Chapter 8: The Plot Thickens

The next day reality started. We had hired a small jet to get us to Elk, and the Mayor, Mr. Tussek, was waiting for us.

“Count, Miss Parker, thank you for coming so soon. We need to discuss what we’ve heard, and how you want to play this.”

Our company car (it was not a Lada, but an armored BMW, as it was better to be safe than sorry!) got us to the Castle; the staff took our luggage and we used the meeting room to get down to details – dirty or not.

Mr. Tussek started. “Miss Parker “ (finally, he remembered who the CEO was!) “the new government will announce soon measures that will nationalize some foreign-controlled projects, and we will be included in that list, and Count, it does not help that you are German and nobility! They’ll play that forever! The best that we can hope for is that they will want to have control of everything in Elk that you have built up, and you may stay as a minority investor, but without control. You know what this means...”

I knew it very well – we would lose everything. But this was not a one-sided play! He stayed for two hours and in the end, we still had no solution. We agreed that I should see the State Governor, Mr. Smirsky, the next day, and were assured that he was totally on our side. We invited him to come back at night for dinner and bring his and our friends; perhaps as a group, we could find a solution.

We went to our apartment and the staff had already arranged everything; Jenny smiled when she saw me looking around.

“Remember invisible service? What they can do, I can do better!”

She definitively did not forget the terrible twins...

We showered, had a nap (no fooling around), and then we were ready to receive our guests.

Whenever Jenny was ready to go out with me, I adored seeing her gliding closer and closer. The sexy dresses she wore at home (when she wore anything at all) was replaced by an elegant cocktail dress, hiding partially her charms, but revealing that there was a beautiful woman below. It was dark blue, fitted her body like a glove and accented her narrow hips and long legs. The most alluring was, as always, her face, smiling at me with love and pride in her eyes. A little blush on her cheeks, a smudge of eye shadow, and a pastel gloss on her lips showed the world who she was: a successful woman, proud to be seen with me, and proud of herself. She smiled when she saw me admiring her.

“My love, I adore when you look at me this way; but dear husband, let me say that you are not ugly either!” I had used the suit she had laid out for me – I would not dare anymore to make my own decision on what suit or what tie to wear if I were to accompany one of my two ladies!

We walked down the big circular staircase, the butler (well, it was a castle!) handed Jenny a glass of white wine and served me a tall glass of water, and we waited for our guests. I looked around and was proud of what we had achieved here. People were moving around, as the accommodations were fully booked, and a young couple sat in front of the big fireplace, holding hands and she had her head on his shoulder. There were two Asian couples with one of the women in a silk cheongsam dress, the other in a black cocktail dress. Other couples were sitting in the big chairs with wine glasses or tumblers on a low table in front of them, and our serving staff, with the women dressed in Polish traditional dresses and the men in black suits, was quietly moving around, looking after our guests. It was a mixture of a Lobby and a Bar, with the reception area hidden away at the end of the big space.

Mr. Bronislaw was the first to arrive and greeted us smilingly.

“Miss Parker, Count de Winter, welcome back. We have missed you during the last months! Don’t you like us anymore?”

He stepped forward, hugged Jenny and was answered with a warm hug from her. His family had been with us forever, and in recent years nieces and nephews had come to Australia to serve and study. Some were already married and worked in one of our companies! Then he turned to me.

“Count, welcome also!” I received a hug, too, but not so tenderly. “The others are coming also. How do you want to handle this?”

“Mr. Bronislaw, we’ll have a drink first, and then we’ll convene in one of our meeting rooms to compare notes and perhaps come up with a strategy. I know that the situation is serious, but with the support we have from friends – no, our friends – we’ll find a way!”

He nodded, I looked at one of the waiters close to us and he brought a bottle of Żubrówka vodka for him. I knew that he preferred this premium Polish brand, with its slightly herbal flavor and yellowish color coming from the Bison grass added when distilled. He told me once that the US prohibited it’s import because this FDA alleged that this grass (and one blade was included in every bottle) was blood-thinning! This just confirmed his opinion that Americans were crazy!

He took a shot and nodded satisfied. “Count, you have not forgotten!”

