Into the Lion's Den

by Tionne Rogers

  Determined more than ever, he descended from the bus at his stop and with quick step he crossed the street and asked the doorman if he had some paper to leave a note for the owner of the fourteenth floor penthouse.

  “Certainly, sir,” the man said to the obviously rich boy standing in front of him.

  “Good evening, sir. I'm Yuri, I drove you home last time you were here. Mr. Repin waits for you,” a tall blond man said as he was busy writing.

  “I'm not staying…”

  “Mr. Repin does not like to be kept waiting, sir,” the man said firmly, taking Guntram by the elbow and dragging him toward the private elevator. Unsure that the boy would reach the fourteenth floor, he entered in the cabin just to be on the safe side, unmoved by the furious looks he was receiving from the youth. 'You need more than that to make me flinch, boy. He's a little dove, exactly as Ivan Ivanovich told us. Harmless and good looking. We might have hit the jackpot with this one. I'm sick of disposing of brats.'

  “This way sir,” he ordered the minute they both entered in the large parlour. “Mr. Repin waits for you on the terrace. He cleared his agenda for you,” Yuri added slightly rising an eyebrow so the boy would understand and behave.

  “I wasn't planning to stay.”

  “Explain it to him,” Yuri answered curtly, thinking that his hopes of an easier life under his superior had just been crushed. He knocked on the glass door and Constantin's voice said something in Russian. He opened the door and pushed the boy in, closing it before the lad could escape.

  “Hello Guntram, you're on time. I truly hate tardiness. It's a very bad habit this country has,” Constantin greeted him rising from his chair in front of a table disposed for tea.

  “Hello Constantin. I just wanted to tell you that I will not stay today. I'm sorry,” Guntram blurted at full speed.

  “May I ask your reasons?”

  “I want to have children,” Guntram answered firmly. “I will not get them here.”

  “Guntram my dear, I have met many artists in my life and listened to the most absurd answers from them, but today your own sentence exceeds anything I've heard so far,” Constantin intoned, wondering if the boy had been using some products from a very low quality, typical from the slum he loved so much to go to. 'I have to get him out of there tomorrow. His Mother Theresa days are over. He can send them a check if he wants. At least, he looks polished.'

  “I can't have a relationship with you. I want to marry and have children, three. With you, it would be impossible.”

  'No, he's not high, just adorably crazy.' Constantin sighed. “Guntram, as I told you I'm not planning a long term relationship with you. I've told you I'm not the commitment type of person. My boyfriends never lasted more than a few months. I get bored of them very easily and frankly they have no talent at all. I go to bed with them because they have some feature that could be entertaining. I warned you that any kind of relationship we might have it would be under my conditions. I also told you that you were the type for long term relationships and that in the next morning you would be crying in my bed the minute I leave it,” Constantin said, noticing that Guntram was thinking on him as a serious prospect.

  “I can't continue. It wouldn't be fair for both of us.”

  “Please, do sit down and let's discuss this as two adults not like two teenagers shouting at each other,”

  Constantin sighed, regaining his seat and showing Guntram where he should sit, in front of him. “Tea? I can order a coffee if you prefer it.”

  “Tea is fine,” Guntram answered feeling already very embarrassed that he had been so rude to the man and he was behaving so civil. He took the cup from his hand and immediately glued his eyes to the painted flowers in the china.

  'Just a little grooming and he looks fantastic,' Constantin briefly thought before choosing his strategy for the game. “Are you nervous about last night? Are you uncomfortable to be here?”

  “No,” Guntram whispered.

  “Perhaps I should have not taken advantage of your state but it was impossible for any man to resist you.

  I truly enjoyed it and the least I want in this world is to hurt you, Guntram.”

  “I don't know if I can do what you want. You go to bed with me, I remember I insisted upon it, I was not so drunk, but then you say you don't want me. I don't know if I'm into this at all.”

  “Consider what happened last night as a learning experience and forget it. You did nothing wrong and we both enjoyed,” Constantin shrugged not missing the flash of sadness going through Guntram's eyes. “Is it not what you wanted to hear?”

  “Not really,” Guntram admitted in a blink.

  “Do you want me to tell you that this is the beginning of a long term relationship; that we are going to grow older together; that I'll love you till the end of time so you can drop your plans for the rest of your life? I can't and I don't want to lie to you. There's no certainty in this life Guntram. People change and they do it faster than you think.”

  “You're right, Constantin. I should go now.”

  “Do you love me? You said something in that direction last night.”

  “I don't know. I never had a girlfriend before. I cannot consider you as one of my friends… When you were away, I was waiting for your letters anxiously, but this could be because you're the first person to treat me like an adult and you listen to me.”

  “I enjoy your company very much too. I long for it also. We could try it, but I can't guarantee that it will be forever. You have to keep me interested as I lose interest very easily. What we might have could be bad for you in the future. Some people fall in love for life, some others don't have such fortune.”

  “I understand.”

