What If

                                                                         Chapter 9

Raegan barely made it through the rest of the afternoon. She had cried all the way back to the office and had to sneak into the restroom to wash her face and reapply her makeup before returning to her desk. Her supervisor had eyed her curiously, but had never questioned her as to why she had returned from lunch so early after begging for a longer lunch. It was almost too painful to even sit at her desk. She had pictures of Oded tacked to the walls and he seemed to surround her. She considered taking them down, but couldn’t bring her self to even touch them at the moment. Instead, she tackled a job she had been putting off for several weeks. One of her attorneys, John, wanted her to clean out the file drawers in his office, pulling out the closed cases and getting the files ready to send into storage. Since John was currently out of town, she could tackle the tedious job. It would keep Raegan away from her desk and the pictures of a handsome Israeli who was breaking her heart at the moment.

By the time she got home that evening, she had worked herself into quite a depressed state. She went through the motions of feeding Pink Floyd and after looking through the fridge and the cupboards, she decided she would probably barf anything that she tried to eat anyway and gave up, retreating to her room. She never could eat when she was upset. Her stomach, tied in knots, usually forbid it. Drawing herself a bath, she soaked in the tub for a while and stared blindly at the wall. She tried desperately not to think of Oded, but he kept floating before her mind’s eye like an annoying little gnat. She wasn’t ready to think about him or why he might have pretended to be someone else. Her wounds were still too fresh and she knew she wouldn’t be fair. Maybe after some time had passed and her feelings weren’t so raw she could email him. That is, if he still wanted to talk to her. Raegan shook her head as she rose out of the tub and pulled the plug. After she dried herself off, she put on her nightgown and climbed into bed. It was barely 9:00 p.m., but she didn’t feel like doing much else. Nancy would be home sometime tonight and Raegan knew that Nancy would take one look at her and know something was wrong. Raegan wasn’t ready to talk about it yet. She lay there staring at the ceiling for an hour before she finally drifted off to sleep.

Raegan forced herself to get up the next morning. She considered calling in sick, but knew Nancy would not allow it. She made her way into the kitchen to start the coffee pot and found Nancy already up. She was just turning away from the fridge with a can of Pepsi in one hand when Raegan entered the kitchen.

“Welcome back, twit,” Raegan mumbled as she grabbed the coffee pot. She took it over to the sink and began filling it with water.

“Well good morning to you too, sunshine!” Nancy grinned. “I see we are in a fine mood this morning!”

Raegan heard the pop of the Pepsi can as Nancy opened it. She ignored Nancy’s statement about her mood and moved back over to the coffee machine and poured the water into it. “Sorry I didn’t wait up for you, but I had a pretty rough weekend and yesterday was no better.”

“Oh that’s alright. We didn’t get home until after midnight anyways,” Nancy began. “So what happened this weekend?”

Raegan still wasn’t ready to talk about Oded being Odie, so she shrugged. “What didn’t happen this weekend? It was just a lousy weekend! I had another run in with Billy Friday after work and it just went downhill from there.”

As if that explained everything, Nancy shook her head. “Dumbass! When is he going to get a clue? Are you all right? He didn’t try to hurt you, did he?”

“No.” Raegan shook her head as she grabbed a coffee filter from the cabinet and placed it in the little basket. She opened the fridge and grabbed the can of coffee she kept stored there and preceded to scoop in the required amount of coffee. “He just wanted to talk. But when I refused to go to dinner with him he resorted to his usual thing, saying ‘if you want to keep fantasizing about a man you’ll never meet, go ahead, but when you’re ready to be with a real man, call me.’”

Nancy laughed. “He really said that? A real man? Oh my god!” Her response made Raegan smile. “Did you tell him that the man you fantasize about is more ‘real man’ than he could ever hope to be?”

The smile faded from Raegan’s face as she hit the “on” button for the coffee maker. Oded’s face as she remembered it from the pier yesterday came to mind, but along with it came the pain in her heart that he had lied to her. “No, Billy was quite angry. I decided not to push my luck.” She stared blindly at the coffee maker as the coffee dripped down into the glass pot.

“Well, I’m gonna jump in the shower. We can talk more on the way to work.” Nancy turned away from her and headed out of the kitchen.

“Okay,” Raegan answered. “I want to hear all about your weekend with honeyboy!” She heard Nancy’s laughter float back down the hall as she went into her bedroom and shut the door.

