Thomas - Place Your Hand In My Side
She sat at her dressing table and stared into the mirror, searching; looking deep into the glass and trying to predict the future.
She loved him, of that she was certain, and she believed he loved her. He treated her more kindly than any other man in her life. He opened doors for her. He brought her gifts for no occasion. He rarely raised his voice to her and he has yet to raise his hand to her. Like her ex.
No, she was certain that he could love her, or maybe he already did.
She shook herself out of her reverie and continued setting her hair for her date. Tonight Sergi was taking her to the yacht for a long weekend at sea. Her half-packed bags were on her bed and piles of clothes were strewn about the room, she was having difficulty deciding what to pack.
But soon enough, her bags were sitting by the front door and she sat at the window waiting for the car.
As soon as the door opened, she was enveloped in a huge hug and a warm, soft kiss landed on her lips.
"My darling Eleanor, come, our weekend awaits."
"Ah, Sergi, you spoil me."
"As well as you should be."
Within minutes, they were ensconced in the back of Sergi's diplomatic limousine, her bags in the trunk, on the way to the marina.
***
He liked her, of that he was certain; which made her mission less complicated. She had never been with a man so attentive and kind. He opened doors for her; he listened to her thoughts, no matter how strange. He was intelligent and loved to debate with her without getting angry, or upset with her if she disagreed. Jack was always a gentleman and she had not expected to find him attractive. The picture she had been show did not do him justice.
And she was beginning to think of him as more than a mission. She resisted liking him for a long time, but she found herself looking forward to their next meeting.
*** Meeting Sergi was a complete fluke, she told herself. David Chamberlain had invited her to an Embassy party when his girlfriend was sent out of town for her job. Dave was a great boss at the State Department, and she jumped at the chance to hobnob with the wealthy and important. Dave's girlfriend even lent her a dress for the occasion.
The party was more than Eleanor had expected; she was completely out of her element and loved it. This farm girl from Missouri had never even been to a formal dance before, and now she was dancing with foreign dignitaries. She felt like Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty and every other fairy tale princess in her sequined blue dress and sparkling fake jewels. She danced every dance and ate fine, gourmet food, most of which she didn't recognize, and drank champagne as if it were water. It was a magical night.
She had noticed Sergi watching her during the night and he eventually asked her to dance. He was not the most handsome man in the place and probably 10 years her senior, but instantly she felt as though she knew him. He made her laugh and she danced the rest of the night with him. He told her that he was a clerk at the Russian Embassy; this made her uneasy at first because he was "the enemy". But as the night wore on, she thought less of that and more about him. He asked for her phone number at the evening's end and she did not hesitate to give it to him.
***
She was ordered to become part of his life and if truth be told, it wasn't that hard. He liked her, she loved the attention and he treated her like a queen. Not bad for a daughter of a Leningrad policeman and a seamstress.
Her father had never shown any of them much affection; so at first she thought that Jack's emotions made him weak, vulnerable. She would scoff at him and ridicule him in her mind and to her superior, Khasinau. They would openly question his masculinity. However, the first time he kissed her she was astonished by that emotion and wondered if she had been completely wrong about this man.
And she wondered when he would kiss her again.
***
Sergi called her within days, and called her often. She began to recognize the ring on the phone when he called and soon every time the phone rang, she hoped it was him. He sent her flowers at work and took her for nice dinners. He even took her to her first opera.
After she had been seeing Sergi for several months, Dave called her into his office with a meeting with Mr. Townsend of the CIA. She thought she was asked into the meeting to take notes, as any good assistant would do; but little did she know.
"Ms. Mercalli, I understand that you have begun seeing someone from the Russian Embassy on a personal level. Is my information correct?" Mr. Townsend was a balding, middle-aged man with a very dour face; and he made her completely nervous.
"Yes, Sergi Bakul. He's a clerk at the Embassy." She tried to meet his eyes, but they were trained on the file he was holding. She wondered about what information that folder held.
"How did you meet him?" he asked without raising his head.
"At the Polish Embassy party two months ago." Mr. Townsend checked off something in the file. "I went with Mr. Chamberlain here as a substitute date because his girlfriend was out of town. Sergi asked me to dance and he made me laugh. Is something wrong?" She was getting a bad feeling about this whole conversation.