  “No, you don't Guntram. If we decide to be together, I understand that I can't ask from you what I'm certain that I can't give you. If you want to marry and have children, I can't forbid it as it would be a shame that such beauty would be lost. I think that you're still too young to consider to have a wife or children, but it's your life.”

  “I'm not going to marry tomorrow. I don't even have a girlfriend or one interested in me. I couldn't support one”, Guntram protested starting to feel dizzy and confused about the conversation. “I'm only saying that I want to have a family in the future.”

  “And I'm telling you that you have no future with me. What you have to decide is if you want an adventure with me. It could last a few weeks, months, years or a lifetime. Nobody can be certain about that. To love is to risk. I'm only being honest with you about my character and past. I was never in love of anyone and that's true. I liked or desired many, but I never experienced the feeling of waking up every morning thinking in that special person or sacrificing myself for his well being,” Constantin explained with a hint of sorrow in his voice, provoking a mix of feelings in Guntram ranging from sympathy to sadness for the man baring his soul in front of him.

  “I don't know what love means too. I don't know what commitment is; I had no one close in my life since I was seven,” he confessed with at soft voice, his hand reaching Constantin's in a childish attempt to soothe his pain.

  The Russian held the small hand for a long time while he bided his time to answer Guntram's words. He sighed, quickly checking if he had the boy's attention and he found his blue eyes dangling from every word coming from his mouth. 'He's truly naïve and uncorrupted, his soul is more beautiful than his face. He has to be mine only.'

  “Guntram dear, I want to try to start something with you but I'm afraid to ruin it. I'm forty-two years old and I have lived a very complex life, working all the time with difficult people and doing many things I'm not proud of. You want some guarantees from me that I cannot grant you because they're not in my nature. I want to start something with you but I will not change my ways. You will have to accept me just as I'm.”

  “I'm very confused about you.”

  “To start a relationship is never easy nor straightforward. The ‘they lived happily ever after’ doesn't exist,
like this ‘love at first sight’ theory. You like a person and from there you get along or not; you love him or not, but it's not something that appears overnight. It's crazy to think that you will see someone and in two days and a couple of dinners you will decide to spend your life with this person regardless of the gender.”

  “You're right, Constantin,” Guntram mumbled more at loss than before not knowing from where the sadness engulfing him had come from.

  “I think that you're very beautiful and I would love to start something with you, but I'm sure that you will feel very disappointed if we don't work out at all. Your talent as an artist already makes you precious for me and I don't want to be the cause for you to stop working or progressing. You're starting your life, I'm in the middle of it therefore our priorities are not the same. You want to build, I want to preserve what I have. You're building your personality and I have a lot of personality,” he laughed. “Too much according to my partners and competitors.”

  “I don't know what I want any longer.”

  “Make no plans for the future; take things as they come. Know only your priorities because life will move you at random. You can't fight fate or fortune. You have a talent for something—and I realised it much before I knew who you were, so you can't tell that my opinion is biased—and that's much more than many people start with in life. Two art dealers agree with me. Follow your instincts for once and don't think things over because finally you'll achieve nothing. Take this opportunity I'm offering and this will be independently of what happens on a personal level between us, and see how you do.”

  “Maybe I should take my chances with you…”

  “Exactly, if you don't like it, tell it to me and we split, no regrets and no shouts. I promise to tell you the minute I'm not interested in you any longer. I don't want lies between us.”

  “I don't know what to do next. I would like to be friends with you but I don't know what to say or do.”

  “Start by finishing your tea. It must be cold by now,” Constantin replied, pleased that the boy had accepted his conditions and rules. Oblomov was right: ordering him is useless; a soft leading and he goes everywhere you want. “Let's do not rush things between us. No one is pressing us to do anything. Take your time to discover me and explore yourself. Rushing things is never good and patience is a virtue.”

  Guntram never expected that the Russian would leave his chair, walked around the table and kissed him softly on the lips without a previous warning. He stood there, frozen for a moment as the kiss slowly melted his resistance. Constantin's hand caressing his cheek gave him the required boldness to return the kiss and putting his arms around the man's neck, totally lost in the ministrations he was receiving. He almost yelped when the Russian forced him to stand and his arms crushed his waist pulling him against his chest, feeling like two iron bars effectively trapping him.

  “Stay here with me, don't go home. I leave in two days,” Constantin whispered in the blond's ear as he nibbled the earlobe, making him shudder. 'So inexperienced, it's wonderful'. “You can stay in the guest room or in my bed if you want.”

  “I don't know.”

  “We won't repeat yesterday's exercise if that's your main concern. You were drunk and we both need to know each other before we take things one step further. You have to trust me as this is the basis for any relationship, Guntram. Tonight, I have some business meetings and a dinner with the locals, but I would like to know that you're here and find you here upon my return.”

  After pondering for a while, Guntram answered; “yes, I'll stay if you want,” just to be silenced by another devastating kiss. Still dazed his mind could only register the “I'll tell Carlos, the butler to arrange everything.

