Chapter 18

It was all Nat could do not to drop the phone, she was shaking so much as she picked it up. She shot a glance at Dave, who was busy pulling on his jeans... thank God he didn't see her hands shaking like this. On the screen it said there was a text message from Yuri.

Nat turned her back on Dave, so he wouldn't see she had the phone, and went to get two glasses of water. She placed the phone on the worksurface, not wanting to risk dropping it... she accessed her messages and called up the new one. By the time she had filled the glasses from the bottle, there were Yuri's icy words, staring at her. "Be outside your dance school tomorrow at midday. Don't tell your lover anything or he dies."

She immediately placed the glasses on the surface, and gripped the edge tightly. It was then that Dave looked around and saw her, head down, slightly bent - as if she had a stitch or a stomach pain... he ran over to her.

"Nat, are you ok?" she just had time to clear the screen of her phone, and then she slipped back into the part of "girl with sudden stomach cramp"...

"Not really - I have this sudden shooting pain - right here" and she vaguely gestured to her stomach.... anything to give her time to recover her composure and to think about what Yuri could possibly want.

Dave looked at her still worried and took her hand to escort her to the table “You should drink your water, honey!” and he put her glass into her hand “Or it’s because you are hungry? I just came in and didn’t let you eat… Oh what a jerk I am!”

“No, no, it’s okay, Dave! I’m not hungry... it’s probably because I’ll have my period in a few day’s time” she shrugged and managed to lie without blushing “Sometimes I have such cramps before it. I’ll be okay, don’t worry!” and she drank from the water.

“Okay, but I go and search for a painkiller or something. Stay here, love!” and he rushed out to the bathroom.

Nat sighed and covered her face with her hands. She couldn’t believe what she just read, she was still in shock and didn’t know what to think or feel. She was already frightened, cuz she didn’t know what Yuri wanted from her! For God’s sake, they broke up months ago! What got into him to call her and say such things?! But the only way to get the answers to her questions was meeting him… She didn’t want this! Why couldn’t he just leave her alone to live her life?! But she stopped her thoughts for a few moments till she went back to her bedroom and lay down, pulling the red blanket around her body. Of course she didn’t feel pain in her stomach and there was no need for that painkiller. She was just too afraid and she was barely able to hide it from Dave, so when he finally returned, she closed her eyes laying on her right side.

Dave came closer silently and knelt down in front of her, putting a glass of fresh water and the painkiller onto her nightstand. He thought she was too tired and fall asleep and he didn’t want to wake her up if she can sleep from her pain, so he just stroked her side and gave a soft kiss onto her forehead before collecting his clothes and writing a note for her. He looked back from the door and although he didn’t want to go, he stepped out of the flat, closing it with his own key and letting her rest.

As soon as Nat heard the door close, she opened her eyes and sat up. She had to go and see Yuri - it might just be some stupid thing... but then why would he want her to hide it from Dave? It was beginning to smell really badly of Yuri's jealous streak, and each time she read the message her mind spun out of control as she imagined what he could be plotting. Already he had ruined her dancing career, and that wasn't enough for him, it seemed. What more could he want from her?

---

She couldn't sleep, so she sat up watching anything and everything on TV, nursing a mug of hot chocolate, having to reheat it several times because she forgot to drink it warm... and when morning came she decided to go for a walk to clear her head. By nine, she was showered, dressed and out of her flat, walking steadily towards her favourite Sunday market.

She wanted to prepare something delicious to eat: cooking often took her mind off her problems, and she was hoping that what Yuri would say wouldn't be too serious... probably something to do with dividing up their possessions in their flat in Moscow.

She had time to shop, take her groceries home, and get to the dancing school for midday, so she tried to banish the meeting from her mind for a moment, as she wandered among the market stalls.

She tried to stay calm and do things as she usually does – no hurry, no fear, just buying the stuffs she needed and going home. When she finally got home, she made a coffee and drank it while she ate a crescent roll, then after washing out her mug, she put on her black coat and left her flat.

For a moment she mused that it was ages ago since she spoke in Russian – only when her sister or Tanya called her. It’ll be a bit strange to speak with Yuri on their language, cuz she got used to English. But this silly thought was gone as fast as it came. She didn’t go with a cab, cuz she wanted some fresh air – as she got closer to the school she got more and more nervous.

She arrived ten minutes earlier and stopped next to the stairs, which led to the school’s gates. It was a bit cold, so she put her glove-covered hands into her pockets and felt that her nose and cheeks were already red from the cold wind. She looked around slowly and after a few minutes she discovered the familiar tall figure. The broad shoulders, the light-brown hair and the cold grey eyes were the same, she could never forget them…

The slow and confident way he was walking lulled Nat into a false sense of security, and she smiled shyly at him glancing rapidly up to meet his eyes. But when he spoke, her little ray of hope, that it would be a trifling affair of emptying their flat of her things, was shattered instantly.

"You think you're sooooooo clever, don't you?" he sneered at her "You drop me like a used handkerchief for this singing-walking-tattoo exhibition ... I really have no words for your stupidity." Here he dramatically raised his eyes to the sky, shaking his head in disbelief. He had walked right up to her now and was standing facing her. Nat took a deep breath and tried to reply, as best she could...

