Margolis knew an order when he heard it. “I appreciate your support, sir.”
Levy walked into the hall to take the elevator up, deciding against using the stairwell in front of him. His knees were not cooperating with him on this Saturday morning.
After the one floor ride up, Levy stepped out of the elevator and Amit started to follow, but the director stopped him. “I have taken you away from your woman too long already. Enjoy the rest of this beautiful day with her. Shabbat shalom.” Levy walked down the hall to his waiting SUV.
Amit continued up to his floor and walked quickly to his apartment. He found Enya on the computer. She had Google images open and on the screen Amit could see about 15 photographs, most of which were of Amichai Levy. As he walked up behind her, she turned to look at him.
“Why is the director of Mossad visiting you on a Saturday morning?”
“Enya, please.” Margolis thought about possible eavesdropping. He reached underneath her right armpit and raised her off her seat. “Come on.” He led her into the bathroom attached to his bedroom. It had no windows, which Enya hated. He turned on the water and a small radio he kept on the vanity. “You figured out who just visited me, please don’t ever discuss his name or that he was here. Not to anyone. Understand?”
“No, I don’t understand. We have dinner with a senior general, you travel all the time. This man,” she stabbed her hand into the air, “comes to visit you. Do you think I’m that stupid? You are Mossad, just as Nava told me you were when we first met.”
“Please, honey. You can’t say these things. This is dangerous. You don’t understand.” Margolis paused to catch his breath. “Is it not enough to know that I am advising the state? Is it not enough to accept what General Schechter told you?” His eyes were imploring the woman he loved. “Is it not enough that I am in love with you?” The words were coming out of Amit’s mouth for the first time. His timing was not good.
“Don’t change the subject, Amit. I don’t know who are. You have been lying to me.”
“Honey. Please understand me. I work on behalf of our nation. What I do is very sensitive. I can’t…”
“Stop lying to me,” Enya shouted.
Margolis raised his hands and gestured with his palms down, the motion urging her to calm down. “Shhhh. Shhhh.”
“Don’t treat me like a child.”
Margolis knew this point would come. He pondered for an instant why he faced having to reveal secrets to two people in the span of a few minutes. Have I angered God somehow? “Okay. Calm down. What do you want to know?” He thought to himself that he should feel relief, but he only felt defeated at the moment. It was the same feeling he always had when he lost control.
“Are you Mossad?”
Amit looked at her and slowly nodded his head up and down. “Now, we can never discuss this again, okay?”
“Why didn’t you tell me this? We have been together for over a year now.”
“Please, honey. Don’t do this. This is dangerous. You should not know this. It just puts you in danger. I could lose my job because you know.”
“Well, blame that old man. He is the one who came here. I’m sure he violated all the rules doing that, didn’t he? And his eyes almost popped out of his head looking at my body.”
Margolis laughed. He didn’t want to, but he couldn’t help himself. “You can’t blame him for that.”
Enya Govenin rested her head against Amit’s left breast. “I just wish you had told me and that I didn’t have to figure it out.” Suddenly she snapped her head back and looked at Amit. “Just how long were you going to wait?”
“I don’t know honey. It is not good that you know. There are plenty of people who would kill me and harm you just because of what I do. Now you have to promise me that you will never, ever discuss this with anyone. I mean no one, Enya. Just stick with what you thought I was.”
“Do you kill people?”
“Honey, seriously? We can’t have this discussion.”
“We are having this discussion, Amit. Do you kill people for a living?”
“I cannot discuss what I do. But know that I don’t kill people. Before you ask, I have never killed anyone. This is not like the movies. I am not Daniel Craig.”
“Who?”
Amit immediately regretted throwing out the name. “You know, the new James Bond.”
“Oh.” Enya smiled. “You are as hot as he is.” She rubbed her hands across his chest and down his stomach. “Well, almost.”
“You are too much sometimes.” Amit grabbed her hands as they were making their way below his waist. He pulled them up to his mouth and kissed the top of each hand. “I can accept being almost as hot as Daniel Craig.” He chuckled. “But you must promise me, Enya. This is deadly serious. This is life and death and it could be my life if you are not careful. You understand what I am saying?”
“I do. Talk to no one. Ever.”
“Keep in mind that everything you do over a phone or on the Internet — and I mean everything — can be monitored and is probably being monitored now.”
“What? Why? How?”
“Because you are my girlfriend.”
“I don’t understand. If no one knows you are Mossad, what does me being your girlfriend have to do with anything?”
“Because, honey, I can guarantee that the Americans know who I am. That means they know who you are. That means they monitor you for information about me.”
“Wait. You are talking crazy talk. The Americans have a spy following me?”
“No. They…” He thought about the right way to proceed. “Do you know what the National Security Agency is?”
She just looked at him and shook her head.
“It is a huge American intelligence agency. They can intercept everything on the planet that goes over the Internet or travels through the airwaves. Your cell phone. Your texts. Your email. Your Google searches. Your phone calls. Facebook. Everything.”
“How do they pick me out of all the stuff everywhere?”
“They have the most computing power in the world by a wide margin. Everything passes through their computers. If they know what they are looking for, they sift all of it, the millions and millions of calls and texts and emails every hour of every day. They can search for known phone numbers or email addresses or Twitter accounts or even names or words in a phone call. I can assure you that my name is in their database. Just like Prime Minister Cohen or Director Levy. Or Osama bin Laden. If you are on the list, anything that has your name or address in it is flagged and reviewed.”
“That is scary, Amit.”
“I am only telling you so you realize what is at stake… what reality is. You have to accept that you can’t discuss me with anyone or over any medium.”
“But the Americans are our friends.”
“That’s not the point, honey. That’s just an example. There are plenty of people out there that aren’t our friends and nobody has a monopoly on technology.”
Enya realized what Amit was saying, the realization making her face relax involuntarily. “I understand.” She hugged her man. “Did you just say that you love me?”
Amit felt like his heart stopped beating. “Yes. I love you Enya Govenin.”
“I love you, Amit Margolis.” She put her arms around his neck. They kissed.
“Has it been a year?” he asked.
“You have been traveling most of the time. I hope you can stay home more.”
“I will try.” Margolis paused and a strange look came over him.
“What is wrong?”
“There is something else I need to tell you about.” Now Enya assumed the strange look Amit just had. “It is… I don’t know how to describe it.”