City of the Sun (29 page)

Lili’s face fell, but she nonetheless left with her amoureux.

“What’s with him and his aunts?”

“His parents died when he was very young,” Maya explained. “He was raised by his mother’s five spinster sisters. I should really ask permission before leaving the booth.”

“Come on! This room will be completely empty in sixty seconds.”

Maya was about to protest, but he put his finger on her lips. “Shh,” he whispered.

CHAPTER 27

Maya shrieked as a thunderous explosion boomed across the water and the night sky lit up with color. The loudspeakers sounded “The Grand March” from Verdi’s
Aida
, the perfect choice, she thought. She was glad Mickey had insisted she come with him. But the deck was mobbed and they found themselves at the back of the crowd.

Mickey handed her a bottle of champagne he had “borrowed” from a suffragi on his way out of the dining room and jumped up and down to see what everyone was looking at.

“There’s a light show over the pyramids,” he reported. “But we’ll never see anything from here.” He scanned the area and pointed excitedly. “The poop deck!”

“It’s off-limits,” Maya said. “See the ropes?”

“To a reporter, that’s an invitation. Come. We’ll have a great view.”

He took her hand and dragged her away from the crowd.

“I think it’s this way,” she indicated toward the right, her excitement winning out over her concerns. “There must be a stairway.”

Tracing a path along the side of the yacht, they found a narrow passageway chained off with a red sign that read
Crew Only
.

“You’re a volunteer. That means you’re crew today,” he
stated and stepped over the chain. He turned back to give her a hand, but she refused it, preferring to manage herself.

Lifting her dress slightly, she tried to raise a leg over, but found she’d have to hoist it way above the knee to climb over. Changing tactics, she crouched down to crawl under the chain, but the stairs blocked her way. Hmm? Before she could decide, Mickey picked her up and lifted her over the chain in one swift move, putting her down on the other side. He continued on, climbing two steps at a time, while she stood for an instant, feeling a little unsettled. His hands had come awfully close to her breasts as he lifted her, before they slid down to her waist again.

“Are you coming?” he asked, already at the top of the stairway. “You’re a snail!”

She hurried up and as she reached the top, a rocket exploded in the sky, sending thousands of red and green sparkles down the front and sides of the Sphinx. She gasped, as did the crowd below. It was as if the lion had come alive, roaring after thousands of years of sleep. She turned to share her excitement with Mickey. He was taking off his jacket.

“Don’t put it on the deck,” she said. “It’s brand new.”

He looked at her quizzically.

“The pocket seams are still sewn up,” she said. “You forgot to pull the thread.”

Embarrassed, he examined the pockets and grinned. Suddenly he cried, “Look!”

She turned to see that the yacht had shifted position and a cascade of orange lights was falling like raindrops over the Great Pyramid of Khafre behind the Sphinx.

Mickey spread his jacket on the deck with a gallant flourish, and they sat with their backs against a wall as a long series of explosions lit up Egypt’s most wondrous marvels, creating a virtual orgy for
the eyes. Her mind, usually an endless train of obsessive thoughts, was now light and filled with delight. She smiled as if there would be no end to the bountiful offerings. Time was suspended.

“I can’t think of anybody I’d rather see this with,” Mickey said.

She tore her eyes away from the sky and glanced at him. He was looking at her so intensely that it made her look away.

“Stop it!” she purred. But as she pushed his chin away, she gasped in surprise. A rocket exploded in the sky right above their heads, its red and green sparks coming down so close that she thought they would land on them. Mickey laughed with glee and slid down onto his back, his head tilted up toward the sky as a new series of explosions began. She followed suit and lay next to him, joining in his laughter as each explosion reverberated inside their bodies, the burning embers coming dangerously close to their faces. She raised her arm to protect herself, while he bravely faced the sparks, his excitement growing.

“Green!” he shouted. And a green explosion ignited the sky.

“Red!” she wagered. And a red one followed.

“Red and pink,” he predicted, but it came up red and dark blue.

“Yellow,” she shouted. But her winning streak had ended, too. A violet and green one with specks of orange lit up the sky. But the next one was yellow.

“I think I know what the color of the grand finale will be,” he said as she buried her face against him for protection from the ashes. “And if I’m right, I get a kiss,” he declared, but she was too busy letting out shrieks of excitement to agree, as the following explosions, each one louder than the last, led her to burrow deeper into his chest. “We’re going to see all the colors of the rainbow at the same time,” he bet.

The explosions that followed filled the entire sky and were so loud that they shook the boat. The finale finally came, illuminating the heavens in red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet.
Indeed the crescendo was a spectacular multicolor rainbow, leaving them in awe. And when everybody thought the show was over, one last rocket exploded, casting a green glow on Mickey’s face, illuminating his eyes, which had turned calm and tender.

“That one was for the king,” she said, veering her eyes away, uncomfortable again with his gaze. “Green is his favorite color.”

“Do I get my kiss?” he murmured.

“Nope,” she said with a grin. “I didn’t take the bet.”

“What about one for bringing you here?”

“Nope.”

“Okay, what about one for saving you from the king? He was targeting you for his next conquest.”

“Nothing would have happened! What kind of girl do you think I am?”

“The kind of girl who gives me a hard time.”

“Fine.” She relented. She rose on her elbow and leaned over, giving him a small peck on the lips before lying back down again, straight as a soldier.

“That’s it?”

