by Latham, D
"The penthouse of the new building next to mine is up for sale. It's called Cinnamon Wharf. It's very secure. Great river views. It's definitely worth a look. It's on with Savills I think."
"I'll give them a call in the morning, although it's a twenty minute walk from work."
"I can always organise a driver for you."
"Ivan, we broke up. I doubt very much that your next girlfriend will take too kindly to you ferrying your ex around for evermore."
"I don't want anyone else. I only want you." He sounded so sad that my heart broke a little. "The girls are upset too. Tania's off her food, and Bella won't speak to me." I'll give you points for persistence.
"I'm sure they'll both recover on sausage Sunday."
"It won't be the same without you here. You left all your clothes behind by the way."
"Yes, I know. I thought it would be a bit greedy to ask for them, especially the red dress."
"Well I'm not going to wear it am I? I bought it for you."
"It's not really your colour."
"Very true....have you eaten this evening?"
"No. James cooked for him and Janine, and he hadn't made enough for three. He didn't think I'd be back tonight. I'll have a piece of toast later."
"I wish you'd come down here, I could cook for you, and make you sausage sandwiches in the morning. Mrs Ballard left a fillet of lamb in the fridge for us."
"I need to start flat hunting, plus it's half seven now. By the time I got down to you, it would be nine."
"You can view apartments next week. It's not as though you need to move out tomorrow is it?"
"True, I just feel really awkward here with the two of them." James had been really strange with me when I'd got back from Oscar's. Janine had been pleasant enough, but the pair of them clearly didn't want an audience. They had been tucking into a prawn and pasta concoction when I'd arrived home, and I'd noticed that the fridge had been severely depleted.
"You can always stay with me if you want to. There's plenty of room in my apartment."
"That's kind of you, but that really isn't going to be an option, given the circumstances now is it?"
"We are still friends though. I can still look after you, and help you. I'm just not allowed to make love to you, is that right?"
"I suppose so. Usually when people break up, they stop seeing each other."
"But we'll still be working together, and seeing each other most days, so spending a Sunday together makes no difference. If you stay there, you'll have to spend all day in your room, apart from the hour that you're flat viewing. It won't be much fun. Roger is only at my London place. He could pick you up in five minutes. By the time you get here, the lamb will be ready."
"Separate bedrooms though."
"Whatever you want, your old room is at your disposal. Shall I call Roger, and throw the lamb in the oven?" Oh fuck it, yes please.
"Ok. See you in a while."
I gathered up my handbag, keys, laptop and phone, and went into the living room to say goodbye. James and Janine weren't there, and I could hear high pitched yelping noises from James' bedroom. I cringed, and quickly scribbled a note to leave on the island, saying I would be out for the night. I headed down, and waited outside for Roger.
It was a muggy, humid evening, and I was relieved to slide into the air conditioned luxury of the Mercedes. I was also relieved to be away from the flat. Listening to sex noises all evening would have been pretty horrific. At least my mind was made up about moving out. My embarrassment at my drunken shag with James, had been magnified by the fact he was clearly not into me, and very into his girlfriend.
I pulled out my iPhone, and googled 'property for sale in Canary Wharf'. Straightaway, I found the penthouse Ivan had talked about. It was priced at four and a half million, looked a lot like his, and was in a secure, portered block. I emailed the estate agent, left my details to arrange a viewing, and looked at what else was for sale, leaving messages for another six agents. To while away the time during the drive, I wrote a wish list of attributes I wanted in my new apartment. It was relatively short for someone spending up to five million, so I racked my brain to think of things to add to it.
An ensuite bathroom with a good shower, and a bath.
A laundry room, separate from the kitchen.
A parking space, in case I ever learned to drive
A balcony.
A spare bedroom
A study/office (not essential).
I looked at my sad little list. For five million, I didn't seem to be expecting much. I didn't need a built in bar, or home cinema. I preferred going out to the gym, and certainly didn't plan on putting in a sex room as Ivan had.
