The blonde was sitting at the end of the bar. Her phone rang; she picked it up. “Natalie,” she said, eyes fixed on the entrance.
“Hi, it’s Sharon. Danny’s upstairs, at the elevator.”
“Thanks.”
“He just called to say goodnight to our son.”
“That’s nice.”
“I guess. He’s not a piece of shit all the time.” There was a pause. “So…tonight?”
“No. I need to hear from my brother first. I’ll call you. We’ll talk soon.” She ended the call and put the phone in her purse. First, some fun. This one’s younger than my usual.
***
Danny had spent the afternoon reviewing his presentation for the next day’s meeting. He closed his laptop, then he realized he hadn’t eaten since lunch. Slipping on his jacket, he grabbed his phone and moved toward the door. He stopped and checked his reflection in the full-length mirror. Not bad for thirty-eight. He called home to speak with his son as he headed down the hall.
A few minutes later, he looked inside the restaurant. Not seeing anyone from his sales team, he walked in and headed toward an empty table, but stopped when he saw the blonde at the bar, alone. Their eyes met—was she checking him out? As he headed toward her, she looked away. She glanced up when he was standing behind the chair next to her.
“Is this seat available?”
She nodded, then lowered her eyes, staring at her drink.
He sat down and leaned forward to check the line-up of whiskies reflected in the mirrored wall. “Ballantyne’s and soda, on the rocks,” he said to the bartender. A minute later his drink arrived. He picked it up, slowly scanned the room, then turned to the blonde. “I’m Danny.”
“Natalie.”
He thought she looked sad. She made brief eye contact, then turned and had a sip of her drink.
“Would you like another one of those?” he asked, pointing at her glass, almost empty.
She looked up and smiled. “Da, yes please, thank you.”
Danny liked her smile. Her accent intrigued him. He held up a hand and pointed to her glass when the bartender acknowledged him.
“Your cosmopolitan, miss.” The bartender placed her drink on a new napkin, as he picked up her now-empty glass and napkin and left.
Danny glanced at the small suitcase beside her chair. “Your roller bag? Are you going somewhere, or expecting someone?”
She stopped smiling. “Yes, no, and no.” She turned away and took a sip of her drink. “My ass of a boyfriend. I mean… ” She paused, then spit out, “ex-boyfriend. We were supposed to go away for the weekend. He told me to meet him here. I got here early. He came in and told me he was breaking up with me. He didn’t even sit down to tell me.”
“I’m sorry.”
She turned and looked directly at him. “Why do men say they need more time?” She took a big sip of her drink before lowering the cocktail glass to the counter and wrapping both hands around it.
“I don’t know.”
But he did know. Ten years earlier he’d planned to use that same excuse. His girlfriend was much younger than he was and they’d been dating for two years, but he was feeling restless. He liked variety and he wasn’t ready to be tied down. Except she spoke first and told him she was pregnant. Ten years ago Danny considered himself to be an honorable person, so he did the proper thing and married her.
Things had been good in the beginning. He didn’t mind that pregnancy changed her body because it made her incredibly horny. But everything changed once Jacob, their son was born. She was too busy and too tired for sex. He wanted time away, so he asked for an out-of-town sales territory. He worked hard and—after a few years—was promoted to district sales manager. The past ten years had been professionally satisfying, but he wasn’t happy at home.
Neither was Sharon. She accused him of having multiple affairs. He never talked about what happened when he was away on business. Then she got depressed and started drinking. Her mother, the witch-in-law, moved in to look after Jacob, and Danny really hated it when he was at home. But two years ago Sharon sobered up and enrolled part-time in an accounting program at the local college. Then Jacob turned eight and became someone Danny enjoyed spending time with. His next career move would be to head office. He planned to take full custody of Jacob when he divorced Sharon at the end of the year.
Natalie was quiet, staring at her drink, her head slightly tilted. Danny leaned forward and looked at her. “I’m going to order something to eat. Would you like anything?”
She shook her head.
“Do you want to sit at a table, or is this okay?”
“Here is good.”
Danny gave his order to the bartender.
Natalie looked at him. “You didn’t ask to see the menu?”
“Our company has a sales meeting at this hotel every three months. The food here’s good. A steak sandwich with fries is my favorite.”
“Oh. I like a man who knows what he wants.”
Danny wasn’t sure if that was a compliment.
He wasn’t thinking about work, or Sharon, or Jacob. This evening he was happy, enjoying his drink and favorite meal and nodding his head appropriately as Natalie shared her life story. Before she emigrated, she’d been a gymnast in Moscow. She now lived in a small apartment and she had two part-time jobs—fitness instructor during the day and children’s gymnastics coach in the evenings.
