"What?" He asks quietly.
I take a step back and turn away from him, so he can't see the tears in my eyes. "Yeah, um, the doctor that I saw after it... He said that it was likely caused by stress. He didn't know about everything that had happened between you and me, obviously, and so he thought that the move from the states and starting a new life caused me to miscarry."
He silent for a while and I thought he might have left before I feel him turning me and pulling me against his chest. "Why didn't you ever tell me?"
"You had your life. I wasn't going to interrupt it and watch it implode. And when I lost our baby, there was no reason to reach out and tell you anything. It would just upset us both." I push away from him and go throw on my bikini before putting a flowy top on and some denim shorts. I wipe my face and throw my hair up in a high ponytail, keeping it out my face and off of my neck.
I turn to look at him. 0Ari looked like he wanted to say more but must have decided that it wasn't the time. "You ready?" I ask before looking down and chuckling. "I mean as much as I like seeing you walk around without pants on, I think the others might have something to say about it." I joke. He laughs before grabbing a pair of shorts and throwing them on.
"Wanna go see if there's still coffee?" He didn't even have the full question out before I was out the door.
"You coming or what?" I yell back. He laughs and chases me down. He offers me his hand, which I take as we walk around the side of one of the buildings where Max has a bunch of the tourists doing tai chi. "What in the world?" I mumble just low enough for Ari to hear and chuckle.
Max notices us and jumps out of whatever pose he's doing, waving. We smile and wave back, before continuing our walk through the property. Rachel is with one of the workers, carrying things in from one of the trucks and Sammy walks by with some laundry as well, wearing the shortest shorts I've ever seen him wear. "That was an image I never needed in my head." Ari says before grabbing us some coffee.
I took a sip, practically moaning at the taste. "You can't make that sound out here. I can't be held responsible for what that sound does to me." He whispers in my ear.
"I can tell you what you whispering in my ear does to me. Or I could have you feel it..." I say before walking over to Jake, who was laying on one of the lounge chairs, matches spreading his fingers out. I look at Ari and we both have a confused look on our faces.
"What's with the matches?" Ari asks.
Jake takes his sunglasses off, blinking up at us in the harsh desert sun. "It's the only way to spread the tan evenly." He explains.
"That's the stupidest thing I ever heard." Ari deadpans and I start laughing.
"What's going on here?" I ask, pointing over to Max.
"Well, your brochure mentioned a daily relaxing Tai Chi class, Irving." I turn and give Ari a look to which he shrugs in response. "Liam is doing laundry because he lost a bet. Angela went shopping after giving a massage to a hairy Nazi. And now I'm giving a diving tour, which starts in exactly 12 minutes, as per your fucking brochure. Care to join?" Jake shouts before walking towards the dock.
Ari turns to look at me. "If you want to go Guy, that's ok. There's plenty to keep me busy in the hotel." I say, before taking his coffee mug and kissing his cheek. "Please be safe down there. I still haven't beaten your asses for last night."
"We'll be fine sweetheart." He says, winking, before walking off to join Jake with the others on the dock.
...
I was in the lobby, reading a book I had brought with me, when I heard trucks approach the resort. I place my bookmark back in and walk out back. An officer and his men approach me. "Where is the owner of this hotel? Your husband, I believe Colonel Madibbo informed us."
My eyes flicker, taking them and their guns in, cataloguing weaknesses and exit routes. "He's currently assisting our diving instructor with a group of tourists. After all, this is the Red Sea Diving Resort." He laughs, and his men join in after a second. He stops abruptly and smacks me across the face with the back of his hand, causing me to fall to the ground.
"Hey! How can I help you?"
"Colonel Ahmed. She is fine." He says as Rachel helps me up and Sammy takes a look at my cheek.
"I'm fine. Don't worry about it for now." I whisper to him, not taking my eyes off of the colonel.
"There's been an incident last, and we wanted to make sure that all of you in the hotel are safe." I move to stand beside Ari, but he adjusts, leaving me slightly behind him, a clear sign of protectiveness.
"What kind of incident?" Ari asks.
"Smugglers. They drove through one of our roadblocks last night. Nearly killed two of my soldiers." The group all sends each other looks behind the colonel's back. I follow a few paces behind Ari.
"I heard there's a smuggling problem up and down the coast. I hope no one was hurt." He stops and turns to look at Ari, smiling, and I'm immediately on edge. They continue on to the front of the resort, over by where we park the trucks. "I know they look like shit, but they run forever." Ari says as Ahmed looks them over.
He takes off his sunglasses, revealing dark eyes. Eyes that show the true evil that lives inside this man. "My soldiers shot the trucks. So, the trucks from last night should have bullet holes in them. There's no reason why your trucks should have bullet holes, Mister..." He says as he moves to the back of the trucks.
"Thomas. Guy Thomas. And no. No reason." He goes around and inspects the trucks but finds that they are completely intact.
He yells back to his men, asking if they are sure the hit the trucks. The soldier insisted that they had hit the offending trucks. After leveling Ari with a look, he took his men and left.
Everyone came around me then, checking out my cheek. "Let me take you to the kitchen to get some ice on that." Sammy says, leading me to the main building. He has me sit on the counter, much to Chef Aziz's displeasure. "It's definitely going to bruise." He tells me as he cleans the blood off my cheek from where it had split open. "Are you going to let him put you in danger constantly?"
"I chose to be here Sammy. Same as Rachel and I don't hear you lecturing her about the potential dangers. I know what I'm doing Sammy. I've been doing it for the past 6 years; in case you've forgotten."
"Well, I didn't love you the whole 6 years, did I?"
My eyes go wide and my mouth drops. "Sammy, I..." But I'm cut off by Ari bursting through the kitchen.
"What did you just say Sammy?" He asks, pinning him against the wall.
"Ari stop!" I yell, grabbing him by the shoulder, trying to get him to let go.
"You don't have any claim on her." Sammy says. By this point we're joined by the others. Jake and Max get in between them, pulling them apart. In the midst of everything, I get struck in the eye with an elbow.
I stumble back a bit, clutching my face. "Mother fucker!" I yell. They're still fighting, and Rachel finally intercedes, letting out an ear-splitting whistle.
"Knock it the fuck off! Now!" She yells before going to grab something cool to put against my eye. As Jake and Max get Ari and Sammy as far from each other as possible. Ari takes one look at me and Sammy before shaking his head and walking out. One by one, the others leave until it's just me and Rachel. "Well, that could've gone better." She says as she dabs my eye with a cold washcloth.
"Yeah..." I say, looking at the door. What just happened?
YOU ARE READING
Desert Sunrises ✓
Fanfiction~Completed~Ilana Bodnar knew Ari Levinson was going to break her heart. They grew up together, in a small suburb outside of NYC, two of the few Jewish kids in their school. It was inevitable that they would end up together. But as soon as he turned...