Several hours later they sat at Raegan desk, talking. The drive to work had been easier than normal. Traffic had flowed well and they had made it in record time, so now they sat continuing their conversation about Nancy’s weekend with Rick.

Raegan was laughing so hard so couldn’t sit up straight. “Are you serious? He really got his toe stuck in the tub faucet?” At Nancy’s grinning nod, Raegan burst into a fit of laughter again. “Oh my god, that is too funny!”

“We thought we were going to have to call the fire department, but I was finally able to get it out with some Vaseline.” Nancy continued. “He was so embarrassed he made me swear not to tell anyone.”

“Anyone but me, huh?” Raegan asked, finally getting her laughter under control. Her stomach ached and she rubbed her hand across it as she sat back in her chair.

Nancy nodded at her with a serious look. “Well of course! You know I have to tell you everything!”

A pang of guilt flittered through Raegan at Nancy’s words. Even though Nancy had said it teasingly, Raegan also knew it was the truth. They did tell each other everything and here Raegan was holding back on telling Nancy that she met Oded Fehr. Her phone rang, startling her. She looked over at the phone and saw it was the intercom line.

“Raegan,” she answered.

“Hey Rae,” Tina, the receptionist greeted. “You got some flowers up here.”

“Flowers?” Raegan frowned. “For me?”

“Yup, says right here on the little envelope, ‘Raegan Lacy, U.S. Attorney’s Office,” Tina answered.

“Okay. I’ll be there in a sec,” Raegan replied and hung up the receiver.

“Probably from dumbass,” Nancy suggested, but jumped up. “I’ll get them.”

When Nancy returned a minute later, she was carrying a small but elegant looking crystal vase that had three very beautiful yellow roses in them. Fern and baby’s breath surrounded them. There was a thin strip of yellow ribbon tied around the narrow part of the vase. Nancy sat the vase down in front of Raegan. “Well, if they are from dumbass, he finally got some taste.”

Raegan leaned in to smell the yellow buds. The sweet aroma filled her nostrils and she sighed. She loved the smell of roses and the yellow ones were her absolute favorite. “Billy isn’t this thoughtful. Even when we were dating, he never sent me flowers.” Raegan took the small envelope that housed the card in it and opened it. Pulling it out, she saw the manly scrawl.

“Rae ~ I won’t give up! Love, Oded”

Raegan paled as she sat down hard in her chair. The card clutched tightly in her fist, she could only stare blindly ahead of her. “Rae? Rae, what’s wrong? Who are they from?” Nancy grabbed her hand and pried her fingers open to take the card that was now partially mangled and read it.

“Rae, I won’t give up. Love Oded,” Nancy read out loud. “Who the hell is Oded? That’s not our Oded?” Nancy frowned, then raised her eyebrows and looked at Raegan curiously. “Is it?” she asked cautiously. Raegan only nodded, not saying a word. “No! You’re shittin’ me, right?” Nancy began to laugh. “Ha, ha, Rae, funny joke!” But Raegan wasn’t laughing. In fact she was sitting looking quite pale. Nancy’s eyes widened as she realized that maybe Raegan wasn’t joking after all. “You’re saying Oded Fehr sent you roses?”

“Yes,” Raegan answered in a whisper, refusing to look at Nancy.

“THE Oded Fehr. Our gorgeous, hunk of a man, 6’2” Israeli who plays Ardeth Bay in The Mummy? HE sent you roses?” Nancy asked again, shocked. Raegan nodded. “Christ Almighty, Rae, where the hell did you meet Oded?” Nancy suddenly swayed a bit then looked around for a chair. “I gotta sit down. I can’t believe this! I go away for a few days and come back to find the sexiest man in the world sending my best friend roses!” Nancy was on a roll now. Raegan continued to ignore her, hoping that she would settle down. Nancy found a spare office chair, rolled it up next to Raegan’s desk, and sat. Then her voice went from shock to anger. “Oh my god! Goddamn, Raegan, I thought you said you had a bad weekend! Here you are going on and on about having a confrontation with Billy and the entire time you’re hiding the fact that you met Oded too. I certainly cannot wait to hear this and it better be good, Rae, because I’m pissed at you for holding back on me. Why the hell didn’t you tell me?”

Raegan winced at Nancy’s angered tone. She turned in her chair to face Nancy, who was sitting in a chair next to her. “I’m sorry, but I just wasn’t ready to talk about it yet. It wasn’t a pleasant meeting.”

“Meeting Oded Fehr wasn’t pleasant? God, Rae, ‘you gone off the deep end or something?” Nancy crossed her arms in front of her, ready to hear Raegan’s explanation.

