by Leslie North
Dmitry shrugged his shoulders, “What I do is not important. It is what you do that matters.”
Julia exploded, “But that’s sexist and total unacceptable!”
Dmitry took a step towards her, “But that is the way it is in Russia! You will take care not to put yourself in any more compromising positions. Is that clear?”
Julia folded her arms across her chest and glared at him, refusing to answer him. He might be able to tell her what to do while she was at work, but her free time was just that – hers. She would do what she wanted with it!
Dmitry saw that he was not going to get an answer and turned on his heel, leaving her fuming in the small office. She was going to be trouble and he didn’t need the distraction right now. The company needed his undivided attention and little Miss America had better get herself together and jump on board.
Julia counted to ten, and then twenty, finally reaching fifty before her temper began to cool down. The nerve of the man! Well, she had never been one for letting other’s push her around. Walking around her desk, she sat down and calmly picked up the phone.
When Antonia answered several rings later, she calmly made arrangements to go out with her again that same night. It was Friday after all, and Antonia was at loose ends. Vladimir, the young man from the previous night, had been a dud and Antonia had been looking for an excuse to blow him off tonight. Now she had one!
Julia arranged to have Sergei drive her to the center of town where Antonia promised to meet her and together they would go shopping and to a movie and dinner. What they did after that would depend upon whom they met while they were out.
Chapter 8
Dmitry entered his office, barely managing to refrain from slamming the door shut. The American woman was going to be trouble. Maria Julia Thompson. She was…
Dmitry stopped his thoughts midstream, remembering she had asked to be called Julia. As he replayed that in his head, something triggered in his memory and wouldn’t go away. He felt like he had met this woman before, but he couldn’t place her.
He had met many beautiful women while in the states, so it was possible that they had met at one function or another, but the feeling was too strong for just a passing ‘hello’ type meeting. He quickly pulled up her dossier, looking for something that would tell him what he needed to know.
When he found nothing, he pulled up his internet search program and entered the required information for a complete background check to be run on her. He wanted to know everything there was to know about the young woman who found it so easy to push his buttons.
*****
Julia left work precisely at 5 o’clock, anxious to escape before Dmitry cornered her again and looking forward to kicking up her heels with Antonia. Dmitry was already angry at the American woman who had come to work in his company, if he knew that same woman was also the woman he accused of leading him on outside the nightclub, Julia couldn’t even imagine what his reaction would be. It was better off just going on about her business and hoping that Dmitry never put things together.
She met Antonia and the two women had a wonderful evening, shopping in some of the boutiques that Julia would have never ventured into on her own. Antonia enjoyed helping Julia pick out several new outfits, and then she purchased several clubbing outfits of her own.
Antonia had been chosen for a local shoot and would be in town for the next several months, and Julia was looking forward to spending more time with her. Antonia lived a rather fast lifestyle, but anything beat being stuck at the estate with her computer and the household staff each night.
After shopping for several hours, Antonia suggested they grab a bite to eat at a new restaurant that was just opening its door across town. She had been given a special invitation to dine there this evening with a date of her choosing. The restaurant was hoping to snap a few photos of her in their establishment to use in their advertising campaign. Since the meal was free, there was no reason not to take advantage of the offer.
The restaurant was located in an upper scale part of the city, one that Julia had not seen yet, and she marveled at how modern the buildings in this part of St. Petersburg looked. It could be any up and coming city around the world!
The two women were seated promptly with the owners chattering away in Russian while Julia looked on in amazement at how fast everyone spoke.
Antonia introduced her as her “American friend,” and the owners left and then returned sporting two American beers, still in the bottle. Julia laughed and gladly accepted them – anything was better than Vodka!
Antonia joined her, stating that she preferred beer with her meal, over hard liquor. The two women chatted and enjoyed the most delicious food Julia had eaten since landing in Russia.
The owners, a husband and wife team, were wonderful hosts and Julia watched as they flitted around their little restaurant, never missing an opportunity to touch one another, or steal a kiss as they passed in the hallway.
“They must really be in love,” she commented to Antonia as she watched them flirt with each other.
“Who? Peterik and Isaldya?”
“What did you say their names were?” Julia asked, amazed that these might be the same two people in the painting at the exhibit that had so moved her.
“Ah, I see someone must have told you they were the couple in the painting? Who, the man you were talking to?”
Julia nodded and then softly confided, “That man… he’s my new boss.”
“What?!” Antonia said, lowering her voice as Julia shushed her.
“Quiet! And yes, he’s my boss. But that’s not the worst of it.”
Antonia loved a good story and encouraged her to spill it, “Tell me.”
“Several weeks before I left America, I was celebrating at a nightclub with my friend and I met this guy. Anyway, the club was really noisy and crowded and so we left to go grab coffee next door at this diner, but we never made it that far.”
“Well, go on. Don’t stop now,” Antonia was sitting on the edge of her seat listening.