She let out a defeatist sigh. “Okay! But only because I’m a good-hearted person.” She leaned in again and pressed her lips against his for a brief kiss. He didn’t move his lips, not even slightly, and his eyes remained closed as he savored the kiss. She bent over and kissed him again, this time a bit longer, but he still didn’t respond. Then he opened his eyes and looked right into hers. He was systematically disarming her, and there was no escaping him this time. She let herself stare back in spite of the conflicting emotions inside her. She couldn’t possibly allow herself to fall for him. Having some fun was one thing, but those longing looks between them were quite another.

As if reading her mind, he smiled gently and with the back of his hand caressed her cheek. She returned his smile, just a little, but
enough to encourage him. He slowly sat up, and, taking her in his arms, cushioned her head with his forearm as he laid her down. Barely breathing, she lay immobile, knowing what was coming next as his face drew close to hers. She felt her spine stiffen, and he must have sensed it, too, because he urged her to relax. But how could she? Her life had been nothing but chaos for so long that she didn’t remember how to relax anymore. Any happy thoughts would inevitably be interrupted by images of Erik and Vati, and her mind was constantly churning. No, not this time, Maya, she told herself, taking a lungful of air and commanding herself to release her tension. She let her breath mingle with his as he leaned patiently suspended above her, waiting for a sign. She gave it to him by closing her eyes, and before she knew it she felt the tip of his tongue parting her lips. The moisture of it jarred her. They were intimate now. She wet her lips with her tongue as if to awaken her appetite and sighed. The sound of it echoed deep inside her, arousing her. She was ready to kiss him freely. She threw her arms around his neck and let her lips and tongue tell him how much she loved being with him tonight.

They couldn’t stop kissing, and when they had to stop for air, they both smiled, embarrassed at their inability to let go of one another. When their mouths weren’t joined together, it was an eye or an ear or a cheek that had to be kissed. Time had disappeared again, and they forgot who they were and where they were. Slow kisses, hurried kisses, long ones, short ones—they tried them all, and each had its own luscious flavor, making them even hungrier for more.

“This is crazy,” she finally said between breaths, rolling her head back.

“It’s only crazy that we waited so long,” he said, shushing her with kisses on her throat. She felt his hand gliding up the side of her dress, starting at her thigh, going up to her waist, and pausing
on her breast. She held her breath for an instant, wondering what he might do next, excited by his boldness. She tightened her grip around his neck as he pressed her breast gently while his tongue traced the length of her neck. She sighed, wanting him never to stop. But he did, letting go of her breast and coming up to meet her mouth again as he caressed her hair.

“My pin!” she said, breaking the moment, remembering she was wearing her mother’s hairpin. She sat up and found that it had already slid to the end of her curl. “My mother’s,” she explained, finding herself suddenly jittery.

The guests on the deck had gone back to the party now, and sounds of dance music filtered up from the dining room. They were completely alone. Mickey rolled over and lay on his back, his hands behind his head as the boat rocked gently. There was only a crescent moon in the sky, but it was enough to illuminate the silhouettes of the pyramids and the palm trees and reeds on the shore. The setting couldn’t have been more lovely, but her mind was already gnawing at her.

“I have to get back to my lemonade bar,” she said.

“No, you don’t,” he said. “It’s an open bar. People can serve themselves.”

He was right. Besides, what could they do to her for not being there?

“Tell me more about yourself,” he said.

The simple question caused her to panic. She began to rattle on, making up stories about how she had to take care of her infant brother, who was sick. She complained about how she always had to be the peacemaker between her younger sisters and brothers, who fought all the time, and how exhausted she was from having to play so many roles. She talked so fast that she didn’t allow Mickey to ask any questions, and when she was finished, she felt disgusted with herself. “I have to go,” she said and started to rise.

“Come over here,” he said calmly, pulling her toward him.

She resisted only slightly, allowing herself to lie down again.

“What’s going on?” he asked, stroking her hair.

“What do you mean?” she protested.

“In here.” He tapped her head. “Your mind, I can always hear it buzzing.”

“You won’t understand.”

“Try me.”

She wouldn’t know where to begin even if she were to tell him the truth. “There is so much on my mind that I can hardly sleep,” she said. “I wake up in the morning and I don’t know what to expect. My life is so full of uncertainty. As you can see, I can never plan anything.”

He placed a kiss on top of her head and put an arm around her. “Uncertainty is very difficult. Are you worried about where you’ll be living?” he probed.

“Yes, of course. I can’t imagine living in the Sudan,” she said, unable to reveal that it was really Palestine she was thinking of. Why would a city girl like her want to live in a barren desert like Palestine, where immigrating lawyers and doctors were stripped of their professions and reduced to milking cows and working on farms?

“I’m sure the Sudan will just be a temporary solution until things calm down,” he said. “When are you planning to leave?”

“My parents don’t tell me much, only that it will be soon.”

“It might not be all that soon. There may be a transportation strike. First it was the bus and tram unions, now the railway workers are threatening to strike, too.”

She shrugged and sat up. “We’ll get there by car if we have to.”

“I have an idea,” he said dreamily. “I’m going to show you around the city and make you fall in love with it so that you won’t go to the Sudan. You have the right to make your own choices, you
know,” he argued. “My father thought I was a complete loony for coming here, but I came!”

She looked away. He did not understand. How could he?

He must have picked up on her change of mood because he pulled her back down toward him and said softly, “Maya, I don’t want you out of my sight. I’m just plain selfish, forgive me. Let’s not talk about this anymore. Tonight is our night, right?”

She thought for a moment and smiled. “Yes, it is. Tonight is our night.” As she said the words, she could feel a lightness replacing the wave of anxiety that had passed through her a moment earlier. She inched closer, basking in the intimacy. He kissed the tip of her nose, and then their lips met for another long, slow kiss. When they stopped, he brushed a lock of hair from her eyes and caressed her face.