Raegan decided to start from the beginning. “It started Friday night, after my run in with Billy. By the time I got home, I was really upset and feeling down. I needed to talk to someone, so I got online and sent off an email to Odie. We had hit it off really well that last Wednesday chat, so I thought maybe I could unload on her.” Raegan swallowed, taking a breath. “We chatted for a while. She really had some sound thoughts on Billy and made me realize a few things about him and what he was trying to do to me. Anyway, by the time we got done, I felt better. But by Sunday, I had decided that Billy was right about one thing and that was how my life seemed to be centered around Oded lately and nothing else, so I made the decision that I was going to start backing off the message board and the chats. I was still uncertain, though, and since you were still gone, I decided to chat with Odie again. She was real cool about it and said that she didn’t perceive me as an obsessed fan, but that I needed to decide that for myself. Then she suggested we get together for lunch on Monday.” Raegan’s eyes dropped down to her hands that lay clenched together in her lap. She licked her dry lips. “I thought that was a great idea. She suggested meeting at the Santa Monica pier, so I asked for an extended lunch hour and went.”

“Okay. So, what, you saw Oded there or something?” Nancy asked, still slightly confused. “How do you get god damn roses from Oded by running into him at the pier?”

“Would you just shut up and listen?” Raegan snapped.

Nancy sighed. “Alright, sorry. What happened next?”

“Oded is Odie,” Raegan whispered softly.

Nancy blinked several times, thinking she didn’t hear Raegan correctly. “What?”

Raegan took a deep breath and met her best friend’s gaze. “Oded Fehr is Odie. It was him all the time.”

For a moment Nancy could only stare back at her. Then finally she whispered softly, “Fuck me!” Raegan could see that Nancy was trying to work it out in her mind. “Really?” she finally asked. “The entire time Odie was Oded?”

“Yes,” Raegan answered.

“Okay, why?” Nancy asked, still confused.

“Why what?” Raegan responded, not sure what Nancy was referring too.

“Why was he posing under a fake name? Why was he pretending to be a fan?”

“I don’t know.” Raegan shook her head.

“You mean you didn’t find out? What the hell did you do the entire time you were with him, Rae? Gawk?” Nancy asked incredulously.

“No, I left!” Raegan answered stiffly.

“You left?” Nancy almost shouted. “You had the opportunity to have lunch with Oded Fehr and you fucking left?”

“Nancy, keep your voice down for god’s sake!” Raegan whispered fiercely. “And you’re missing the point.”

Nancy suddenly stood up and grabbed Raegan by the hand. “Is John still gone?” she asked.

“Yes,” Raegan answered, standing up as Nancy dragged her off to John’s office and shut the door behind them for privacy.

Nancy turned on Raegan. “Alright, spill it, missy.”

“He was lying to us, Nance,” Raegan said as if that explained everything. “He pretended to be one of us and he lied to us.”

“So?” Nancy shrugged her shoulders. “I hear celebrities do that all the time to find out what the fans really think about them. Who cares?”

Raegan sighed. “I care! I confided in him, Nance. I told him things about Billy and about myself that I would have never revealed if I had of known who he was. When I found out, I was horrified and embarrassed.”

“So under the disguise of Odie, Oded asks you to lunch. Did he try to explain why he lied?” Nancy asked. “Was he just trying to pull one over on us, what?” Nancy began to pace the office. “God damn, Raegan, I can’t believe you left him there.” She stopped and spun around, facing Raegan. “You lucky bitch, I’m jealous as hell!”

Raegan flinched. “Nancy, you just don’t understand.”

“Damn straight, I don’t understand. Why didn’t you let him explain why he was doing this?” Nancy snapped.

“I didn’t want to hear his reasons then,” Raegan answered, knowing Nancy was going to kill her.

“God damn girl! You’ve never been unfair like that. So you don’t even know why he asked you to lunch?”

“It was a date, Nance. Odie was asking as two friends getting together for lunch. Oded was asking as a date.” Raegan watched as the meaning sank in.

“Fuck me,” Nancy repeated. “So that’s what the card meant.” She was still holding the card and she raised it up to read it once more. Her eyes met Raegan’s. “I repeat, you lucky bitch!”

Raegan sighed, frustrated. “Nance, you’re still missing the point here.”

“Missing the point, my ass! Rae, the most gorgeous man on the face of this earth wants to go out with you and you are hung up on the fact that he pretended to be someone he wasn’t so he could get close to you.” Nancy threw up her hands. “YOU’RE the one who is missing the point!”

