The Dinner
1314 Words
Chapter Four
Gloria’s head was pounding like someone was playing the drums inside her skull. Opening her eyes felt like trying to push shards of glass through her sockets. She wasn’t sure if it was from staying up too late drinking or having the same contact lenses in for two days. Probably both.
She groaned, sat up, and tried to remember last night. The bar… the drinks… and then a fuzzy nothingness.
Blinking a few times, she realized her vision was still garbage. With a muttered curse, she dug her fingers into her eyes and pulled out the contacts. Okay, half-blind was better than pain.
“There are more contacts in your bedside drawer. And two pairs of glasses,” said the voice she knew before she even looked.
“Uh-huh.” She squinted in their direction. Of course it was Viktor. How else could her morning suck this much?
“I called your optician. She made them.”
She shoved a pair of glasses onto her face. Her vision snapped into focus, and she let out a small groan. “Better. Barely.”
“How long have you been planning to kidnap me, by the way? Because I’m pretty sure you didn’t manage all this in a few hours after your last… charming threat,” she said, stretching like a cat.
“One week. I had you under surveillance. Knew you wouldn’t budge,” he said, stepping closer, eyes scanning her like she was a very irritating science experiment. “Why do you always look like… this in the morning?”
Gloria blinked at him, flabbergasted. “Excuse me? I’m supposed to... what?... wake up with perfect hair like a Disney princess?” She tugged at her messy bun. “This is how every woman looks in the morning!”
He tilted his head, studying her. “Are you sure you're not supposed to wake up looking better?”
“Supposed to what?” she shot back, incredulous. “Wake up flawless? Brush my teeth with champagne in my dreams? I mean, really, who taught you manners, or have you never had a girl sleep over in this overly large mansion of yours?”
He raised an eyebrow, not breaking his stare. “You talk too much in the mornings.”
“Wow, thank you for noticing. I try.”
“Besides,” she added, irritation bubbling up as she swung her legs off the bed, “what the f**k are you even doing in my supposed room? I thought this was my private quarters?”
She shot him a glare as she headed for the bathroom, then slowed when she saw it. The bathroom alone looked about the size of her entire New York apartment. But in defense, her apartment was quite tiny.
“Because you almost drank yourself to death yesterday,” Viktor said easily. “And it’s a good thing I’m here. I checked what you wrote. It’s bad.”
She stopped short. “Excuse me?”
“I don’t like how you started the chapter,” he continued, unfazed. “It’s boring. It doesn’t sound like you. You need to start afresh.”
“You snooped through my computer?” Gloria leaned back out of the bathroom doorway, eyes blazing. “What the f**k?” Her gaze dropped to his hands. “And why are you making my bed?”
“Because I bought the computer,” he said flatly. “And because I’ve watched you for over three weeks.”
Her eyebrow c****d up.
“I saw enough to know you don’t make your bed for days,” he went on, smoothing the sheets like this was the most normal conversation in the world. “You leave clean and dirty clothes mixed together on the floor for weeks, and have to sniff them to tell which is which.”
Gloria stared at him, frozen.
“And I’m not going to let you turn my house into that,” he finished.
Her skin prickled.
“God,” she muttered, shaking her head. “You really need help.”
She disappeared back into the bathroom before he could reply, slamming the door a little harder than necessary.
When she came out, the bed was neatly made.
And Viktor was gone.
***
Five(5) Days Later
Viktor had his phone pressed to his ear, fingers digging into his temple as he stared at the disaster on his desk.
Files were everywhere, and papers wereout of place.
He hated it.
He hated this call more.
“There has to be a way to skip this,” he said. “I don’t have time to attend some public circus.”
“You don’t get to skip this,” Ethan said sharply. “The Vice President of the United States is presenting the award himself.”
“So?” Viktor muttered.
“So you cannot send a representative,” Ethan snapped. “When the Vice President hands you an award, you show up. Anything else looks like disrespect. Or worse, suspicious.”
Viktor closed his eyes.
“There’ll be press,” Ethan continued. “A lot of it. Cameras. Questions. This is your official entry into the public eye. If you don’t attend, people will start digging. And you do not want that.”
“I don’t need attention,” Viktor said flatly.
“You do if you want legitimacy,” Ethan shot back. “This is how we build the image. Clean. Respectable. Untouchable.”
Silence stretched.
“And you’re telling me this now?” Viktor asked.
“I’ve been trying to reach you for seven days,” Ethan replied. “All I got was voicemail. Then Logan tells me you kidnapped a writer.” His voice dropped. “Do you understand how badly that could end if the wrong person connects those dots?”
Viktor scoffed quietly. “I’m aware.”
“Good,” Ethan said. “Because you also need a date.”
Viktor stiffened. “No.”
“Yes,” Ethan said calmly. “You don’t show up alone to something like this. Not when there'll be a lot of other powerful people.”
“I’ll bring someone else.”
“No, you won’t,” Ethan replied. “She’s perfect. Young. Intelligent. Harmless. And already under your control.”
Viktor’s jaw tightened.
“She is loud,” he said. “Disorganized. Emotionally volatile.”
“Human,” Ethan corrected. “Which is exactly why she works.”
Viktor stared at the door to his office, irritation simmering beneath his skin.
"I think going alone is better," Viktor insisted.
“Don’t you get it? If you show up by yourself and act how you do, people will hate you! And if people hate you, they’ll dig!” Ethan was exasperated now.
“How do I act? I act normal,” Viktor replied flatly.
“No, you don’t! You act like a socially impaired psychopath! You don’t get cues, you’re blunt, awkward, terrifying; exactly why you need a harmless, likable, human woman there to balance it out.”
“I could bring Veronica. God, I could bring any other woman. It really just cannot be her. She’s crazy!” Viktor shook his head, as if Ethan could see him.
“Veronica? Are you joking? One hour of digging, anyone would find out she was an Italian escort who was arrested for murder, and then magically pardoned. Viktor… everyone connected to you is either a stone-cold killer or a glorified s*x toy. She’s the only ‘normal’ one. And of course she’s crazy, anyone would be after being kidnapped.”
Viktor gritted his teeth. “I’m not having this conversation, Ethan. You’ve made your point.” He disconnected, dropping the receiver with a soft clack.
Gloria.
He hadn’t seen her in five days. How the hell was he supposed to spring this on her?
- Writer