He’d noticed she was wearing black leggings and a stylish black tee. “You look very fit,” he said.
“I am.” She looked him in the eye and smiled.
Danny finished eating, Natalie finished her drink, and he charged the bill to his room.
“Danny,” she said as they were standing up, “I need a favor. I used the restaurant’s washroom when I got here but it isn’t very clean. You have a room here, could I use your bathroom, please?”
Danny wondered about her. Dumped by her boyfriend, maybe she was lonely. She was just his type—young, attractive, blonde, and a bit drunk. Danny liked blondes. And the gymnasts he’d watched on TV.
“Of course.”
They were alone in the elevator. The door closed and she turned to face him, but didn’t say anything. The elevator stopped at his floor with a little bounce and she fell against him. She looked up and made eye contact before slowly backing up and stepping into the hall. She followed him to his room and parked her roller bag inside the door. Danny saw her engage the door’s security lock.
While she was in the bathroom, Danny pulled back the bed’s comforter, kicked his shoes under the desk and hung his jacket on the desk chair. He was interested to see what she’d be wearing when she came out of the bathroom.
The door opened. “Danny,” she said, walking toward him, “can I stay here tonight, with you? I’m lonely” She was holding her black leggings and tee in one hand, and wearing only a black bra and black bikini briefs. “Is it okay if I wear this to bed?”
“Of course, of course. Anything I can do?
She dropped her leggings and tee on the floor. She leaned against his chest, put her arms around him and hugged him. She looked up. Their eyes locked. She stretched up and kissed him on the mouth, soft at first, then hard. He kissed back. “You can get undressed,” she said.
***
The morning sun cast soft shadows against the far wall of the hotel room. “You talk in your sleep, you know,” she said.
Danny had just turned off the alarm on his phone; he was awake. Natalie, warm and naked, was snuggled against him. He pushed the comforter off his body, rolled over and stood up. She was still on her side, the comforter pulled up almost to her waist. Halfway to the bathroom, he stopped and turned around. “I do? Did I say anything interesting?” He stood there, naked, watching her watching him.
“Just that you love me.” She lifted the comforter up and over her head, and disappeared under it.
He could hear her giggling as he walked into the bathroom and turned on the shower. Standing under the spray, he leaned his head against the tiled wall. What am I doing? I’m barely awake and I’m presenting in twenty minutes. Last night was amazing, but… A thought occurred to him and he lifted his head. I wonder if she’ll stay?
A few minutes later he knew her eyes were on him as he got dressed. Her big, beautiful, brown eyes. When they arrived at his room the previous night, she undressed him with those eyes, then helped undress him with her hands. It was the best sex he’d ever had.
***
She was waiting for him when he got back to his room after his meeting. She turned off his phone, undressed him, shrugged off her robe and led him into the shower. They had sex in the shower, then on the bed, then put on the hotel robes and ordered room service. While they were eating, his phone alarm went off.
“I need a minute. When I’m out of town I call home every night and talk with my son.”
“I’ll give you some privacy.” She went into the bathroom and closed the door. Three minutes later he knocked on the door and she came out. They walked to the bed and sat down.
“So what did you do today?” he asked.
She must have liked the question. She got animated, bounced on the edge of the bed and turned to face him. “I went to the fitness center. Thanks for leaving me one of your key cards. I did stretches, then cardio, then took a break, then did abs and legs and more cardio, then more stretches. And tomorrow I’ll do upper body instead of abs and legs.”
He’d been to a gym, but not recently; he was out of shape and he knew it. What did she see in him? Maybe she was lonely. Was having sex with him her way of getting back at her ex? Maybe he shouldn’t question what her motivation was.
If he went with her to the fitness center—which he wasn’t going to do—he wouldn’t be able to keep up. As it was, he could barely keep up with her when they had sex. And she liked sex. And last night, just when he thought he couldn’t go again, she told him to close his eyes and she took off her wig. She was a brunette! And they started over. Would tonight be more of the same? He hoped so.
That’s what he was thinking when her phone rang. She walked across the room and retrieved it from her purse.
“Dmitri,” she said, then lowered her phone and turned to Danny. “Sorry, I’ll be talking with my brother in Russian because his English is poor.” She turned around and started speaking, muffled except for the occasional, “Da,” which Danny assumed meant yes. A minute later she ended the call and turned around. “He lives out of town but he’s here Thursday, so we’re meeting for lunch.”
“Hope you go someplace nice.”
She nodded as she dropped her phone into her purse. She walked over to him and nibbled on his ear. “Get naked with me and let’s get back in bed,” she whispered, “but first let’s have a drink.”
“Danny smiled. “Sure, but I need a minute.” He walked past her into the bathroom and closed the door.
