Holy hell, the damn bastard.
If I assume Molly was not Bradley’s secret girlfriend, and say Chase was full of deliberate deceit just to break us up…maybe for his brother Darren? Oh no, that’s too weird. I’m no prize men would plot and fight over. I’m missing something.
I have to know more. I sit up too fast in the tub and splash water all over Viktor’s bare chest. He laughs and tosses soap bubbles back at me.
“Viktor, do you know a Russian woman named Luba?”
He looks insincerely puzzled and shrugs. I press.
“Red hair, pretty, smoker, a friend of both Bradley and your sister?”
His face flushes red and I know. He does. And he’s had sex with her. Men have such guilty looks, such open faces, especially when they are looking at a naked woman in a tub filled with disappearing bubbles.
“Yeah, I know her. She models with my great friend Bradley. They know each other a long time. Very close. Natalia and Luba are roommates. Why? You meet her tonight?”
“Yes. She knew you. We were talking and your name came up. She suggested an orgy. Viktor, are you doing her? Are both you and Bradley doing her together?”
“What? Like sex doing her? No KuKu, well, not anymore.”
“So just Bradley then…”
“Yes he was with her, a week ago, but now he’s seeing my sister Natalia. She calls him her soul mate and they are definitely intimate. Luba told me about Bradley spending the night with them. Why do you want to know about Bradley? Are you interested in Bradley? Did he come on to you?”
Viktor is angry now. His moods are like riptides, pulling then pushing until they suck you under the treacherous waves. He bends over and pulls me out of the tub, carries me into the shower, drops his expensive suit slacks and kicks them into a corner as if they are two-dollar swimming trunks. A realization hits me; Viktor grew up with money. His reckless spending, his careless way with his clothing. Viktor was a puzzle with most of the pieces blacked out. Surprising me, he joins me under the stinging hot spray, twirls me around, and lifts me against him. Viktor pulls me close and whispers in my ear, “Enough talk. You promised baby. Tonight. We get it on now, right?”
My mind races. Is this what I want? What if there is no turning back from what happens tonight with Viktor? Then I remember Bradley left me after our argument two weeks ago, and immediately went to the redhead that same night. He took her to lunch with Manny the next day. He slept with her and Natalia in the short time we’ve been apart.
Did Bradley say he still loves me? Did he ask to come back? No, he offers me nothing, like usual. If he is a talented liar, or just a man who’s glad to be free, I have no reason to deny Viktor what I promised him.
I’m sad, incredibly sad. Heartbreakingly hurt to the core of my being.
“Yes Viktor, tonight we have sex if you want me.”
“Oh KuKu I want you.”
He presses me up high and I wrap my long legs around his waist. The room is all steam, and heavy breathing.
“Make love to me Viktor, all night.”
Chapter Five
Snow day
BRADLEY
Tuesday, February 15th
The snow stopped for a few hours in the early morning, enough so that businesses felt confident opening and schools called off proposed snow days. Around four, Viktor calls me.
“Hey bro, you still up for a steam?” His voice is raspier than normal.
“Yeah, sure. Around five?” I answer, determined to come clean about Naomi and me. Last night would not have been the right time, but if we wait any longer it’s going to turn into some sick joke. I text Naomi about my plans, but she doesn’t answer. I guess she, who actually has a real job, must be at work. It doesn’t matter; I’m going to tell him anyway. I wasn’t looking for permission. Just giving her fair warning.
At the baths, I wait for Viktor outside. The snow has returned and this time it brought crazy wind. The flakes are thick and the wind swirls them around in so many different directions I feel like I’m in an I Love New York snow globe.
The cold starts to creep up my feet and settle into my legs and I wish Viktor would get here already so I can go thaw out. I pace, stomp my feet, try to get the warmth going. My phone pings. Viktor.
Dude, not going to make it to the baths. Water main broke outside my building and the streets are closed.
I type back. Don’t be a pussy. Take subway. I wait, watching the little dots move while he types. God I’m cold.
Don’t be an asshole. Subway shut down.
This storm must be worse than I thought if they shut down the subway. No wonder there’s no one out on the street. I’m about to give up and go home when he pings me again.
