A Birthday Celebration

A Birthday Celebration

November 19^th, 1997

Zurich

‘Not everyday one turns forty,’ Konrad thought miserably when he opened his eyes at dawn. 'What I can't understand is this stupid need to celebrate it. I have nothing to celebrate, and we already threw the party for the Xentrex takeover.'

He turned around in his bed and looked at his watch, abandoned on the bedside table. The golden Rolex shone gloomily as always. 'I should throw it away, but I still can't do it. It's a weakness I have to get rid of,' he thought but slid it over his wrist in a mechanical movement, averting his eyes to not read the inscription “Je t'aime, R” also engraved in his heart.

'Any kind of hesitations and it would have been my head on the pillory and not his,' he reminded himself as he rolled to one side of his large bed, lingering for a few minutes more, unable to find the courage to start his day. 'Ferdinand is right. I'm mad if I still long for the man who nearly killed me.

'Where could he be now? Snakes do know how to hide.

'I swear I will take my time with him.'

Well aware that he would not be able to catch his sleep again, he left the bed, throwing the covers aside, and walked towards the bathroom to take a shower. 'I'm one year older, I can let go of training with Holgersen for one day.'

He dressed but left his jacket on the chair, only putting his vest on. With energetic and precise moves, he combed his hair and noticed the few blond strands tangled in the comb. 'I'm losing hair. Great.' His mood worsened, he left his bedroom in a whirlwind.

TS 2 Part VI Chapter 11

Chapter 11

March 3^rd, 2011

Moscow

The elegant and classical restaurant was the place Alexei would expect to find Oblomov and one of his new mistresses; a young ballerina from the Bolshoi. 'Typical of him, blonde and with a baby looking face,” he thought when he took a look at the beautiful features of the girl. He crossed the room, feigning he was following the maître to his own table but changed his direction in the last minute, purportedly walking toward the couple.

“Hello, Ivan Ivanovich. It's been a long time,” he said as he sat uninvited at the table.

“I thought I told you to keep away from my land, boy,” Oblomov barked.

“You told Lintorff to be out of your land or you would attack his territories but I missed that memo,” Alexei sneered. “Beat it,” he told the girl and she began to protest indignantly at the rude intruder.

“Go away, darling. I'll compensate you later,” Oblomov said gently and she gaped at him. “Go!”

She rose from the table and furiously smashed her napkin against the table before she left, the sound of her stilletos clearly showing her anger.

“Repin was right about something,” Alexei smirked. “Good manners are essential in a sound relationship.”

TS 2 Part VI Chapter 10

Chapter 10

December 21^st, 2010

Zurich

“I still don't know if this is a good idea, Eberhard.” A very gloomy Friederich contemplated the almost three metres high Christmas tree being carried inside the large ballroom by four of the men. “Careful with the chandelier!” he shouted when the tree top hit with vengeance the crystal lamp.

“Maybe we should put a carpet near it,” Eberhard said, purportedly ignoring the old man. “Children sit on the floor near the tree to open the presents.”

“The parquetry design would be lost then,” Friederich counter-attacked.

“But the would be wood safe if the small ones drop food over it. Is this a laminated floor? He asked with a smirk, already knowing the answer, but determined to make his case sounder.

“Of course not!” an incensed Friederich exclaimed.

“Grease stains -like the ones from cream puffs- are impossible to remove from the wood. I know it perfectly well. We have a wedding in the castle every week. My grandfather, the Baron, had to switch to laminate. It was a hard decision for him.”

“I can perfectly understand him.” The image of an unnaturally shinning “convention centre floor” assaulted Friederich's mind. “We must have something in the deposit, Eberhard. I'll tell Dieter to take care of it.”

“Excellent then,” Eberhard replied with a smile. “The boys are very happy to have invited their class for a Christmas party. It will keep their minds away from the other thing.”

“Perhaps,” Friederich said, looking gloomier than before. “Excuse me, I have to check the kitchen.”

The young tutor consulted his watch and saw that it was about time to pick up the boys from his last school day. 'Tomorrow is the Huns invasion at four. Klaus and Karl will be busy with their friends till bed time and on the next day arrive the other Lintorff cousins and stay here till New Year. That should keep them entertained. What to do with Konrad, is something else. He's already depressed and locked up in his studio since breakfast. Maybe I could convince him to come out and help to decorate this monster.'

* * *

The Bargain

The Bargain

July 2^nd, 1989

Güstrow

'Why couldn't he just disappear from my life?' Konrad asked to himself for the hundredth time as the contemplated the five remaining men, bounded and huddled one against the other, their clothes torn to shreds and stained with blood.

'I would have forgiven him. I really would have.

'I loved him regardless of what his brothers did against me.'

Fear ran like an electric jolt over the prisoners when they saw the tall figure approaching them with the stealth of a panther. Around him, there were six other men, shorter than he, but equally ferocious.

“Have you made your peace with the Lord, gentlemen?” Konrad asked in a low voice.

One of the youngest amongst them, a pale youth not older than twenty-five, screamed, “I have a family!”

“You should have thought about them before rising against your Griffin,” one of the men accompanying Konrad answered.

“Die like a man, de Mouchelles,” Konrad said with deep disgust. “Not even professionals,” he mumbled infuriated. 'Underestimating me as usual.'

He only had to move his head and two of his Serb bodyguards, Executioners the both of them, took the young man by the arms and dragged him to the centre of the large, partly in ruins, cellar of what had been the original residence of the Lintorff family. A third Executioner emerged from the shadows carrying a long sword especially brought that morning from Zurich, and the prisoners threw all their remaining pride to the wind and began to pray or cry.

The newcomer watched how his fellow Executioners held the youth and one of them brutally kicked him on the back to force him into a kneeling position, exposing the back of his neck.

Julian Moves On

Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Instant-YOU. Connect with the world

TEXT: Lisbon. Why not? Anywhere but Madrid.

MOOD: Hopeful.

* * *

'Shit, wrong stop,' thought Julian when he saw the small houses at the distance and the tall trees that surrounded him. He twisted the pencil scribbled paper full with directions, and realised that the “Hotel Praia do Golf” was not here.

In fact, there was nothing but gigantic trees and singing birds. He shuddered as the temperature was somewhat colder than in Lisbon. He switched his mobile on, but Google Earth strangely didn't work. 'No antenna. Great.'

TS 2 Part VI Chapter 9

Chapter 9

December 5^th, 2010

Zurich

“Chaton, you have been playing with your food the whole night. Don't you like it? I can take some moderate critics,” Jean Jacques asked to a sourly Alexei, lost in his thought.

“No, this tastes great but I'm worried,” he answered and began to shove the food in his mouth.

“It was a great soufflé some forty minutes ago. Now it's a hard rock,” Jean Jacques answered with a smile. “I can make you something else.”

“Do you have a spare ravioli can?”

“Do you want to go to bed tonight with all your appendices attached to your body?” Jean Jacques answered with a radiant but dangerous smile. “I've done my best to civilize you, Chaton.”

“You were very good to me, Jean.” Alexei said very seriously and the cook stopped his teasing.

“Is there something you want to say?” he asked partly alarmed.

“You have made me very happy and these years were the best of my life. You made me forget many things that are in my past but it's time for me to face them.”