When he came back her robe was on the couch. There were two glasses on the table and she was swirling the amber liquid in them, first one and then the other. She picked them up and handed him one. “Scotch, from the minibar,” she said. “But there’s no ice and no soda, just a little water.”
“No problem.”
“Last night you said you’re at this hotel every three months.”
“Yes, our quarterly meetings are the first full weekend of February, May, August and November.”
“Oh, good. Maybe we can do this again, Danny. A toast. To love. That’s lyubov in Russian. Prosti za lyubov.”
He leaned over and kissed her. “I’d like that. And I love it when you speak Russian.”
They locked eyes and clinked glasses, Natalie downed her drink and he did the same. “All of a sudden, I’m exhausted,” Danny said a minute later after he’d put his empty glass on the table.
“You should lie down. Let me help.” She led him to the bed and pulled off the comforter. He sat on the edge of the bed. A minute later he closed his eyes; she lifted his legs onto the mattress and rolled him onto his back in the middle of the bed.
***
“Danny, you’ve been a bad boy. Don’t try to move because your wrists and ankles are tied to the legs of the bed.”
Danny blinked several times. He lifted his head. Natalie was wearing a white Tyvek protective suit and purple nitrile gloves. He tested the restraints. She was right, he couldn’t move his arms or legs.
“You’re not going to cheat on your wife anymore, are you?” She carried her phone and a small package of disinfectant wipes to the side of the bed. He turned his head toward her. “I don’t like leaving DNA or fingerprints. And the suit and gloves are from the lab where I work. I always wear these when I clean up.” She lifted the phone and entered a number.
“Hi, Sharon, sorry it’s late. Danny just woke up. I said I’d call when my brother found the offshore bank account. Well, he found it. He’s made it look like Danny set up a monthly transfer into your account, and you can withdraw the principal when your son turns eighteen. You’ll get a text explaining everything. After you get it take the SIM card out of the phone and destroy it, then pitch the phone.”
There was a pause in the conversation. “You’re welcome. Yes, our fee came out of that account. And thanks for your suggestions. Danny liked the blonde wig and he bought the gymnast story. I spiked his drink so he’s a bit groggy, but he can hear you. He can’t speak because I taped his mouth shut. I’m taking his cash and credit cards, so the cops will think he picked up a hooker and got robbed. I’ll put the phone on speaker and I’ll put it beside his ear so you won’t have to shout. Unless you want to.” She placed a wipe on the mattress and put the phone on it. “Your wife wants to talk to you,” she said and walked away.
“I knew about the divorce, asshole!” Sharon’s angry voice echoed in the room. “No goddamn way were you taking my son. And I knew about the money and all your girlfriends. You underestimated me—I’m not stupid. I found Natalie, didn’t I?” She continued yelling and cursing out her husband.
Natalie wasn’t listening because she’d heard it all before. Cheating husbands had a lot in common; their betrayed wives’ stories sounded similar. Natalie would scare the shit out of most of the men—instant rehabilitation! They’d come crawling home to their wives and never stray again. But she’d done her homework and she knew that wouldn’t work with Danny.
She dropped the wipes in her roller bag and removed a zip-lock bag. She picked up her glass from the table and sealed it in the zip-lock, then took off the Tyvek suit, wrapped it around the zip-lock and put everything in her bag, then took out a towel and her underwear and leggings. The towel went on the end of the bed between Danny’s ankles. She sat on it, fastened the front clasp of her floral bra, and pulled on the matching panties and her black leggings. She put the towel in her bag and took out a black sweater, a forest green windbreaker and black slip-on sneakers.
When she’d finished dressing, she realized the room was suddenly quiet. She walked to the bed, ended the call and put the phone in her pocket. Danny opened his eyes, but didn’t look at her. She went back to her roller bag, cut off another six-inch piece of duct tape, then zipped the bag shut.
“Was I everything you could have imagined?” she asked, walking back to the head of the bed. “Of course, I was. I hate men like you.”
He saw the tape; his eyes were wide with fear. She covered his nose and nostrils, pinching the tape to make sure the seal was airtight. He struggled for a few minutes while she was pulling off the gloves and putting them in her pocket. The color faded from his cheeks, he stopped moving, and she leaned over to check that his pupils were dilated. She took a photo and emailed it to Sharon’s burner phone, then turned off and pocketed her phone.
Grabbing the handle of her roller bag, she headed toward the door but stopped in front of the full-length mirror. She adjusted her blonde wig, smiled at her reflection and turned to Danny one last time. “I’ve got to go, Danny. Prosti. That means sorry. I’m not, but you are.”
by 
James Bryan Simpson
Latest posts by James Bryan Simpson (see all)
- ‘Prosti’ For Love - February 3, 2021
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