The cold war 10

Chapter 06 – The family business

As Ben followed Irina into the elevator, his darkly lined eyes fell upon the mirror on the wall. He had been accompanying Irina to the office for a week now dressed up as an office lady but that didn’t make it any less strange seeing his feminine looking image reflecting back at him.

His outfit that day consisted of a soft black blouse, its shaggy material shining slightly whenever he moved and its voluminous nature making his ever-thinning frame look slightly larger than it actually was these days. His legs, encased in a pair of smooth off black pantyhose were pressed tightly together thanks to the tight restrictive black and white checked pencil skirt, that allowed little movement to his legs and making it difficult to walk especially paired with the tall thin stiletto pumps on his feet, their colour matching his skirt perfectly.

Examining his expertly applied makeup as well as his hair which had been teased into a feminine style and was held in place by a generous amount of hairspray, Ben felt a tinge of pride, knowing he had done a pretty good job.

He now felt much more confident around makeup and beauty products, having given himself a crash course in the basics, spending a lot of time over the last week watching online beauty tutorials, having realised if he was going to be stuck looking like he was, he would rather look like a woman and blend in rather than some freak.

Seeing him looking at himself in the mirror, Irina smiled, “I have to admit, you make quite the attractive woman, Bunny, I like how you’ve done your hair today”.

Ben, blushed, he hated it when Irina gave him compliments and told him how feminine he looked almost as much as he hated it when she called him, Bunny. But having decided not to let her see his embarrassment, he turned and smiled, “Thanks Reeny”, using her new nickname, he knew she hated, but he figured if he had to have a silly name, she could have one too, “I found this look online, but there is only so much I can do with hair this length”, he replied, touching the side of his hair with the palm of his hand, and giving it a little pat. She looked like she wanted to comment but before she got the chance, the elevator pinged, and the door opened as the two of them trotted out into the hallway of the 5th-floor office building.

The office which Elena rented was the second door on the left, a plain-looking door with no name just the number 54. After struggling to open the door for a second, with all the bags she was carrying and her long nails, making Ben chuckle a little, Irina finally opened the door and in they stepped inside.

The office itself consisted of one large room, with two smaller adjoining rooms, one a bathroom and the other a small kitchen area. Ben had expected something much grander when he’d first visited but it seemed the modest office was all the Volkova’s needed to conduct their business, whatever that was, as even after a week of coming here, Ben still had no clue how they made their money.

The main room in the office was a little inconvenient with more than one person inside all day but was otherwise quite spacious. The right side of the room was dominated by a big glass-topped desk with two chairs positioned in front, and a large glass window behind that looked out on to the water. This was where Irina spent most of her time while they were in the office, usually on the phone speaking in Russian or typing away on her computer.

The left side of the room contained a seating area with a couple of comfortable sofas and a coffee table. This area was supposedly where they met with clients, but so far, in the time Ben had been accompanying Irina to the office, no one had ever visited. This sofa area was where Ben was forced to sit and wait for Irina to complete her work, which could last anywhere from an hour to half a day.

Knowing the drill by now, Ben tottered over to the sofa area, placed his handbag on one of the cushions before smoothing out his skirt, which wasn’t necessary wearing his tight pencil skirt that was moulded to his backside like a second skin, but out of habit he did it anyway, before sitting down gracefully on the cushioned seat.

Opening his handbag, he rummaged around for the phone, Irina had given him, in case she needed to contact him, intending to waste a few hours watching some videos to see if he could pick up any new beauty tips and tricks.

“Before you turn that on, go and make us some coffee”, Irina commanded from behind her desk.

“Yes, master”, Ben answered sarcastically, it wasn't an unreasonable request, but Ben just hated when she ordered him about, “Anything else, how about champagne and caviar”?

“Hey, less of the attitude, missy”, Irina replied annoyed, “I’m only asking you to make us a drink, I’m the one who has to do all the work around here while you just sit around watching makeup tutorials.

“Well, let me help then”, Ben shot back, “If you told me what you do here, I might be able to help”.

Irina thought for a second, her mother had instructed her not to involve Ben in the day to day running of the business, but having watched him sit around all week, making snide comments, she'd had enough, “you want to help? You want to do what I do”? She said sternly, “fine, but be warned once tell you what we do here, there’s no going back, what will it be, Bunny”?

Hating the thought of another day of sitting around doing nothing and more than a little curious as to what the Volkova’s business was, Ben carefully rose to his high heeled feet, tottered across the room before repeating his sitting routine in the chair opposite Irina’s desk, “I want to know”, he replied looking her dead in the eyes, “tell me what you do here”.

(See image 6.1)