Vanished Without A Trace by Nava Dijkstra Read Free Book Online Page A

continued his work. He turned to Daniel only after half an hour. Without any introduction he explained to Daniel the status of things. He was interrupted many times by the employees onsite, but it never made him lose his temper. In a low, soft voice, he explained to Daniel he had spoken with Mikhail about him, but the only job available was to guard the site from theft and the salary was not as good as the construction work.
    The pay was pretty low, especially for Daniel, who was still thinking of the Israeli standards. But Daniel was not in a situation to refuse any job. Although money was important, it was more important for him to explore the place and adapt himself to his new environment. He took the job.
    Now he needed to find a place to live nearby. He took the bus and got off at the next station, where he noticed a sign for rent in one of the houses. Just like the other houses in the area, the house was surrounded by a wooden fence. He knocked at the door. An elderly woman peeped through the door and opened it up as far as the chain allowed her. After looking him over from head to toe, she opened the door and invited him to enter.
    Her house was different in design from the houses he had seen in Israel, and Daniel wondered how long it would take him until he stopped making comparisons between Romania and Israel. The interior of the house was made of wood, the ceiling, the walls and the floors. On the side of the wall was a large sideboard, full of porcelain, flowers, small figurines, and other decorations. Large carpets covered the walls. There were curtains on the sides that decorated the windows with bright colors. 'Shocking design', he thought, and took comfort in the beautiful ceramic kitchen mirror, which turned out to be wallpaper. The woman took him to the room for rent. He was relieved when he saw the walls were bare, except for a pink curtain embroidered with red and black thread. The room was large and relatively attractive. The ceiling was a reddish brown wood, just like the window frame, but the appearance was tolerable compared to the living room.
    "Do you like it?" the woman asked, who introduced herself as Sultana.
    Daniel nodded.
    "Then let's sit down and finalize things." She led him towards a small sofa next to the dining table in the kitchen and went to make tea. He sat on the couch, wondering what the sofa was doing in the kitchen, but he admitted it was quite convenient, especially when he had to listen to the all explanations about the carpets she had woven by hand during the days when she was a homeless gypsy. ‘This is where we find a common ground between she and I,’ he thought jokingly. When she started to talk about the rent,
    Daniel did not wait for her to open things up, but took out a fifty dollar bill and gave it to her. She took the money and stuffed it deep into her dress pocket. "This is a payment for two months." she said.
    When he finished his tea, he went to his room, closed the door and threw himself onto the bed with his clothes on. Finally, he had time to think about recent events. He did not think about anyone but himself, not about Neta, not about his grandfather, but about Daniel in a foreign country, alone in the whole world. He didn’t realize he had fallen asleep until he heard knocks on the door. "The food is ready." Daniel smiled to himself. Twenty-five dollars a month including meals and a friend was definitely worthwhile.
    She talked with him throughout the meal. She asked questions occasionally and became interested in him and in what he was doing. When he told her about the maintenance work she immediately went to prepare him a sandwich so he wouldn’t fall asleep during his duty. The meal was excellent. He complimented her and saw the gleam in her eyes.
    Over time, kind of mother son relationship developed between the two. Sultana made the shared evening meal into something permanent and a must. She took advantage of every moment to talk with Daniel to hear the