Tess Awakening (12 page)

Tess turned around and started to walk out of
the room. Amir admired her cute, tight butt showing through
beautifully cut flowing silk pants.

Jake stood up and looked at Tess inquiringly.
She was visibly upset. ‘I have my answer,’ he thought. ‘It didn’t
work.’

The guards led them to the gate and closed it
after them.

***

Jake and Tess caught a cab and went to a
restaurant for dinner.

The mood was somber. Tess barely picked at
the food, devastated by her failure to reason with Amir.

Jake, as usual, fell back on his analytical
approach. “Just look at it this way: we knew going in that there
was little chance for Amir to play without some sort of pressure.
What makes the situation even more difficult is the fact that he
does not feel vulnerable.”

Tess picked at the food; “How about the
gassing of the Kurdish village? Do you buy his claim that it was
the Iranians that did it?”

‘Well, there might be some truth to that. I
read the intelligence reports Amir was talking about, and I believe
that a clear-headed evaluation of the facts at the very least
raises some doubt as to who really did it. It doesn’t mean that
Saddam did not indulge in nasty things against the Kurds, but his
use of chemical weapons on the villagers falls in a murky
area.”

“But one of the rationales for this war has
been to punish Saddam for using WMDs, and to prevent him from doing
so again.”

Jake looked at Tess and took her hand. “Tess,
try to get you head around the fact that things are not always what
they seem. Bush is intent on avenging an alleged attack by Saddam’s
people on his father for leading the first Gulf war against him.
This attack on Iraq has little to do with WMDs. In fact, I am not
so sure why Bush, Wolfowitz, Rumsfeld and company pushed so hard to
start a war in that theater.”

Tess shook her head. “Are you saying that
people, our people are getting killed because Bush and Company want
to play games? That is really pushing it!”

Jake shrugged his shoulder. “I hope I am
wrong, but I fear that in the long term, this invasion will not
turn out as well as people think.”

“It’s your cynicism speaking!”

“Perhaps,” Jake called for the check.

As they entered their apartment, Tess sat in
the living room and put her hands on both sides of her head,
despairing. Jake did not speak. He sensed that Tess needed to
process what happened that day.

“I feel like a failure,” Tess moaned. I built
a career in the Army confident that we were on the good side of
history.” She stood up. “I can’t even rescue a little girl from a
monster!”

Jake put his arms around her. “There is
always plan B.”

“And what is that?”

“I don’t know yet.”

They walked to the bedroom and lay down. Tess
was inconsolable. Jake took her in his arms and tried to soothe her
with kisses on her face and neck. Tess drew closer to him, grateful
for the gentle comfort offered by a man that she now knew she
loved.

***

Amir left his chauffeured car and the
doorman opened the doors of a charming apartment building.

He was furious about Tess’s arrogance and the
outrageous demands she made to let go of the girl. But what
anguished him even more was the effect that Tess had on him. He
could not help being enraptured with her, even more than their
first episode at his house in Iraq. Then, he saw her as a conquest.
Seeing her again generated an overwhelming, aching craving need to
be with her, a feeling that he never experienced with any other
woman. He must exorcise this obsession.

A beautiful woman opened the door to her
apartment. “General, such a pleasure to see you again.” Jasmin was
a courtesan to the wealthy. She also looked remarkably like Tess.
The same intelligent face, lithe body and even more charm.

Amir enjoyed talking with her before making
love, but this time he just wanted to possess her. He kissed her
and started to fondle her breasts. In a few minutes, they laid down
in bed. Amir did not wait for her to remove her clothes languidly,
as she usually did for him. He liked to see her as a flower that
slowly dropped the petals to ultimately disclose her wondrous body.
This time he roughly tore her gown off, his urgency
uncontrollable.