Chapter 7
Ivan's house smelled fabulous when I walked in. The scent of roasting lamb made my stomach rumble, and the girls were overjoyed to see me again, probably because they suspected that a bit of lamb might find its way into their mouths. He looked delighted to see me, despite my having to be driven over, because I'd been too upset (or pig headed) to stay in the first place. He'd greeted me at the door, the dogs bouncing around with excitement at his feet.
"I'm so glad you came over. Bella was sulking nearly as much as me." I bent down to stroke her ears, only for Tania to shove her out of the way, and stand under my outstretched hand looking expectant. Laughing, I gave her ears a rub, then followed Ivan into the kitchen. He busied himself pouring the wine, and checking the oven, before joining me at the island. "How was Oscar?"
"He was fine. I had a bit of lunch with him, and a walk around the gardens, then went home."
"So what's happening with your flatmate that you want to move out?"
"His ex girlfriend's back on the scene, and I feel like a bit of a spare wheel. They need their privacy if their relationships going to get back on track. Oh, and they ate all my food. Bugger all left in the fridge when I got in, and they were happily tucking into the prawns that I bought. There was barely enough milk left for even a cup of tea in the morning, they'd used it all for lattes."
Ivan winced, "I wouldn't like to see you denied your morning coffee, men have been murdered for less heinous crimes. So is he serious about her?"
"I think so. He proposed to her once, although she refused him, then ran off and married his best mate. He's really weird with me when she's around though, sort of cold, as if he'd rather I wasn't there."
"Are you jealous of her?"
"No." Yeah, ok, a bit.
"Even though she's forcing you from your home?"
"I'm not being forced out, it's just made me rethink. It really is time I bought my own place."
"Can I ask, how are you planning to finance it?"
"I have savings. It's not really any of your business. I don't ask you how much money you've got."
"You had access to my bank accounts when I was kidnapped. Didn't you look at them?"
"No. I didn't want to be nosy, well, unless I had to make payments to people on your behalf. You were only gone a night, so the issue never arose. I know you have fifty mil inside Russia, but beyond that I didn't snoop." He smiled at my rather naive reply. Most people would have been raking through his bank accounts at the drop of a hat. It hadn't even occurred to me to snoop. The only thing I was mildly interested in was his study, which he'd asked me not to go into. The weekend he'd been missing, I'd been too paralysed with fear to even think of going for a nose around.
"You only have to ask, if you don't have enough for the flat that you want. I don't mind helping. If not, I'll buy you a nice flat warming gift." He got up to see to dinner. Satisfied it was ready, he pulled it all out of the oven, and began serving.
"Do you want some help?" I asked. He shook his head, before efficiently carving up the lamb, and dividing it between four plates. He added some roast potatoes and veg, cutting up the dog's portions into small pieces, and mixing in a little gravy. He brought all the plates over to the island.
"Theirs needs to cool down a bit. They'll be sick if it's too hot." He
placed my plate in front of me, and poured us both more wine. He raised his glass, "to wonderful weekends full of food, wine and good company." We clinked, and drank.
I tucked in to my dinner, groaning as the lamb hit my palate. "This is gorgeous. Where did you learn to cook like this?"
"In Moscow, food was scarce, and what we had was limited and poor quality. One of the things that awed me when I got to the UK was how varied and plentiful the food was, so when I started earning decent money, I set about learning as much as I could about cooking and eating well. I don't have the most sophisticated taste, but I like to prepare food. I find it relaxing, and I hate having to rely on my housekeepers, they always make food too fancy when I'd prefer it plainer."
"Do you like Russian food?"
"Not particularly, although I like caviar and blini. It has to be proper Beluga. I can't bear rye bread though. It reminds me of the old, cheap, black bread. I like mine white, and fresh."
"I don't think I've ever tried caviar. I didn't even eat in a fancy restaurant till I met Oscar. Going out with him, then you, opened my eyes to just how much I don't know about the world. I have a bit of catching up to do."
