Chapter Two

"That is horrible, Levi!" Alina gasped, covering her pretty mouth with her hands. "These… I do not know the English word… сука treat you this way often?"

Levi stared bleakly down into his coffee and nodded wordlessly. It was strong, dark and extremely bitter. He was at least one of those three things.

Somehow it was worse, more shameful because they were girls. If they had sicked their boyfriends or male admirers on him it might have been different. Better in some way but…

"This is not how young ladies should act towards a fine man such as you." Alina declared, “It is a terrible thing they are doing.”

They were seated together on the dark leather chesterfield in her lavish parlor and she reached over to take one of his hands in both of hers. Her grip was firm though her fingers were warm as hugged his hand to her large chest.

“Do they not have eyes, these foolish girls? Can they not see what a good and sensitive young man you are?” She fussed with Levi’s digits, positioning them over her heart through the thick cotton gown. “I say that they do not have hearts but cold flint in their breasts.”

Speaking of breasts, Levi was becoming extremely aware of where Alina was pressing his palm and his racing pulse dropped into high gear at the feel of her pillowy softness.

“Aaah, I… ummm–” He began but she shushed him by placing a single long fingertip over his lips.

“I know what to do now, Darling. You have been so kind and you helped this poor widow turn her house into a home. You will do so again today, yes?” She was staring at him so intently with her brilliant green eyes that Levi could only nod mutely. “This is good. Today you will organize the garage and I will bake you a special treat. Come, come…”

Rising, Alina led Levi towards the rear of her grandiose home.

It was a tall stately residence, far larger than any of the other brick and weatherboard single story homes in the neighborhood. It had been designed and built by an investment banker who wanted a luxury home on the water without paying the exorbitant property prices in the fancier suburbs like Lake Pointe.

That was the year the credit crisis had blown the markets all to hell and the owner, a man Levi had never met, defaulted on the mortgage and loans just as construction was completed.

So the wide-ranging waterfront home–with its wrap-around driveway, huge in-ground swimming pool and private dock–sat dead on the market until three months ago when the mysterious and reclusive Ms Makarova appeared out of nowhere with a small fleet of removalist trucks and moved into the neighborhood.

Alina often giggled and professed that she had stolen the house from the bank. Levi figured that meant she purchased the foreclosure for rock-bottom price. There was plenty of that going around.

“When I move to America, after my beloved husband passed, I say to myself, ‘Alina, this is a new start. Put aside your old life and lock it away.’” Alina said, leading Levi through the long, airy corridors and spacious rooms of her home. “This is for the best, yes.”

“You mentioned you moved here from Stalingrad?” Levi asked politely, drawing on his love of world history and geography. “On the Volga river in Russia?”

“That is Volgograd, Darling. The name was changed many years ago, even before the fall of the Soviet Union. Much changed in those years.” Alina mused, sounding a bit wistful. “But no, I was born far to the east in Vladivostok on the shores of the Sea of Japan. I lived there all my life until I was married.”

“You must have been very happy, Ms Makarova.” Levi said politely, feeling a bit out of his depth.

Alina was usually more interested in talking about any subject other than herself. Asking Levi about his studies, what his interests were and which books he was reading as he helped the young widow settle into her massive new home.

That part had been Levi’s mother’s idea. Helping their new mysterious neighbor a few times a week as a way to get his nose out of a book and into the real world where he would have to come to grips with his social anxiety. Like some kind of soft-core exposure therapy.

Whether it was working or not, Levi didn’t know. Nor did he mind as he soon discovered he actually enjoyed the company of the beautiful, if mildly eccentric Ms Makarova. Even if she still gave him nervous tummy butterflies from time to time.

“Happy? Yes and no. My husband was a great man. A brilliant scientist who achieved much in his research for the Russian Federation.” Alina stopped in front of a door and reached into her house coat to produce a key. “But great men are rarely good men. Without him, I would not be the woman I am today and I loved him desperately but I think many important people were frightened of him.”

Frightened? Levi’s skin prickled with unease as Alina paused with the key in the lock. Her usually bright, open expression was replaced with a pensive, thousand yard stare.

Then he blinked and Alina was blazing warm sunshine back at him again, as though she didn’t have a care in the world.

“You are a good man, Levi. I know this to be true.” She said, unlocking and opening the door before reaching in to flick on the interior light. “I tell myself ‘Alina, trust your Darling Levi, he only wishes to help. Such a handsome and worthy man’ and all my silly worries disappear. Poof… like smoke.”

She stepped aside and hung back as Levi wandered into the huge three car garage.

He had seen much of the house and grounds in the past weeks of doing odd jobs for Alina. The place had six bedrooms and four bathrooms which was a lot for a single person to furnish, decorate and maintain. The full sized pool needed cleaning and the long drive wanted regular blowering but the garage had remained shut up tight.

Despite her obvious means, Alina did not own a car, much less three. So the garage was principally a large empty space for the most part, lit by evenly spaced fluorescent tubes set into the high, angled ceiling.

A pile of cardboard moving boxes, old suitcases and some furniture under dust covers were stacked haphazardly in one corner. It looked as though the removalists had carelessly dumped it all in a heap and left it there. Otherwise the vast space was featureless, save for a long stretch of mounted steel shelving and workbenches that took up the back wall of the garage.

