Page 1 of Seduced By the Russian

Chapter One

Tonight was just like every other night for Lisa: filled with a foul taste in her mouth and a sense of trepidation in the air; a fear that stemmed from what the future held for her. Her chocolate and caramel balayage hair put up in a messy bun at the center of her head, with a few tendrils escaping and framing her petite face, Lisa moved efficiently from table to table, even though her mind steered far from the present. The hippie couple at the back of the diner rang for her rudely, and Lisa had to ignore the urge to roll her eyes at them, even though it was always a viable option. But in truth, she needed the job more than it needed her, so Lisa was stuck with it.

And then, there was the group of men in business suits that always met there in the evening, once every week, bearing no smiles and always staring at their watches. Lisa thought they were some kind of cult group, but then again, they appeared too sophisticated for that. She barely looked at them for too long, but she sometimes felt their eyes on her, even for the slightest of seconds. It left her feeling scared, although she had no clue why goosebumps appeared on her skin or why her heart thumped in trepidation. They looked like bricks of walls. Perhaps that was the reason.

Gingerly placing the flat tray of coffee cups in one hand, she walked in a zigzag through the round tables for the umpteenth time, wondering why on Earth they were arranged that way. On her first day working at the restaurant, she fell on her face to the tiled ground while trying to maneuver her way around. Her foot had gotten locked on the leg of a black chair, and the clatter of the broken china all around sent her mind into a frenzy even before she landed on the ground. She had paid for the broken utensils for months, squeezing the money out of the little that was being paid.

But maybe all of her frustration had nothing to do with how the tables were placed. Lisa hated working in that quaint restaurant, which had irritant customers and a low income. She hated that she was made to wear this shabby uniform that made her look like a character from SpongeBob. She hated that she had to put up a smile for five hours every night when she would rather curl up on her bed and bawl her eyes out. Lisa had taken to doing that often these days, but she hoped it wouldn’t last long. She had to get her act together if she wanted to succeed in life.

Although, she seemed to be losing all hope.

Lisa stopped by the table of the hippie couple, with a smile plastered mechanically on her face and one eye on the sun-flower clock hanging above the door. It seemed oddly out of place, and contrasted greatly with how Lisa felt. If she could have had it her way, that clock wouldn’t even exist. The man must have said something, because Lisa whipped her head to him sharply as he cleared his throat noisily.

“Sorry,” she mouthed quietly. “Did you ask for your third course?”

The man reminded her of Jack Sparrow, with his long brown hair falling both sides of his face, sporting a few beaded braids. It was a splash of humor in her otherwise dreadful night.

The couple nodded, watching her oddly as she scurried out of their sight. Thankfully, her shift was almost over, and she could return home to her hard life. Lisa didn’t even know which was better - staying in her one-room apartment that was about to fall apart or staying here with all these people who didn’t give a shit about her. At least, in her room, there was no one to irritate her.

The moment the clock struck 9, Lisa gathered her thoughts, albeit temporarily, grabbed her bag from her locker, and dashed out of the restaurant as fast as her legs could take her. The night air hit her face as she walked out the door, and she took a minute to appreciate the chill. These days, the beauty of nature seemed to have eluded her as her shabby life took more of her time.

And who could blame her? Really!

Lisa bounded out into the night, lit up by the street lights, heading to her shabby apartment where she lived alone. In fact, her loneliness failed to faze her because it had been like that for way too long. Lisa had no clue where she was from, and that in itself was a great factor in her overall state. She tried not to think about it too often, because it only ended up leaving her in more confusion and a nagging thought at the back of her mind that she never seemed able to get a hold of. Lisa had this feeling that she was forgetting something each time the thought crossed her mind, but then again, her foster parents also thought the same of her, not wasting time to make it vocal.

The first conscious process of Lisa met her in an orphanage, but she had no clue how she had gotten there. Lisa wasn’t there for long when her first foster parents, the Williams, trooped in to get her. The paperwork didn’t take long, and shortly after, Lisa found herself in their home. But her stay there was as brief, and again, another foster home wanted her. This cycle went on and on, so much that Lisa didn’t think much of it anymore. The kids in the numerous schools she attended all thought that no one wanted her because her parents had led the way by dumping her over at the orphanage. But that wasn’t even the story. At least Lisa didn’t think her birth parents were that cruel. At the same time, she couldn’t even remember ever meeting them, and the orphanage wouldn’t tell her how she came into their possession.