Come over. I’m at the agency’s courtesy condo. I got a case of Tsarskaya Gold and some premium zakuski to eat between shots. We can get hammered…blizzard hammered.
At first, I think I’d rather have “the talk” in a public place so Viktor will have to control his world famous temper. But the more I think about it, the better it sounds that I’ll be delivering the news of my former relationship with Naomi to a drunk guy. A blizzard drunk guy filled with the best Russian Vodka in the world and great food. And since he’s hanging at a different place than Naomi’s, I’ll have plenty of space to tell him the truth without her interfering. I type back.
Kk…be there in about twenty.
He texts the address. I catch a cab and tell him to get as close to Viktor’s building as he can and oh yeah, crank up the heat back here.
The whole ride, I am getting more and more stoked about this new plan. I come up with my speech, my apologies, figure out how to say good luck with everything when I don’t mean a word of it. I’m still going to get her back. This thing with him is just a phase like every other one of his ‘relationships.’ He’ll get bored and move on and I’ll be right there to pick up the pieces. By his standards, he’s already at the halfway point with her. I give it maybe two months and then he’ll be moving into the model apartment, getting into pre-production schedule, forgetting all about KuKu. What a ridiculous name. I chuckle to myself in the back of the cab. The driver stops on Eleventh Ave and Forty-Fourth Street. The courtesy condos are in Hell’s Kitchen, on Ninth Ave, so I lean in against the wind and trudge east.
On the way there, I text him. Open the door, man; I’m like one inch before frostbite. When I get to the top of his steps, sure enough, there he is, grinning like an idiot, bottle in one hand, black and gold cigarette in the other. He throws the butt out into the snow and takes a swig of vodka.
“Enter, my friend, I have your bottle chilling upstairs.” He stands aside and waves me in. I’m so happy to be warm again, I almost hug him. After a short elevator ride and a walk through the most generic looking hallway I’ve ever seen, we get to the apartment. He swipes his keycard and swings the door open. He yells into the seemingly empty beige room, “Hey, KuKu, come and see the surprise Viktor has for you.”
What? No! “Oh man, Viktor, I don’t want to intrude on you guys. Let’s do this next blizzard.” I shrug the coat on that I’ve been shrugging off. He takes me by the collar and shrugs it back off.
“Don’t be ridiculous, Bradsky. KuKu and I had sex all night last night. This afternoon, we lost power, so I brought her over here. Lucky, huh? Anyway, tonight I want my best friend and my best girl to get to know each other the Russian way. We drink to our health, laugh, eat, and tell all our dirty secrets, ha ha.”
Naomi comes around the corner from some unseen room and stops dead in her tracks. “Viktor, I thought you and I were having a blizzard date. What’s he doing here?” She sounds more frightened than annoyed.
He takes my coat and throws it on a brown wing-back chair. Then he wraps his big ape arms around Naomi. “Tonight, we become true family. We drink vodka together and tell all our history to you. Then you and Bradsky can become good friends, too. The buzzer rings and Viktor claps his hands together. And, I have one more surprise for you.”
Oh god, I can’t take anymore of Viktor’s surprises. “Ah yes, the last guest. Bradsky, go answer the door and see who it is.” He looks like a kid at a birthday party. I open the door and there, covered in snow, dripping into the white carpet, is Natalia, staring at me, her ‘soul mate’.
“I’m lucky I made it here, hi Bradley, hi bro. and hi, you must be Vikti’s KuKu.” She rushes into the apartment, shedding gear and heading straight for the roaring fireplace. “There’s gotta be three, maybe four feet of snow out there. Mayor shut down the city and the cops are patrolling the streets, forcing people to go inside. One thing’s for sure, no one is going anywhere anymore tonight.” She smiles at me, then looks at her brother. “Vikti, I hope you have gallons of vodka. It’s gonna be one hell of a night.”
Chapter Six
Double Slotzkys
NAOMI
Tuesday, February 15th
“Go ahead, hug him,” Viktor says, pushing me into Bradley’s arms. “We are all family now.”