"Would it surprise you, Ms. Mercalli, if I told you that Sergi was not a clerk at the Embassy?" he asked, this time staring intently into her face. She wished at that point he were looking at the file because her jaw was hanging open with shock.
"No, yes, I mean why would he lie to me? What does he do?" She could feel herself getting red and her eyes moistened. She shifted nervously in her seat and looked to Dave for some reassurance. He looked a bit taken back himself and simply shrugged.
"Sergi Bakul is a known KGB operative. What he's doing in the US and with you we've yet to determine. But we'd like your help. Your Country needs your help Ms. Mercalli. Will you help us?"
"I'm not with the CIA. I'm just an executive assistant with the State Department. What could I do, I have no training?" She was really doubtful that there was anything she could do that would help. Besides, Sergi was nice to her, he liked her and she liked him. He had never asked her to do anything against her country. She was sure that he never would, she knew him and knew that he was falling in love with her. And if she were to admit it, she was falling in love with him too.
"Well, Ms. Mercalli, we'd like to give you a little bit of training first, then we'll get into the specifics. I've arranged for you to come to our facility starting tomorrow, for about a week. Are you up for this?" Mr. Townsend perked up when he started talking about training. David nodded with his consent.
"What kind of training would I be doing? I refuse to use, or carry a gun." She leaned forward and tried to look intimidating to prove her point. She failed miserably.
"We will not be training you for the use of firearms, ma'am; nothing like that. You'll just learn to cover your tracks, to look for evidence against the United States, nothing difficult. In fact, you'll probably enjoy it."
"But what about Sergi? I can't hurt him, he's treated me so well and I like him." Mr. Townsend again looked at her, and through her, and slowly shook his head.
"We're not asking you to hurt him, just watch and listen. We have no plans to prosecute Sergi for anything. We're just providing a counterbalance. Again, we're just asking you to watch and listen, that's all." He was standing now and looked very convincing. Eleanor had doubts, but she would listen.
So they trained her to watch and remember and to take pictures of documents without detection. They promised her that Sergi wouldn't be hurt, wouldn't even find out and she would help the United States and be a patriot.
***
She looked at the information that Khasinau had given her and didn't understand. This was a threat to Russia, this mousy little girl? She almost dared to question this one and Khasinau read it in her eyes. She paid with a backhand to her cheek. He explained that this mousy little girl was compromising one of KGB's best. The operative was becoming soft because of his feelings for this girl. This would not be tolerated.
***
The yacht was not his, he explained, he just borrowed it from a friend for the weekend, just for her, just for them. They were to sail out first thing in the morning up the coast, after spending the night moored at the marina
He had a simple, yet elegant, dinner waiting for them under the stars. For desert he fed her strawberries and cream. When he touched her, she forgot everything, including her name, only wanting to be in his arms forever. They made love in the stateroom to the ebb and flow of the tide; the salty smell of the sea blowing in through the open porthole.
The pale light of dawn streamed through the windows and they woke to a woman in black pointing a gun at them.
"Why are you doing this?" he asked. When the woman would not answer, he asked again in Russian.
"Because you are weak, she makes you weak, and Russia does not need weakness," she returned.
"Sergi, what is going on?" Eleanor asked, huddling close to him, trembling with fear.
"It's ok, sweetie. It's just a little business." He tried to calm her but his eyes betrayed his concern. He sat up against the headboard, moving his right hand slowly under his pillow, hoping to avoid detection.
"She has betrayed you. Because of her, secrets have been given to the enemy and you were too blind to see. Put your hands where I can see them, Sergi," Irina commanded in her native tongue.
Sergi raised his hand and pulled the trigger at the same time. Irina's shoulder jerked back and she fired. Sergi looked down to see a red blossom appear on the white sheet next to him, and in slow motion he turned, and saw Eleanor slumped against his arm. He yelled in horror and turned back to Irina as she pulled the trigger once more. The force of the bullet knocked him back and then forward, slumping over on top of Eleanor's still body.
Her shoulder throbbed, warm stickiness traced down her arm. She knew Khasinau would not be happy that Sergi was dead, but it was self-defense. She reacted as she had been taught; if she had not fired, she would be very still in that chair at the end of the bed.
She made her way back to the hotel to check in and get medical attention.
***
When he saw her he pulled her into his arms, enveloping her in warmth. The pain lessened as he kissed the bruise on her cheek. She felt. And it made her feel amazingly strong.
