A Flicker of Light (14 page)

His sincerity touched her heart, and she sm
iled up at him as the sun reflected
in her eyes.

Greta seemed to be like no other girl he had ever been with. Her cashmere sweater and wool skirt left no doubt that she came from a wealthy family. But that meant nothing to Aaron. His fascination with her came from the emotions she brought out in him. She was spoiled and selfish, but she was also cultured, intelligent and well
read. They talked for two hours, and Aaron missed the rest of his classes that day. On the walk back to campus, he felt something within him stir.

“Would you like to have lunch again tomorrow?” Aaron asked.

“
Yes, same time?”

“Yes, that’s fine. Would you like to meet at the same place?”

“Sure, I’ll be there,
” Greta said
,
and she smiled.

The rest of the day, Aaron felt weightless, as though he’d been infused with helium and floated high above the world. His heart fluttered and his mind could not focus on anything but the girl with the flashing brown eyes. Unlike the women he’d spent his youth carousing with, Greta had class. She would be considered a lady by anyone she encountered. She knew which fork to use and what to say. Her upbringing had taught her to appreciate the arts and to dress with the finest of taste.

For weeks
,
the lunch dates continued. Aaron missed more classes, but he didn’t care. He could not stop thinking of Greta. In many ways she reminded him of Mrs.
Blumgarten
. Since he emulated the doctor, he felt
that Greta
would be the perfect mate for him. One afternoon,
she asked him to go with her to the symphony
. “I have tickets for a Wagner o
pera. Would you like to take me?”

“Yes, of course.
When?”

“Tonight, silly.
You can pick me up at my dormitory room at six; we’ll have a quick dinner. There’s
a restaurant I have wanted
to try, so we’ll go there and then off to the theater.”

“I’ll be there.” His feet felt magically airy, as if standing beside her
,
talking
,
he’d grown wings. With a lightness to his step he took off, already late to his next class.

For the remainder of the day, his teachers gave lectures
-
on mathematics
,
and then another on Latin. Watching the clock, he could not concentrate. He
never even took notice of his p
hilosophy professor’s recommendation that they all read
Mein
Kampf
, a book by a man called Adolph Hitler, who pr
oposed a New World O
rder with the Germanic race as the supreme power. Instead, Aaron thought only of the rain storm earlier that day as he stood with Greta under the shelter of a tree. In his mind’s eye, he recalled the lush green leaves as single raindrops trickled down their bodies, her hair as it blew in the cool wind, and the way her eyes beckoned, promising mysteries he had never known. Aaron could concentrate on nothing else.
She had let him kiss her for the first time that day. He had known that she would accept his kiss because of the way that she had looked up at him, her eyes closed, her lips slightly parted. Still he had proceeded slowly as he took her lovely face into his hands and gently touched her lips with his own. The kiss enchanted him, like none before, and now for him it became an addiction. He longed for a taste of that extraordinary drug again. In fact, he yearned to hold her in his arms and to make love to her in a way he had never done to any woman before. Did he dare wish for such a blessing? If she would have him, he would marry her. He’d already decided, but he also knew he dared not ask yet. If he approached her too soon, he thought she might reject him. He refused to take such a risk. So he would be happy later that evening just to sit beside her and hold her hand as Wagner’s
Teutonic Knights
took the stage in song.

Chapter 16

A

aron’s grades began to suffer
,
and Dr.
Blumgarten
tried to talk
sense
to him, but to no avail. The woman had become an obsession, and he could think of nothing else. She demanded that he be available when she wanted to see him, and
he acquiesced.
Dr
.
Blumgarten
paid a substantial amount of money for his education
,
but
Aaron
also received a scholarship. If his grades continued to fall, he would lose his funding and be expelled. Even with this understanding hanging over him, if Greta asked
,
he agreed to miss classes to see her. Aaron could see that Greta had spent her entire life being indulged. She expected to have her own way. He didn’t mind giving her whatever she wanted. In fact, it brought him enjoyment. When happy, she would hum and sing little love songs to him, and that, in and of itself, brought him satisfaction. Never before in his life had he given in to anyone so completely, and yet now he did so willingly. Often he wondered what magic she possessed that caused him to feel this wa
y. He didn’t know what it could be;
h
e knew only that
s
he did.

She made him wait several more weeks before she took him to her bed. The night she chose, she asked her roommate to sleep in another room. After a quiet dinner at a small restaurant near campus, she took him back to her dormitory. Although excitemen
t and desire rushed through him
, he remained tender and moved slowly. Her pleasure was m
ore important to him
than
his own,
and he took the time and effort to ensure that she achieved fulfillment. Greta, not a virgin by any means, felt that before Aaron, she may as well have been. Until she lay with him, she had not achieved orgasm.

He spent hours kissing her neck and breasts, unhurriedly moving down her body with his hot, eager lips and tongue, tasting the slight salty taste of her skin, basking in the floral aroma of her perfume and finding himself reborn within her womanhood. No man she’d ever known made love with as much tenderness or skill as Aaron. Her body trembled as she rose to new heights of ecstasy that she never even fathomed existed. When he buried himself deep within her, joining their two bodies and souls into one, his green eyes never left hers for a moment. His hand caressed her cheek, and he kissed her lips. With each gesture, she grew more certain of his undying love. He made love to her like he believed her to be
a goddess. Throughout the night he worshiped her body, and from then on they were lovers. Now her appetite for him became insatiable, and she thought she could be falling in love.