“Ummm… what do you want me to do here, Ms Makarova?” Levi asked and his voice almost echoed in the cavernous room.

Alina hadn’t moved from the adjoining doorway, as though **** to enter.

“There in the corner, Darling. Those boxes and bags contain memories of my life in the old country. Some are mine but many were my husbands. They can be… a painful reminder. I myself do not like pain so I think ‘Alina, Levi is such a pleasant and obliging young man. If you ask him nicely, he will do this thing for you.’”

She was staring at him again with an odd expression on her flawless face and somehow the top two buttons of her drab house coat had come unfastened revealing just the barest hint of bulging cleavage.

Levi gulped.

What was she asking him to do?

“But listen to me rambling like a dithering old lady. What must you think of me?” Alina squeaked, cupping both her blushing cheeks in her hands and shyly turning away. “Please, Darling… Simply unpack the boxes onto the shelves where they will be safe and out of the way.”

“Aaah… sure thing Ms Makarova. That sounds fairly straightforward.”

“Alina, Darling. You must call me Alina.” She insisted, patting at the air with her hands. “Now I shall go cook for my most helpful young man and Levi…”

“Yes?” He looked up from where he was reaching for the nearest box.

“Please be careful, Darling.”

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Levi surveyed the contents of the first box as he unpacked it at one of the steel top workbenches.

As usual, he wanted to be methodical in his approach to the task laid out before him. Levi was a thoughtful soul by nature. Many mistook this as meaning he was slow or lazy but really Levi just liked things to be done right the first time rather than having to repeat a job because he’d rushed it.

There was a lot of stuff to get through and, if this first load was any indication, arranging it all in any discernible order was going to be a challenge. That was fine, Levi wasn’t trying to build Rome in a day and he wanted to do right by Ms Makarova. She had been nothing but kind to him.

Not like a few other mean-spirited young women he had the displeasure of knowing.

He shook off unpleasant thoughts and focused back on the job at hand. The contents appeared to be a random assortment of miscellaneous knick knacks. As though whoever had packed it couldn’t decide where in the house they should go and simply lumped them all together into a cardboard box labeled ‘Garage’.

“What on earth is this supposed to be?” He asked the air, pulling out a boxy looking gaming console that belonged in the previous century. It took cartridges for goodness sake. “SINtendo, is that some kind of cheap Super NES knockoff?”

He placed it neatly beside a clunky plastic toy gun with 'J-power BG450' written in faded lettering on the side.

It wasn’t all toys though… no, that would have been a simple matter. There was a stack of ancient strongman workout programs tied up in twine, countless self help cassette tapes, an unlabeled bottle of milk that seemed oddly fresh when it should have turned to cheese by now and a bunch of rattling pill bottles from a curiously named company called ‘BimboTech’.

Levi racked his mind for some way to catalog or order the chaos slowly collecting on the bench top in front of him as he next pulled out a pink perfume bottle with a silver label.

Nope, just… nope. It even looked noxious. What kind of moron would use the foul stuff?

He placed it carefully next to a round tub of citrus smelling orange goo in a section he mentally designated as cosmetics and stood back to consider his options.

“Levi, Darling,” Alina’s musical voice sang out to him from inside the house. “Come on me in the parlor, I have prepared a treat for you.”

Levi could feel his ears turning red. There were times he was convinced she was intentionally misspeaking to get a rise out of him, Then he would look into those guileless, innocent eyes and know that she wouldn’t–couldn’t–be doing anything of the sort.

Alina was too pure and lovely to tease him. She was a perfect angel struggling with an unfortunate language barrier. Thank goodness she didn’t speak to many folks, some of her phrasing would certainly be cause for some awkward misunderstandings.

“I’m coming!” He called back, then silently cursed his own poor choice of words. “I–I mean, I’ll be there shortly.”

Stopping by one of the lavishly appointed bathrooms to wash the grime off his hands, Levi made his way back to the parlor and blinked at what he found waiting for him.

“Join me, Darling.” Alina cooed softly, patting the empty spot on the leather lounge beside her. “Please sit and see what I have made for you.”

Ms Makarova had changed out of her frumpy house coat and into a light floral summer dress more suited for the warm spring weather. It was still a modest number, falling well past her knees with short frilly sleeves that covered her slim shoulders and toned upper arms but it was showing more of her than Levi had ever been privy to before.

A spotless gingham smock apron conservatively concealed most of Alina’s front and chest but the heavy swell of her cleavage visibly taxed the fabric and the ties at her sides cinched in tight around an impossibly narrow waist before her skirts fanned out over wide hips but stopped short of her shapely calves.

Her outfit revealed next to nothing but Levi’s overactive imagination filled in everything.

His stomach performed back flips as his mouth went dry. His feet felt like blocks of cement and he was rooted in place by an existential dread of the gorgeous dream brought to life in front of him.

