Layne Hansen - Careful Measurements

The women wore head covers in the city, but night in the hotels was a different story. Mike couldn’t believe how gorgeous many of the Arab women were. Usually covered from head to toe, there was really no way to gauge a woman’s looks. However, at night, and in private, the women were much less guarded. Their big, almond-shaped eyes. The rich, mocha-colored skin. The exotic clothes and accents. For a tomcat like Mike it was almost too much to bear.

One night, following a boring day of finalizing contracts, he found himself alone in the hotel lobby when an absolute stunner walked in, modestly dressed, but with no head cover.

“Hi,” he twanged at her, letting her know that he was from Texas and that he was definitely on the prowl.

“Hello,” she said in lightly accented English.

She was tall and her eyes were a color he didn’t think possible for a human. She had the raven-colored hair that was typical for an Arab woman, but she had it cut in an American style. She wore a long, frill-less dress, but underneath, he could tell she had an astounding body. She was so beautiful he almost couldn’t breathe.

After shamelessly looking her up and down he said, “Can I get you a drink?”

She smiled at him and her eyes twinkled. “They don’t have any drinks here,” she said, elegantly waving her hand across the sitting room. His broad smile resembled a naughty boy who’d successfully gotten away with pulling Sally’s pigtail. He closed the distance between them and sat in the stool next to hers.

“They don’t have any here,” she said, her hot breath sending chills down his neck and his spine, “But I know where there’s something that is a little more… relaxing.”

“Where you from?” he asked her, his first attempt at small talk.

“Riyadh,” she said, taking a sip of a juice drink from her crystal glass.

“Well yeah. But where in America do you live?”

She looked at him, her eyes not betraying her surprise at his perceptiveness. Setting down her glass, she said, “New York.”

“Ahhh,” he said, giving her every bit of attention he could muster. “Ever been to Texas?”

She smiled coyly at him again. “Yes. My father has business interests there. Some with your president’s son, even.”

“Yeah? Well I’ll be damned. Maybe I know him,” he said, leaning in even closer.

She almost laughed at him. Her father didn’t have any casual acquaintances, especially in America and particularly not in Texas of all places. She mentioned his name and Mike laughed. He pulled out his wallet, removed a business card, and held it in front of her face.

“You know him?” she asked, her eyes wide with wonder.

“Of course,” he said, confidently, returning the card to his wallet. “Why do you think I’m here?”

“The food?” she said, laughing again.

He patted his stomach and groaned. The spicy food had not suited his stomach well. She laughed even harder. After another half hour of playful banter, he asked her if she wanted to see his suite. She looked around to see if anyone was listening, but a young concierge was the only person within earshot. They were nearly alone in the room.

“Give me thirty minutes?”

He winked and nodded at her as she gathered her things. An hour later there was a light knock at the door of his suite. He was in shirtsleeves now, no tie, collar undone, and no shoes.

“Hi,” he said warmly. He’d started himself off with a belt of Jack Daniels and he was feeling loose.

She looked in all directions to see if anyone was looking and then quickly stepped in. He offered her a whiskey and Coke and she gladly accepted. She was no devout Muslim and was more than a social drinker while living in New York City. They were sitting on a plush leather sofa and she was much more relaxed now. They talked and laughed and listened to American music while the alcohol took effect. Soon they were sitting very close and it was she that leaned in for the first kiss. Her lips were so soft it nearly took his breath away. The kisses became more and more passionate and both began to shed their clothes. Soon they were in his bedroom and after what had seemed like a blink of an eye, the morning had come.

He never found out how her father found out about that night, but somehow he had. And although the Saudi was angry enough to put a price on Mike’s head, he didn’t cancel the deal he had made with Mike and his partners. However, after Mike returned to America, his partners notified him that there was a hit out on him and that he should probably hire some sort of security. He did just that, hiring a former Navy SEAL. It was expensive, but it was worth it.

And there was only one serious attempt that he heard about. A Colombian assassin was on his way to do the hit when he was pulled over by a Texas state trooper. After not being able to explain why he had a forged driver’s license, and obviously wasn’t a migrant worker, the Texas Rangers were called in to investigate. The Rangers called ICE, who called the Colombian government, who informed all involved that the man was a serious player in the drug cartels and was a pro. Word of the hit got back to Mike’s security guy, who told Mike.

After his scrape with the Saudi, Mike dissolved all of his interest in the oil business and went into cattle ranching. A friend of a friend had developed a new beef and it became a global competitor. Mike sank hundreds of thousands of dollars into the venture and was almost immediately rewarded with millions in return. They branched out and Mike made millions more.

Eventually, though, everything changed for him. It wasn’t any single event, he realized. It was more of a long transformation. He became a reborn Christian and married a lovely young woman from Arlington. His transformation was incomplete, though, and he wasn’t able to keep his vows. The old Texas tomcat eventually returned to his old ways, chasing skirts and money. That lifestyle became boring again, however, as did life in general. He’d achieved all of his goals. He’d made more money than he thought was possible, and just when he was at his lowest point he saw the advertisement for the experiment. He took a day and filled out the survey, not thinking anything would come of it. To his surprise, however, three weeks later he received notice that he’d been selected. And now here he was, on a train to Utah and into trouble that God only knew.

Patton’s train streaked across the remainder of the Great Basin towards Salt Lake City. He was sitting at a small desk, his head resting against the cool window. The moon was full and it cast a radiant light onto the white desert salt and sand, making it glow a ghostly white. He was mesmerized by the landscape—almost hypnotized. The last several hours had been a whirlwind of emotion and it was beginning to catch up to him, currently in the form of a headache. Part of it, he realized, was a shadow of guilt. Getting to know Jennifer wasn’t wrong, he knew, but the memory of his wife children was still very strong. Perhaps meeting Jennifer was the cause of his melancholy.

A surge of adrenaline rushed through him and for the first time in years he was beginning to feel alive. Not just feel alive, but wanting to be alive. And it wasn’t just Jennifer, he now realized, it was this new adventure. Maybe he was running away from his past, but maybe he was running towards something. The years of guilt and self-inflicted torment suddenly seemed to melt away. He wasn’t the one who had veered into her lane, causing her to maneuver onto the shoulder, to break through the barrier and run off the cliff. He hadn’t killed his family. They were taken away from him.

No, he thought, shaking his head at himself. There was nothing he could have done and there was nothing he could do now. He felt a pinprick of absolution that spread through his entire body, as if an invisible set of shackles been removed. The feeling was so tangible that he raised his wrists to his face. He was crying now and was beginning to fog his window. Embarrassed, he looked around his sleeper to make sure he was alone. He chuckled at himself and wiped at his cheeks. This was his first moment of real healing since his family’s death. Eventually he fell asleep. He wasn’t accustomed to all of this emotion and it finally caught up with him. And for the first time in years, he had a dreamless, peaceful sleep.