  I'm afraid you will have to dine alone tonight, but tomorrow we can be together.

  “Well, Yuri Alexandrevich and you owe me $500,” a more than satisfied Oblomov told Zakharov's henchman. “The boy agreed to stay here and sleep with the boss.” “No way!” An incredulous Boris Gregorevich shouted. “I read the note he was writing and he was sending the boss to hell!”

  “Never underestimate the boss, Boris Gregorevich. You owe me also money now.”

  “I don't mind paying this one, Ivan Ivanovich. Is the boy as good as you say? He looks very well from the distance,” a tall man smirked while he put some papers back in his briefcase.

  “He's off limits for all of us. Respect him or you'll be in troubles,” Oblomov barked very seriously. “Boss took a lot of effort to get this one.”

  “Boss saved almost two million dollars for one like him,” Yuri smirked. “With such face, body and education, he should reach top prices.”

  “You're wrong; one like him, speaking three languages, well educated, good looking, real blond goes to the Middle East or Asia where they can afford to pay more; 3.4 million, I would say,” Boris evaluated. “He's very exotic, if you ask me, although a little old.”

  “Not all of us want to change diapers and clean noses, Boris Gregorevich,” Oblomov huffed. “Be quiet if you don't want to see the boss furious with you. I'm warning all of you, no deals around him, speak Russian only if you have to. He's convinced that we all are into the oil and transport business and are serious businessmen from Russia.”

  The men laughed at the last sentence. “Boss says that you have to fix this problem with the people in that slum he likes to help. He should never set a foot in there ever again, is that clear?”

  “Incredible, I have to kick the Mother Theresa out,” Yuri smirked. “The boys will visit the man in charge there and he will ban the boy. Should we take care of the priest too?”

  “No, we don't want to attract any kind of attention. This is the Order's territory and we are here only as investors, nothing else. They invited us as they think this could be a good opportunity for all of us.”

  “Since when is Lintorff generous? He's after something big this time.”

  “He's just sharing this land. He knows he can't hold it all by himself and needs some allies here. Some cartels start to revolt and disobey him. He needs us and he has had a good working relationship with the boss for the past twelve years.”

  “I hope boss knows where he's getting into. Lintorff respects nothing. If he has not released his hounds on “his troublesome lambs,” it's because he expects to win something from us or make us clean his backyard for him.

  Remember 1989 when he had the uprising,” Boris Gregorevich huffed, visibly upset at the memory.

  “We only helped with the cleaning and look, Petrom was handed on a silver tray to us. Give me more of those deals. He's only planning to overthrow the local government to make the Americans suffer a bit and get some good investment opportunities for all of us. He can't do it too openly, but many of his ‘brothers’ are circling around this country like the hungry wolves they're. We have to get the gold mines concessions before the Americans do it.

  This capital flight he has started two weeks ago will finish them in a few months. The local president is a useless prick and the opposition is bidding his time to throw him out. All the local industries are dying to make a default to save their companies from their huge debts in dollars and will support it.”

  “Bad payers are bad for the business Ivan Ivanovich. You know it well.”

  “Boris, my friend, don't think for a minute that Lintorff will not make more money out of this little country than what he might lose in the upfront. He adores playing the victim. Von Kleist told me that he bought five miserable million dollars in bonds to show his support for the local government and the idiots congratulated themselves for getting a pat in the head!”

  “Boss should be careful; he's dangerous as enemy and worst as friend. A real demon.”

  “I know him well, Boris Gregorevich. The only good thing you can say about him is that he never attacks you unless you provoke him. Remember that simple rule, and you'll be fine. The little lamb stays for dinner.

  Tell it to the maid and she should prepare his room.”

/>   Constantin was pleased as the dinner had not been a total waste of his precious time. He and Oblomov had finally wrapped up the price for the forty-five years concession on the gold mines in the South with the governor's henchman and the State Secretary, leaving the Americans out of the game. Ivan had done his part very well threatening to leave the negotiation table when they wanted to increase their commissions once more. Finally, they had settled for a miserable percentage on the estimated volume. “Their prospections were outdated, wrong and they had no idea about the mining business,” Oblomov was telling him in the car. “Perhaps these politicians should hire the seven dwarfs from Snow White as advisers and would get a better picture than what they have now. Poor Zakharov, to retire in this country! At least, people are nice if you don't expect much of them.” Speaking directly with the governor's henchman had been more profitable than losing his time with that stupid woman and her idiotic Senator friends. 'No, I endured her and the brat she has for son, just to get my angel. I have him now, so I can send them to Hell.'

  The transport business was dead as it needed a huge investment just to turn it into something decent and the unions were impossible to deal with. No, I'll try my luck with oil and some farming after the collapse.'

  “Boss, do you need me?” Oblomov took him out of his reverie.

  “No, you can go away. Be back tomorrow evening,” he chuckled.

  “I want to check some of our associates, those resenting Lintorff. They want to use our people in the export business as we control the harbours in southern Spain.”