She sat at her dressing table and stared into the mirror, searching; looking deep into the glass and trying to predict the future.
She loved him, of that she was certain, and she believed he loved her. He treated her more kindly than any other man in her life. He opened doors for her. He brought her gifts for no occasion. He rarely raised his voice to her and he has yet to raise his hand to her. Like her ex.
No, she was certain that he could love her, or maybe he already did.
She shook herself out of her reverie and continued setting her hair for her date. Tonight Sergi was taking her to the yacht for a long weekend at sea. Her half-packed bags were on her bed and piles of clothes were strewn about the room, she was having difficulty deciding what to pack.
But soon enough, her bags were sitting by the front door and she sat at the window waiting for the car.
As soon as the door opened, she was enveloped in a huge hug and a warm, soft kiss landed on her lips.
"My darling Eleanor, come, our weekend awaits."
"Ah, Sergi, you spoil me."
"As well as you should be."
Within minutes, they were ensconced in the back of Sergi's diplomatic limousine, her bags in the trunk, on the way to the marina.
***
He liked her, of that he was certain; which made her mission less complicated. She had never been with a man so attentive and kind. He opened doors for her; he listened to her thoughts, no matter how strange. He was intelligent and loved to debate with her without getting angry, or upset with her if she disagreed. Jack was always a gentleman and she had not expected to find him attractive. The picture she had been show did not do him justice.
And she was beginning to think of him as more than a mission. She resisted liking him for a long time, but she found herself looking forward to their next meeting.
*** Meeting Sergi was a complete fluke, she told herself. David Chamberlain had invited her to an Embassy party when his girlfriend was sent out of town for her job. Dave was a great boss at the State Department, and she jumped at the chance to hobnob with the wealthy and important. Dave's girlfriend even lent her a dress for the occasion.
The party was more than Eleanor had expected; she was completely out of her element and loved it. This farm girl from Missouri had never even been to a formal dance before, and now she was dancing with foreign dignitaries. She felt like Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty and every other fairy tale princess in her sequined blue dress and sparkling fake jewels. She danced every dance and ate fine, gourmet food, most of which she didn't recognize, and drank champagne as if it were water. It was a magical night.
She had noticed Sergi watching her during the night and he eventually asked her to dance. He was not the most handsome man in the place and probably 10 years her senior, but instantly she felt as though she knew him. He made her laugh and she danced the rest of the night with him. He told her that he was a clerk at the Russian Embassy; this made her uneasy at first because he was "the enemy". But as the night wore on, she thought less of that and more about him. He asked for her phone number at the evening's end and she did not hesitate to give it to him.
***
She was ordered to become part of his life and if truth be told, it wasn't that hard. He liked her, she loved the attention and he treated her like a queen. Not bad for a daughter of a Leningrad policeman and a seamstress.
Her father had never shown any of them much affection; so at first she thought that Jack's emotions made him weak, vulnerable. She would scoff at him and ridicule him in her mind and to her superior, Khasinau. They would openly question his masculinity. However, the first time he kissed her she was astonished by that emotion and wondered if she had been completely wrong about this man.
And she wondered when he would kiss her again.
***
Sergi called her within days, and called her often. She began to recognize the ring on the phone when he called and soon every time the phone rang, she hoped it was him. He sent her flowers at work and took her for nice dinners. He even took her to her first opera.
After she had been seeing Sergi for several months, Dave called her into his office with a meeting with Mr. Townsend of the CIA. She thought she was asked into the meeting to take notes, as any good assistant would do; but little did she know.
"Ms. Mercalli, I understand that you have begun seeing someone from the Russian Embassy on a personal level. Is my information correct?" Mr. Townsend was a balding, middle-aged man with a very dour face; and he made her completely nervous.
"Yes, Sergi Bakul. He's a clerk at the Embassy." She tried to meet his eyes, but they were trained on the file he was holding. She wondered about what information that folder held.
"How did you meet him?" he asked without raising his head.
"At the Polish Embassy party two months ago." Mr. Townsend checked off something in the file. "I went with Mr. Chamberlain here as a substitute date because his girlfriend was out of town. Sergi asked me to dance and he made me laugh. Is something wrong?" She was getting a bad feeling about this whole conversation.
