Chapter 38: Back To Hungary

Well, it still ended up being somewhat problematic, because Ira ended up crying hysterically when I told her on the phone what I had learned. I could tell she was scared to death that I would break up with her over that revelation. Why she thought that I could live with the knowledge that she had once worked in a brothel, but not with the knowledge she had been in four movies while naked, but not involved in any sex, was anyone’s guess. In the end I decided on a somewhat radical solution.

“Ira, calm down,” I said into the receiver with as soft a voice I could muster. “I’m perfectly fine with it. In fact, your homework until I come back is to get me copies of all those four movies.”

“They are in Russian,” she said, still sniffling. “You wouldn’t understand much.”

“Jeez, honey, I don’t want to listen to your dialogue. I want to look at your tits.”

There was a lengthy pause at the other end of the line and then she laughed, long and loud, still interrupted by the occasional belated sob.

“You are incorrigible, Ian. I was only fifteen. They were much smaller back then.”

“As if I would give a damn,” I insisted. “I bet they were just as gorgeous as they are now. We’ll watch those movies together, and if I should get interested in some dialogue, you can translate, besides you’ve already taught me some basic Russian.”

That got her out of her funk and she even sent me a MMS with her bare rack in contemporary configuration.

The business part of my trip was done the next day. Jeff and I had little to negotiate about. My dad’s company – or more precisely my company owned the house Ira and I were living in, so I was going to buy that with my own cash, while Jeff’s company would buy up my shares in the company in three tranches over six months to take over control of O’Connor Consulting. Jeff did offer no argument when I asked him to add a clause that prevented redundancies resulting from the merger. The whole deal was sealed and signed in less than four hours, so I could get back to Lydia and Mark’s place and prepare for my remote date with Lydia.

The time difference between Pasadena and the Genting Highlands in Malaysia was surreal. They were 15 hours ahead. We had agreed to meet at nine in the evening Pasadena time, which meant it was lunch time in Malaysia, but already on the next day. For me that was awfully practical though, because a long run and two beers afterwards would put me to sleep in a jiffy.

I could tell Lydia hadn’t had the easiest of mornings. She still ran faster than me, but noticeably more restrained than normal. We didn’t talk much and there was also no naughty show at the end. I could tell she was exhausted and I almost felt guilty about hogging some of her time, but Mark had explained to me that she needed to do that run anyway to wind down her muscles after a hard training session.

Feeling suitably exhausted, I helped myself to two beers and I fell asleep almost instantly when I went to bed.

The next day was relatively quiet. I had a long talk with Ira on the phone, and I could tell she had overcome the first shock of her secret being revealed. Now, safe in the knowledge that I would not break up with her, she was almost back to her old self.

Mark had recommended a visit to a German restaurant in the area and I went to get my lunch there. It was run by an elderly couple who were surprised to see an American speaking German, even if it was no doubt heavily accented. When I told them I was a friend of Mark and Lydia my bill went out the window immediately. I actually felt a bit embarrassed, considering I was loaded enough to buy the whole establishment if need be, but Mark had warned me not to decline the offer, lest I be offending my hosts.

Ira and Sofia mostly preferred the cuisine of their respective countries and that meant, despite having lived in Germany for two years now, I had not been exposed to German food much. It was strangely ironic that I was now finding out about its qualities by going back to the States. After a very fine meal I made a mental note to give German cuisine more attention when I would be back in Emden.