by Alex Cugia
*
Thomas and Stephan were standing together near the front door, waiting for Camille who had disappeared into the bathroom with Bettina and was no doubt gossiping about mutual friends and events with no regard for time. The evening had been extremely pleasant and after getting carried away in making numerous toasts they all felt somewhat tipsy.
"What are they doing in there?" Stephan asked. "Are they making out or something?"
Thomas laughed. "I guess they've just got a lot to catch up on."
“How’s your friend Kai managing? I’m sorry I couldn’t do anything about him in Deutsche Bank but with his studies he just didn’t fit in. I tried arguing for him, you know, supporting someone from the East, but it didn’t work.”
“He’s been able to find something through some other friends just the other week, so don’t worry.”
“I’m glad. He seems a real nice guy. What’s he doing?”
“Assistant salesman in a sports shop in Cologne. He was really happy to get that, he’s not a career kind of guy. He’s making a visit to Frankfurt and he’s coming to dinner tomorrow with Bernhard … and Ulrike, his former girlfriend. They went through a lot digging that tunnel and escaping through the underground system and unfortunately for Kai, those two are now an item. But he’s taking it okay I think. At least it appears he is.”
“Yeah. Not exactly what he had in mind, I’m sure. But then life tends to be full of surprises, don’t you think? And luckily not all of them are negative. Ah, here’s the late Camille, escorted by your stunning girlfriend.” Stephan sighed theatrically. “If only I wasn’t already promised ... ”
Stephan grinned at Thomas and the two friends embraced warmly as Bettina opened the door.
*
The full moon hung above the swimming pool, its light reflected in the crystal blue water. Two marble copies of statues from Hadrian’s villa, or perhaps more accurately from the sweep up to Caesar's Palace, lit by pink halogen lights stood watching the scene from a distance. The party was more subdued now, the noise reduced, as everyone was beginning to feel tired and sated from all the food and wine they’d consumed.
Erwin tapped on his glass with a knife and lifted his hand for silence, the group now responding easily to his request. He peered at the others, focussing with some difficulty, and began another pompous oration, booming far more loudly than he either realised or needed to do for the small group.
“Now, the last thing I would like is that any of you would complain about my hospitality.”
There was a loud murmur as they sounded their approval of the evening. They had expected a dinner and been served a gargantuan feast instead.
“Of course, the evening’s not over yet.” He smiled at their eager expressions.
“You’re probably all too drunk to be able to drive so I’ve had prepared a bedroom, complete with a little gift, along the corridor there for each of you.” He waved his hand in the direction of the door and the house interior. “You’ll find your names on the doors and if you hurry you may still find, well, let’s say your pleasant surprises, still awake and anxious to please.” He laughed with pleasure at their expressions of disbelief and anticipation. “I just hope none of you have especially strange tastes because I must admit I haven't catered for such possibilities.” A roar of drunken laughter answered him as the guests jostled each other to get through the doorway and rushed down the corridor looking for their names. “Good night! Good night!” Erwin shouted as they all disappeared.
*
The door closed behind them and Camille leaned her head on Stephan’s shoulder. “God, I’m tired. I’m starting to feel the lack of sleep from last night. But I’m glad we came. I think Thomas and Bettina are probably the friends of yours I enjoy the most.” she said, yawning. “And about the only ones who know how to cook.”
They walked lazily to the car. As Stephan opened the car door the car phone started ringing. It had been installed it only a week earlier and he had given the number only to his very closest friends.
“Hello?”
“Hello, Shtephan.” the voice said. “You misshed an exshellent party.”
“Hi there, Erwin. I’m sure I did.” he replied, leaning back comfortably in the leather seat. “But you know me. I’d rather keep out of the spotlight. I leave all that to you.”
“Sure, Brains, I know you can’t run any risks. At least with the precautions we took it’s probably almost impossible to track us down.”
“Unless the others act stupid. Did you warn them about not throwing their new wealth around? And did they like the special presents you brought them? How about the pictures?”
“Video cameras are all in place. I’m sure tomorrow we’ll have enough material that none of them will want to talk out of turn once they've seen the film show. I told the girls to be particularly deviant.”
“Well done. Let’s meet tomorrow for lunch. We need to discuss details of the account movements, make sure they’re not traceable.”
“Sure, I took care of that already. You come down to the fifth floor and I’ll give you the details. Every time I come up, there’s those damned security measures in the way.”
“Okay. See you at one. I've got some material you might also like to see, some amusing pictures - the originals are safe but I'll bring copies with me. Goodnight Erwin.”
Stephan put the phone down and sat for a moment staring out into the night. Camille, tired and sleepy, was starting to get fractious and was anxious to get home.
“Who was that?”
“Oh, just a colleague.” he said, starting the engine. “Tonight there was a closing dinner for a deal I put together.” As he drove off his mood changed as he thought back on Herren. He missed him, on both a personal and a professional level. He was intellectually a notch above anyone he’d ever met. That he had managed to pull off this deal was all thanks to the information he’d got from working with Herren and being taken into his confidence.
Had Herren been doing all this for the good of the country or did he have his own secret schemes to make millions from unification as well, Thomas Stephan wondered. There was no way of telling now but his guess would have been the latter. One thing he had learned was that you don’t make it to the top by being a nice guy. Particularly if you're a banker. But then again Herren was rich enough already not to need it. Maybe he was just trying to make history. Now he would forever be part of it.
He glanced at Camille, dozing in the seat beside him, smiled, then pressed the accelerator and set off for home.
*** The End ***
Thank you for reading The Helskinki Pact. I hope you enjoyed it. But whether you did or didn't please take a moment to let people know what you think by commenting on Twitter, Facebook or on the Chesil Press website. And if you have time to write a short review - what you liked, what you didn't like, what touched you, what maybe didn't quite work or could be improved, why others might enjoy it - that would be wonderful and very much appreciated.
Thank you,
Alex Cugia
ALEX CUGIA has Italian and Scottish ancestry and spends time in both Rome and Dorset.
This is Alex Cugia's first book.
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