The cold war 21

When he received the call from Ben, Jake had felt relieved. After hanging out a few times, and having fun, their last meeting had ended on a bit of an awkward note.

Over the course of the evening, things had seemed to have morphed from two friends spending time together to what felt like to Jake something else and it excited him.

From the moment Jake first laid eyes on Ben, wandering awkwardly through the school hallways, shortly after arriving in New York from Nebraska, he'd felt somehow drawn to him.

He didn’t know why at the time, chalking it up to Ben looking so helpless and lost, and wanting to help him, but as the two got to know each other and started hanging out, Jake came to realise, he had feelings for Ben, feelings that he found hard to process.

Over the next year, Jake did a lot of soulsearching, trying to work out where these new feelings were coming from, he had always been attracted to girls, so at first, he thought he might be bisexual, but after trying to think about other men in a sexual way, he found the only boy he felt attracted to was Ben.

Not knowing where these unfamiliar feelings were coming from, or how to act on them, Jake had pushed them to the back of his mind, he decided to keep them a secret as the last thing he wanted was to scare Ben away, who he thought wouldn't understand.

In all the time he had spent with him, Ben had never once given him the impression he was interested in anything other than women, with two often chatting about all the beautiful girls they knew and arguing over who was hotter.

But the feelings Jake had tried to bury, awoke once more, hitting him twice as hard, the moment he saw Ben totter into the living room, a few weeks back, dressed up and looking more feminine than most of the girls they knew.

At first, he didn’t push things, he listened as Ben told him about his crossdressing escapades,  how he was just doing it for the money, and how he couldn’t wait to get back to normal. But no matter how Ben had tried to justify things, Jake found it hard to believe him, he was just so comfortable in his new clothes and playing the role of a woman.

Answering the call from Ben, Jake was ready to apologise for the way the night had ended, but before he got a chance, Ben had asked him to join him for dinner.

He instantly agreed, only later being told about the scary-sounding Russian man who would be joining them. But even after hearing all the details and feeling more than a little apprehensive, Jake was determined to help, Ben needed his help and he wasn't going to let him down.

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Later that evening, Jake found himself, sat looking across the table, right into the intense gaze of Danila, the last of the evening’s three courses had just been cleared from the table, and Ben had excused himself to use the restroom.

It had been an interesting experience, the restaurant itself was situated on one of the top floors of a city skyscraper, giving them an amazing view from their table, especially being such a clear evening. The food on the other hand was more of an acquired taste, it wasn’t terrible, just not what Jake would normally consider delicious.

“So, you love her”? Danila announced from across the table, surprising Jake. Apart from a few questions towards the beginning of the evening, the large Russian man had mostly ignored him.

Having talked through a back story with Ben over the last few days, where the two had been dating for the last two years, Jake was prepared to be questioned, but this one was a little too close to home, “err… yes, I do”.

“Hmm, you sound hesitant, boy”, Danila replied, still locked on as Jake tried to match his stare.

Perhaps it was the wine, or perhaps he had just reached the point where he couldn’t take it anymore, but having watched this man, intimidate and belittle them all evening, he had to say something, “What’s your deal anyway, man”?

“My deal”? Danila replied smiling.

“Yeah, can’t you find a girl of your own? Jake shot back, “or are you like some kind of creep that gets off on watching other couples go at it,  Can’t you satisfy a woman with what you’ve got going on down there”.

Jake watched as the smile on Danila’s face disappeared and his eyes narrowed even further. He was waiting for him to shout, scream, get angry but instead, he calmly picked up his wine glass and took a sip.

After what seemed like an eternity, Danila placed the glass back on the table and folded his arms, “you know, not many people have the balls to speak to me like you just did, boy, I’ve had people killed for less”.

Jake didn’t respond, he was trying to look tough but on the inside, he was now shitting himself.

“Perhaps instead, I should just have one of my men visit your parents and make an example of them, you can watch they are punished for your insolence, it's Frank and Mary Fuller, right”?

The façade dropped, “what! how do you know their names”? Jake replied in a worried voice.

Danila leaned forward and placed both palms on the table, “I always make it a habit to get to know my associates, Jake Fuller", he replied before pausing briefly, " I learnt a long time ago that it is always a good idea to know who I am dealing with, perhaps it's a lesson you are about to learn too".

“Please... I'm sorry”, Jake said, his voice quivering, “please don’t hurt them”.

Danila smiled once more, “Now that’s better, a little respect. I tell you what, how about you do a little job for me and we’ll forget all about what you just said”?

“A job”? What type of job”?

“Oh, don’t worry about the details right now, I’ll explain all another time, I'd hate to ruin such a pleasant evening by talking business”. Danila replied leaning back on to his chair, “so do you accept my offer”?

Jake nodded slowly, “I don’t really have a choice, do I”? he said before looking to his left, hearing the sound of someone hobbling towards him, their high heeled shoes clicking loudly as they approached.

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Arriving back at the table after using the bathroom, Ben could feel the tension in the air, as looked down at the two men started up at him, “err… what’s going on”? he asked, looking first towards Danila, then at Jake, and then back at Danila”, is something wrong”?

Danila smiled, “No, of course not, little Zaychik, it's actually the opposite, we were about to celebrate, your friend, Jake, has just agreed to work for me, let’s have a toast, but first, please, sit”.

(See image 11.2)

With a confused look on his face, Ben minced slowly around behind Jake, smoothed his wispy skirt beneath him before taking a seat between the two men. 

He folded his legs in a feminine way, feeling the smoothness as they slid over one another, extremely grateful, to once again be able to take the weight off his tortured feet.

Looking over at Jake, Ben saw a worried look in his eyes and dreaded to think what had just happened in his absence, but before he got the chance to ask Danila cleared his throat loudly drawing his attention.

“To new friends”, he announced, picking up his wine glass, “I have a feeling this is going to be the start of some beautiful times together”.