Crossroads

by Blake Haugen

  The idea was more than growing on Persephone. Living with Vanya for the summer had made her happy and brought peace to her hectic schedule. He’d kept his promise to fill her in before any sudden changes and was less overbearing in public. In a word, he’d been perfect. She would make this the best damn vacation ever if she could get through the logistics.

  Little details were piling up and there were only six days before they left the country and ten days until Vanya’s actual birthday. She’d bought the plane tickets for herself, Vanya, and Max. Vanya was loath to travel overseas without Max since he’d been attacked in Russia several years ago. Not wanting Max to have to sit around in Madrid and just watch them, Persephone had invited Yulian along via e-mail. He’d replied immediately and booked a flight that left a few hours after hers. He was ecstatic at the prospect because of a physics conference in Barcelona he’d read about recently. Yulian’s adamant interest had surprised her; it was easy to forget that he wasn’t just a handsome, hard clubbing rich boy. When she commented on the fact that he didn’t speak Spanish, he simply reminded her that Catalan, not Spanish, was spoken in Barcelona, and that the only languages spoken at the conference would be math, science, and nerd.

  Just the previous day, Persephone had realized that if Yulian was taking some time away in Barcelona, then she should invite the girls along as well. She’d gotten to know Sophie and Eva over the past year and was friendly with them. They had excitedly agreed to come and Persephone spent the morning helping them make last minute arrangements. She knew Vanya enjoyed the girls’ company and a “family” trip would make the surprise all the more exciting. Lina and Austin weren’t able to travel on such short notice and certainly not for the two-week timeframe she’d had in mind. Mikhail had opted not to go on the trip several weeks ago.

  Frankly, Persephone was glad for Mikhail’s absence. She’d needed his help to clear Vanya’s schedule for two weeks and had been communicating with him every so often for the last few months. It was enough communication between the two of them for a lifetime. Although his disdain for her had cooled and he appreciated what she was doing for his cousin, he was still dismissive of her. Even Kirill had made a better effort to be friendly. Mikhail just acted like she wouldn’t be around for long. She’d thought he might spoil the surprise just to piss her off, but Mikhail had kept quiet. The worst threat to the big shebang was herself.

  It was becoming harder not to tell Vanya. Plotting the surprise had been achieved during her lunch breaks at work and hair appointments at the beauty shop. It would be rude to plan when hanging out with Finn. Other than that, Persephone was almost always with Vanya. She wanted to see the happy look on his face at that very moment. It was funny; she’d always been good at keeping secrets, but when she was giving a present, she had the patience of a child.

  Persephone printed out the receipt of the hotel confirmation, leaving a copy for the trip and another for her records at home. After stuffing a copy in a folder, she headed out the door. She planned to meet Sophie to pass off some euros she had ordered in exchange for dollars. Persephone had ordered extra and concluded there was no reason for both of them to pay exchange fees. Sophie and Eva would be a day late. They would stay on a different floor since they’d decided to join the trip later than the others. Persephone smiled as she stepped out of the building and made her way down the busy sidewalk; things were finally falling into place. In six days, she’d leave for Europe.

  ☐

  Vanya sat in the upstairs office of the jewelry shop with Sophie and Yulian. They had been poring over paperwork all Saturday morning and it was nearly noon. He wanted to leave desperately. It was the first weekend he and Persephone weren’t on duty at the firms where they were serving as summer associates. His plan to love on her all morning and then go out for Pad Thai had been ruined when he received a call from Yulian asking for help with inventory. Not wanting to be accused of shirking his responsibilities, he’d unwillingly left his warm bed.

  “Alright, you guys, I need to run an errand and get us some food,” Sophie said, rising and stretching. “I’ll be back in a few minutes.” She gathered her things and then opened a drawer to take out an envelope that she shoved inside her purse.

  Vanya’s interest was piqued. He’d come across the envelope earlier while rifling around for some paperwork. It was the reason he knew that it was full of cash. It had struck him as strange for Sophie to keep cash around the shop in such a manner.

