Chapter 21: Chapter 21

Maksimillian

I waited for Zenovia to try on the dresses I thought would look good on her. Well, maybe every dress was going to.

She came out of the thick gold-curtained fitting room to show me. Her two hands were on her waist. Obviously, she was not into this shopping spree at all. But still, she tried to just go along with it to avoid any consequences.

I roved my eyes up and down to appraise her beauty in a light blue backless short lace dress. The hem was about three inches above her knees. The mirror showed me her uncovered back, making me think of her nakedness and her writhing beneath me while calling out my name as if in a litany.

“You look perfect!” I smiled at her with great satisfaction.

My phone suddenly buzzed, so I took it from the left front pocket of my jeans. I saw it was my cousin, who was calling. I immediately wondered what was going on.

I raised an index finger at Zenovia, and she sighed. She marched back to the fitting room where a dozen more dresses waited for her to be tried on. I watched her swaying round buttocks and small waist that I could span with my two hands, until she disappeared behind the gold curtain. That dress was really perfect on her.

“Da, Rurik, chto takoye (Yes, Rurik, what is it)?” I asked him in Russian, eyebrows meeting.

“There’s something you need to know.”

“What?” I almost snapped. It wasn’t like him to drag a subject, unless he had reason for it. In his opinion, that is.

“We… lost a couple of Turkish clients over Chinese steel suppliers. They’re not renewing their contract with us. Our sales will surely plummet next month, and until we find new ones to replace them.”

We were supposed to meet these clients next week. My cousin promised he’d take care of it while I was having my vacation with his mother. We were confident everything would push through then. But now, it all went down the drain.

“What? Chert poberi! (Damn it!) All of a sudden? Those Turkish clients have been with us for years!” I could not believe it. Something must have happened or just came up that they decided to opt for another steel supplier. Good thing about these specific Turkish clients, our contracts always ran two years at a time, not just a year.

“Well, true. But business is business, cousin. You know that too well. The largest steel exporter apparently offered better prices as we all know it, and the Turkish clients decided to go in different direction this time. I guess the temptation is too strong!” Rurik concluded.

I cursed in my head a few times, rubbing my face with my free hand. My cousin suggested some things, which I thought was fine, so I gave him my approval. After all, he was the co-owner of the Frolov-Usmanov Inc. He would want nothing but the success for our company just as I do. We both always did what we thought was good for it. Just that he asked me to do my part as well, which I would despite the fact that I hesitated because of my current predicament with Zenovia.

If I told her I’d go for now and would come back in a few days, would she wait for me and not cancel our agreement? After all, it was already notarized. We were already legally bound by it no matter what.

But what if she wouldn’t get pregnant despite our efforts? It hadn’t occurred to me just yet. ‘Til now. We hadn’t talked about this matter, so I must bring it up to her later.

Just after I finished talking with Rurik, Zenovia got out of the fitting room to show me a dusty green floral print maxi dress—if I was not mistaken, as the salesladies discussed it earlier. The dress had breezy ankle-length maxi skirt, which had mid-thigh high side slits and an elasticized back. The top part of it was elasticized as well, with ruffled and off-the-shoulder straps. The dress brought out her perfect figure and sensuality.

I smiled at her to let her know I loved the dress on her. She protruded her lips as she chewed on her inner cheek again while giving me a semi-hostile look. She still didn’t enjoy this shopping thing with me. Now I wondered what type of new underwear she bought. I would like to check them out if she’d let me. But well, maybe I needn’t to, since she would most probably use them while we’re together.

She went back in and out of the fitting room the next half an hour or so. I didn’t mind waiting though, because everytime she emerged, she looked stunning!

“So, which one are you going to buy for me?” she asked after fitting the last dress, which was a sleeveless beige crochet lace mini dress. It had pierced accents that were eye-catching and had spaghetti straps.

Instead of answering her, I called the attention of the salesladies. Both came up to us, leaving a couple of clients that were still busy checking out some items.

“We’ll take all of these and the shoes, too.” I gestured at everything that Zenovia tried on.

They were both quick to take the items to the cashier, while Zenovia gaped at me as though she’d seen something baffling.

“Y-you…?”

“Yes. I can very well afford to buy you clothes and shoes, so don’t fuss, okay?”

“B-but—”

I held her by the nape and shut her up by kissing her lips. She tried to resist but eventually responded to me, which made me smirk and left her mouth to gaze at her beautiful grey eyes.

“Just stop arguing with me, moye solntse,” I whispered. Our lips were just an inch or so away.

I held her hand and led her to the cashier. The cashier took off the anti-theft tag of the dress that Zenovia wore. The clothes she wore earlier when we hiked were in one of the shopping bags. One of the salesladies helped us out to place the bags in the backseat of my rented car. I gave her a tip for her and her co-worker.

The pretty saleslady in her twenties gave me a wide smile and thanked me, telling us to come back. Well, I doubted it. My shopping companion was not so eager. Besides, she wasn’t from around here, as her real address said in the notarized document. If not, I’d just pull some strings to get it. I did not need to anyway.

“So, you seem busy,” Zenovia commented as the car sped to the hotel where I checked in. She looked at me when I turned my head to glance at her.

‘Oh, is she starting to get curious about me and what I do?’

“Oh, that! My cousin called and told me some serious problem at the company, so we have to send an employee to Finland. Just that I thought I’d better go there myself. While we’re on this matter, I’m letting you know that I’m going to be out of Romania for a few days. Will you be here when I come back, Zenovia?”