Yes, Boss

“Have you heard about e-tickets?” Deborah asked when she caught her breath, finally able to speak.

“Oh, you know me, I’m old fashioned that way,” Aviva answered, running her hands over Deborah’s stomach. “And I was afraid you’d ignore my e-mails if I sent any,” she said in a lower note.

“Aviva, what am I doing here? What are we doing here?” Deborah asked, sitting up on the bed and leaving Aviva no choice but to do the same.

“Well, you always said you’ve never been to Barcelona, so I decided to…” she tried to deflect.

“Aviva!” she exclaimed sternly, holding Aviva’s gaze.

Aviva straightened up and lowered her gaze, as if afraid of meeting Deborah’s eyes. She sighed loudly and straightened herself until she was sitting in front of Deborah. With her hands shaking lightly, she grabbed Deborah’s and caressed them, more to reassure herself than anything else, before issuing an answer.

“I missed you. You just left… I didn’t get the chance to say goodbye.”

“I didn’t just leave! I tried to contact you for days; you didn’t answer or return any of my e-mails, calls, messages, anything! And there were a lot of calls.” Deborah’s voice was trembling and her eyes were tearful. “Not one single word from you in a year, and suddenly you just appear…”

“I know. I know, and I’m sorry,” she said kissing Deborah softly. “I didn’t know what to do. I was hurt and—” she straddled her and murmured endless apologies kissing away the pain she caused.

“It’s okay,” Deborah said. And it really was. At least for those seven days, everything would be alright.

—-

“How’s Nathan?” Deborah asked desperately trying and failing to sound nonchalant as they walked through the Passeig De Gràcia. She was marveling at the fact that it was 10pm and the sun was still up.

“We’re separated,” Aviva answered, same desperation and failure in her faux-indifferent tone.

“What? When did it happen? Why?” Deborah exclaimed, forgetting her faked disinterest.

“Shortly after you left,” she answered.

“Oh, god,” she said, stopping in her tracks.

“Don’t worry, it was not your fault. Well, it was a little bit, but not entirely,” she chuckled shyly, pulling Deborah’s arm to continue their journey.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, even before our…” she cleared her throat, “thing… began, I had been thinking about getting a little alone time, at least for a while. You just gave me the push I needed.”

“How can that be? That man worships you!”

“I know. But… I guess that was the problem. I don’t know, I grew tired of him. I just wasn’t happy.”

“And the kids?”

“Well, it’s complicated, but we reached an arrangement and now everything’s fine.”

“Yeah, but y–”

“Come on, let’s talk about something else,” Aviva interrupted. “I didn’t cross half the globe to talk about my family. Tell me about your life in the Holy Land!”

“Humph.”

“Please. Do tell.”

“It’s great. I mean, it’s been hard being an olah chadasha, but I manage.”

“Olah chadasha? You’re staying? I thought it was temporary!” Deborah could hear the disappointment in Aviva’s voice and it broke her heart.

“Well, yes, it was supposed to be, but then I changed my mind. I have nothing waiting for me in Panama, and I met someone, and he— “

“Oh, god…” Aviva muttered.

“No, no, it’s not like that! I’m single, if that’s what you’re dreading to ask,” she said winking and smiling at her ex boss. Aviva let out a loud sigh and smiled back.

“I met this guy who was working with the Sochnut and he managed to convince me that this was the place I’m supposed to be.”

“And is it?”

“So far, I think so. But ask me again next year.”

“Well, that can only mean one thing,” Aviva said, playfully.

“Really? And what’s that?” Deborah asked, raising an eyebrow.

“It means you won’t be coming back to Panama anytime soon, so we are going to have to arrange some international, intercultural, intercontinental rendezvous for our future encounters,” she said matter-of-factly.

“Oh?”

“You don’t think I’m going to leave you here all by yourself, at the mercy of Middle Eastern mercenaries and thugs, do you?”

“That is so politically incorrect!” Deborah exclaimed.

“I don’t care, as long as you agree to come. How does Paris sound?”

“So terribly clichéd,” she laughed.

“Japan? Although I don’t know if that’s a good idea with all the ra—

“Hey, Aviva?”

“Yeah.”

“I don’t care where we go. Really.”

“I expected you’d say something like that,” she said, full smile on. “Come on, let’s go to Casa Batlló.”

“What’s that, again?”

Aviva sighed loudly faking exasperation before reciting everything there was to know about everything you could do in Barcelona. She had planned this trip down to every single detail and not even Deborah’s ignorance would keep them from enjoying her tight schedule.

—-

Aviva stretched her body over the wrinkled sheets, her skin still humming in pleasure. Deborah kissed the inside of her thigh causing her to shiver and moan lightly.

A week had passed; Deborah was absolutely exhausted and pumped at the same time. She dealt with the excitement these past few days had brought, and dreaded the moment it would end.

They had slept very little and now she was only a few hours away from her flight back to Jerusalem and Aviva’s back to Panama City. They hadn’t yet packed their bags, not wanting to waste time in such a menial task.

But there was no more time to lose.

“What’s going to happen to you?” Deborah asked. She felt a hole in her heart just to think about Aviva all by herself. She’d been trying to address the issue, but Aviva deflected with a skill only she could manage.

“Don’t you worry about me, I’ll be fine,” she answered with resignation and a sad smile that only made Deborah gloomier.

“But— “

“Come on, I mean it,” she replied, pulling Deborah up to meet her lips.

“Okay,” she granted, not very convinced, and allowed herself to be kissed just for a while longer before getting up and throwing everything inside her bag without the smallest hint of order or finesse, Aviva following suit.

The journey back to the airport passed as in the beginning, in absolute silence, Deborah and Aviva holding their hands without looking at each other.

“Hey,” Deborah said kissing Aviva lightly on the cheek before going her way to the boarding gate. “L’shanah haba’ah b’Yerushalayim?”

Aviva’s smile lit up as she answered with a small ‘okay’.

“Bye, kid.”

“Bye, boss.”

– The End