"Here is your key mister Creed" the hotel manager said as he handed him the keys to their executive suite "Will you be requiring any special services while you here?".
"We'll have breakfast in our room" Victor answered as he gazed at Aria from the corner of his eyes. She was all over the place and she was in awe of all the beauty around her.
"I shall write that down" the manager said as he looked at his watch at the same time "Will you be needing breakfast right now also?" he asked.
Victor's head snapped back to the manager for just a second as he answered "Yes" and then back to Aria again.
She was slowly walking through the big hotel lobby. Everything was so beautiful. She carefully touched the velvet chairs and found how soft they were. She smiled at an elderly couple who were watching her take everything in. They smiled back genuinely.
"First time here my dear?" the older lady asked.
Aria smiled "Yes madam".
She walked over to some artwork and stared it at. After all that she noticed the chandeliers and she was even more amazed. She stared at the ceiling and almost bumped into some random guy. She quickly apologized but he smiled charmingly, said it was no problem and continued his walk. But not before one more glance at her when he reached the door. She didn't notice and luckily neither did Victor. The chandeliers were holding all of her attention.
The manager had also noticed mister Creed's companion. She seemed a little too young for him but not by many years. Creed looked about 35 and the girl looked to be just 20 or somewhere around that age.
"Will your- uhm- your companion need any special services mister Creed?" he asked quite awkwardly.
Creed put his right hand with the golden ring on it on the desk "She's my wife. And no. Just breakfast".
The manager was visibly embarrassed. Yes he thought that the girl was either a prostitute or perhaps his mistress. But not his wife.
"We will bring breakfast to your room at 9 in the morning and-".
"Make it 10" Creed interrupted.
"Certainly" the manager quickly replied "Tomorrow morning at 10 we shall bring you and your wife your breakfast. Do you have any certain preferences?".
"The usual but add some fruit and yoghurt. Oh, and tea" he grumbled as if asking for tea instantly swept away all his masculinity.
"Alright, your bags have been brought to your suite. So I wish you a pleasant stay and if you need anything, we will be here 24 hours a day".
Aria noticed they were ready to go up so she quickly joined Victor.
"Victor have you seen these chandeliers? They are huge!" she exclaimed enthusiastically.
He nodded "I've been here before. Every single fucking time that I need to do business with the Russians actually".
She smiled "What do we do now?".
"We eat some breakfast. Sleep for a few hours. We will meet with some people I do business with around 3 p.m. and then we have dinner some place. You can choose the place".
Secretly Aria had hoped that maybe they could do something together in Moscow. So she would see something of the city and do something else with Victor than just having sex. Yet, she smiled and didn't complain. She was on the other side of the world in a first class hotel and someone was actually going to bring breakfast to their room. It seemed she had ended up in a Cinderella movie.
"For fuck sake" Victor cursed as he looked at his phone.
They were on their way to the conference center to meet with the people Victor had to do business with.
"What's wrong?" she asked him.
"They are delayed" he grunted as he put away his phone angrily "The meeting has been postponed until 9 p.m.. They're coming to the conference room in the hotel later".
He was visibly agitated and grunted some more. "This is a power game. Delay the meeting a few minutes prior. To let me know who's running things".
"Maybe it's not so bad" Aria replied carefully "Maybe we can do something together now".
He halted their tracks and looked at her "Is that what you want?".
Was this a trick questions? She wondered and didn't answer yet.
Victor looked around. He didn't like Russia. Then again he didn't like any place that wasn't home "You want to walk around this shit hole just for the hell of it?" he asked as he gestured around.
"Shit hole?" she laughed "Are you playing a joke on me again? Look at this. It is beautiful here".
He looked around grumpily "Yeah, well, I guess it has a certain charm to it. And we do have a lot of time to kill now" he looked at his watch and sighed "It's almost 3 p.m. We don't need to be back at the hotel until 9. Tell me what you want to do".
Her eyes widened "I can choose?" she asked.
"Yeah, sure, why not" he shrugged it off.
She thought about it for a moment. She had never been here.
"Let's just walk around a little and look at buildings" she suggested.
He frowned disapprovingly "You want to look at a bunch of building?".
She nodded "Yes, is that weird?".
He shrugged "Looking at buildings is fucking boring. They're just buildings".
Aria started laughing. "What's funny?" he asked as he cocked one brow.
"Just that you said it was my choice. But there seems to be a little 'opt-out clause' in this arrangement".
He chuckled "Fair enough. Buildings it is".
He showed her the Great Kremlin Palace and the Sculpture park. They ate at some place called the Pizza Hut because it was her choice. Though it was definitely not his choice and he reminded himself to never let her choose eating establishments again. She often stopped walking at the most random spots to look at something common and he would have to clasp her hand and pull her along.
"What's that?" she asked when she stopped again to look at some gigantic building which reminded her of a cube.
