Chapter 19: Chapter 19

Maksimillian

Zenovia and I went down by a cable car ride. The stunning view of Brașov City was a memorable one, especially that I had the most beautiful local girl with me, all to myself. We did drink some refreshments at a bar on Mount Tâmpa. We stayed there to take in the beautiful landscapes. We took pictures and videos to document our time there.

Now, I watched Zenovia’s face as she watched the details of the cityscape in this angle. We passed by over thick and dark green conifer trees. The dull yellow and brownish red buildings were so close to each other; their heights varied. Some castle towers with conical roofs looked imposing even at this distance. There were also scattered buildings on nearby hills. I guessed some of them were old fortresses and some establishments or private residences.

Romania was rich, especially historically speaking. It had undergone a lot of wars in the past, and everything was just interesting in my point of view. Its people’s origin was said to be an ethnic mixture, the Thracians with their Geto-Dacian branch and the well-known Romans. Hence, we could obviously see the unique and different features of Romanians even nowadays.

Although the economy is somewhere in the middle, the country had nearly forty percent of population that was at high possibility of being trapped in poverty—thus the reason why many Romanians were expats. They were scattered all over the world, working their asses off to put food on their family’s table.

I helped Zenovia out of the cable car when it stopped. We hailed a taxi to bring us to a Japanese restaurant. I guessed she would want to have something different, so I thought of it.

I was glad she looked excited to try some sushi and other things. She especially loved all the sushi and the shabu shabu (soup with udon noodles, rib eye steak, cabbage, mushrooms and other spices and vegetables).

I was somehow touched when she took pictures of the food we ordered before she helped herself with everything. She also took some pictures of the place, specifically the unique interior design, which had hanging plants near the wall.

To the left side of the restaurant from the entrance, dim white lights were aimed from the floor upwards to the wall where the hanging plants were. On the opposite wall, it had aquarium-like graffiti, with some seaweeds, colourful fish of different types and sizes, and shells. Meanwhile, the rectangular tables were set in three rows to the right of the establishment. However, Zenovia and I took one of the VIP cubicles to the far side opposite the doorway. It was a small square room with an open doorway that faced the main entrance. A table was in the middle, and Zenovia and I sat opposite from each other.

“Let me,” she said when the bill was given to us by a dark-haired girl in her twenties. She had a light makeup on and was mostly staring at me than at Zenovia. But I didn’t mind it. I was already used to women gawking at me even in Russia.

Zenovia took her wallet to pay half of the bill. I gave her a look of disapproval.

“Zenovia, I am the one who’s taking you here—”

“Remember our deal?” she pointed out.

My jaw hung. “This has nothing to do with it,” I protested and ground my teeth. I did my best not to raise my voice.

Zenovia was adamant. She put half of my money back on the table, put hers on the small basket and gave it to the server with a smile, saying her thanks in their language—at least I knew that much. I knew of some Romanian words, but I mainly knew how to speak German, French and English, so that I could use them when dealing with international clients.

“Mulțumesc mult (Thank you very much)!”

“Cu plăcere (You’re welcome),” the woman replied, glancing at me before turning on her heels to leave us.

I stared at Zenovia with an irritated look. “Where do you want to go after this?” I asked instead, trying to make my voice steady.

We both stood up and started to leave the restaurant, with me holding a plastic with a couple of take aways for our dinner. We chose the different types of sushi: hosomaki, nigiri, maki, chirashi, temaki, uramaki and mekajiki.

“I’ll buy something, so you can just go get your rented car in the meantime,” she suggested.

I raised an eyebrow while tapping my fingers unconsciously on the plastic I was holding. Her eyes went there but didn’t comment.

“Where am I going to pick you up?” I queried, recalling that we left the car near where we started to hike.

“Maybe at the Irish pub we went to yesterday?” she told me.

I saw the heat crawl on her cheeks, and she looked away, chewing her inner cheek. I chuckled lightly and caught her small waist. “I’ll see you later then,” I whispered and gave her a peck on the cheek.

She looked around us, slightly embarrassed. However, other people who saw us just smiled and got on with their own business.

***

As I drove the rented car, I noticed my bodyguards following me. During the hike, I instructed them not to bother since I wanted to have Zenovia all to myself. And that was lucky enough. I got time to have sex with her in the woods. It wasn’t I’d normally do, but I couldn’t just resist her.

Now I was looking forward to another night with her.

Aunt Marisha did tease me this morning when she met me in the wide hallway of the hotel when I returned there to change. She was on her way to have her breakfast at the restaurant. She rarely had room service sent up to her suite as she wanted to meet other people. Well, that was her. She loved to socialize, which was a headache for my cousin. She was just a social butterfly.

“Why don’t you check out and just check in to her hotel instead?” she suggested playfully with a grin on her beautiful face.

I took a glimpse of the two bodyguards I assigned for her protection. They wore casual clothes and were discreetly standing in a corner, talking to each other in hushed tones. My aunt glanced at them, and there was a knowing look in her eyes. Okay, she must have already learned these were her security details but just didn’t complain to me.

“I just might do that. Thanks for the advice,” I answered her and went into my room.

I shook my head when I recalled that scene earlier.

Now I scanned the street where I was supposed to meet Zenovia. I wondered where she’d gone to after our lunch.

My hands held the wheel tighter when I saw her near the Irish pub, talking with a man and laughing.

‘Chert poberi! Did she get rid of me in the pretext of fetching my car so that she can be with another man?’