  “Hey, that sounds like a good idea. I’ll go with you,” Yulian chimed in.

  A look of frustration flashed across Sophie’s face. “No, I don’t need you to come with me. It’s okay.”

  “Nah, I want to go. I’m hungry. The less you have to carry, the faster you’ll get back,” Yulian insisted.

  “Okay,” Sophie replied, giving in with a grunt.

  Vanya knew something was up. Sophie was always nagging them about sending her out for food. She’d called them bums more than once. Now she wanted to go out alone? Sophie was a great many things, but the girl had no guile. She was clearly annoyed with Yulian for volunteering to accompany her. Vanya decided to find out what she was up to.

  “Well, I want to go too then,” he said, getting up as well.

  “No!” Sophie said quickly.

  “Excuse me?” he questioned.

  “I mean… who’s going to watch the shop?” she added awkwardly.

  “Umm, Eva and everyone else downstairs. Plus, Max is here anyway. Nothing’s going to fall apart if we go to lunch with you,” Yulian answered. He looked at her sideways.

  “Fine,” Sophie sighed. She walked ahead of them out the door.

  “What the hell is up with her?” Yulian asked.

  “I’m not exactly sure.” Vanya scratched his chin. Something was definitely up.

  Vanya and Yulian followed a somewhat tense Sophie down the street. She texted on her phone frantically and insisted on going to a little bistro a few blocks away from the shop. They took a seat near the middle of the restaurant while she ordered their takeout. Vanya observed her frequent glances at the bistro’s entrance. No sooner than Sophie finished the order did Persephone walk through the door. Vanya sat up at the interesting turn of events. He ignored the quick, fretful look Sophie gave in his direction and kept his eyes on his woman.

  Unruffled and cool, Persephone feigned surprise at running into him and his friends. The only reason he knew her arrival wasn’t happenstance was because of Sophie’s anxiety. Persephone sauntered up to Vanya and Yulian, smiling all the while.

  “Well, fancy meeting y’all here! I guess you’re stopping by for lunch? How’s inventory going?” Persephone was completely casual. She leaned down to give Vanya a quick kiss and ran her fingers through his hair. He took her hand in his and began his inquisition.

  “Hey, babe. Were you planning on meeting Sophie here?” he asked outright. Vanya never took his gaze from her practiced face while he rubbed his thumb over the pulse point in her wrist.

  “Yeah, you know, just girl time stuff,” Persephone replied easily. “It’s kind of hot out there. I’m gonna go freshen up a bit in the restroom. I’ll be back in a sec.” She gave his hand a quick squeeze, slipped away from him, and made her way to the back of the small restaurant. Sophie followed behind her, declaring she had to use the bathroom as well. When she was out of sight, Vanya turned on Yulian.

  “What is going on with those two? Sophie started acting weird when we decided to go out with her, and then Persephone just showed up out of nowhere. Now they’re using the bathroom together like this is junior high or something.”

  “I don’t know, man. Chicks are weird. They’re probably deciding something. I don’t know,” Yulian averted eye contact while he sipped on the straw of his soda. Vanya zeroed in on his cousin’s avoidance.

  “Do you know something I don’t?”

  “No,” Yulian answered too quickly. Vanya glared at him, waiting for another denial. Yulian sucked on the straw and ducked his head a
s if he was trying to hide behind it. When he raised his head, Vanya was still glaring at him intently.

  “What?! I don’t know anything!”

  Before Vanya could press further, the girls emerged from the bathroom. Vanya then glimpsed through the shutting door and realized that the bathroom had no stalls. Persephone and Sophie weren’t that close; they were busted. He wasted no more time when they made it back to the table.

  “Alright, what’s going on?” Vanya demanded, eyeing them closely.

  “What’re you talking about, Gigantor?” Persephone asked indulgently. She looked at him as if she really had no idea what was going on. Vanya was galled by her capacity for deceit. Persephone looked genuinely confused. He changed tactics and turned on Sophie.

  “Is that envelope of money still in your bag?”