He took her crudely, moving inside her with
rage until she protested. Amir was in a frenzy. He turned her with
her face on the pillow, grabbed her hair and took her from behind.
He wanted to humiliate her, just as he wanted to slake his thirst
for revenge with Tess. Normally a skillful and attentive lover,
this time he was not here to achieve mutual satisfaction but to
assuage his own craving for possession. Roughly plunging into the
woman, he ignored her cries and in his mind he tried to imagine
ravishing the witch—Tess, his emotional nemesis.

He roughly kept Jasmin on her face and pulled
both sides of her buttocks apart. He began to push against her
unyielding orifice. He pressed on, penetrating with vicious thrusts
until he fully plunged into her body, ignoring her cries of pain.
He grasped her hips, pulled her higher toward him and continued to
abuse the woman with rapid thrusts. He finally spent himself and
fell on his back.

Jasmin could not contain her tears. Amir had
always been a charming, patient and skillful lover. She did not
recognize the violent, obsessed man in her bed.

Amir apologized, rapidly got dressed, hurled
an excessive number of banknotes on the night table, and left.

The driver picked him up and took him home.
Amir walked into his house, poured a stiff cognac and crashed into
an ornate divan. He downed the drink and gave an agonized scream.
He was not sated. Only Tess could slake the thirst of his body and
soul.

Chapter 16

Jake read a message that was delivered to
the apartment by a courier.

“I am called back to Iraq,” he announced to
Tess.

“Why, aren’t you on leave?”

“Yes, but it means nothing if they want me
back. There must be something important going on.”

Tess was annoyed. “What are we doing to take
care of our problem here?”

Jake scratched his head. “The best thing to
do is for you to stay here and wait for me to return. I will be
back as soon as I can.”

“And what am I going to do here, play the
tourist?”

“Maybe it’s a good idea. You need a
rest.”

Tess resisted the idea of remaining behind,
but it was obvious that there was no choice.

The next day, she gave Jake a kiss at the
airport and lost sight of him as he entered the boarding gate. On
the way back to the apartment, she picked up a few brochures about
the wondrous historical sights of Istanbul.

Upon his arrival in Iraq, Jake was whisked
off to the CIA offices in Baghdad and was ushered into a conference
room where several officers were waiting.

The head of the CIA mission, Paul Saunders,
started the briefing.

“This meeting is to plan the aftermath of the
war. As you know, hostile operations are over, and we now have a
civilian Coalition Provisional Authority called CPA for short,
headed by an American Ambassador. At this point, this is now the
top government authority in Iraq.

“The first action of the CPA has been the
firing of most Iraqi government workers, primarily because they are
overwhelmingly Sunni. The intent is to reorganize the government so
it is more representative, including members of the majority
Shiites and some Kurds.

“Coalition Provisional Authority Order Number
2 involves the dissolution of the Iraqi military, security, and
intelligence infrastructure of Saddam Hussein.”

Jake could not resist interrupting the
presentation. “This is nuts!”

Paul Saunders expressed annoyance. “What do
you mean by that?”

Jake explained. “Are you trying to tell us
that we are firing two hundred thousand Iraqi government workers
just because they are Sunni Baathists and not Shiites? Who is going
to replace them? Are any of the Shiites qualified?

“Then you say we are going to disband the
Iraqi Army? We didn’t do that to the Japanese after World War Two,
in fact, the Brits and Americans used Japanese troops that had
surrendered to keep the peace in several Asian countries until
things settled down.”

Paul tried to elaborate. “The head of the CPA
and his senior advisor decided to dissolve the Iraqi army because
they believe that it had already demobilized itself and could not
be practically reconstituted. Basically, they disappeared among the
populace; moreover most Iraqi military facilities have been
destroyed. They insist that there is no intact Iraqi force to
disband.”

“Did anyone bother to discuss this plan with
the Allies, particularly the British?” Jake said. One of my
contacts with the Brits said that they have severe concerns about
this.”

The presenter continued. “Several British
generals raised concerns about the disbandment and are personally
against it. The Brits were negotiating with senior Iraqi army and
Republican Guard officers to switch sides and operate under UK
guidance to uphold law and order. Unfortunately, CPA orders 1 and 2
effectively destroyed any chance to regroup the Iraqi forces for
such a plan.”