Mr. Tussek appeared with three of his main assistants, and we could start – obviously only after a glass of vodka for them also. I took them to the small meeting room, had water served – no vodka – and we started. I had asked Jenny to summarize the information we had up to now, and then I opened the subject for ideas and discussion. They could offer only some more details, but nothing new. It was bad: The Prime Minister had used all his strength to rally patriots behind him, supporting his small majority in the Sejm, and was now using foreigners as the main enemy that threatened Polish autonomy and independence. It was obviously all invented, but he spoke well, with a loud voice.

We had a fine dinner with a local duck in a strange sauce – blackberries with chocolate? – and the wine selection was horrible (I had to talk to Maureen and our sommelier; he still had to learn a lot), but didn’t find a solution. Perhaps Mr. Smirsky had better information?

We retired, called Maureen with the latest news, but Jenny continued to mumble all the time and suddenly she exploded: “And to hell with these corrupt politicians!”

I tried to calm her down and after a while – and some kisses – she was willing to give me some compensation for the wasted dinner. She looked around as we entered our bedroom, hesitated for a moment, and asked me “Do you remember when we made love here for the first time, Maureen, you and me? And what happened afterwards?” I remembered well, since both became pregnant.

“Darling, I want another child and I have discussed this with Maureen. She agrees - will you agree please also? Pretty please? This is not a moment’s decision, but what we’ve discussed for some time now, and this trip allows us to fulfill my desire. This is a special place for us; your family has been living here for centuries and we’ll do everything so that now our family will continue that tradition. I know that it takes time to become pregnant again, but we could practice...?”

She walked over to me “My love, I’ll change into something more comfortable; this would give you a few minutes to think about my proposal. But first you have to get me out of this dress!”

I knew that I had lost. She would slowly slither out of her dress, ask me to help to take her little bra off, tell me that she needed a hand taking off her even smaller thong, helping me to take off my suit spending a few moments to say Hello to George, and then kiss me saying “I love you” and I would be gone.

And that was exactly what happened.

I was waiting for her on our bed when she appeared. She certainly not overburdened her luggage with the minuscule baby doll; it covered most of her breasts but was transparent enough so that they were completely visible. Unfortunately, the designer must have been on a save-cost drive: it did not even reach her pussy! If he ever came to me to invest to revert his cost-cutting, I would definitively turn him down...

Our bedroom had been decorated in the old German castle style: high ceiling, four-poster bed with damask linen and covers, embroidered with our family crest (I thought this had gone too far, but did any wife ever listen to her husband when the question of house decoration came up? And I had two wives!) There were Persian rugs on the floor, and oil paintings depicting landscapes and knights saving damsels from distress. At least I had succeeded keeping everything in light pastel colors, and I had to admit it looked nice and comfortable.

In the background soft piano music was playing, and Jenny lighted some scented candles. She turned around, offering her beautiful body and her even more beautiful smile, and sat in front of me.

“Acceptable, Erlaucht?”

“Madam, you have berefted me of almost all words!”

She shook her head: “ ‘Bereft me of all my words’? Where did this come from? And where did you learn this?”

“My love, as I told you, my family was high on discipline and culture, and I was always curious and tried to blend in. I was on the High School Marching Band, and in College in various groups, for example, the Philosophy Study Group and then the Theatre Group. The quote was from The Merchant of Venice and I wanted to play Bassiano because he was going to kiss Porcia – and I was madly in love with her! But she had one look at me at the presentation and selected my worst enemy. I ended up walking around, serving wine, and trying not to fall. What a disaster!”

She crawled up. “You can kiss me, darling. I’ll always select you! “and it was a very nice kiss; then she fitted herself on my lap and looked at me.

“My love, have you made your decision?”

I knew I would give in, but perhaps I could get some brownie points first.

“Darling, you asked whether you were acceptable. I dispute the word ‘acceptable’; may I choose admirable, marvelous, stunning, fabulous, magnificent, glorious, and definitively fantastic?”

She nodded, satisfied with the change of words and my obvious admiration. I had always wondered what I had done to deserve my two women, and now I asked myself again. This wonderful woman loved me! I cradled and slowly rocked her in my arms, and my hand was running up and down over her silky skin. She snuggled closer and a little satisfied moan escaped her lips. I turned her head to me and gently kissed her eyes, her nose, and then touched her lips, soft and inviting; touching her with my tongue, a little bit of hers appeared. I invited her into my mouth, and she eagerly accepted.