Deja Vu
Chapter 1
Looking out over the olive groves, she let her mind wander. Often asking herself "how did I get to this point." She'd had enemies before, but nothing like this. None with this much venom and desire to see her dead.
A slight chill engulfed her, and she pulled her jacket closer to her body. Although she and the baby were alone in the farmhouse, she didn't feel lonely. The constant barrage of memories always gave her comfort and made her feel loved. The olive grove was where she felt Him the most. The strength of the olive trees standing as a silent unbending testament to the strength and unbending will of Eli David. Eli had trained her to fight, to be a soldier and to do whatever had to be done to defeat the enemy, and she was about to give up everything and do just that. But before leaving this place she allowed herself to smile at the memories contained in Eli David's olive grove and farmhouse. Both had once been filled with love, laughter and happiness, creating warm and lasting memories, but now they sat as a shell of a home being used as a secluded hideout for a hunted woman.
The Israeli night breeze blew through the window and rustled her loose curly dark hair. The motion of her instinctively tucking it behind her ear caused a slight smile to form on her lips at the remembrance of his gesture. Watching her daughter sleep peacefully, she thought of the last night she'd spent with him, her daughters' father, the love of her life. They'd been here, in this very farmhouse, making passionate, raw unbridled love to one another. Unleashing their desires, while unknowingly creating the life sleeping before her. All the years of holding back what destiny had preordained, joyously exploded between them. Causing them to submerge themselves in their suppressed feelings and to forget about rules, old loves and sworn enemies. Even though the question of a relationship had been firmly rejected, they'd each promised to love one another always. Regardless of the miles between them, they were soulmates, would always have each other's six, and could always count on each other. And those promises were what she was now counting on to keep their daughter safe.
In being prepared for the unexpected, she'd deliberately left the house dark with the pretense of being empty. She had strategically placed herself in a vantage point at the window to see any movements in the olive grove and any arrivals up the farm road. She silently sat, constantly watching and waiting, only taking her eyes away from the window to note the time. The terrifying thought that she was running out of time to ensure her daughters safety was weighing heavily on her mind. At the sound of a car approaching, she steeled herself for battle and allowed her ninja skills to kick into overdrive. Her heartbeat quickened as she resolved to fight to the death to protect her daughter. With her weapon poised to fire she watched the vehicles lights dim and the car come to a stop. Then suddenly, she let out a breath that she didn't know she was holding, as her mind registered that there was no need for caution and wariness. She breathed a heart filled sigh of relief, as she watched her dearest friend slowly get out of the car and approach the door.
Swiftly, she opened the door to the familiar face and was immediately comforted by the warm embrace of her very best friend. Immediately, she felt sure of herself again and settled within herself that this was definitely the right thing to do. The one person who had been there for her throughout her pregnancy and had held her hand during the difficult labor, was the one person she knew in her heart would be able to get her precious daughter to her father.
In the few valuable minutes before she'd have to say goodbye to her daughter, her mind replayed the thousand things that had needed to be done. She counted on her friends Mossad connections to ensure safe passage for them and the baby's "Go" bag was packed and ready. The plan had been discussed and reviewed multiple times, but there was one thing more that had to be done and she'd waited until now to do it. She hated to ask this of their friendship but she had one request that she knew would weigh heavy on her friends' heart. As she poured their last cup of tea in the farmhouse, her eyes brimmed with tears and she willed herself to say the words that she dreaded to hear coming from her mouth. With a deep sigh and in her most Mossad like persona she said, "You must tell him that I died. Like, I told you when I had the baby, he has probably moved on and I do not want to disrupt his life, but in order for him to put the safety and welfare of our daughter first, he must believe that I am dead. I know you do not agree with this, but I need you to promise me that this is what you will do. I will not be able to accomplish what I need to do if my little girl thinks that I abandoned her. No, it is better if they think that I am dead, and you must keep this secret until the day you die". Once she'd spoken the words out loud, the finality of it all hit her, and the tears started to fall. It seemed that once she started to sob, a piece of her heart broke away with the fall of each tear. When there were no more tears to cry, the embrace and comfort of a true friend soothed her pain and the promise to do what she'd asked eased her anguish.
Walking to the car she composed herself enough to say one last thing through her heartache, "When you introduce her to him please make sure that he knows how important it was to me to give her my sisters first name and his last name. He needs to know that they were the best parts of me and all that I had to leave to my little girl."
As the car drives away, Orli Elbaz silently prays that her dear friend Schmeil will safely get her daughter, Ziva to her father Eli.