When the holidays approached and school closed, Greta invited Aaron to come home with her to meet her parents. They planned to stay for three days, and then return to school for the remainder of the winter break.

The
Zietlmans
lived in a large red brick home on the outskirts of Berlin. Surrounded by large, well-established trees and a quilt of snow, it resembled a photograph or a picture postcard. Over the door, Aaron noticed a gold
mezuzah
and watched as Greta reached up, touched it and then kissed her hand. Dr.
Blumgarten
did
this when he entered his home and office. Aaron thought for a moment about how excluded he’d always felt from his own people. His father had never taken him to synagogue on Saturday. There had been no special Sabbath dinners in his home. His first real encounter with Judaism had been with the doctor and his wife. There he’d experienced a
S
eder
and had begun to understand the depths of his religion.

Greta’s parents greete
d them. They removed their snow-
covered boots and left them on a mat at the door. Original oil paintings hung from the walls and the hardwood floors
were covered with hand-woven Persian rugs. Mahogany furniture was tastefully scattered throughout the spacious rooms. Aaron found the lavishness of the décor wasteful. His sense of righteousness flared as he thought of the poverty-stricken people he’d treated at the medical clinic. The
Zietlman
family employed two maids, a cook and a butler to serve the husband and wife who lived alone in this massive home. Greta’s older brother had married the previous year and moved to Frankfurt.

“Come in.” Greta’s mother wore an expensively tailored burgundy dress. Aaron watched as she turned from Greta without a hug or warm greeting. This, he knew, spoke volumes about their relationship. Gesturing to Aaron to follow, Mrs.
Zeitlman
called out to her husband, “Simon, Greta’s here and she’s brought a friend.”

“Greta,
”
her
father said as he hugged her tightly, kissing her forehead.

“Papa, I’ve missed you.” Smiling, she turned to Aaron, “This is my friend, Aaron.”

“Hello, Aaron.” Simon scrutinized him for a moment. Then, dismissing him
,
he turned his attention back to his daughter, he asked, “So, how is school?”

Greta’s father made no secret of his disdain for the boy whom he felt had been raised beneath Greta’s station in life. By the look in her father’s eyes, Aaron knew he would never offer his blessing to a marriage proposal.

“It’s good
,
Papa. It’s also good to be home for
Hanuka
h
,”
Greta said.

“
It’s good to have you home. Tonight, just like when you were a little girl, we’ll light the first candle. I have such glorious gifts for you.”

Later, after dinner and the kindling of the
Hanukah
lights, Aaron and Greta sat alone by the fire place in the living room, as Greta told him a little about her l
ife. “I grew up here. I wish we ha
d come in summer so that you could see the ivy that grows on the building. It’s my favorite thing. It climbs up the walls with green leaves and always looks so pretty.” She sipped her hot chocolate and smiled contentedly.

“It’s a beautiful home,” Aaron replied
.

“I just realized, I’ve never asked you about your home or your family.”

“And it’s
probably better that you didn’t,
”
h
e smiled wryly.

“Why?
I want you to tell me. After all, Aaron I really should know. It’s important.”

“Is it? Does it really matter?”

“Well, i
t makes you who you are today, d
oesn’t it? Besides, I hate secrets.” She got up from the sofa and moved away from him lighting a cigarette.

“I wish I had something good to tell, but quite frankly, my past is a bit of a mess, except for Dr.
Blumgarten
, my friend and mentor.”

“If you don’t want to talk about it, that’s all right.” She inhaled deeply from her cigarette, and he saw the disappointment in her eyes. He felt if he revealed his past, she might find him crude and undeserving of her affections. “I just wondered if you’d had another girl in your past
-
someone as pretty as me, or perhaps
,
prettier?
” It seemed that Greta had gotten over her initial petulance, and she smiled at him coyly.

“Is that it? Is that
what you’re worried about? Oh, S
weetheart, there has never been anyone like you, never in my entire life. Besides, there is no one prettier than you.”

“Really?
You promise?”

“Of course I do, I love you. I want to make you my wife. I want to live my life to make you happy. To do all of the things that you would want a man to do.”

Tears trickled from her eyes, and she went to put her arms around him just as the maid entered the room carrying a tray of cookies and a thermos to refill their hot chocolate.

“Your father thought you might like something to snack on, miss. He told me to bring this fresh
mondel
bread in to you,” t
he maid said
,
laying the tray down on the table in front of the couple.

Aaron smiled inwardly. Clever old fox, he thought. The old man sent the maid in just in the nick of time. He had probably been listening at the door. Well, no matter, he would propose again.

That night Greta slipped into Aaron’s room after her parents had retired to their bed for the night. They were careful to be very quiet as they made love. When they’d finished, she lay
,
contented
,
in his arms.

“I would like to ask your father for his permission to marry you, but first I would like to know if this is what you want.”

“Yes, of course it is what I want, but you don’t know my father.” She sat up in bed and turned to look at him as she lit a cigarette. “Aaron, I don’t know how to say this.”