Dmitry's Closet (6 page)

     "Fine, but only if you take off tomorrow. You work too hard anyway. People probably think it's me working you, but it feels like the other way around. Just... just hang out with me tonight and spend tomorrow in the bed or doing whatever introverts like you do."

     "Alright," she sighed, giving in. "I haven't been to your restaurant since I was hired. I'm excited. And I never have had a movie theatre stay open just for me. That's pretty cool."

     "You should come over to restaurant more and have lunch or dinner. It will save you money."

     "Okay," Royal said, moving her long hair from her face.

     Dmitry smiled deviously. "You should sit over here with me and let me kiss your lips too," Dmitry said scooting over. He rubbed the leather seat.

     "What?"

     "Just kidding," Dmitry said quickly. "Hey, you were saying okay to everything… had to try."

     They both laughed, but Royal did not move from her seat. In fact, she sat with her eyes directly on Dmitry watching his every move.

     They arrived at the restaurant soon after. Dmitry had arranged for his staff to stay late and cook a huge Russian meal for Royal. The two of them ran out of the rain from the car, while Anatoly pulled the limo to the back.

     They were met at the front door by two red-headed young waitresses, barely in their twenties, dressed in all black and holding menus. As Royal ran in, she stopped amazed at the romantic transformation.

     Dmitry had a single, intimate table set up in the back with a beautiful golden candelabra full of blood-red candles, golden table settings and a large bouquet of red roses. The rest of the restaurant was covered in candles as well.

     Royal turned to Dmitry for an explanation, but he only smiled and escorted her to her seat with his large hand placed carefully at the base of her small back. He sat her down in the seat, pushed her up to the table and kissed her forehead.

     The staff scurried about ensuring that everything was perfect, while Dmitry went behind the bar and brought back two glasses and a bottle of champagne.

     "More Cristal?" he asked, raising the bottle.

     "Dmitry, what is this about? Why could this date not have waited? It's raining cats and dogs out tonight, and you're frolicking around like its noon and sunny."

     "First of all, I do not frolic. I thought that we had this discussion. Secondly, time waits for no man—not even me. This afternoon you agreed to go out. I thought about it all day after. I couldn't even focus on my evening. So, I cancelled. I... didn't want opportunity to pass, and so I came for you. End of discussion."

     "All this for your shop girl?" Royal asked, impressed.

     "My shop girl is best girl that I know."

     Royal appreciated that. Her smiled showed it.

     "What are you thinking about?" Dmitry finally asked.

     "I wonder… how old you are?"

     He laughed. "How old do I look?" He stared in her eyes as he sat across from her.

     "I don't know. I want to say that you're in your thirties."

     "Barely. I'm thirty-nine," Dmitry informed her.

     "That old?"

     "I don't consider that old."

     "Of course, you wouldn't," Royal said, smirking. "So let's flip the script, shall we? Tell me. Why don't you have a family?"

     "I have my reasons—most of them deal with my lifestyle," he looked up at her and paused, stopping his sentence in mid thought. "You and I. We are very much alike, eh?"

     "No, we're not." Royal continued. She could clearly see he was hiding something. "You never talk about a mother, father, sister, brother. No one. I never see you around anyone except Anatoly and the men from the shop. You have no wife, no steady girlfriend."

     "It's funny that you don't have any of these important people either."

     "Yeah, but I was an orphan for most of my life. Then a family adopted me, mostly because they need a babysitter. When I turned eighteen, I went to college, and I only call them now once a month to check on them, because I think that is what family is suppose to do. Otherwise, I have no one. I'm alone in this world. Now, why don't you?"

     "Same story, really, different time. Well, I grew up in Moscow on streets. The people there became my only family. When I came to America as young man, I was a lot like you. I had no time for anything that was not delivering immediate profit."

     "You never knew your mother, either?" The rest of Dmitry's statement was lost on Royal.

     "Barely, she died when I was very young. Then, I went to prison very young."