Raegan’s shoulders slumped. “I can’t believe your siding with him.”

“Oh for god’s sake, Rae, I’m not siding with him.” Nancy walked over to Raegan and wrapped an arm around her shoulder. “I do understand what you’re saying. I probably would have been pretty upset too, but I wouldn’t have run off. I would have at least stayed and listened to what he had to say before making a decision on whether the guy was scum or not,” Nancy replied with a squeeze. “At the very least, I would have gotten a free meal with Oded Fehr.”

Raegan laughed, but there wasn’t much humor in it. “So what am I going to do?”

“What do you want to do?” Nancy asked, handing Raegan the card.

Raegan glanced down at it. It was printed neatly in a man’s writing. Apparently, Oded wasn’t going to give up on her. She didn’t know whether to be pissed or flattered. “I don’t know. Right now I’m still hurt. Just thinking about him hurts.”

Suddenly Nancy’s beeper went off. She looked down to check the number. She walked over to the phone and dialed it. “Yeah, this is Nancy,” she said when the person picked up. “Okay, I’ll be right there.” She hung up. “Gotta go. We will talk about this more later, alright?” Raegan nodded. “In the mean time though, if Oded calls, for god’s sake, Rae, don’t hang up on him, okay? Hell, if you don’t want him, I’ll take him!” Raegan stuck her tongue out at Nancy as Nancy laughed and breezed out the door.

                                                              ********************

                                                                      Chapter 10

He was back at the Santa Monica pier again. Raegan was there and he needed to find her. He looked everywhere, but every time he thought he saw her, she would disappear into the crowd. “Raegan!” he called out. “Wait, we need to talk!” He was desperate to find her, but his feet felt like they were encased in lead. He seemed to be moving in slow motion and the more he tried to hurry through the crowded pier the slower he became. His heart was pounding, his breathing shallow. The sun was bright, making it difficult to see well. His hands were clammy and he wiped them on his pant leg, his dark eyes searching.

Then he felt a hand touch his back. He jumped, startled, and spun around. There she stood, her beautiful face a mask of fury. “You lied to me, Oded! I hate you!” Her voice was full of venom.

“No! Raegan, please, let me explain! I did it to meet you. I only wanted to get close to you!” The words spilled out of his mouth, his accent heavy with his stress. He reached out for her, but suddenly she was gone. “RAEGAN!” he yelled, but she was nowhere to be found.

Oded jerked awake, his heart slamming in his chest, his body covered in sweat. He lay there a moment to collect his thoughts, to realize it had only been a dream. He took several deep breaths, willing his heart to slow down. He glanced at the bedside clock to see it was just after 4 a.m. It was the same dream he’d been having ever since the disaster on Monday. Somehow he had managed to get through the Donnie and Marie taping with little trouble on Wednesday. When they had asked him if he was seeing anyone, he could only answer, “I’m working on it.” It was the best he could do under the circumstances.

And now it was Thursday. He was planning to call Raegan today at work, to see if maybe she would meet him for lunch.    He wanted to explain, he needed to explain to her. Oded untangled his body from the bed covers and walked into his bathroom. Without turning on any lights, he turned on the water in the tub, waited for it to reach the desired temperature, then turned the shower knob. Stepping in, he closed the shower door and let the warm water hit his face. He scrubbed his hands roughly over his face, allowing the sting of the water pressure to take away the last remnants of the dream.

It was only a dream! he kept repeating in his head. You are only upset and stressed out. She doesn’t really hate you. She can’t hate you! Oded kept repeating this over and over like a chant, willing himself to believe it. He wasn’t going to give up, not yet anyway. He was only willing to go so far to get her attention. He wouldn’t make a fool of himself. “Hell, Ded, you should of thought of that before you decided to post on that damn message board!” he muttered as he turned to allow the water to wet his hair. He was afraid he had already made a fool of himself where Raegan was concerned.

After he was done cleaning up, Oded dressed in a pair of comfortable faded blue jeans and a dark green tank top. Even at 4:30 in the morning it was hotter than hell outside. He made his way downstairs to get the coffee brewing. There was no sense in going back to bed now; he would never get back to sleep. After pouring the water in and placing the required amount of coffee in the filter, he turned on the coffee machine, leaned back against the counter, and thought back on the events of Monday.

