A Young Man's Game

by Paul Blake

  ‘It’s all yours,’ Claudia said from the hallway. Alec heard her open her bedroom door.

  ‘Thanks,’ he said as the door closed behind her.

  He left the kitchen and walked down the hallway to the bathroom. Inside he washed his face and hands. He used a bit of her toothpaste on his finger to brush his teeth. It wouldn’t be right to use her toothbrush. With his business done he opened the door and with a longing look at Claudia’s bedroom door. He went to Chris’s and opened it. He was about to go inside when he heard Claudia’s door open.

  ‘Don’t you think it would be more comfortable in here?’ She asked.

  Alec turned and saw her standing in the doorway, partially obscured by the bedroom door. She was wearing a thin satin crimson robe. The way her nipple was making the fabric protrude he was fairly certain she wasn’t wearing anything underneath.

  ‘Are you sure?’ He asked, praying for the positive response.

  ‘Of course, Darling,’ she smiled, ‘When have you known me to be unsure. If I remember correctly in the restaurant, you were saying something about sweeping me off my feet. I’d like that.’

  ‘Well, in that case.’ He closed Chris’s door behind him and walked purposely to her, they embraced, mouths meeting, hands caressing. They walked into the bedroom still interlocked; Alec kicked the door closed behind him with his heel, the bed springs squeaked through the door, as their weight fell upon it.

  17

  Alec woke to daylight streaming through the open curtains, he squinted at the brightness. He heard breathing beside him and all the memories from the night before come flooding back to him. The way she tasted, the touch of her skin, her touch on him, her intoxicating perfume, her eyes gleaming in victory as he gave his all to her. Then repeated more slowly, less frantic, her moans as he pleasured her and the way her body shook and shivered as she submitted to him.

  He looked over at her; she was facing away, her hair wild from behind, his gaze moved down taking in the body he had been admiring the night before. There were a few wrinkles here and there, areas where the skin wasn’t as taut as it had been so many years ago. But compared to him she had hardly aged, especially considering she had had two children. He reached out and stroked her back gently. She shivered at his touch and pushed back against his hand. Her right hand came back and started rubbing his hip. He shuffled forward, lifting the duvet cover as he moved. His legs wrapped around hers, his chest against her back. He could feel her heartbeat, or is it mine? He reached around with his free arm and found her breast, he stroked the nipple and heard her gasp, she pushed harder against him, they were both breathing harder now. She turned towards him, her eyes a deeper blue than he had seen in a long time, they kissed passionately, tongues finding each other. Alec lifted himself up, and Claudia scooted under him, he lowered himself down, careful not to put his weight on her. She opened her legs wider, and he entered her, she exhaled with pleasure, he moaned with delight. A third time? It’s like I’ve become twenty again. Her nails ran down his back, his hands on her hips pulling her towards him. He shuddered and a few thrusts later she did too. He collapsed beside her unable to support his weight any longer. For a while, all he could hear over the blood rushing around his head was heavy panting, hers or mine? I don’t care. She turned and laid her arm over him, claiming him as hers. He willingly acquiesced, he turned his head to the side to look at her. She had a wide smile on her face, her cheeks were flushed, and there was a sheen to her forehead. He took in the crow’s foot wrinkles round her eyes, the laughter lines around her mouth. She has never looked so beautiful. He told her so, and her smile widened into a grin, and she kissed him with passion.

  ‘You’re not too bad for an old man,’ she said.

  ‘I didn’t have a stroke or heart attack, so that’s a bonus. Although at times it felt like I would.’

  ‘I’m glad.’ She pulled herself on top of him. ‘I’d hate to lose you now I’ve got you back.’

  ‘I’m not going anywhere. My darling. I promise.’

  She looked into his eyes, ‘Well we have to soon, it’s almost eight.’ She slid off him to the floor and walked towards the door. He watched her move, her body graceful as though on a catwalk. Her long blonde hair, without a trace of the grey that dominated his own. You’re a fool for letting her go all those years ago. You are so lucky you’ve been given a second chance. He laid there for a few minutes, his breathing and pulse returning to normal. He then sat up and rubbed his face. I don’t think I want to leave, this is perfect. The image of the PM’s head splattered by a bullet came to his mind. He begrudgingly got up and started picking up his clothes. Claudia re-entered the room, ‘I’ve left the shower on for you.’ She threw a towel at him.