     "Oh, I'm sorry," Royal said, realizing his story was as pathetic as hers. "You know, I've never had either, but I'm willing to bet that it's harder to grow up with out a mom than a dad?"

     Dmitry didn't answer. It was if as such a thought had not crossed his mind either way.

     Royal continued. "What about your father?"

     "I only know what I was told about him by men in prison and on streets. From what they say, he wasn't worth talking about."

     "What did you go to prison for?"

     "I was thief. Moscow gets cold in winter. I had to make life for myself at first. Besides I only spent a few years inside. Not so bad."

     "Not a thief by choice, then. You had to survive."

     "I moved passed simply surviving by the time that I was 15. I'm afraid that I just enjoyed it. What about you? Have you ever been to jail, Royal?"

     "No. I've been close." Royal bit her lip. "It was a petty domestic dispute when I was a teenager. My foster mom's boyfriend tried to feel me up in bathroom one night, so I cut his ear off."

     "Petty?" Dmitry laughed. "Rape is hardly a petty crime." The thought of Royal being raped infuriated him, but he tried hard to conceal it.

     "What was worse was that I had to get the damn cops to believe that it was actually attempted rape and assault. He said that I wanted it." She shook her head. "He was such a jerk. I had to show them the choke marks around my neck to prove that I wasn't lying."

     "He choked you?"

     "In truth, he was kicking my ass, but I got a hold of the scissors and managed to cut him." She formed her fingers together like a pair of scissors and smiled.

     "What was his name?"

     "Woodrow Conners," she chuckled. "Such a lame name."

     "Here in Memphis?"

     "Yeah."

     Dmitry was silent for a minute.

     "Really, I'm okay. I've got thick skin," she continued.

     "What did your foster mother say about you nearly being raped by her boyfriend?" he asked, intrigued.

     "Not much in my defense. She had me removed. I finally ended up with the Stones. They were just a family that needed someone to help them with their four biological children- all under the age of ten."

     "So, you went from sex toy to nanny." He sighed.

     "Oh, I never was raped," Royal quickly added. "I protected myself always from that at all costs. I'm still a virgin to this day." She was proud of that fact.

     "Excuse me?" Dmitry's eyes bucked. His mouth hit the ground.

     "I'm still a virgin. I just haven't met the right guy, and I'll be damned if I give it to the wrong guy."

     "Yes. That would be crime. Well, Fm...amazed and shocked." Dmitry shook his head. "It explains a lot, and yet... nothing makes sense."

     "Well, I wouldn't spend too much time thinking about it, if I were you. It's not going to change anytime soon."

     "Of course not." Dmitry smiled innocently, but inwardly a raging fire boiled inside of him. Royal was a virgin. The words caused a small stir. The thought of taking her would be ever present in his head now, he was sure of it.

     Royal felt as though she had said far too much. Dmitry became quiet, thinking probably about how much of a girl she was - so very young and inexperienced. But as far as she was concerned, that was not at all true.

     The only thing that kept her from carrying the title of woman in a lot of people's eyes was the fact that she was yet a virgin.

     To her, that made her more of a woman. Self-control was not an easy beast to tame, but she did so, even if sometimes begrudgingly.

     Royal's virginity had been the topic of many conversations before Dmitry, but her status had never changed. Every man seemed to have one thing on his mind. To take it, but not to keep her. She did not want to end up unloved again, only this time with nothing to show for it. And it seemed that every time that she exposed her secret, she felt like she was a leper.

     People had looked at her like something was wrong with her her entire life, jealous that they had given theirs away and had chosen poorly. She had lost so many opportunities with young college men because of her fear of going all the way. She was not afraid of the act, just the aftermath. She knew very well what it felt like to be all alone and rejected, she didn't need to amplify it. The thought infuriated her now. She bit her lip and grunted slightly.

     "Ugh. This silence is going to make me sick at the stomach," she said finally. "I didn't tell you that I had AIDS, Dmitry. Please don't act like that."

     "Act like what?" He looked up at her oblivious of her mood change.