“Anyway, we kind of had this chemistry thing going on and before I knew it, I was backed up against the side of the building and things were getting pretty intense. Then I stopped him. I didn’t want him to think I was easy or anything…”
At Antonia’s look of horror, Julia cringed and slowly finished, “Uhm… well, he wasn’t too pleased that I wasn’t going to finish things and go back to his hotel room with him. He accused me of being a tease and I left.”
“And this guy is your boss, now?” Antonia asked carefully.
“Yeah. But the thing is, I changed my hair color before I came over her and got contacts, and… he doesn’t recognize me. Well, I mean he recognizes me from the art exhibit, but not from the states.” Julia hurried to finish in a rush, sitting back in her chair and wondering what words of wisdom someone with Antonia’s vast experience might have for her.
Antonia was thoughtful for a long while, “I don’t think you should tell him about meeting him in the states. If he finds out somehow, then you can deal with it, but otherwise, I’d let that sleeping dog lie.”
“That was what I was thinking too. I’m glad I told you. I’ve been dying to talk to someone about what’s going on and get a second opinion. Thanks.”
Antonia squeezed her hand, stopping suddenly as her face became a mask and she looked over Julia’s shoulder. When Julia made to turn around, Antonia stopped her, whispering, “Don’t. Don’t turn around. The man in question just walked in. He’s talking to the owners of the restaurant. Oh, no! They’re bringing him over here.”
Julia’s heart almost stopped beating. This was not good!
Dmitry was happy for his friends and looking at the line of people waiting outside to get in, their grand opening had been a huge success. Peterik slapped him on the back and Isaldya gave him a big hug before she hooked her arm in his and started leading him across the restaurant.
“I’m so happy you could make it,” she told him with
a huge smile upon her face.
“I wouldn’t have missed it for the world. Things look like they’re going well.”
“Yes! Come this way, I want to introduce you to a celebrity who has blessed us with her presence. She’s letting us use pictures of her inside the restaurant for only the price of meal.”
“That’s wonderful. Who is it?” Dmitry asked, having his answer as he looked up and saw Antonia Padrov sitting at the table directly in front of him, her face a mask and looking like she had just tasted something sour.
Sitting across from her was a woman with golden honey blonde hair that could be none other than his newest employee, Maria Thompson. How in the hell had this American made friends with the world renown supermodel, Antonia Padrov?
“Dmitry, I’d like to introduce you to Antonia Padrov and her guest, Julia Thompson.” Isaldya spoke in English on behalf of Julia.
Dmitry nodded his head at both women, “We’ve met. In fact, Julia now works for me as part of the exchange program.”
Isladya clapped her hands, “That’s so wonderful. Oh, Peterik needs help. I’ll be back in a few. Dmitry, pull up an empty chair and join the women.”
Julia wanted to protest, but there was no way to do so gracefully. Instead, she pasted a smile on her face, noticing that Antonia was now watching them both with curious eyes.
“Julia, I’m surprised to see you here. Antonia, I understand you’ve agreed to let Peterik and his wife use some pictures of you in their restaurant in the advertising.”
Antonia relaxed and nodded her head, “Yes. It was so sweet of them to think of me and I just love being able to help them out. They are such a sweet couple.”
Dmitry had a new appreciation for Antonia – it seemed she did have a heart and maybe something besides partying going on in that beautiful head of hers.
Looking at Julia, he noticed that she was refusing to look at him, and was merely pushing the food around on her plate. “The food is not to your liking?”
Julia looked up quickly, “What? Oh, no. It’s wonderful.”
Dmitry grinned at her and then asked, “So, how did you two ladies meet?”
Antonia hurried to answer, hoping to stop any further questions, “My mother is your mother’s housekeeper. When she got to know Julia, she decided that it would be nice if I showed her around a bit. Now that I’m going to be in St. Petersburg for a while longer, we’re becoming great friends.”
Julia nodded, smiling at Antonia in return, “Yes. It’s nice to have a friend in such a strange place.”
Dmitry nodded, not having given any thought to how a single young woman might entertain herself in a strange country. He couldn’t fault her for finding friendship when it was offered, but he could take exception to her activities while with said friend. The board of directors needed to be satisfied that their conservative ideals were not being trampled upon.
Antonia realized that the conversation was dwindling and could only head into dangerous territory and quickly thought of an excuse to leave, “Dmitry, it was a pleasure meeting you. If you’ll excuse Julia and I. We still have a few errands to run yet this evening and I believe she has arranged with Sergei to pick her up in precisely one hour.”
Before Dmitry could think of a reason for the women to stay, Antonia had stood up from the table and pulled Julia with her. He watched as they thanked their hosts and left the restaurant. Isaldya appeared at his elbow with one of his favorite Russian meals and thoughts of the two women fled his mind as he fed his hunger and carried on a light conversation with his lifetime friends.
Chapter 9
“Wow! That was close,” Antonia told her with a laugh as the two women walked down the sidewalk.
“Don’t I know it. I don’t know how I’m going to conceal my identity for an entire year!”
Antonia shook her head, her new friend definitely had a problem. Thinking, she offered, “You could come clean with him and apologize again. Offer to be friends…”
“I don’t think so. You don’t know how hot things got between us. If there had been a bed nearby, we would have been in it.”