  ‘Thanks.’ He wrapped it around himself and gave her a kiss as he passed her to go to the bathroom. She squeezed his bum through the towel.

  ◆◆◆

  After the shower, Alec went back to the bedroom, Claudia was not there. ‘I’m in the kitchen, do you want tea or coffee?’ She called.

  ‘Tea,’ he replied. He finished drying himself off and put on his clothes. He looked at the dishevelled bed and smiled. He half-heartedly straightened the cover and fluffed the pillows. He then went into the kitchen.

  ‘Here you go,’ Claudia said, handing him the mug. Hers was beside her on the counter. ‘So, what’s the plan Boss?’

  ‘We drink this and stay here forever, only leaving to have dinner.’

  ‘Sounds perfect.’ A wistful look crossed her face. ‘What’s really the plan?’

  ‘We’ll get the S-Bahn to Friedrichstraße station, and walk to the embassy.’

  ‘Wow, that’s easy.’

  ‘I know, there’s no other way really, there is only the main entrance and the road is sealed at both ends to traffic, those terrorists making our life hard again. I think we should stay together. Hopefully, if they are watching, they’ll be looking for an old man by himself. Not a horny teenager who can’t keep his hands off the sexy woman next to him.’

  ‘I like that, and if they do notice you?’

  ‘We better hope they don’t. The Russians the other night looked very serious.’

  ‘Well, we only have to get to the embassy. If we come up the Unter den Linden and turn on to Wilhelmstraße, it’s a shorter distance to the embassy than from the other direction. Less for us to run.’

  ‘That’s a good idea. I’d expect them to be stationed around Mohrenstraße station as that’s the closest one and the one I was aiming for the other night. We also have to watch out for the two goons and also Harper.’

  ‘We’ll have to see what we can do to disguise you.’

  ◆◆◆

  Claudia opened the main door of the apartment block and stepped out. Alec could see her shadow in the bright sunlight. He waited, and she came back in. ‘It’s clear.’ She said.

  ‘Let’s go then,’ Alec said. He pulled her close and gave her a deep kiss. ‘Just in case.’

  They broke their embrace and Claudia took Alec’s hand. ‘I’m with you, you’ll be fine.’

  ‘I feel strange wearing Roger’s clothes.’

  ‘You look good. Much better than the scruffy old suit you normally wear. Maybe that’ll be enough to hide from them. The Police would have been advised to look out for a tramp.’

  ‘They’re not that bad.’ He laughed.

  ‘They’re not that good either. When this is over, I’m going to have to take you clothes shopping. I can’t be seen with a vagrant. It’s not good for my image.’

  They stepped out of the building still holding hands. Although the sun was shining there was a bitter chill to the air. They turned left and huddled together as they walked. After a short while, they turned onto Bleibtreustraße, and it wasn’t long before they could see the beige arches of Savignyplatz station. There were two Police officers outside the station, but they took no notice of the couple as they entered. Alec breathed a sigh of relief when they were passed. He listened for the crackle of th
eir radio as they turned the corner to go up the stairs to the platform. Nothing.

  ‘I think we’re clear,’ he said as they reached the top of the stairs.

  ‘They would have been told to look out for a grey-haired old man, not a thinning brown haired old man.’

  He playfully dug his elbow into her side, ‘I’m not that old!’

  Claudia squealed causing a few heads to turn in their direction. ‘Stop that! I’m very ticklish there. We’ll never keep a low profile if you keep doing that.’

  He turned and kissed her cheek; his hand caressed her back. ‘Anyway, I don’t feel old.’

  ‘Didn’t you get enough earlier? Did you slip some Viagra into your tea when I wasn’t looking?’

  ‘Nope, it’s just the effect you are having on me.’

  ‘Well that’s good but try to keep it in your pants. Low profile, remember.’ She smiled at him.

  ‘I’ll try, but I can’t promise anything.’

  The train entered the station and people around them started shuffling towards the edge of the platform. Alec turned his head to look. Claudia grabbed both sides of his face and pulled him in for a hard kiss that caught his breath.

  ‘Come on,’ she said as the train’s doors opened.

  Alec stumbled on his weakened legs, and Claudia caught him from falling.

  ‘Good to see I haven’t lost my effect on men.’