Well prepared as usual, Jake switched to his
facts-and-figures mode. “So, we are going to fire two hundred
thousand experienced government workers, which include municipal
workers and school teachers and put them out on the streets. Plus,
we disbanded three hundred thousand Iraqi troops with weapons who
normally would have come back to their units to work toward
reconstruction.”

Paul Saunders tried to control the meeting,
but Jake continued. “Have we forgotten that we have not disarmed
these people? Do you really want that many people with guns around—
out of work, angry and pissed off? Do I need to point out that we
don’t have anywhere close to the troops we need for an effective
occupation?” The people in the room appeared to agree with
Jake.

Paul again tried to seize control of the
conversation. “Jake, you might be right, but at this point it is
done. Our role from now on is to help plan for the future. I expect
all of you to toe the line and get busy. There will several
meetings this week to process additional information and I expect
you to be there.”

The group left the conference room, muttering
among themselves.

The boss asked Jake to come to his office.
“Jake, can we count on you to help get this country on its
feet?”

“No, you can’t Paul. This has all the makings
of a disaster. It’s obvious that the smart people that make these
decisions in Washington have not read any history books. We are
facing a calamity, and we are going to suffer grievously because of
the miscalculations of a few bureaucrats. I am through.”

Paul looked like he was struck by a
gut-punch. “You can’t quit now.”

Jake stood up. “Yes, I can; best of luck to
all of you.”

He walked out and took a car to the
airport.

Chapter 17

Before boarding the plane, Jack called Tess,
telling her that he had to go to the States for a week to handle
some urgent business.

Jake also broke the news to her. “I quit the
CIA. This means that we can no longer use the apartment in
Istanbul. The best thing to do now is to go to a hotel and wait for
me to return. I will be back as soon as I can.”

Tess was disappointed and told him to come
back ASAP.

“Yes ma’am,” Jack smiled.

Tess was still at a loss on what to do about
Amir’s refusal to even talk about Kejal’s child without further
discussion with her. At this time, he appeared to have all the
cards.

Trying to clear her head, she visited some of
the sights of Istanbul. She had learned how to use the Metro and
also went on a walking marathon throughout the city. Typically, she
ran every day to keep in shape, but she found that walking the
neighborhoods of a great city was its own reward.

She started with
Hagia Sophia
, the
enormous and magnificent Christian Church of the Byzantine Emperors
converted into a mosque after the conquest of Constantinople in
1453 by the Ottoman Turks under Sultan Mehmed II. It was later
turned into a museum in 1935. She then visited the
Topkapi
Palace, the splendid primary residence of the Ottoman Sultans for
approximately 400 years until 1856. The palace was actually a
complex consisting of four main courtyards and many smaller
buildings. At its peak, the palace was home to as many as 4,000
people, containing mosques, a hospital, bakeries, and a mint.

Dazzled, Tess walked back to the street and
boarded a taxi. The driver proceeded to point out various
interesting buildings until Tess realized that he was not going to
the hotel. Before she had a chance to protest, the car stopped in
front of Amir’s house. Two men in suits approached the cab and
opened the door.

One of the men bowed. “Miss Turner, General
Alkan al-Saadi would like to meet with you.

Furious at the deception, Tess stayed in the
vehicle, ready to demonstrate her displeasure with a display of
violence. The men continued to remain courteous and asked her to go
with them into the house.

Suppressing her fury, she concluded that she
had planned to meet Amir anyway for one last attempt at persuasion,
so she finally left the car and walked into the house.

“This way, please.” The men led her to a
large, sunny room with huge windows overlooking the garden. Amir
was seating on a divan, playing with a little girl on his lap. The
child was laughing.

Amir put the girl down, took her hand, and
dismissed the guards with a wave of the hand. “Tess, I am glad to
see you again.”