"You're very young. Most people don't know much at 24."
"True. I feel like I'm just beginning my real education at times. I've been learning about body language. Paul sent me recommendations for some books, which I've been studying. It's really very useful. How to tell when people are lying, that kind of thing."
"That could be dangerous. What were you picking up when I was grovelling earlier?"
"You started off confident, and as I played you the recording, the confidence fell apart, you tried to hide it, but you looked defeated. That's about as far as I've got. They're pretty complicated books."
"Probably a fair assessment of the situation."
"Changing the subject, what've you been up to this afternoon?"
"Sulked, took some phone calls, sulked a bit more, read some risk analysis, did a little paperwork, then did some serious sulking, until I called you."
"I see, so are you representing Russia or England in the Olympic sulking championships in Rio?" He laughed his rich, deep laugh.
"You have a lovely way with words. I've missed you this week. I don't think anyone can make fun of me like you can."
"That's because women are too busy drooling, and men are too scared of you."
"True, you know you're the first person in at least ten years to call me a tosser."
"A richly deserved moniker, certainly in this case." I paused. "So does that mean that you never behave like a tosser to anyone else? Or that nobody else dares to tell you when you're being one?"
He looked thoughtful, "I think it's a bit of one, and a bit of the other. I tend to keep people at arm’s length, so nothing is ever that personal. I'm closer to you than I've ever been with any woman."
"Even Dascha? You were with her a long time, surely you knew each other well?"
"Not really. I worked seven days a week, extremely long hours, so I didn't actually have to spend much time with her. She had her shopping, her lovers and her hobbies, so as long as she had access to my money, she didn't bother me."
"Did you just say she had lovers?"
"Yeah." He pulled a face. "She was into the BDSM scene, which I'm not, and I wouldn't let her tie me up or inflict pain, which she enjoyed. We were sexually incompatible, so she took lovers for all that stuff. It suited me."
"No wonder you think I'm boring in bed." I was reeling from his revelation. It was a world away from my own sexual experiences, and not a world I had the remotest interest in.
"No, quite the opposite. She just wanted to tie men up and whip them. That's not sex. I hated it, let her try it once, and said never again. I just couldn't see where the enjoyment was. I know you and I were a little kinky and adventurous, but it was always sex, you know, with an orgasm at the end of it."
"I thought BDSM was a sex thing, shows how much I know..."
"Dascha used to say that giving pain was sex to her. I told you before, she was a psycho." I shuddered, not wanting to visualise Ivan being whipped, he was way too alpha and too sensual a lover for all that. "At some point, I need to go over to Windsor and sort out their house. I dread to think what we'll find there. Would you mind coming with me? I don't really fancy going on my own."
"Sure, whenever you like. I don't mind at all." I finished eating, and pushed my plate away. Ivan checked that the girl's helpings had cooled enough, and set the plates down on the floor for them. They practically inhaled the roast lamb dinner, which made us both laugh. "Tania's got her appetite back then?"
"Looks like it. They've both been little ratbags all afternoon since you left. Bella's been driving me nuts, barking every five minutes to go out, then barking to come back in. When I said no to her after the fifth time, she slunk off and wouldn't speak to me."
I shared out the leftovers on my plate between the two of them, and cleared our dinner things away into the dishwasher, before we went into the lounge, and flopped onto the sofas. Ivan put the telly on, but the combination of my late night the night before, and three glasses of wine, made my eyelids start drooping. I was vaguely aware of Ivan carrying me upstairs, but didn't fully wake up.
I woke up the next morning still wearing my T-shirt and shorts, in the spare room, with Ivan fast asleep beside me. I tried to slip out of bed without disturbing him, but the moment my foot touched the floor, he opened his eyes. "Morning. I'm sorry, I meant to go back to my own bed before you woke up. I must have fallen asleep."