He had gone over and over them in his head so many times that he thought he was going crazy. No matter how many times he went over it in his mind, it still had the same ending. Raegan hated him. No! Oded chided himself silently, his fingers rubbing at his eyes. She doesn’t hate you. She just needs a few days, then you can explain to her everything. She’ll understand! You have to believe she will understand!

He hadn’t even been on his computer since he last chatted with her on Sunday. He really needed to post something to the girls. An apology. Oded sighed. Maybe he would do that now; he would get his coffee, go up, and figure out what to do.

Fifteen minutes later, he sat before his computer reading the posts on the message board. There weren’t many and most were posts from the regulars wanting to know where Raegan and Odie were. There was one or two from Nancy, but it was one in particular that stung Oded.

“Hi guys, just wanted to let you know that Raegan is fine. She is just taking a break, but don’t worry about her, she will be back soon. As far as “ODIE” is concerned, you will have to ask “HER” where “SHE” is. I’m sure that “SHE” has a lot to say . . . Love Nancy.”

Well, Nancy sure did know how to get her point across. Oded considered posting his apology, but quickly discounted it. He didn’t want the whole world to know about his stupidity. Raegan had said she would add his email address to the group list, so he should have some emails from the girls in which he can send his apology. Once he got into his email, he saw that he had been correct. Listed amongst some fan mail that his agent in London had sent him and a few other personal emails were a bunch of emails from the gang. He read through each one, then started a new email with the all the girls’ email addresses.

“Hello ladies. I wish to apologize to all of you for misleading you. I am the one who has been posting under the name “Odie”. It started out innocent enough. I merely wanted to find out what my fans thought of me and I allowed it to get out of control. I never meant to hurt anyone and I hope you can find it in your hearts to forgive me! Love, Oded Fehr.”

Oded had been tempted to say something to Raegan, but that little voice in the back of his mind told him he would regret it, so he kept it simple and directed to the other girls. Maybe he would send Raegan a personal email later. Rereading what he wrote, he finally clicked on the send button and then checked the rest of his email. He read through the fan email and prepared responses to send back to his agent who would then forward them to the originator. Glancing at his watch and saw it was after 9 a.m. now and if he was going to call Raegan, he needed to do it now. Shutting down his computer, he grabbed the phone and called information for the number to the Civil Division of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in downtown L.A. Jotting down the number that the automated voice gave him, he took a deep breath, then dialed it. Scenes of Raegan saying she hated him from his dream flittered through his mind and he nearly hung up the phone. After two rings, he heard a female voice.

“U. S. Attorney’s Office, Civil Division, may I help you?”

“Uh yes, I am looking for Raegan Lacy?” Oded swallowed, his heart in his throat.

“Just a minute please.” After a pause, the phone started to ring again. Once, twice . . .

“U. S. Attorney’s Office, this is Raegan.” Her sweet voice washed over him and Oded leaned back in his chair and sighed.

“Hello Raegan,” he said softly.

Raegan heard the deep accented voice and knew immediately who it was. “Oded,” she whispered, her heart skipping a beat.

“How are you?” Oded asked, suddenly feeling awkward.

All the pain and embarrassment she had managed to stamp down over the last few days came rushing back as she remembered her meeting with Oded at the Santa Monica Pier. She swallowed hard and tried desperately to keep her emotions under control. “I’m fine, Oded. What can I do for you?”

What can I do for you? Oded thought. This is not good! She is still upset! “I was hoping we could talk,” Oded answered, hoping that even though she was still upset, maybe she was ready to listen.

“I can’t right now. I’m busy with work.” It was a lie really. She had absolutely nothing to do. She had immersed herself in her work over the last four days and had caught up on everything. Now she had nothing to do but sit and think of Oded.

“I realize that, Raegan. I meant that maybe we could meet for lunch or something and talk.” His voice was so soft, so deep, and filled with uncertainty. Raegan felt the urge to give in to it, to just say yes, she’d meet him, but she wasn’t ready to face him yet. She wasn’t ready to hear what he had to say. The pain was still too fresh, the embarrassment too real. Even now her face was flushed, thinking about the things she’d confided to him thinking he was a woman.

“I can’t,” she whispered, her voice shaky. “I can’t, Oded. I . . .” Her voice trailed off.

“Raegan, please. Give me the chance to explain,” Oded pleaded.

Raegan closed her eyes and wanted to cry. Her mind and heart battled with each other. Her mind screamed at her that he had hurt her, he had lied to her, but her heart was crying out to give him a chance, to let him explain. Her mind won for the moment. “No. I can’t right now, Oded.” Something inside her broke and the tears began to fall. As much as she was hurt and angered by what he had done, something in her did not want him to think that she was unfair and heartless. “Please understand that I just can’t face you yet.”

