Judgment in Glass

Chapter 8 - Lucky Bastard

Dragomir Kulic woke up in a mansion that morning. He was utterly confused, wondering if he had taken a drink too many the night before. He did not even drink, not even one bottle of beer.

It was terrible for him, no, not in a health nut type of way. Something dreadful usually happened whenever he lost control of his senses. But guess what? He lost control, anyway. Perhaps all the trauma in his life had made sure he went cuckoo before he even reached his thirty-first birthday. Damn.

He was on a king-sized bed wearing silk boxers. It was a good thing he was not wearing anything else because he might have vomited on himself if he saw pajamas or something like that.

Overall, though, the room was, well, beautiful. Everything was tasteful, in black and white as he would have it if he had decided to spend a lot of bucks on himself. But the money spent on that room, no way even Dragomir could have afforded it.

There was a knock on the door. Dragomir did not know how to react to that, but he did not have to. The door opened, anyway.

“Good morning, sir.”

A maid came in with his breakfast. In bed. Who did that nowadays? Why couldn’t he just get up and cook his own? He could walk.

“Thank you, Beth.” And there it was. He did not know this woman, but her name just rolled on his tongue.

“You’re welcome, sir,” she smiled. It was a genuine one. Dragomir could feel that he was a good boss. Okay, there it was, at least.

He wolfed down his breakfast so that he could get to showering and investigating what the hell was going on. In the shower, he seemed to have an epiphany. He should be wearing a suit, he had to go to work at a specific office, and he had a date.

What the f-, he thought. But Dragomir promised himself that he would get to the bottom of whatever it was that was going on. He was probably slipping into madness. He racked his brain for any such illnesses in the family but could not think of anyone who went nuts unless you could count the druggies.

He checked himself in the bathroom mirror and saw that his beard was neatly trimmed instead of scraggly. He shrugged at that, deciding that it was not bad. Then, he went to his walk-in closet and picked a suit, all in black. As he went through his preparations, Dragomir found himself going from one thing to another. It was like he had established this routine before, in another lifetime. He realized that he was in that alternative life.

As he ran down the steps, he realized that he had a car waiting for him – not his beloved bike. He did not know if he should be excited or displeased. But he could not really be on a motorcycle in what he was wearing at that moment. The black Porsche was gorgeous, Dragomir had to admit. He whistled, letting his hand sweep on its sleek surface.

Oh, what do you know? Though Dragomir had some money, he bet that whatever savings he had in his other life would be a small percentage of what he had in this. He went into the car and checked the GPS settings. He studied the more common locations. Apparently, he had been going to the FBI building almost every day. It was outside of Desiderium, in the city. It was not that far away, about thirty minutes from where he seemed to be living. There was also another familiar address on it, Serafina Todd’s former, affluent mansion. The third common address was a law firm just on the edge of Desiderium, not that far from the FBI building.

What was going on? Had he been stalking her?

Dragomir had managed to grab his briefcase, wallet, and keys as if by instinct. The briefcase had some neatly-packed items in them: file folders, a badge, and a gun.

“Mm. What do you know? Did I end up an FBI agent? What happened to being on the edge of the law?” he muttered to himself. Maybe he was still doing some shady deals because what type of FBI agent owned a car like the one he was about to drive?

He drove towards the building. True enough, after thirty minutes, he was there. Dragomir thought he should have to fake it in his office for the day, but as soon as he entered, he was bombarded with greetings. There were nods and even hollers from other agents.

“Good morning, Agent Kulic!”

He sighed heavily and checked his Rolex. 7:55 am. He was unsure if that was early or late, but he needed to know how to do his job. He found himself taking an elevator to go to the third floor. It seemed natural, even as he turned the first left.

There it was. An office all his own. Wow.

When he was inside, he found himself working through the case files with ease. It was a more leisurely day, relatively. Piles of folders sat on his desk. Tomorrow, however, he needed to go on some field investigations.

By around 11:30 am, his smartphone sounded an alarm. He checked it and saw “Lunch with Rafi” blinking on the screen.

What?

Serafina Todd. Suddenly, memories of Rafina washed over him. He remembered going on dates with her, picking her up at the law firm she worked for and even having s*x with her. It was a pretty vivid flow of memories that made Dragomir’s pants tighten up a bit. He cursed and scolded himself.

Serafina. Todd. Was. His. Girlfriend.

What? What was going on? He slapped himself. There was no way Rafina would agree to such a relationship. She seemed to hate him enough to throw an expensive gift back at him.

But there it was. The alarm seemed to warn him that she was a stickler for being on time. Dragomir found himself rushing to go out of his office. It was lunchtime, anyway. Nobody questioned him when he left the building. It was as if it was natural and acceptable for him to leave at such a time.

The former mercenary set the GPS to the law firm. It should not take long. Ten minutes tops.

He walked towards the entrance with his usual ease.

“Good afternoon, Agent Kulic. Are you here for Miss Todd?”

Oh, so everybody seemed to know what he was there for.

“Yes, I am. I will wait here. No rush.”

The receptionist lifted the landline phone. She was probably calling the upstairs office. Well, not bad. Serafina Todd, a lawyer like her late dad? Whatever timeline this was, it certainly was a wish-fulfillment one. But whose wish was it that was given when the fates had decided to make Miss Todd his girlfriend?

Dragomir settled down on the couch, even grabbing one of the magazines. He idly flipped the pages, not really reading anything. Then, he sensed more than saw Serafina’s arrival.

“Dragomir?” she called, uncertain. She knew something was up. She knew that they were also in an alternative world. Dragomir did not know whether to rejoice or be disappointed. Serafina knew that this world they were in was not the real one.

Wait, did he just think that? How did he know that the brutal life he had left behind was not the alternative one? How would he know which one was real? He pinched himself, really dug in.

But he was still there, and Serafina was staring at him. When he stood up to move toward her, he saw that her hand was also poised over the other arm. That arm was faintly red. She had been pinching herself, as well.

When he was close enough, it was the first time he heard her voice talking to him in a hushed, polite way. Oh, no. Not the fake polite sales clerk one. It was the voice of a confidant. Not quite a lover, but close.

“What is going on?” she whispered. “I saw you were pinching yourself, and I thought -.”

“You are right. I don’t know why the hell I am here. I just knew that I had to come and see you for lunch. I could not believe that you don’t hate me in this life.”

“Well, I don’t hate you, Dragomir. I just don’t like you.”

“Ouch.”

“Well, let us put that on pause. What do we do? What is going on?”

“I have no idea. Everything seems to be going well, to be honest, Rafina. I would rather be here. Well, you don’t have to go through with the relationship part. We could say we broke up.”

“But I need you.”

Dragomir was shocked at the declaration.

“I need someone who knows what is going on. We need to work together to figure out how to get out of this, whatever this is.”

Then, he came crashing down. He did not know why he should care whether Rafina considered him special. They were nothing to each other. Going back to the alternative world would be okay for him. He had money, though he was racked with traumas, which he would not forget anyway, even in this life.

But Rafina had more to lose if she went back. He wanted to remind her of that.

“Rafina, what about your family? You would be back to how you were if you returned.”

He saw her face darkened. He thought that his own eyes had been the most haunted he had ever seen. Rafina’s own, however, were the saddest.