  Sophie’s round blue eyes widened, and for a few moments, she was at a loss for words. When she composed herself, she answered with a question, trying not to look caught in the act. “Why are you looking in my bag?”

  “I didn’t. I saw you put it in there back at the shop. Don’t deny giving it to her – your bag is unzipped.”

  Persephone chose that moment to come to Sophie’s aid. “So, she probably unzipped it when she paid for the food. Besides, she could have been giving me a tampon.”

  “You’re not on your period. Why would you go to her for money? Why wouldn’t you come to me?”

  “Wow, thanks for outing my menstrual cycle to everyone. Did you think maybe Sophie needed one?”

  “Yeah, right, you came all the way over here to give her a tampon. Give me a break.” Vanya felt himself losing patience. This was no longer intriguing; it was infuriating.

  “Dude, Vanya, really, it’s okay. I think it’s just some girl stuff,” Yulian commented, trying to appease him. Vanya looked between the three of them and then settled on Persephone.

  “Are you pregnant?”

  “What! No!” she exclaimed, flabbergasted. “How could you possibly come to that conclusion? Where does that even come from?”

  “You’re acting suspiciously, showing up at a sandwich place to exchange cash money with Sophie in the middle of the day, and you’re trying to cover up lie after lie. Sophie’s sweating like she stole something, and Yuli is hinting at ‘girl stuff.’ Tell me what is going on right now, or so help me, I will beat it out of him,” Vanya fumed and jerked his thumb in Yulian’s direction.

  “Tell him!” Yulian pleaded immediately. He knew it was no idle threat.

  “Alright, alright,” Persephone held up her hands, “we surrender.”

  “Well?” Vanya looked down on her expectantly. He’d stood up to his full height, trying to intimidate them all into giving up their precious secret. He couldn’t help it; if something was wrong, they should have come to him. Persephone should have come to him. He tried to ignore the pang of betrayal in his chest.

  “Surprise. We’re taking you on a trip for your birthday.” Persephone broke into a huge grin.

  “Correction,” Sophie cut in, smiling, “she’s taking you on a trip for your birthday. We’re just coming along for the party. Persephone has done an excellent job of planning everything.”

  Well, well, well, he thought, grinning. Persephone must have been planning this for a while. If she was planning a trip, then all the other birthday plans he’d arranged were out the door. Vanya had never had a surprise party before. He was suddenly consumed with the need to know all about it. “Where are we going?”

  “Ma –”

  “Ah, ah, ah!” Persephone snapped her fingers and cut Yulian off. “The cat’s not completely out of the bag. That’s for us to know and you to find out.”

  Persephone raised her eyebrows with a mocking, impish smile. She looked so damn cute standing before him in a sleeveless, scoop neck flare dress. How did she manage to be cute, sexy, and professional all at once? Though the cotton fabric was a plain khaki color, it had stretch that accentuated her round, bouncy breasts. Starting at the waist, five pencil-thin black lace ribbons lined the dress and tied in with the sheer black flats that adorned her feet. A delicate gold necklace with a small emerald pennant drew his eyes to her cleavage. One of her hands clutched a tote, the other sat firmly on her hip, telling him there was no way he was going to get this secret out of her. Vanya opted for the next best thing; he wiped the satisfied look off her face with a long kiss.

  ☐

  Five days before his birthday, Vanya returned home from the last day of his internship to find that Persephone had stashed significant amounts of their clothing somewhere. She refused to answer any questions about his missing luggage or give any information about vacation locales that started with the letter “M.”

  “Morocco?” Vanya had asked.

  “Nope.”

  “Madagascar?”

  “Nuh uh.”

  “Marrakech?”

  “No. Anyway, technically speaking, that’s in Morocco.”

  “Moscow?”

  “Nah, but even if you get it, I’m not going to tell you anything.”

  Persephone had ignored his aggravated sigh and plied him with peanut butter and raspberry jam ice cream sandwiches. The next afternoon, after they finished lunch, she presented him with a brand new small briefcase and told him it was time to go. The dark brown, two compartment, textured leather bag was already stocked with his laptop, sunglasses, passport, and phones. Inside, on its nubuck-lined interior, he found his full name, Иван Кир́иллович Правдин, stitched in hunter green Cyrillic letters. Vanya’s heart beat faster and he cleared his throat. He didn’t want Persephone to hear his voice break.