Bradley wraps his arms around me and hugs me tight. I haven’t been this close to him in twelve days, but it feels like months and I can’t help myself, I lean in and hug him back. He feels so good, his scent, the touch of his sweater against my breasts, then I notice Natalia’s eyes narrowing to tiny slits and I pull away. Right. Bradley’s date is here too. Another teenager, just like Molly. At twenty-seven, I must seem ancient to the pair of new lovers.
I shift over and sit on the sagging sofa, wishing I was back at Broderick’s office filing deeds. Anyplace but here.
Viktor pours me a drink and I fling it back without tasting it. I don’t want to feel anything right now. Tonight, my new boyfriend Viktor is high as a kite with no string. No mystery, I spent fourteen hours in my large bed, against the bathroom vanity, freezing against hard tile in the shower, pinned to the living room wall, on top the kitchen counter, and kneeling on the hardwood flooring. Naomi, now KuKu, the swinging bohemian woman men love, proved herself to be wild, indecent, and lascivious to the core. I let down all my walls, and became the woman all men want.
In my head, I was my father’s mistress, Bradley’s sexy Russian redhead, and a wild whore who only held one thought in her head all day. Please my man. I was going to show Mother, and Bradley that I can be enjoyable, have amusing ideas, let the rules fall wide open, like my legs. Now it hurt to cross my legs, but I’m smiling and nodding, drinking and letting Viktor run his hands everywhere. Why? I just don’t care anymore. About anything.
I’ve lost Bradley for good.
I like Viktor but it’s not the same depth of feeling as my mad passion for Bradley. Too bad I didn’t show him how much I cared when we were together. I suppose I was boring and cold, always guarding my heart. That philosophy didn’t pay off; I lost my man anyway.
Too late.
Too late to do anything but become Viktor’s plaything and move on.
I try not to notice the way Natalia looks at Bradley. I wonder if I was ever so obvious. Was that why Manny enjoyed my pain so much? I must be like a rubber doll who deserved to be pricked, if I gazed at Bradley so unambiguously, like his new girlfriend does.
Viktor is the perfect host, passing his Tsarskaya Gold and premium zakuski around our small group, like a mother tending her children.
“Bradsky, I owe you bro. When I told you about how hot Naomi, my new roomie was, and you told me to nail her, you started my happiness. Right KuKu?”
He hugs me and runs his large hand up my thigh. I try not to wince. My muscles are shouting as loudly as my Russian boyfriend did last night. Then it hits me, what he just said.
“Oh yeah, so Bradley told you to screw me?”
“He practically ordered me to nail you, right buddy?”
“You said KuKu had long, black hair, wore bohemian stuff, and was into yoga…”
Bradley is watching me strangely, as if trying to send some secret message. Were his eyes implying that he didn’t know KuKu was me? Was that true?
Natalia stands up and weaves over to Bradley. She’s a tiny thing and already close to halfway through her own personal bottle of vodka. She plops herself into his lap and lays her head against his chest. “Brad, aren’t you getting tired of listening to other people’s adventures?” She runs her hand along his thigh, slowly making her way to his crotch. I can’t look at his face, can’t watch him getting turned on by another woman.
“God, your hot baby,” Viktor growls, kissing my neck.
I just want a long shower, alone. Maybe a rubdown and some pain pills. Being a sex maniac takes stamina. I’ll have to get into shape to hold on to this man.
I’m so busy concentrating on not looking at Bradley, I’m startled to see him in the kitchen. I scan the room and see Natalia, fast asleep on the chair Bradley was just sitting in. I slither out of Viktor’s grip. “I’m hungry, baby,” I murmur to him, then head out to the kitchen.
Only Viktor won’t leave it alone. He stands up too and shouts to Bradley.
“After asshat cheated on my girl, she changed everything, right down to her hair color, found that out last night,” Viktor laughs.
“Viktor,” I warn, but it’s like threatening an infant, he just smiles his sexy grin and continues, “My KuKu is a blonde. I like the new look, the change of style.”
“Asshat?” Bradley turns and mutters as I cringe.
