Page 12 of Analysing Her Assets

“You shouldn’t leave him alone all day. What’s his name? I hope he has one. Naming him will make it easier for you to bond.”

His tone was condescending and very aggravating.

“I did name him. His name is Giddy.” Eat some humiliation cake yourself, Gideon, having a dog named after you.

His eyes rounded in surprise. Then, he behaved in an even more aggravating manner. He grinned.

“I’m flattered.”

“You shouldn’t be. He got his name right after he peed on me.” There.

But Gideon’s smile had gotten even broader. He threw back his head and laughed aloud, his Adam’s apple bobbing enticingly.

“I’m apologizing on behalf of all the Giddies.” His eyes shone golden at her. “We sometimes get carried away.”

Her mind had become dirty so fast it was disconcerting. She dropped her eyes only to discover that his running shorts’ bulge was right there, very close, just like in the toilets...

She inhaled sharply and locked stares with Gideon. His nostrils flared, and he gulped.

“Come on, Giddy. Let’s go, your mommy needs to get ready for work.” His voice sounded strained. He cleared his throat. “They’re quite young, so we’ll have a short run.”

Gideon’s words acted like a bucket of ice water on her heated mind, his casual remark making her process her new reality. She was a ‘mommy’, responsible for a living, breathing creature who was totally dependent on her.

She was so fucked.

9. Tamar

“I can’t believe you adopted a puppy! I’m so jealous!”

Marina looked fresh and European, with her blonde hair cut in a stylish bob, sporting a streak of pink on the side. After a hesitant two seconds, Tamar decided she liked it. Marina’s dove-gray jacket was open, revealing her magenta sleeveless shift dress, which perfectly matched her hair and clung to her chest and belly. Marina had big boobs, larger even than Tamar’s, wide hips, and loads of confidence.

“I love your hair. And dress, and jacket. New?” Tamar said. She would have never dared to wear a dress with no sleeves to work, or her hair like that.

“Yep. Had a fun day grooming myself yesterday.”

They were walking briskly, embarking on their lunch hour, which Tamar had carefully timed, since N had summoned the candidates, i.e., her and Golden Boy, to a meeting exactly an hour from now.

They reached the Arayes stall, a narrow shop nestled between a fancy bakery and a jewelry store. The sizzling sounds alone made her stomach rumble. The air was ripe with the aromas of fried onion and freshly cut tomato, but the line was blessedly short.

“So, I heard Gideon Sela also took a puppy.” Marina smacked her lips as they stood waiting for their pitas to fry.

“Yeah, we took the last two.” Gideon had dropped Giddy back after their shared thirty-minute run. He was sweaty, shirt stuck to his flat torso, brown hair damp, color in his cheeks. They hadn’t exchanged a single word. He bent, freed Giddy from the running leash, and jogged down the stairs. “I met him this morning. He took my puppy for a run. It turns out we live really close to each other.”

Tamar added tomato salad on top of her portion, heavy on the parsley. The wooden bench they chose across the street from the Arayes stall was the kind that had an elevated middle where they could set their drinks.

“You looked real close in the toilets the other day, too.” Tamar snuck a look at her friend, who was scrutinizing her right back. To avoid answering, she stuffed her mouth with her meat stuffed fried pita and chewed energetically.

“I love it when food drips,” Marina said, gobbling down her own portion, fat drops of light gray tahini splashing down to the pavement at her feet.

“I have my rules, you know that,” Tamar said, reverting to old maxims.

“Yes, yes, your famous laminated Rina Feynman’s principles of the workplace. Don’t do this, don’t feel that. Like a little functioning robot. Inhuman,” Marina said.

Tamar’s constricted throat made it hard to swallow the next bite. She should be used to being called robotic by now. She didn’t mind it when someone like Nir berated her, but to hear it from Marina... she moved her molars systematically and got through the rest of her lunch.

Soon enough, they were walking briskly to the store.

“So, you wouldn’t mind if I went after him?”

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