"Would it surprise you, Ms. Mercalli, if I told you that Sergi was not a clerk at the Embassy?" he asked, this time staring intently into her face. She wished at that point he were looking at the file because her jaw was hanging open with shock.
"No, yes, I mean why would he lie to me? What does he do?" She could feel herself getting red and her eyes moistened. She shifted nervously in her seat and looked to Dave for some reassurance. He looked a bit taken back himself and simply shrugged.
"Sergi Bakul is a known KGB operative. What he's doing in the US and with you we've yet to determine. But we'd like your help. Your Country needs your help Ms. Mercalli. Will you help us?"
"I'm not with the CIA. I'm just an executive assistant with the State Department. What could I do, I have no training?" She was really doubtful that there was anything she could do that would help. Besides, Sergi was nice to her, he liked her and she liked him. He had never asked her to do anything against her country. She was sure that he never would, she knew him and knew that he was falling in love with her. And if she were to admit it, she was falling in love with him too.
"Well, Ms. Mercalli, we'd like to give you a little bit of training first, then we'll get into the specifics. I've arranged for you to come to our facility starting tomorrow, for about a week. Are you up for this?" Mr. Townsend perked up when he started talking about training. David nodded with his consent.
"What kind of training would I be doing? I refuse to use, or carry a gun." She leaned forward and tried to look intimidating to prove her point. She failed miserably.
"We will not be training you for the use of firearms, ma'am; nothing like that. You'll just learn to cover your tracks, to look for evidence against the United States, nothing difficult. In fact, you'll probably enjoy it."
"But what about Sergi? I can't hurt him, he's treated me so well and I like him." Mr. Townsend again looked at her, and through her, and slowly shook his head.
"We're not asking you to hurt him, just watch and listen. We have no plans to prosecute Sergi for anything. We're just providing a counterbalance. Again, we're just asking you to watch and listen, that's all." He was standing now and looked very convincing. Eleanor had doubts, but she would listen.
So they trained her to watch and remember and to take pictures of documents without detection. They promised her that Sergi wouldn't be hurt, wouldn't even find out and she would help the United States and be a patriot.
***
She looked at the information that Khasinau had given her and didn't understand. This was a threat to Russia, this mousy little girl? She almost dared to question this one and Khasinau read it in her eyes. She paid with a backhand to her cheek. He explained that this mousy little girl was compromising one of KGB's best. The operative was becoming soft because of his feelings for this girl. This would not be tolerated.
***
The yacht was not his, he explained, he just borrowed it from a friend for the weekend, just for her, just for them. They were to sail out first thing in the morning up the coast, after spending the night moored at the marina
He had a simple, yet elegant, dinner waiting for them under the stars. For desert he fed her strawberries and cream. When he touched her, she forgot everything, including her name, only wanting to be in his arms forever. They made love in the stateroom to the ebb and flow of the tide; the salty smell of the sea blowing in through the open porthole.
The pale light of dawn streamed through the windows and they woke to a woman in black pointing a gun at them.
"Why are you doing this?" he asked. When the woman would not answer, he asked again in Russian.
"Because you are weak, she makes you weak, and Russia does not need weakness," she returned.
"Sergi, what is going on?" Eleanor asked, huddling close to him, trembling with fear.
"It's ok, sweetie. It's just a little business." He tried to calm her but his eyes betrayed his concern. He sat up against the headboard, moving his right hand slowly under his pillow, hoping to avoid detection.
"She has betrayed you. Because of her, secrets have been given to the enemy and you were too blind to see. Put your hands where I can see them, Sergi," Irina commanded in her native tongue.
Sergi raised his hand and pulled the trigger at the same time. Irina's shoulder jerked back and she fired. Sergi looked down to see a red blossom appear on the white sheet next to him, and in slow motion he turned, and saw Eleanor slumped against his arm. He yelled in horror and turned back to Irina as she pulled the trigger once more. The force of the bullet knocked him back and then forward, slumping over on top of Eleanor's still body.
Her shoulder throbbed, warm stickiness traced down her arm. She knew Khasinau would not be happy that Sergi was dead, but it was self-defense. She reacted as she had been taught; if she had not fired, she would be very still in that chair at the end of the bed.
She made her way back to the hotel to check in and get medical attention.
***
When he saw her he pulled her into his arms, enveloping her in warmth. The pain lessened as he kissed the bruise on her cheek. She felt. And it made her feel amazingly strong.