“Yeah, can you believe her last live-in lover brought young girls, Natalia’s age into their loft when KuKu was out? Hand-cuffed them to the bed, used a whip on them, right baby?”
“Chase said so.” I look at Bradley and his face says it all. He’s dumbfounded. It was all a lie. And he’s angry.
“That’s why you changed your hair, your clothes, took up yoga?” Bradley asks.
I just shake my head yes. What is happening? I don’t know anything anymore.
“How’d you know about her first time at yoga?” Viktor stops drinking long enough to ask.
“You told me, remember?” Bradley mutters, staring a hole through me.
“Yeah, get this…asshat admits it all in a text conversation…says he loves this new girl’s ideas…admits to finding her online…diggin’ her young vibe…what an asshole, right?”
Viktor tries to pull me into his arms again but I slip free. He’s getting worked up. Viktor gets furious every time the word asshat is spoken, even by himself.
“What kind of a fool would risk losing a hot woman like KuKu? Not a mistake I make. Show him your ring baby.”
Oh hell.
Viktor reaches out and grabs my hand, shoves it closer to Bradley so he can see the large diamond ring Viktor gave me last night. He frowns, bites his lip, and stares coldly at both Viktor and myself.
“Didn’t you two just meet?”
“Don’t be that way bro, when you know what you have, you take it, you keep it. This one, she’s not getting away from me.” He gets up and heads for the bathroom. “Baby, I’ll be right back. Hey Bradsky, try to keep your hands off my hot lady while I’m gone, ha ha.”
As soon as the bathroom door is shut, I turn to Bradley, there isn’t much time, and I need to get this out. “I want to believe you about Molly—really—but I’m just so, I just don’t know what’s going on anymore. I don’t know what or who to believe.”
“Asshat? That’s how you refer to me now? And did you really have sex all night with Viktor? I mean, not to complain, but we were pretty much once and done.” Bradley is looking at a spot on the counter.
“Seriously? That’s what you’re asking me? ‘Mr. I Nailed My Best Friend’s Sister AND Her Roommate’, who, by the way, is a total bitch. I thought you had better taste than that. AND, one time was all you ever wanted from me, you weren’t that interested, I mean you barely went through the motions. That’s why I went all bohemian, so I could be the kind of woman a guy would stay with. It’s your fault I turned into The Whore of the Wild.” I pop a pickle into my mouth; I want to taste the sourness of my words.
“What? I didn’t have sex with
either of them. Who told you that? Viktor?” Bradley accuses. As if on cue, Viktor comes staggering out of the bathroom. He seems drunker than when he went in and I smell pot smoke.
“You know I hate that stuff,” I remind him.
“Baby, you just have to give it a chance. C’mon…please? You’ll see, it will relax you. Ever since Bradsky and Natalia showed up, you seem kind of tense. I’m sorry KuKu. Viktor made a mistake. We should have just had our blizzard date. Can you forgive me?” He tries to hug me, but I push him away. He won’t stop. He runs his hands up under my sweater and skims over my breasts. “We have another hot night tonight, right?”
“You stink now. Why don’t you shower, and then get back to me?” I pop another pickle in my mouth. Bradley seems to be suppressing a smile. In spite of myself, I kind of like being in on a joke with him. Viktor retreats to the living room and picks up his bottle, swigging out of it like a pirate. He mutters about uptight bitches needing to relax. This is a side of him I haven’t seen and I don’t like it.
Natalia wakes up and runs for the bathroom. Soon the room is filled with the sounds of her throwing up and moaning. Outside, sirens erupt. I feel like the world is turning upside down. I can see Viktor isn’t going to help his sister, so I grab a wet dishtowel and wrap up some ice in it. As I swab her face and pull her hair back, I hear the door to the apartment open and close and I just know, somehow, Bradley has gone. He always runs from confrontation. No wonder we can never really talk. If he wanted a different kind of sex with me, why didn’t he just tell me? And the truth about Molly? Twelve days too late for that. What’s wrong with Bradley that he always runs away?
Bradley & Naomi, ...To Me & You (Vodka & Vice, the Series Book 2) Page 2
