try to ride a camel without the benefit of a saddle deserve to find themselves sitting in the sand.”
Shira laughed with him, “You know, when I found out I was coming over here, I watched some YouTube videos of soldiers in Afghanistan trying to ride camels, and every one of them made a fool of themselves while the natives looked on. I kind of felt sorry for them.”
“I too have seen some of those videos. In Jawhara, no one would consider treating an American in such a fashion. It would be dishonorable to allow one’s friend to humiliate themselves so.”
“So, are there no bad people in Jawhara, then?” Shira asked.
“Not many, no. Jawhara is a very small country with very strict laws. Honor and protocol are taught to our children almost from the time they are born. We have interacted with the Americans for years, and every experience has been pleasant. They have no reason to wish harm to your people.”
“I didn’t know that we had an American Embassy in Jawhara.”
“That is because you don’t. There is no need for an embassy in my country. We consider America a great ally. Some of my best friends are Americans.”
“Really? How can that be?”
Kale laughed at the expression upon her face, “Shira, I went to Harvard.”
Shira’s mouth dropped open in surprise. “Really?! That’s why you knew all of the latest dance moves!” She laughed in delight, “I wondered about that you know.”
Kale laughed with her, “I discovered that I like your dancing much more than that of my own country.”
“You’re a really good dancer, too.” Shira had been amazed and impressed at his dancing ability back in the states. “Do you have dance clubs in Jawhara?”
“Sadly, none like those in America. We are progressive, but that type of dancing and encouraging our young women to dance so freely would enrage the elders of my country.”