"I'll go and make us some drinks. What were you doing in here anyway?"
"I just wanted a cuddle before I went to bed, so I lay down beside you, and must have nodded off. I'm sorry, are you upset with me?" I shook my head, amused that this supremely confident, alpha male could admit to needing a snuggle.
I made our drinks, and took them back upstairs, purposely sitting on the sofa in the room, rather than perch on the side of the bed while Ivan was in it. "So what's the plan for the day?"
"Well, it looks a bit cloudy, so I think breakfast, a walk, and after that, we could go over to Windsor and check out Vlad's house, if you want, that is."
"I don't mind coming along for a good nose. Have you got the keys?"
"Yes, the police had them, sent everything over to Lucy, who sent them to me. I've not been there for a few years, so I'm quite eager to see it again. Dascha moved back there last year when we split, so it's only the one house to deal with."
"Can I use your gym this morning? I need a run and a workout. I didn't do one yesterday."
"Sure. I can be making breakfast while you're doing that. It'll be ready by the time you're finished." We drank our coffees, and I headed downstairs to the gym. I didn't even bother to change, knowing I'd be showering afterwards. I plugged my headphones into my iPhone, and ran for a full, fast paced, twenty minutes, before working my way methodically around the weights machines.
After finishing, I pulled out my earbuds, and could hear the radio blasting out in the kitchen. I could also hear Russian accented singing. Curious, I padded down the corridor, to see Ivan holding up bits of sausage, singing to the dogs, and the three of them dancing around.
"I know you want it, I know you want it, I know you want it, but you're a good girrrl." He sang, holding the sausage just out of their reach. He didn't see me, as he howled along to 'blurred lines'. I stood and watched, amused, as the dogs bounced up on their hind legs, as if they were dancing to his singing. As the song came to an end, he noticed me standing there. "Breakfast's ready. How long have you been there?"
"Most of the song." I smirked, as he blushed slightly.
"It's their favourite record at the moment."
"I could tell, the way they were dancing to it...." I bent down to pet Bella, "and have you got a crush on Robin Thicke, naughty girl?" She did that doggy smile thing, and hung her tongue out, which made us both laugh.
After breakfast, I showered and dressed,
before we took the dogs out. This time, I observed Ivan closely, and saw what he meant about tension lifting in the woods. His shoulders dropped, and his hands relaxed. I wondered just how stressed he actually got, working as much as he did, with the responsibilities that he shouldered. "What stresses you out the most?" I asked.
"Other people," he replied immediately, "I'm not good at being around people a lot. I have to put up with it at work, but I'm quite solitary. It's why I'm not overly friendly with my security." I had noticed that he didn't seem to talk to them much, considering they trailed around with him most of the time. "I learnt the hard way to take a full day off every week, turn my phone off, and concentrate on the two girls." He paused, "my body began to object to lack of sleep, stress, and constant pressure. I suffered insomnia, palpitations, and passed out in my office once. I made changes after that."
"You have to look after yourself first. That's what my mum used to say, not that she was a great advert for it. You seem quite laid back now though, well, for someone who runs as many companies as you do."
"I internalise the stress, at least that's what I think I do. I hate anyone seeing me as weak, as it leaves an opening to exploit, like Dascha did."
"Loving someone isn't being weak, it's being a normal human being."
"True, it goes back to my bravado with Paul, admitting I was madly in love seemed like admitting I was weak." He looked down at the floor as he spoke, as if he didn't want to see my reaction.
"Do you think Oscar's weak then? He admitted being in love when we were together."
"Yeah, a bit. I thought it was amusing at the time how he trailed around after you, and behaved as though you were some sort of goddess. Thought he was being adolescent, until I spent that first Sunday with you. Then I understood."
"I think the pair of you are emotionally stunted to be honest. You with your 'I'm a poor immigrant' spiel, and Oscar with his 'I have to put up with being a bank chairman' crap. Both of you need to count your blessings a bit more."