Oded heard her tears and his heart broke, but he also heard the message she was trying to convey. Even though she didn’t come out and directly tell him so, she was basically saying, “Give me more time, then I will be ready to listen.”

“Alright, I can understand that,” he answered. “Can I call you again soon?” He held his breath waiting for her answer. It seemed like hours that stretched into weeks, then into months before she finally answered. But it was only several seconds.

“Yes. Goodbye, Oded.” Then she was gone.

Oded hung up the phone and a sense of peace came over him. It still wasn’t finished, but there was light at the end of the tunnel. She had said yes, that he could call her again. It wasn’t what he had hoped for, but it was enough. It was a step in the right direction. It was more than she had been willing to give him a few days ago.

Raegan hung up the phone and laid her head down on her arms. She could still hear his voice in her head. Through the hurt, she was flattered and shocked that Oded Fehr was chasing her. “You alright, Rae?”

Raegan’s head popped up and she turned to face Nancy, wiping the tears from her cheeks. “Yeah.”

“What happened? Did that creep, Billy give you a hard time again?” Nancy looked around the office, seeing if she could spot him. She’d give him a piece of her mind if she found him.

“No, I haven’t heard from Billy since last week,” Raegan answered. Her eyes met Nancy’s. “Oded just called.”

“No shit?” Nancy felt her knees weakening and located a chair to sit down in. “God damn, girl, I was just beginning to think that I had imagined the whole thing and now this. How did you get so fuckin’ lucky?” Raegan didn’t answer. “So? What did he say?”

“He wanted to get together for lunch and talk.”

“Really? You’re meeting him for lunch? You’re going to introduce me, right?” Nancy sat forward, excited.

“I told him no.” Raegan tensed, ready for Nancy’s explosion.

It didn’t come. Raegan raised her eyes to look at Nancy and found her only staring at her with an unreadable look on her face. Finally she spoke. “Rae, you’re my best friend and I love you dearly, but you have got to be the dumbest bitch I ever met. How could you tell him no?”

Nancy’s words hurt, but Raegan knew her best friend well enough that she knew she said it because she didn’t want Raegan to make a mistake. “I’m just not ready to face him yet, Nance. But I’m not a complete idiot. He asked if he could call me again soon and I said yes.”

“Well thank God for small favors!” Nancy stared at Raegan for a few seconds, then added, “Are you okay?”

Raegan nodded. “Yeah.”

“Are you even remotely excited about him calling you, Rae?” Nancy wanted to know.

“Actually, I’m flattered that he is being persistent. I’m interested, Nance. I just need to get past this hurt and mistrust,” Raegan explained. “Every time I think about seeing him, all I can think about is me spilling my guts to him and I get embarrassed. I need to deal with that and I’m having a hard time with it.”

Nancy let out her breath in a low hiss. “I know Rae. I’m sorry I’ve been so hard on you about this. All of this has just been such a shock. I’m still having a hard time believing that Oded Fehr is interested in my best friend.”

Raegan gave Nancy a dirty look. “Gee, thanks!”

Nancy laughed. “Oh chill out, twit! You know what I mean!”

Raegan sighed. “Yeah well, I’m having a hard time believing that Oded Fehr is interested in me. Maybe that is another factor that is keeping me from seeing him. It all seems unreal to me. I’m having a hard time accepting that someone like him could be interested in someone like me. I’m just ordinary.”

Nancy laughed. “No shit, Sherlock! Just remember this: he may be the sexiest, best-looking actor on the silver screen, but he is just ordinary too.”

Raegan raised an eyebrow and smiled. “There is nothing ordinary about Oded, but I know what you are saying, and I will keep that in mind the next time he calls.”

“Speaking of which, will you see him when he calls again?” Nancy asked.

Raegan rubbed her face with her hands. “Yeah, most likely.” She looked over at Nancy. “If he calls again.”

“He will.” Nancy smiled and stood up. “Well, since you turned down the sex god himself - I still can’t believe you told him no -,” Nancy added, shaking her head, “will you settle for me for lunch?”

“Well, if I have to.” Raegan grinned.

Nancy gave Raegan a playful shove. “Alright, I’m in the mood for some Curry food. So the Curry House at 1 o’clock?”

Raegan nodded. “Sounds good!”

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                                                       What If - Chapters 11 - 12