     "Like I'm not normal," Royal sighed. Dmitry put down his fork and smiled. "But you're not normal. You are better," he said trying to focus. "Alright. Alright. We'll talk about something else."

∞♥∞

     It was nearly four in the morning when Dmitry's car pulled behind Royal's building beside her little red Honda Accord. He had chosen to drive her home himself after the movie.

     Anatoly was finally allowed to go home and get some rest. The rain had stopped and the skies were clear, allowing the stars and moon to shine brightly down on them. Crickets chirped and dew fell on the grass. The wind blew through the night, refreshing and full of force. Royal yawned and sat up in the seat, hitting the button to let up her window as she did so.

     "I had fun," she said rubbing her eyes. "Did you?" She looked over at him, relaxed in his seat and looking over at her curiously.

     "It was
theeee
most civilized date that I've been on in many years," he said, opening the door of his car, but not answering the question.

     He walked around to her side and helped her out carefully. She stood up in front of him and smiled. Dmitry's height continued to leave her in awe as well as the enormous size of his well-sculpted body, but what was most amazing to her was that in the dead of summer, he wore long shirts.

     He looked down at her, gazing into her bright brown eyes.

     "So you were bored out of your mind?" she asked. "Or did you have fun."

    
"Dah, dah,
I had fun with you, shop girl," he said, finally. He moved in closer to her body.

     "You've got a five o'clock shadow," she said, touching his stubby beard, and only inches from his bulging chest. She had to say something to break the ever-growing desire to kiss him.

     "I've been up since day before yesterday. Guess I should get some sleep." Reaching behind her body, he closed the door and grabbed her hand, escorting her up the back steps of the building.

     Exhausted, Royal fumbled for a minute, then opened the door with her key. Its jingling chain echoed throughout the small parking lot. Dmitry walked in after her, checking the place as he heard her small feet creep up the back staircase to her suite. When he was sure that they were alone, he walked up behind her. She was standing in the doorway of her apartment waiting for him with a soft smile and an innocent glow.

     He swaggered over to her, stopped at the doorway and leaned liked normal against the threshold.

     "Promise me that you won't work tomorrow. I want you to rest," he said, looking down at her breasts. It was odd to him that they had never been suckled as succulent as they seemed. He found that his mouth watered just at the thought of what they must taste like. He looked back up at her with a grin. He knew that she could tell what he was thinking.

     "I'll rest. Promise." She sighed, then yawned - very happy at the moment. She knew now that he would try to kiss her, and she braced herself for it, hoping to make it through.

     "This is the part of date where you invite me inside of your home, and I rip you apart under the sheets," he whispered jokingly. His icy eyes looked directly into hers causing a funny thump of her heart.

     "Sorry, I'll have to pass." Royal's voice was soft and sweet. She pivoted on her feet a little, trying to gain inches on her tip toes.

     "I'm not surprised, now that I know your secret."

     "Enough with that," Royal gawked, dismissing his new fascination with her sexual status.

     "Alright, alright." His voice became softer.

     Stepping closer to her, Dmitry reached out and pulled her by her small waist into his body. His large hands caressed her warm body and searched for bare skin. She looked up at him and wrapped her arms around his lower back, then closed her eyes.

     Tenderly, Dmitry leaned over and kissed Royal on the top of her forehead. Ever so softly his full lips caressed her caramel skin. He breathed in, taking in the scent of her body. It took everything in him not to lift her up, carry her across her threshold and make love to her. Having never been told no or wait, he was no good at being obedient. He desired her more than anything; he wanted her so badly until it was physically painful for him to release her. Soon, he thought to himself.

     Evidently, even she was expecting much more. She opened her wide eyes, surprised by his choice and exhaled. Royal could nearly read his eyes. It was if he was telling her that he had to stop. She understood but didn't want him to... so she thought.

     With a nod, he headed back down the stairwell quietly, leaving her unspoiled and in the safety of her home. He owed her that since Woodrow Conners had tried to take it from her.

     In a daze, Royal leaned against the door flabbergasted. Just when she suspected that he would strike like a villain, he behaved like a gentleman.