  They entered the carriage; there were no seats, as the train was packed with commuters. They stood near the door, close together. The train set off with a jerk and Alec, and Claudia banged into each other. They stayed that way, Claudia’s arm wrapped around Alec holding him close. He could feel her breathing on his cheek. He knew if he looked at her he would be lost forever and would really cause a scene. She pushed herself closer against him, her breathing grew heavier, more rapid. That’s not helping.

  The train entered the next station, Zoologischer Garten, and some people got off, a few entered. Alec and Claudia stayed where they were, entwined against the side of the door. Alec risked a glance at her. Her eyes were half-closed, her cheeks glowing. She opened her eyes; the pupils were large and dilated. Alec bent forward and whispered in her ear. ‘You’re so sexy… I love you.’ Where the hell did that come from?

  She gasped, her eyes widened, and she hugged him tighter. The train started again. She couldn’t stop smiling at him. They carried on the journey in silence, the noise from the tracks made it impossible to hear each other. By the time the train reached the penultimate stop, Berlin Hauptbahnhof, or Berlin Central Station, Claudia’s head was resting on Alec’s chest, her arms were no longer crushing him. No doubt listening to the rapid beat of my heart, why did I tell her I loved her? I mean, I do, I always have, even when she was with Roger. We had different plans for life and decided it was best to split up, the way I felt about her didn’t change and still hasn’t, but I didn’t want to tell her so soon. If I’ve messed this up again, I’ll never let myself forget it. Alec kissed the top of her head, inhaling the scent of her. Her subtle perfume and traces of shampoo merging to make an intoxicating concoction which made him feel light-headed.

  To attempt to take his mind off Claudia’s close proximity, Alec decided to run through the journey to the embassy in his head, think of routes to take and alternatives if they were spotted. At Friedrichstraße station we’ll take the exit onto Dorothea-Schlegel-Platz, it’s not the main entrance so should be less busy, fewer people to notice me. Thankfully the Germans haven’t installed facial-recognition in their stations. Alec recalled a newspaper article he saw back in the summer about testing being done on a system and a trial being held at Südkreuz station. There was a lot of dissent amongst a population still wary after the monitoring of private citizens done by the Nazi Gestapo and the East-German Stasi. I don’t want to follow the route I took the other day heading towards Becketts Kopf bar – Reichstagufer and then Wilhelmstraße, they were probably tracking me then, so we’ll go the other way, Georgenstraße onto Friedrichstraße, then down to Unter den Linden and across to Wilhelmstraße. It’s a little convoluted but allows us plenty of scope to veer off and re-join the route later if we are discovered.

  Many passengers disembarked at Berlin Hauptbahnhof station, Alec expected this to happen. Berlin Central Station was the largest train station in Europe, with domestic trains to most German major cities including Munich, Hamburg or Cologne and international trains to Warsaw, Prague, Vienna amongst others. He turned to look at the remaining occupants. The carriage was about half full, most seats were taken, and few people were standing. He had been so lost in his and Claudia’s world that he hadn’t noticed the passengers surrounding them either disembark or sit down, they were the only ones standing at their end of the carriage. There was a lot of space around them, their obvious reluctance to separate had been noted by their fellow travellers, as Alec found out. The passengers he saw looking at them had knowing smiles and occasional smirks. He also noticed that several commuters were reading newspapers, with Bild.de being the most popular, and displaying the largest, clearest photo of him on their cover. He took a deep breath and tried to remain calm. He almost told Claudia, but he didn’t want to panic her. No one had stood up and pointed at him shouting “J’accuse”, perhaps they hadn’t made the connection, maybe the hair dye had worked.

  Claudia raised her head, ‘Alec, what’s wrong?’

  She must have felt my breathing change. ‘Nothing, darling, we’re coming up to the station, just psyching myself up.’

  ‘I’m sure we can handle it, it’s not too far to the embassy.’

