Chapter 10

"Shall we go to my place or yours?" asks Alana. Her cheeks are blushing rosy; her eyes are shining gem. Probably, some nice white wine to blame.

"Let’s chat a bit?" I suggest, wishing to know more about her.

"Anyways, we'll have to choose where we can chat. Unless you want to ‘chat’ right in the hotel hall…" she whispers, tenderly kissing my neck. The woman smells like the tangerine she ate on the way home from the Old Port, but, definitely, not the alcohol smell, although, she's in a pretty high and playful mood. "Do you want me to feed you with tangerine slices again?" Alana, like a magician, takes the fruit straight out of the pocket of her fashionable wide trousers.

"You are a tempter like a serpent!" I gently touch the tangerine with my fingertips as if it were the part of her body, an extension of her hand.

Alana chuckles, "My sweet Eve, now you prefer tangerines!"

"Who can be interested in apples now?! It’s too oldtestamented." I can’t help laughing. Her black eyes are watching our intertwined fingers: we are holding the tangerine together at the same time.

I take the magnetic key from my purse, "Let's go have tea on the balcony and eat this tangerine. What do you think?"

Alana leans over and kisses me on the cheek. Her body, getting hot during the day, is emitting warmth and sweating a little, but it only turns me on, because her skin smells sweet and nice. I want to run my tongue over her collarbone and neck.

"I really hope 'eat tangerine' is a euphemism!" Alana's eyes are shining cheerfully.

"You can do anything with 'tangerine', but I still want to drink some tea!"

"Deal! I'm going to order two cups of tea and carrot cakes with cream downstairs while you can rest for a while before the fashion show!"

"I don't want to try on my new things! Don't be like my sister..." I broke off. It's so good to be with Alana that I totally forgot about my life before. "Uhmm, yeah... I'll have a quick shower, and you bring us something to munch... uhm..." My attempts to behave cool after mentioning my sister are just making me suspicious and ridiculous.

"Have I said something?" Alana blinks. I think I upset her by being upset myself.

"No, noooo! Hahaha..." I squeeze out a fake laugh. "I guess the wine still hasn't faded from my silly blonde head!"

"I'll be coming back in another 10 minutes. I’ll be quick! I’ll be very quick, Esti!" With a worried look, she hands me her purchases in fancy packages with the images of expensive brands. "I'll be super quick!"

Like a swift animal she dashes down the stairs, hopping over several steps.

The hall looks lifeless without her.