  “Babe, thank you so much.”

  “Do you like it? I can get it done in another color if you want. The hardware doesn’t have to be silver-tone. They can do gold, bronze, whatever.” Persephone rubbed his arm softly, trying to placate his perceived dislike.

  “Sweetpea,” Vanya spoke after a moment of silence, “it’s perfect. It’s just that no one has done anything like this for me since, um –”

  “Since what?”

  “…Since my mom died.”

  “Oh, Vanya,” she whispered and immediately wrapped her arms around his torso. Vanya responded in kind, embracing her tightly. He knew he was crushing her, but she’d pull away when she needed relief. Right now, he wanted to hold and savor his woman – this wonderful woman to whom he could show his mending heart.

  They stood before the front door, wrapped in one another for several minutes until Vanya’s hands roved over her back and slipped under her navy cardigan. The top of the sleeveless yellow shirtdress Persephone wore was embroidered with little organza florets and he loved the feel of them beneath his fingertips. With no warning, Vanya picked her up and pulled her legs around his waist, pressing her back against the door. She yelped in surprise; in all the time they’d been together, she’d never gotten used to being randomly taken up in his arms. Vanya took advantage and thrust his tongue into her mouth. He rested his lips against hers after she pulled away from their passionate kiss for air.

  “I want to make love to you,” he rasped. The blush in her cheeks told him she was debating the feasibility of the act and he set out to convince her. Persephone’s hands fisted his hair and his crisp, pale blue cotton shirt as Vanya raked his teeth and lips against her neck and jawline. He was encouraged by her mewls and the heat emanating from her pussy. Another minute and he’d have her.

  “Wait!” Persephone panted, turning her head. “We can’t. We have to go. The car is waiting.”

  “Are you sure we have to go on a trip? The only birthday present I need is you. This!” Vanya groaned, buried his face in her neck, and pressed his crotch against hers for emphasis.

  “Meh, you already have me,” she giggled and patted his back.

  Not completely, Vanya thought. He bit back his response and exhaled. A marriage debate was not the way he wanted to start a destination birthday party. Instead, he let her down. She smoothed her d
ress and gathered her large white leather and wicker satchel. Before she could open the door he pulled her back into his arms for one more hug and whispered, “Love you” against her ear.

  “I love you, too.”

  A black town car awaited them in front of his building. A buxom redheaded female driver opened the door for both of them and began their drive once they were seated. She made small talk for a few minutes. During a lull, Persephone closed the partition separating the back compartment from the front. Without ceremony, she began rubbing her palms over his crotch and thighs, massaging as she went along. Vanya felt his hard on returning in full force under her ministrations. When he was at ease, she slivered to the floor on her knees, freed his cock, and took its head in her mouth.

  “Oh, fuck!” Vanya sucked in air. Jolts of electricity sizzled through his torso and settled in his balls. Persephone’s perfectly pink lips formed an “o” shape around his shaft. “Ugh, so good. So fucking good.”

  Vanya struggled for control. His semen wanted to shoot out of his cock at that moment, and it took several deep breaths to relax and stave off ejaculation. He blew out a breath, tilted his head back, and placed his hands in Persephone’s hair. He hummed his delight as she took more of him into her mouth. Vanya looked down when she suddenly pulled her mouth away.

  “Don’t hold back,” Persephone said smiling up at him. “This ride is special. You can be as loud as you want.” With that, she resumed her leisurely suck and twisted her palm over the base of his cock.

  “Percy, oh my god, you’re so good!” he groaned. “Ah, yes, good girl, suck my fucking cock.”

  Her only response was a chuckling hum. As they drove along Vanya tried using her hair to speed her sucking, but she refused. Persephone ignored his manual instruction and maintained her stride up and down his length. After several minutes she began taking his cock faster and deeper into her hot mouth.