A few moments later, I almost sunk completely into the water when Zelda appeared, calling out my name. Never had I felt so much shame. I cowered into a corner, hoping to hide away from her.
She spotted me and came over. She placed a folded robe and towel by the edge of the pool and smiled kindly at me. “Mr. Volkov requested this for you.”
“Thank you,” I said, unable to meet her eyes.
She turned around to leave and I clothed myself in the shame of his callous dismissal.
Chapter 12
April
“He did what?” Charlotte yelled into the phone.
“It’s not a big deal,” I muttered, even though I would have had the same reaction if Charlotte had said the same thing had happened to her. But with Yuri it was different. We had this crazy thing.
“The hell it isn’t,” her voice rose angrily. “He left you fucking naked in his damn pool without even a word, or even a glance… the uncivilized bastard.”
“I was pissed off too, but the truth is I was the aggressor. I stayed. I wanted him, Charlotte. I still do. And anyway, he doesn’t owe me anything. We’re not dating. It was just what it was…a crude meet, and—”
“You need to do the exact same thing to him… worse even,” she cut in.
I sighed. “Is that really the best solution you could come up with?”
“There’s no other way,” she said. “Fuck him halfway to somewhere and then run off before he comes… let him see what that feels like.”
“First of all, are you angry that he didn’t finish me off, or are you pissed that he abandoned me?”
“Both!” she exclaimed.
“Alright,” I replied, amused by her temper. “Well, I’m in a strange place. I feel no shame about what we did. It’s like I’m not in control of my body when I’m around him.”
“So he is allowed to treat you like trash?”
“Charlotte, I told you he had an emergency. Who knows what that phone call was all about? It did seem like a life and death thing. I mean his whole face changed. He almost became a different person.”
“Get out of that house,” she said. “You don’t need that job, find something else. I’ll cover your rent this month.”
“Nope,” I replied. “I’ve made up my mind to stay.”
“What? Why?”
“Two reasons. For Yulia. It’s not her fault I can’t keep my hands off her uncle. I promised myself I would do my best to help her. Also I want him, Charlotte. Real bad. I’ve never wanted anyone the way I want him. And before you say anything, I’m going in with my eyes open. I know what he is. He’s a cad, but it’s okay, because I don’t want to marry him or get serious. That would scare even me. I just want to have a completely sexual, brief relationship with him. When it’s all over, I’ll dust my feet off and be on my way.”
She was silent for the longest time. “Do you actually believe what you’re saying?”
“Yes, I do. Why shouldn’t I have a torrid affair with him? Trust me, it will be hard to find a woman who says no to him. Anyway, don’t people do this kind of thing all the time?”
“You’re not people. You don’t form emotional attachments easily, but when you do, it’s usually strong enough to mess you up bad.”
“I’m not going to form any attachment—”
“You don’t know that,” she interrupted.
“Charlotte, you can’t wrap me up in cotton wool to keep me safe. Even if I end up getting hurt, I still want to do this. If I don’t, I’ll regret it for the rest of my life. Do you understand?” She didn’t say anything so I sighed. “Look, I need to get ready now. Yulia has a big day ahead of her.”
“Okay. Okay, I get the message. Go and have your fun.”
We talked shop for a bit then, but just before the conversation ended, I brought up the real reason I was still on edge. “I don’t know what he does for a living.”
“Why does that matter?”
“He’s a filthy rich businessman, but I overheard him say something strange on the phone yesterday.”
“What?”
“Something like ‘if any of you leave there, you’ll be dead,’ or something close to that. It didn’t sound like a figure of speech but a serious threat, if you know what I mean.”
She went silent and I could just imagine her, scrunched up hair and furrowed forehead as she pondered what I was saying.
“There’s also security everywhere in the house. I don’t see them outright, but I’m aware of them… and cameras, they’re everywhere.”
“Well, he is wealthy, so the wealthy need a different level of protection…”
“Even so.”
She sighed. “Just in case this call is being monitored, remember what I read in the tabloids?”
“Yeah, I remember. I’m beginning to think your tabloids might be onto something.