“I–I can’t… I should go.” He managed to squeeze out, his tongue felt dry as old boot leather. “I d-don’t think…”

“Darling, pleeeease~ don’t leave me.” Alina begged, shooting to her feet in alarm as Levi began to tremble uncontrollably. “I am sorry. Tell stupid old Alina what she has done wrong. Why do you shake so?”

Levi wanted to tear out his hair. He wanted to curse to high heavens and rage against the injustice of a world that had conditioned his poor tortured psyche to react so viscerally to the presence of a beautiful woman. It wasn’t fucking fair.

“It–It’s not your f–fault.” He groaned from between chattering teeth. “I’m so–sorry, Alina.”

Then she was there, wrapping her slender arms around him and drawing his sweating skull against her prominent bosom. Levi half expected to fly into a full blown panic attack but something about Alina’s warm touch and soothing softness calmed his hammering heart and Levi found himself finally able to breathe again.

God but she smelled like fresh summer rain. Clean and sweet and full of the promise of greener pastures.

“Shhhh~... all is well, Darling.” Alina crooned, slowly guiding them both back to the chesterfield as she held him close. “Sit and let poor Alina take care of you.”

Levi’s trembling subsided under her tender touch as her burnished mass of white gold locks settled over him like a comforting blanket. She rubbed small circles over his spine and ran her manicured nails through his scruffy hair until his breathing settled back into a steady rhythm.

“All is well, Darling Levi. You see?” She murmured down at him, placing a fond kiss on his head. “Alina will make you feel better.”

“It’s so humiliating.” Levi rasped into her ample chest, his cheeks on fire. “I–I’m sorry–”

“No more sorry, Darling, I will not hear it.” Alina chided in a sympathetic voice. “I have seen this thing before. Back in Russia, some men returned from war with that same look in their eyes. You have been misused like they were, yes? Unmanned and broken.”

Levi couldn’t help but the cringe at her words.

Kindly though her intentions were, they still hit too close to the mark. It seemed pitiful to compare his childhood experiences with that of traumatized war veterans. Alina must have felt it too, because she drew him back to arms length and looked him in the face with an oddly stern expression.

“I hate these girls who have made my Darling Levi feel this way.” Her voice was swelling full of passion but took on a hard edge as she gripped his narrow shoulders tighter. “You; who have played this lonely old woman sweet music on the piano. You; who selflessly bring joy to this big empty home and my heart. Do you know what your name means in my homeland?”

“N–No…” Levi shook his head but couldn’t look away from her. Alina’s eyes had turned gunmetal gray again but were no less mesmerizing for it.

“If you were a boy from Vladivostok, your name would be Lev; it means ‘Lion’. Doubtless, many pretty young women would have chased after you there.” She sighed wistfully. “They would bake you Ptichye Moloko, a famous Vladivostok dessert and try to win your lion’s heart.”

Levi didn’t feel like a lion and tried to say as much when Alina reached down to the glass coffee table and raised a fine china plate to his chin.

Was that some kind of cheesecake?

On the dish was a fluffy white square topped in dribbling chocolate sauce. It smelled sugary sweet and had a slight gelatinous wobble to it. Alina scooped off a small corner with a small spoon and held it to his mouth.

“This is Ptichye Moloko, Darling.” She purred as Levi obediently opened his mouth and tasted it. Smooth, creamy deliciousness tangoed across his taste buds. “Russian girl’s make it for their, how do you say… Sweethearts. Alas, I am but an old widow but I tell myself ‘Alina, Levi is a good and handsome young man. Bake him your special Ptichye Moloko so he might find his lion and grow to be strong and brave.’ Do you like it, Darling?”

“Mmmhmmm~!”

Levi found that he did like it. Alina handed him the spoon but held the plate for him. It balanced atop the shelf of her bountiful bosom as she beamed her gigawatt smile directly into Levi as he ate.

He wasn’t typically a big eater, his spare frame attested to that, it just wasn’t something he took a lot of pleasure from. Food was fuel and Levi was lean at best, though ‘stick thin’ was the label most would saddle him with.

But this–what was it called again?–pudding cake confection was the epitome of more-ish. It coated his mouth in a delectable saccharin flavor and slipped down his throat with the ease of jello. It was cold but soothing and even the small portion landed like lead in his belly and made Levi feel full, almost drowsily so.

“I am so pleased to enjoy it, Darling.” Alina moaned. Her wording sounded off again and her exotic accent dripped off every husky word with deep gratification.

Her luxurious lashes fluttered sensually as Levi sucked the spoon clean and only then noticed with some embarrassment that he had shoveled down the entire portion in under a minute. Such base gluttony was not like him at all…

He gave the few last smudges on the little plate a wary side-eye before finally handing the spoon back with a satisfied groan. His unexpectedly ravenous appetite was sated and his eyelids suddenly felt as though ships anchors were hanging from them.

“M–Ms Makarova?” Levi slurred. His tongue felt thick and sticky from the creamy treat and his thoughts dragged like heavy chains as he tried to pull them together.

“Shhhh~... Darling.” Soft hands cupped his cheeks and drew his head down in place of cushiony comfort and warmth. Alina’s lap. “Rest easy, trust in Alina. You are safe now and all will be well.”

Alina’s calming words and gentle caresses coaxed Levi down into a deep restful slumber.

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