The cold war 19

With his mouth hanging half-open, Ben looked up at the giant Russian man towering over him even in his six-inch platform pumps, “err… Danila! Hi, what are you doing here”?

Danila smiled, “I came to see you beautiful, can I come in”? He said stepping forward, not waiting for a reply forcing Ben to step to one side to avoid the large man ploughing into him.

“Urm… yes, of course”, Ben muttered, his reply now pointless as Danila was already standing in the centre of the room.

“This is nice office”, Danila said looking around, “lot nicer than old one”.

Ben closed the door, his heart now beating a little faster, “I wouldn’t know”, he replied.

“Of course, you are new”, Danila said looking Ben up and down slowly, making him feel more than a little uncomfortable, “Elena and myself, we go back long way, long before you worked here”.

“Oh, so you are friends”? Ben asked, hoping to keep the man talking until Irina arrived back with lunch.

“Friends”, Danila announced loudly before chuckling, “perhaps once but friends keep in touch, do you know, Zaychik, it was I who helped Elena come to this country”?

Ben remained quiet and offered a nervous smile.

“Do you know, it was I who gave her the money to start her own business”, Danila continued, “and how does she repay me, not, thank you, Danila, thank you for all your help, I don’t know what I’d do without you, Danila. No! Instead, one day she is gone, office empty, no goodbye, nothing, do you believe this”?

Ben folded his arms and ran his hands down the upper sleeves of his silky red blouse, feeling his long acrylic nails slide along the shiny material, pulling his arms inwards to try and cover his fake cleavage, that Danila’s eyes seemed to be drawn to.

“Umm… so Irina is out right now, she does most things around here, but she’ll be back soon if you are looking to do some business”? Ben said, speaking rather quickly, hoping to let Danila know, he wasn't alone in the office.

“I know, I saw her leave, but it is you I’m here to see” Danila announced, making Ben shudder, “she went to get lunch at that deli, three blocks from here, you two eat lunch from there, two or three times a week, right”?

Ben felt his legs start to shake. He pushed his high heeled feet into the ground to steady himself but the sound of his thin stiletto heels rattling against the floor was still loud enough to be heard.

“You look a little pale, Zaychik, come sit with me for a moment”, Danila said walking towards Ben, gently taking his arm, and leading him towards the sofa he sat on most of the time, when in the office.

Moving along the sofa to get as far away from Danila as possible, Ben sat down and folded his legs, hearing the swish of his dark pantyhose, as the two pieces of nylon, covering his legs, slid over each other. He then folded his arms once again to cover his chest and watched in horror as Danila sat down and edged his way towards him.

“Do I make you nervous, little Bunny”? Danila asked, his intense eyes locked on and peering into Ben's soul.

“Uhm… no, I just haven’t eaten today, I think maybe my energy levels are low”, Ben quickly replied, trying to keep eye contact but having to look away due to the intense stare.

“Ahh, good, because you have no reason to be afraid of me”, Danila announced leaning back and crossing one leg over the other, a position Ben use to often sit in, now made impossible thanks to his short tight skirt.

“In fact, you might say, I am in your debt, when Elena left all of those years ago, I lost touch with her, I had almost forgotten about her entirely until you called and invited me to your little party”.

(See image 10.2)

“You’re not going to hurt her, are you”? Ben asked, trembling.

“Hurt her”? Danila said loudly, before once again chuckling, “little Zaychik, do not worry, there is nothing I could do to hurt her as much as she hurt me. But enough about Elena, right now, I'd rather talk about you".

Ben gulped, “Me? What do you want with me”?

Danila smiled as Ben felt a shiver down his spine, “well, little Bunny, I think you’ll agree, we made a connection at that party, I’d just like to take you out to dinner, talk some more”.

Ben' head that had been looking down at red fingernails playing nervously with the hem of his skirt suddenly shot up, “dinner! you mean... like a… a date”?

“Exactly, I know this restaurant, it has the best food outside of Vladivostok, you'll love it”.

“I… I… can’t", Ben muttered", thank you for the offer, Danila, but… I… I… have a boyfriend”, Ben said thinking fast, “his name’s Jake and I’m sure he wouldn’t like me going out with another man, I’m sure you understand”.

for a second, Danila looked a little taken aback before quickly regaining his calm composed demeanour, “oh, I see, and yes, If I had a girlfriend as pretty as you, I also wouldn’t want her spending time alone with another man”. 

Ben nodded and let out a quiet sigh of relief.

“So, he will come with us", Danila announced, "has he ever eaten Russian food? if not he is in for a treat”. 

“Err.. I… I.. don’t…”.

“Next Saturday, I’ll send a car to your apartment to pick you both up, shall we say seven? Danila interrupted, “I’m looking forward to meeting this man of yours”.

“You... know where I live”? Ben asked in a shaky voice.

“Of course, Zaychik, one of my associates was kind enough to pass on that information”, Danila replied leaning over and patting Ben on his nylon clad thigh before standing up. “So, our business here is concluded then, please, send my love to Elena, and tell her I’ll see her real soon, ok”?

Ben watched as Danila confidently walked across the room and opened the door, he then turned around and smiled, without saying another word, he nodded and then he was gone.

As the door closed, Ben wrapped his arms around his knees, curled up into a ball and collapsed on the sofa, where he remained, shaking, until Irina returned ten minutes later.