He scratches his head, takes a piece of paper out of the desk drawer, and starts scribbling on it. She knows that shtick of his. To appear busy until things work themselves out. She won’t let him.

“I’ll sue you,” she says, gripping the armrests.

“What?” He looks up at her, baffled.

“You heard me, I’ll sue. I’ll hire the best lawyer I can find and sue you. The whole country will hear about it.”

Amichai leans back, considers her with a stern expression. Slides a finger across his chin. Something has changed in him. Now she sees he’s different. Not the Amichai she first stumbled upon in the Turkish market, but the serious, authoritative CEO everyone’s talking about.

“Why are you here, Ruthie?”

“I don’t know,” she confesses, lowering her gaze. “I honestly don’t.”

“Money? Is that it?”

“Are you crazy?” she exclaims, stroking her arms.

“How much?” he asks.

“I don’t want anything from you,” she retorts, noticing his hand holding the pen is shaking. He notices it too, and hides it under the table. He glances at the computer screen, then back at her.

“It was all your idea.”

“What?”

“This whole company.”

Now he’s the one who seems a little off.

“What on earth are you talking about? I was never into all those experiments of yours,” she replies, and knows he understands what she means perfectly well.

“Right, and that’s why you said what you said.”

“Said what, Amichai? What are you talking about?”

She sees a tremor of hesitation shoot through him, as if he’s holding back from telling her. He doesn’t trust her anymore. “You said I have to find another way, because it won’t work through the body alone.”

She can’t understand what he’s talking about. She tries, but fails. But it’s written all over his suddenly pale face—he’s not lying. “I don’t remember saying anything like that,” she replies quietly.

“Memory is a strange thing,” he replies, and starts elaborating on the technical process. Explains how a memory is imprinted into the brain, and how his machine works.

“What are you rambling on about? How do you remember a desert?” she cuts him off, and he says something about the neurons in the brain. Clarifies that a memory can’t simply be erased. He explains all these things she has no interest in knowing. She’s looking at him, but her entire being is underneath that waterfall.

Then, a knock at the door.

“Come in,” he says, and she already knows.

5.

SHE HOLDS ILAN’S hand the entire ride home. Clasping it tightly. Waiting for him to say something.

“I don’t know what I was looking for up there.”

“I do,” he replies in a soft, gentle tone despite himself. They turn off the highway and into the city.