Ken and Ayala Part 2 Exploration

I let go of the embrace and held Ayala just an arms length away from me, looking straight into her gorgeous brown eyes. "I do mean it, Ayala. I don't know if you felt it, but there's this connection between us . . . even more so after we made love last night . . . and I don't think I could shake it for anything in the world. I don't think I'd ever want to. I just want to be with you, know everything about you."

She gave me a peck on the nose, and we walked into the living room to sit on the couch. I sat down first, and she sat sideways on my lap with her back against the armrest of the couch. I thought I'd ask her about her pictures, but she beat me to the punch and picked up the frame sitting on the coffee table.

"Hey Ken, meet my parents. My dad, Alon, and my mom, Shalva. And there's my sis, Yasmin. She's a cutie, huh?"

"Not as cute as you, beautiful." I kissed Ayala on the cheek and made her giggle.

"Hmm, so you're handsome AND smart . . ." she winked. She looked back at the picture with a distant look on her face.

"What's the matter, babe?" I asked.

"Nothing. Well . . . I guess something. I mean, it's just that I haven't seen my mom or dad since I was seventeen . . . I really miss them. I haven't felt so happy in a long time, until last night, as I had when I was a kid just playing with my sister and being with my parents. Just made me remember them." Ayala's expression showed her sadness, but her eyes betrayed a woman who had cried out her tears through years of anguish over her separation from her family. I didn't know what to tell her to make her feel better . . .

. . . so I pulled her in to me with a hug and held her close to me, allowing her head to rest against my shoulder.

Ayala looked up at me. She had the scared look of a girl who was about to tell me something she never revealed to anyone else. I ran my hand through her hair, moving a few strands away from her eyes so that she could see my face. I mouthed the words, "it's okay," and she nodded her head and looked relieved. She turned back to look at the picture in her hands. Ayala knew that I wanted to hear about her and learn her, which included the story of her family and her past.