  Alec felt the train slow, he looked out of the window he could see the double arched Friedrichstraße station approaching as the track curved, with the Fernsehturm, Berlin’s famous television tower, high above it in the background. The train pulled into the station and came to a stop. The doors opened, and Alec and Claudia exited. The station was on Claudia’s normal commute, and she led Alec to the nearest platform exit, the S-bahn line being on the upper level. They held hands, Alec savoured the touch of her skin against his fingers. Concentrate, you old fool. They headed down the steps to the ground level, their pace matching the fellow travellers, not too fast, or too slow. They reached the ground floor, and Claudia directed Alec to the Dorothea-Schlegel-Platz exit. They went through the open doors to the triangular plaza outside. Alec saw the square had been taken over by the annual Christmas market, closed this early in the day. Alpine huts and stalls, their openings shuttered, protecting their wares overnight. Alec remembered taking Sara here two years ago, they sampled the different cheeses, meats, and lebkuchen or ginger-bread, and mulled wine. It wasn’t the biggest or the oldest in Berlin, but they had enjoyed it nevertheless. Sara didn’t come to Berlin last Christmas, she was touring Canada during her winter break with fellow students instead. Alec was loathe to go to the market alone, so decided to stay at home instead. However, after the lorry attack at the Christmas Market at Breitscheidplatz. Alec went to Berliner Weihnachtszeit at Alexanderplatz when they reopened a few days later, along with what felt like at the time, the rest of Berlin, in a show of solidarity with the city. Alec’s reminisces were cut short when he saw two Polizei officers come from the right-hand side of one of the Christmas market huts at the side of the plaza, stopped and looked directly at Alec and Claudia. They were forty metres away.

  ‘Claudia, I think we’d better get out of here.’

  They headed left from the station entrance and crossed over the road past the taxi rank. They walked down Georgenstraße, maintaining a steady pace. Alec resisted the urge to look behind him, he had heard no shouts of “Halt” from behind him. They reached the junction with Friedrichstraße, and as they turned right to head south towards Unter den Linden Alec risked a glance behind him and saw the two Policemen were following them, now thirty metres behind.

  18

  Alec's heart started to race. Shit, they’re too close. I was hoping for more of a lead. They’ll outrun us for sure. He looked ahead
and saw the yellow tram pull up to the Friedrichstraße tram stop.

  ‘Quick Claudia, the tram.’

  They ran, still holding hands, to reach the doors before they closed, and the tram would move on. Only ten metres, but several people were getting off blocking the doors. Alec pushed his way on to the tram, past startled tourists with their backpacks, he dragged Claudia with him. His usual deference on public transport long forgotten. The doors closed behind them as they sat in one of the vacant pairs of seats on the far side of the tram. The tram silently moved off, Alec looked to his right and saw the Police officers on the pavement run past the tram stop looking further down Friedrichstraße for their quarry. The tram turned left onto Dorotheenstraße and Alec, and Claudia breathed deeply. Alec kissed Claudia on the lips.

  ‘That was exciting,’ he said.

  His relief was short-lived when he saw on the electronic journey map that there was only one stop before the tram would loop back and reverse its journey and return to Friedrichstraße. He pressed the bell for the tram to stop at Universitätsstraße.

  ‘We have to clear this area quick it’ll be flooded by police soon, and no doubt the Russians will be listening to the police channels too,’ Alec said. ‘Okay, if we turn on to Universitätsstraße and then cross Unter den Linden to Behrenstraße that’ll take us to the south side of the embassy. If we need to we can keep heading south and make our way around, Französische Straße has plenty of places we can hide, like that shopping mall there.’ ‘Galeries Lafayette? You could buy me a ring!’ Claudia laughed.

  ‘Not a hope in hell, my love.’ Alec said gently. He added a wink when he saw her face drop. ‘Let’s get to the embassy safe before you start making wedding plans and choosing colour schemes.’

  The tram stopped just before the junction with Universitätsstraße, and they got off. Holding hands, they turned right on to Universitätsstraße, they walked along the Department of Social Sciences building on the right-hand side down to Unter den Linden. Alec thought he could hear the faint sound of police sirens coming from where they had been. Within a minute Alec and Claudia came to the wide thoroughfare of Unter den Linden, the Humboldt University of Berlin behind them to the left. They crossed the road quickly, stopping in the central reservation alongside the tall bronze statue of Frederick the Great of Prussia on horseback and waited for a break in the traffic. To their left, they could see the tourist hotspots of the Berliner Dom and the Fernsehturm in the skyline. When the traffic was clear they crossed to the other side and instead of heading west towards the Wilhelmstraße and the embassy, they turned east, and then south when they reached Bebelplatz, the large square infamous for being the site of one of the Nazi book burning ceremonies in 1933. Around twenty thousand books were burnt there for being “un-German”, including works by Karl Marx, Albert Einstein and many others. To the couple’s left was the State Opera house, to their right was Humboldt University Faculty of Law and ahead of them was St. Hedwig's Cathedral.