“That good, huh? So why didn’t you follow through and go back to his hotel with him?” Antonia didn’t understand why she had stopped things from reaching their natural conclusion.
Julia swallowed before she replied, “Well, I don’t usually sleep with strangers. And…”
“Yes? Come on, spit it out.”
“Well, I’ve actually only slept with one guy and it didn’t go that well.”
Antonia looked at her like she had two heads, “How old are you again?”
“I just turned twenty-five. Why?” Julia asked.
“Twenty-five and you’re practically a virgin. Now I get it. You were scared.”
Julia blushed, and nodded, “A little bit. I mean, I slept with this guy I’d been dating my freshmen year of college, and he promised me it would be better the second time. Well, it didn’t get better the second time or the third time. I refused to participate a fourth time.”
Antonia chuckled, “He evidently didn’t know what he was doing! Sex is great with the right person. If you had that much chemistry with Mr. Hot Boss in there, the sex would probably be off the charts. In fact, I’m jealous of you.”
“Me? Why?” Julia asked.
“I would kill to have a great chemistry with a guy that looked like your boss, and don’t get me wrong, I’ve got plenty of bed partners. It’s just that, they only want to be with me because my picture’s plastered on the cover or magazines, or they want to be seen with me in the tabloids. Most of the time the chemistry is faked on their part.”
“Wow! I’m sorry.” Julia didn’t know what else to say. It sounded like Antonia had been meeting the wrong sorts of guys.
“Look, I’ve changed my mind. If you get the chance, tell him who you are and just explain to him what you did to me. If he’s that type of guy I think he is, he’ll understand and all will be forgiven.”
Julia thought about that for a minute and then slowly nodded, “Do you think that might work? I mean, he’s really hot and I can already feel the chemistry still there. I don’t know how much longer I can pretend otherwise.”
“Tell him. As soon as you can.”
“I’ll do that,” Julia decided, grabbing hold of her backbone with both hands and hanging on for the ride. She had nothing to apologize for and she would simply explain things to him at the first opportunity.
*****
Dmitry was just finishing his dessert when his phone pinged, indicating he had an email. Tapping into his phone, he saw that the background check he had authorized on his newest employee had been emailed to him.
He opened the email, sipping his coffee as he waited for the files to load. The first few pages didn’t tell him anything he hadn’t already known. She was a financial whiz kid! He tapped the files to begin downloading the pictures, putting his phone on the table to finish clearing his plate.
Isaldya came over and sat down with him, “So, you are full?”
“I couldn’t eat another bite.”
Seeing his phone on the table, she scolded him, “You need to eat without being bothered by business so much. It’s not good for the digestion.”
Dmitry smiled at her, “It wasn’t really work. Just checking up on a few things.”
He conversed with her another moment and then grabbed his phone as she excused herself to help her husband once again. Dmitry turned his phone over and stared at the picture that peered back at him from the screen. It was the woman from the nightclub! What in the hell!
Cursing beneath his breath in Russian, he scrolled through the pictures, finding several more of the young woman with brown hair, blue eyes, and glasses. Then suddenly, the pictures changed to that of the young woman who currently worked for him. He pulled two of the pictures up and placed them on the screen side-by-side and suddenly he could see the resemblance. They were one and the same person!
The next thought had his anger b
ack full force. I might not have known who she was, but there’s no way she could have not known who I am! What game is she playing!
Dmitry sat for a few minutes, going over the various ways he could play this knew knowledge. Not one for procrastinating, he decided that dealing with this sooner, rather than later, was in everyone’s best interest.
He placed a call to Sergei who informed him he was on his way back to the family estate with the lovely Miss Thompson in tow. Sergei is her champion! Why that upset him, he didn’t even want to ponder.
He gave Sergei instructions to let the household staff know that he was on his way and would be visiting his mother over the weekend. Leaving the restaurant, he stopped a few blocks over and packed a few changes of clothes and then started the drive to his mother’s house.
He was due to visit her soon anyway. This way, he could kill two birds with one stone. He could visit his mother and assure himself that she was doing fine. And he could confront the little American tease and find out what game she was playing with him. Before Monday morning, he would have his answers.
Chapter 10
Julia arrived back at the estate and wondered at the flurry of activity. It was unusual for the household staff to be up and around much after 7 o’clock in the evening. It was now closing in on 9 o’clock and everyone was busy doing something. She thought about finding Mrs. Padrov and asking, but then decided that she would simply head to bed. There would be time enough for those questions tomorrow.
Antonia had a photo shoot scheduled for the entire weekend, so Julia was not planning on going out with her until the following Thursday. Another art exhibit, Antonia had assured her the paintings would not be erotic in nature.
Sergei had offered to have her bags brought up to her room and Julia had nodded her acceptance. She didn’t need anything from them tonight and she told him tomorrow morning was soon enough.
Julia entered her suite and decided to take a shower before turning in for bed. As she exited the bathroom, she could hear voices outside in the hallway, but was already in her pajamas and didn’t think to go investigate.