"Cinema" he answered before grasping her and again and pulling her along.
They had a nice time. Even Victor and his loathing for pointless tourist attractions had to admit to that. But he'd rather kill time by fucking her brains out at the hotel so he wanted to get back in time.
"What's a cinema?" she asked as she walked along again.
"You've never been-" he grunted at his own thoughtlessness. Of course she had never been to a fucking cinema "It's where they show movies on a big screen" he explained instead "We have some time if you wanna try it".
"Yes!" she exclaimed happily.
He grinned. He would make the Russians wait until at least 10, maybe even 11 if he felt like it. Show them who's boss in this business transaction.
"You'll probably like this one" he said as he pointed out a poster on the outside of the cinema.
Aria looked at the poster of a beautiful but dangerous looking woman "Maleficent" she read out loud.
"Maybe we can go outside again tomorrow, into the snow!" she suggested when they entered their suite that night.
"Maybe" Victor had replied. He had other plans for her though. And after breakfast he wanted to get on his jet and fly home.
The business meeting would start soon and he had to get some decent food in her before that. But after that, it would just be them and the hotel suite.
Aria had never seen snow before, only on the television. And she loved it instantly. She tried to remember if she'd ever seen snow when she was a little girl, but she couldn't remember. Victor had explained that it doesn't snow everywhere in winter. So perhaps she used to live somewhere with a warmer climate and no snow. But it would start snowing in Canada soon and Aria couldn't wait.
The hotel in Moscow was scandalously luxurious, especially their suite. Victor explained that they would have some dinner first and then meet with the Russian business-people in the conference room downstairs. They could wait for them now.
Aria looked at herself in the big mirror of their room. She hardly recognized herself. She usually didn't stare at herself in the mirror, she didn't see the use, but now she had to blink several times before realizing it really was her reflection staring back.
"What's wrong?" Victor asked as he came out of the bathroom, wearing a tux.
She carefully bit her lip "Well, I'm afraid that I am, what's that word again-" She thought hard for a second "Overdressed?".
He smirked lustfully as he looked her over. She was wearing a long black dress, the thin material flowing around her, showing every curve. It had an open back, leaving her to feel a little exposed. Also, the red lipstick made her more seductive than ever.
"No" he said as he moved closer to her "You won't be overdressed, trust me. You look fine" he said as one of his talons slowly trace down her bare back.
He groaned in frustration, he could feel himself getting hard just by staring at her. But she had to eat something and so he had to restrain himself which annoyed the hell out of him.
"I wanted to put my hair up like ladies on television but there was too much hair" she sounded disappointed "Maybe I should get it cut some time".
His hand followed the long braid which hung loosely over her shoulder all the way down to her hips "If you want to make me angry, you should do just that" he spoke slowly as his lips lingered along her neck.
"Okay I won't do that then" Aria snickered softly.
He took a deep breath, focusing on the task at hand instead of what he really wanted to do with her right now. "Let's go" he finally said as he removed his lips from her neckline.
The sky bar where they were going to have dinner, was also at the top floor of the hotel. Aria almost couldn't believe her eyes. They were sitting in a beautiful booth next to the window and the restaurant was slowly turning so you could see the entire city.
"You best not stare out of the window the whole fucking night" Victor said as they sat down and Aria instantly scooted over to the window, gazing outside in amazement.
"Of course not" she reassured him as she quickly brought her attention back to him "Cora taught me that when I'm in company, I should focus on my company. So I will simply stare at you the entire night".
He chuckled "I take it back. Stare outside all you like".
"Mister Creed, welcome back!" the waiter greeted him heartily "And you have brought some lovely company too, it is not often that I see you with company sir".
"You've never seen me in company Alexander" Victor greeted him "Good to see you're still running things up here".
"Like a tight ship mister Creed, as always".
"This is Aria" Victor introduced his company "Aria Creed".
"Aah! But of course!" Alexander said as if it suddenly all made sense. He noticed their rings when Aria politely shook his hand, he had never seen a wedding ring on Victor's finger and he never expected such a thing either "Well this is certainly something I didn't expect to witness before my time. Congratulations to the both of you!" Alexander finally said as he handed them the menu cards.
Victor gave it straight back to him "I'll have the usual and thank you".
Aria smiled politely at Alexander "I'd like some tea and I need a moment to look at the menu please".
"Of course" Alexander smiled "So are you here on your honey-".
"We're here on business" Victor quickly interrupted him.
"I see" Alexander concluded "Well, I will leave you to it. I'll be back with your tea soon".
"Thank you" Aria replied.
Victor wondered how much Aria had grasped from that conversation.
"I can't make up my mind" she whispered to the menu card "I think I'm just gonna have what you have".
"You don't know what I'm having" he pointed out.
"I know it will have meat" she grinned at him.
He chuckled "Fair enough".
