Page 71 of Analysing Her Assets

Identical Dresses

(45 days to end of year finish line, 19 days to new position)

35. Tamar

Gideon had sent her a somewhat mysterious text last night:

It’s my turn. Meet me in the hotel lobby tomorrow at eight. Bring your luggage with you. Skip breakfast, I’m providing one.

She informed Marina she would be leaving early and packed her trolley, her head still full of last night’s farewell party to N. She wore her black dress again, making a note to herself that she needed more than one dress. She engaged in conversation with the management members that were present, Moishe from Investments and Ada from HR. Her fellow analysts were glad to be asked about changes they thought would be good for the research department, or things they liked and wanted to keep the same. Noga introduced her to all the investment managers. She had spent quite some time with Danny and the other traders. He joined her when she talked with Keynan, informing the big boss how important her project was for the brokerage, and how he, Danny, was rooting for Tamar.

The chief position seemed real and viable, hers if she put her mind to it.

Before dropping exhausted into bed, she checked for messages from Tally. But none had come.

Gideon and his trolley met her at the hotel lobby. His hair was pulled back, held by a simple black hairband, his shoulders looked wider in his white long-sleeved T-shirt. The golden flecks in his brown eyes shone.

“Come. I have a surprise for you.”

They checked out, and she followed him as they rolled their trolleys together. No one from Peaks was around. The bus would leave in the late afternoon, giving everyone a chance to go to the mall and enjoy Eilat’s VAT free status.

“Where are we going?”

“Right here, to the Reef.”

“I don’t want to snorkel with the dolphins again.”

“We won’t. You’ve never been to the relaxation pools and you should. I convinced them to open the place, just for us.”

He’d said they could be rivals but also friends, but this was more than that. This was a gesture, not of a friend, but of a boyfriend. ‘Convinced’ meant he paid for it. Yet he was her rival. She’d observed him yesterday, at N’s farewell party, working the room suavely, engaging with everyone, just as she did.

“Relax.” Gideon grinned. “Enjoy yourself and stop analyzing.”

The relaxation pools were in a wooden structure that looked like an overgrown treehouse. A winding trail was shadowed with arched boughs, lush with crawling flowers, creating the atmosphere of a tropical garden. The pools complex’s cafe was three stories high, with a magnificent view of the lagoon. Soft wintry sun shone on the blue gulf and colored in pinks and orange the distant mountains of Jordan and Saudi Arabia.

“I wanted us to arrive early so we could watch the feeding,” Gideon said and pointed below.

Svetlana, their guide from yesterday, was squatting on the shallower end of the pier. Gideon hugged her from behind, and she leaned back as they watched the animal keeper throw small silvery bits in the air. The three dolphins jumped out of the water, again and again. They unerringly caught all the small bits of food she threw at them, emitting loud cries of delight.

A woman in her forties, with short gray hair, wearing a black swimsuit and a bathrobe, approached them.

“Hello, you’re Tamar? I’m Galit, and you’re booked for one-on-one water therapy with me.”

“You’re not coming?” she asked Gideon. He shook his head.

“No. This is for you alone.”

“He’ll have some coffee and pastries in the meantime.” Galit smiled. “Follow me, please.”

“We have three pools, and we’re doing the therapy here, in the largest one. There’s another pool later, more sulphatic. The last pool has the highest percentage of salt.”

The changing room, where the showers were, was spotless. Tamar relished the solitude, happy no one was ogling her. She stashed her clothes in the neat wooden cabinets and wore her swimsuit, still slightly damp from the snorkeling.

Galit was already in the water. The pool smelled natural and fresh, like the sea on a good day.

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