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“Only a touch of slowness; nothing a good rest won’t set right.”
“But that’s not on the cards for you is it?” Gladys asked rhetorically.’
“Not a chance. Much as my heart rends for Mrs. Cowling, there could be more at stake here. Why would Mr. Cowling go to such lengths to meet Viktor-why not just meet him at the office, or his house?”
“Hmmh, well we all know Vlad Dracula is a bit of a loner- maybe he doesn’t want people in his house-except you of course.” Gladys said, stirring her coffee. “I still don’t know how Viktor plays into all this though, to be honest.”
“I have been thinking about it all morning!” Gloria said, clasping her coffee mug with both hands for the warmth.
“I think he is gay; has to be.” Gladys said all of a sudden. “Mr. Cowling is hitting it on the side with another man.”
“No, that’s not it…” Gloria said, staring into her coffee, pensively.
“See I know you have the hots for this guy, but he’s gay, end of story.”
“No…”
“Two guys having an intimate drink in the cozy hours of the night, only to pack up and head into a hotel room; gay.”
“Actually that is only strange here in America-“
“Gay! Sorry but you gotta admit-“
“I kissed him okay?!” Gloria cut her off, her voice high pitched all of a sudden. “I kissed him, and it was the sweetest experience of my entire life.” She sipped her tea; a false calm after the bomb is dropped.
“Come again-what?!” Gladys asked, spilling some coffee on the table. “You mean I was here worried about you and you were on a dream date?! Is any part of your story even true?”
“Yes, it is! But he was there at the breakfast table shirtless, and in nothing but track suit trousers and I never knew that muscles could ripple like that, nor could a face be so perfectly sculpted- like a Disney movie come to life, and he looked at me with an intensity I had never believed existed, and before I knew it he grabbed me-no caressed me, and I floated over to him, yielding to his embrace…his kisses did more damage to my being than a ton of ether.”
“You should be throwing the book at this guy, not reciting poetry about him.”
“It was magic.” Gloria whispered, staring into her coffee, and her face frowning as she contemplated the profound confusion of the episode.
“You’re magic-a real piece of work.”
“So he is not gay; the connection…he feels for me the same way I feel for him. It was in his eyes, he wanted me for himself, and I could see, clear as day, that if he could keep me forever he would without a second’s hesitation-if only he were not keeping secrets. I have to find out!” The half-empty coffee mugs clattered as Gloria pounded the table with her fist.
“I’m listening.” Gladys said as she downed the last of her coffee. Gloria downed hers as well, and waited patiently for Gladys to pour another dose of Caffeine.
“Listen, we are going about this wrong, looking at it through the lens of Mrs. Cowling. What if this is not about sex in the first place; what if it’s not about Mr. Cowling at all! Shift your focus to Mr. Viktor Belerin Konoplyanka. What if it is all about him?!”
“Viktor what? I thought you could not remember the name, let alone pronounce it.”
“Like I said, it was intense. What could bring these two men together? Ryan Cowling is a heavyweight in the jewelry business, and Viktor can probably buy a premium diamond set to fit about his cat’s ears.”
“So you think Viktor is thinking of buying some jewels? That’s it?!”
“No! If that were the case, then they could conveniently have met in the office and concluded business. What if it is Viktor who has something to offer, something he would rather not have other people find out about-not even the wife of the founder of Crystallyne. I don’t know what it is yet, but-“
“Jewelry would be a good place to start.”
“Exactly…” Gloria concluded. “I could be wrong though, but I intend checking all possible leads to find out-“
“Whoa, hold on there, Jesse Jane! What you need now, and what you are gonna get, is some rest. I will handle the research for now; you go get some rest and possibly sleep-I made that coffee light. If by the end of the day I still haven’t come up with something then you can chip in all you want.”