She put the menu card back on the table "Why did the waiter congratulate you? Is it your birthday? Did I forget that it's your birthday?" she asked with big eyes, afraid she really had forgotten his birthday.
"No, it's not my birthday. I just come here often so he knows me. He congratulated me on my business with the Russians, just a business thing".
"Phew!" she sighed in relief "When is your birthday Victor?".
"It's September 5th".
"Oh, that's a long time from now" she sounded slightly disappointed "But I will remember that".
"Why?" he scoffed "You gonna get me a present?".
"Isn't that what people do on birthdays?".
For a moment he was tempted to tell her that he didn't do birthdays. That it was a petty tradition and that she couldn't get him anything anyway because she didn't have a bank account or money of her own. But luckily for Aria, Alexander came back with her tea and he took their orders.
"Hm" Victor groaned once the waiter was gone "You know what September 5th also is?".
"No".
"It's the day I got you" he grinned wickedly.
Aria giggled a little "Funny".
"I'm serious. I got you for my birthday" he said as he stretched out slowly "So do you wanna know when your own birthday is?".
"I already know. It's the 10th of January" she answered smartly.
He nodded "That's right. I'm surprised you know".
"Well, I have some memories from before they took me. And they are slowly coming back to me more and more" she forced a little smile on her face "So, can I ask you something else?" she quickly changed the subject.
"Go ahead".
"What kind of work do you do? I mean, when you're out, what is it that you do? Or is it a secret?".
"One is a secret" Victor said as he cocked a brow "But not from you. You see, I have two jobs. One is a real job which makes the money and the other one, well, it also makes money but it's mostly pleasure".
She stared at him, a look of expectation in her eyes "Tell me about the secret one" she replied filled with excitement.
He chuckled "It's very simple Aria. Sometimes, I go out and kill someone. For money".
She thought about it for a second, taking it all in. "So, like I did then?" she asked him curiously.
"No, not like you did. I don't really have to fight to do it. Some people hire me to get rid of other people. It's called contracting".
"I see" she leaned forward over the table to whisper "Do you ever feel guilty?".
He scoffed lightly "No. They are no innocents, trust me" he said as he grinned at her "Why? Did you ever feel guilty?".
She sighed and looked at the table for a second. She wasn't sure if she wanted to show Victor this side of her. But she did.
"Not back then" she finally answered him "But now that I'm off those drugs they fed me and my memory is coming back slowly, I sometimes feel bad about it".
He gave her a strange look "Well, not like they gave you a choice. It was kill or be killed, that is life".
She smiled at him, he was right. She would not have done it willingly. But she had had no choice back then.
"So what about your other job? That's the one we're here for right?" she changed the subject again.
He nodded "Many years ago I started a company which builds ships. Very big ones. Mostly cargo ships. Other companies need them for transport and they hire my company to build them. It's turned out to be quite the business".
"That does sound like a really cool job".
Victor cocked his head and as he looked at her, a plan came to mind. Since she felt so useless sitting around the house and she spoke several languages fluently, he could make her his personal assistant. Not that he needed one, but just to keep her close and to make sure there would be no more talks with Jimmy while he was off to work.
"Cora tells me that you feel useless from time to time" he said.
She blushed a little, not wanting to seem ungrateful "A little. I study a lot but at the end of the day I just feel like should've done something of use to someone else. Like I should have a job, as other people do".
"Here's an idea" he offered "You could work for me as an personal assistant. Means you come with me to meetings. I'll give you a job, we'll make up a contract and you'll have your own salary and bank account".
Aria looked super excited all of a sudden, her eyes big as tea cups "That sounds really good!" she exclaimed "I would love that" but then she bit her lip "Although I have no idea what a personal assistant does".
Victor smirked, he liked the idea of her traveling with him "You speak several languages fluently, I need someone who does that. I do a lot of business in Russia and South America. Sometimes they speak English, but sometimes we need a translator. When they don't speak English, you could be the translator. But now comes to most important part. When they do speak English, I need you to prick your ears. In these business meetings, they often fall back on their own language to consult with each other. That's when I need you to pay attention. I want you to tell me afterwards what they said. And if it something which I should know right away, signal me".
She listened carefully and smiled "I can do that. And of course I'll pretend that I have no idea what they're talking about".
"Very good" he nodded contently as he got up from the table "Make some room, I'll show you some things about my company".
Aria scooted over to the far side and Victor joined her on her side of the booth. For the rest of the night he showed her some papers and the website of his company. He explained about the business meeting they would have later at night as they ate their dinner. She liked the way he talked about his company, with a sense of pride. She liked the idea of him building something from scratch and apparently now the company was huge and successful. And she absolutely adored the idea of having an actual job. She could buy him a birthday present or perhaps something for Christmas. And also something for Cora and Simba of course. They had given her so much. She wanted to do something back.
AN: sorry for no lemons, next one will have sexy time ;-)
