Bedside Pictures
To tell the fascinating story of Noomi, I have to start talking -albeit briefly- about Hebel, a man fifty years old, rich and handsome, Hannah's widower for ten years.
Hannah had given him a son, Benjamin, an irresponsible twentysomething living alone who pretended he was studying at the university and visited him from time to time, mostly to ask for money and stuff.
Well, when Hebel saw Noomi he fell in love immediately.
The girl, barely thirty, was of unusual beauty, lethally combining a perfect face and body with superlative powers of seduction and also a spark and playfulness rarely seen in this valley of tears.
Shortly after they met they began to live together.
And everybody was happy -of sorts, for Hebel would not marry again or have more children.
Noomi did not quite like that, but decided to shut up and enjoy a luxurious and smooth life, plenty of travel and vacations, and even some exotic experiences.
When Benjamin occasionally visited them, there was some tension, but nothing serious.
Noomi virtually ignored him, while still looking fatal but believably naive, aloof but delicious, arousing -as always- admiration, fear and love at the same time.
Interestingly, in his bedside table, Hebel kept a picture of his late wife Hannah, but Noomi did not bother about that because she knew that the dead were not worth fighting.
Things became complicated when Hebel suffered a heart attack in his office; within seconds he was dead..
The shock was tremendous, and Noomi was devastated.
A few hours after the tragic episode Benjamin appeared out of nowhere, and surprisingly addressed all that was required to do in these difficult circumstances.
Noomi did not feel too happy because she liked "finished products" and Benjamin was promising but still just a "future project", but somehow she found him funny, or at least passable.
And one day, God knows why, the inevitable happened.
Scantily clad, with only a short nightgown, and with a naive expression, a seemingly meaningful "what will become of me?" was enough to win the war in a split second and without any effort.
Thus it was that Benjamin surrendered unconditionally to her charms.
Unlike Hebel, Benjamin wanted to marry and have children, possibly to forget once and for all the past and enjoy his success, but now it was Noomi who was not entirely convinced.
So Benjamin was immersed in a wild and even unhealthy passion, while Noomi was devoted to flirt hard enough to...
and just stop short of that.
Bridging the differences and nuances, Benjamin occupied -even in the same bed- Hebel's place, trying to emulate him and why not outrival him, but nevertheless he could not help but suspect that someone was making him play catch-up.
And while the bedside table that had been Hebel's and now Benjamin's still portrayed the picture of Hannah, in Noomi's table now was one of Hebel.
Benjamin knew something was not right, and his spirit was tormented with the idea that Noomi had been his father's wife, but that also excited him and gave birth to a morbid fantasy he had resolved not to throw away.
Noomi, meanwhile, experienced something alike, with the obvious difference that she, as a woman, knew that while she was pulling the strings, everything would be fine.
Well, as Benjamin learned to be a man as mature as he could be, she devoted all her time to drive him crazy -in a good way- and enjoy him, of course.
Not that it was so much difficult for Noomi: she had a natural ability and extreme powers of seduction, so in practice everything became second nature to her, and at times she took it for granted.
And, as in a stimulus-response loop, the situation seemed to have no limits.
Both she and he were taking care of keeping in their minds the existence of the forbidden, and that had a multiplier effect that in turn empowered itself, in an endless spiral.
By then, Noomi and Benjamin barely talked to each other, having more important things to do.
And for some strange reason, they felt great relief when they realized that their performance was most enjoyable when they did it in front of the dead.
...
This story is real, Noomi herself told it to me this morning.
In fact, it is still happening, so by no means it was finished.
I only made a few additions of interpretive nature: you know that even when some things are obvious, a woman would never confess them to anyone, let alone another woman.
Hannah had given him a son, Benjamin, an irresponsible twentysomething living alone who pretended he was studying at the university and visited him from time to time, mostly to ask for money and stuff.
Well, when Hebel saw Noomi he fell in love immediately.
The girl, barely thirty, was of unusual beauty, lethally combining a perfect face and body with superlative powers of seduction and also a spark and playfulness rarely seen in this valley of tears.
Shortly after they met they began to live together.
And everybody was happy -of sorts, for Hebel would not marry again or have more children.
Noomi did not quite like that, but decided to shut up and enjoy a luxurious and smooth life, plenty of travel and vacations, and even some exotic experiences.
When Benjamin occasionally visited them, there was some tension, but nothing serious.
Noomi virtually ignored him, while still looking fatal but believably naive, aloof but delicious, arousing -as always- admiration, fear and love at the same time.
Interestingly, in his bedside table, Hebel kept a picture of his late wife Hannah, but Noomi did not bother about that because she knew that the dead were not worth fighting.
Things became complicated when Hebel suffered a heart attack in his office; within seconds he was dead..
The shock was tremendous, and Noomi was devastated.
A few hours after the tragic episode Benjamin appeared out of nowhere, and surprisingly addressed all that was required to do in these difficult circumstances.
Noomi did not feel too happy because she liked "finished products" and Benjamin was promising but still just a "future project", but somehow she found him funny, or at least passable.
And one day, God knows why, the inevitable happened.
Scantily clad, with only a short nightgown, and with a naive expression, a seemingly meaningful "what will become of me?" was enough to win the war in a split second and without any effort.
Thus it was that Benjamin surrendered unconditionally to her charms.
Unlike Hebel, Benjamin wanted to marry and have children, possibly to forget once and for all the past and enjoy his success, but now it was Noomi who was not entirely convinced.
So Benjamin was immersed in a wild and even unhealthy passion, while Noomi was devoted to flirt hard enough to...
and just stop short of that.
Bridging the differences and nuances, Benjamin occupied -even in the same bed- Hebel's place, trying to emulate him and why not outrival him, but nevertheless he could not help but suspect that someone was making him play catch-up.
And while the bedside table that had been Hebel's and now Benjamin's still portrayed the picture of Hannah, in Noomi's table now was one of Hebel.
Benjamin knew something was not right, and his spirit was tormented with the idea that Noomi had been his father's wife, but that also excited him and gave birth to a morbid fantasy he had resolved not to throw away.
Noomi, meanwhile, experienced something alike, with the obvious difference that she, as a woman, knew that while she was pulling the strings, everything would be fine.
Well, as Benjamin learned to be a man as mature as he could be, she devoted all her time to drive him crazy -in a good way- and enjoy him, of course.
Not that it was so much difficult for Noomi: she had a natural ability and extreme powers of seduction, so in practice everything became second nature to her, and at times she took it for granted.
And, as in a stimulus-response loop, the situation seemed to have no limits.
Both she and he were taking care of keeping in their minds the existence of the forbidden, and that had a multiplier effect that in turn empowered itself, in an endless spiral.
By then, Noomi and Benjamin barely talked to each other, having more important things to do.
And for some strange reason, they felt great relief when they realized that their performance was most enjoyable when they did it in front of the dead.
...
This story is real, Noomi herself told it to me this morning.
In fact, it is still happening, so by no means it was finished.
I only made a few additions of interpretive nature: you know that even when some things are obvious, a woman would never confess them to anyone, let alone another woman.