The shuffling from one foster home to another finally came to an end when Mr. Wilson got her, along with his brutal and obese wife, Julia. At first, Lisa thought she wouldn’t last long in their home, just like all the others, but this particular family defeated the precedent and took a whole different path. Although they didn’t let Lisa go, it was still hell living under their roof.

Lisa’s steps slowed down on the tarred road as she remembered every stroke she had received on her back, the whips leaving their marks boldly. Her cries would fall on deaf ears as Julia would pull at her roughly, tossing her into one corner and beating the hell out of her for the smallest of reasons. They could be as fickle as Lisa forgetting to turn off the lights in the living room before going to bed, or leaving the bed of the couple with the tiniest wrinkle after having made it. And that was even when they punished her for a reason.

Mr. Wilson, on the other hand, didn’t need to be motivated before hurling abusive words at Lisa or throwing a plate at her, not minding if it met her head midway. He was an alcoholic and lost his job along the way. So, Lisa became his means of entertainment. He would laugh when she flinched from the pain he inflicted on her, relishing in those cruel moments. It was a very dark period for Lisa.

It was the reason she was so eager to leave their confines, never looking back, even for a second. The moment she got the job at the restaurant and found that apartment, she moved out, bringing that part of her life to an end. They never bothered to look for her, and honestly, Lisa loved it that way.

But her life wasn’t any better now, and she was beginning to think that maybe the Wilsons weren’t that horrible. At least she got to eat their leftovers, which was usually more than what she ate now.

As soon as the thought crept in, Lisa shook it off immediately, shuddering as she stepped into the oncoming traffic without looking. Her head was still down when the honk from an approaching vehicle suddenly cut into her train of thoughts, shocking every nerve in her bone. Lisa’s feet suddenly refused to work as she stood there with her eyes wide open in fear. It all happened too fast for either of them to control it. One minute, she was standing there, her mind devoid of every thought, and the next, she felt the impact of the car on her side as the force pushed her to the ground harshly.

The pain was instant, with the muscles in her side aching terribly and every breath so choked that Lisa thought that death was finally knocking on her door. It seemed fitting, anyway: most of the times, she felt like she was living on borrowed time. Her luck could only run this long.

Lisa stayed unmoving on the floor, waiting for whatever it was that existed on the other side of life to take her. It definitely felt that way. With how weighed down she was, it felt like something heavy had been dropped on top of her. Somewhere in the distance, she could hear yells all over. Someone was now at her side, mouth wide open, screaming something into her consciousness.

But Lisa couldn’t make out a word the person was saying. And even if she tried, it was going to be a tough one. But it had nothing to do with the pain she felt in her side or her consciousness slowly ebbing away. Lisa looked at the dark suit the person in front of her had on, and weirdly, it reminded her of those men who visited the restaurant every week. A shrill noise resounded in her head at that moment, and the last thing Lisa saw before she lost consciousness was the piercing blue eyes staring at her. None of the men at the restaurant had that.

Now, maybe this was Heaven.

***

Nikolai brought his black Jaguar to an abrupt halt as he stepped on the brakes with all his might. Irritation washed through him, and a huge part of him wanted to leave the scene at that instant, leaving Dmitri to handle whatever mess his perfect driving had incurred. Because there was no way in hell he was responsible for the person lying on the floor in front of his car. He breathed and lived perfection as every person who had walked in his stead. In fact, Nikolai did it better than they ever had. Usually, he would be out of this place by now, as he had more urgent matters to take care of than someone who was obviously asking for a death wish by walking into the road in that manner.

Unlocking the doors, Nikolai stepped out into the gradually crowded road in all his glory. The reactions were all the same as he had experienced all his life, with the gasps from the ladies in the crowd and the silent murmur of acknowledgment from the men who were smart enough to accept it when someone else appeared better than them in all ramifications.

And Nikolai basked in that knowledge.

Dmitri, his best friend and personal bodyguard who would rather be killed than leave his side even for a minute, nodded at him, wordlessly asking if he should take care of the situation. But Nikolai wanted to do this himself. Although he and Dmitri were on their way to a secret location he used for some of his businesses, it wasn’t every day his car hit someone in the middle of the road. And this in itself was enough to pique his curiosity.

Walking briskly around his car, Nikolai stooped low, surprised at the woman he found holding on tightly to her left side. He heard Dmitri stop behind him.

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