"Yuri, I'm so sorry if I hurt you - but if you look back over what we had, there was always something missing for me... something important. I don't even know if you feel the same about this, which is sort of proof of what I'm about to say: there was no tenderness - no intimacy! Our relationship was like one between colleagues, who happened to share a bed…” and it was here that she realised that he wasn't hurt at all, just angry that he had lost out on his "investment."

He laughed loudly - and for so long that Nat began to get impatient with him - she had things to say, and then she wanted them to make a clean break - no more spiteful behaviour from him. Surely he had got enough revenge already?!

She was totally unprepared for what happened next - Yuri grabbed her by the forearms with his powerful hands and started to shake her as he talked:

“You women - always thinking with your heart, and with your hormones .... I take it that he's better in bed than me? Is THAT what you are trying to tell me? Slut! And you think I care to hear this?" He stopped shaking her and slapped her across the face with the back of his hand.

Nat stood her ground, gasping from the pain that spread across her cheek and along her jawline. She instinctively touched the place where the blow had landed and felt a welt of skin already starting to swell up. Looking at his hand, she saw the reason for this was a large gold cygnet ring, which must have connected with the soft skin of her cheek. Her first reaction was how she was going to explain this to all the people she was in contact with...

"Yuri, this is going to leave a mark! How on earth will I explain this to the parents of my pupils? Shall I say I go out at the weekend and get into fights?" she was losing her temper with him - because of HIS lack of control she would be spending time lying to people about this mark on her face ....

"Oh don't make me cry, poor little lost girl in a big country! You'll manage - look how well you have bounce back since I dropped you from the ballet - you have two jobs, a nice flat, a new lover.... you'll be using your excellent deceptive skills to invent stories quite a bit from now on - you'll see ... this is only the beginning!"

His smug face made her want to punch him - or stamp on his foot, anything.... but she would NOT sink to his level ... she contented herself with a civil question:

“So what does that mean?"

"Well, my little ex-fiancée" and with this Nat suddenly had the urge to hide her left hand, but instead decided to curl up her fingers out of sight as he talked, in case he looked down for that ring ....

"I have decided to move on - move up if you like - back home, and I will be needing quite a lot of money to do this ... and I thought you could help me by at least paying your debt to me..."

"What?" Nat's eyes widened as Yuri's words hit her.

"Your training - when I took it over after your parents died - I worked it out, you are heavily in my debt, dear girl ... and I don't think that your present little jobs will pay me back fast enough: I have my eye on a fantastic apartment in the city centre of Moscow - and I need the money soon to make a deposit."

"But how much do I owe you?" Nat was suddenly scared - she had been under Yuri's wing since she was 14 - and would never have finished her training had it not been for him ... she was now shaking as she waited to hear what figure he would come up with...

"Let's round it off at two million dollars, shall we?" Yuri could have been telling her at what time the next bus left, his face was so expressionless!

Nat couldn't speak - how could she possibly find that amount of money? And something started to scare her even more: what would he be threatening her with if she refused to try and pay him, or failed to do it in time?

"Yuri - are you crazy?! It would take me all my working life to earn that and I might not even make it, however hard I worked!!!" Nat was barely whispering - he was asking her this impossible thing for a reason ... it was becoming clear to her.

"Ahhh - well - you see, my sweet girl, you are in the wrong line of work!!! I have an idea that will help you earn the money in one year. If you do everything I tell you, then we can be even in twelve months – but…" and here his eyes darkened, and his voice deepened "You must never tell your lover, because if you do I will have to take care of him - in a nasty way - maybe ruin HIS career, or threaten his family? What do you think would hurt him most?"

An image of Rosie - trusting and so sweet - came into Nat's head. How could she not obey Yuri? She was trapped. She swallowed hard and she couldn’t hide the fear in her eyes as she looked up at him in disbelief.

“Yuri, are you fully aware of what you are saying? Are you serious?!” she whispered seeing from the corner of her eyes that a few people looked at them as they were passing by – although they were speaking in Russian.

“Oh yes, I am serious. And I can be even kind to you, if you are kind to me…” he lifted his hand and tucked one of her blonde tufts behind her ear. Nat pulled away instinctively.

“What do you mean?” she gave him a suspicious look.

“Well…” a dangerous smile spread on his pale face “each time you come to see me, I can reduce the debt a little…”

“What do you mean?” she breathed and felt that all of her blood ran out of her face.

“Oh, honey, don’t say that you can’t get it! You are much cleverer than this, but I can explain you, if you like:  It would be cheaper for me than going to see a hooker…”

Nat felt herself sick realising what was hidden behind this last sentence! She couldn’t believe this! Yuri was completely insane!

“You want me to…” she managed to utter with disgust in her shaking voice.

“Oh yes, and you’ll do everything I want, little girl!” he smiled, but his eyes were icier than ever! “You’ll have the address where you must show up on Tuesday! And you’ll be there on that evening, or else I’ll talk to my bad-bad guys to take their first step…” and he started to chuckle from her expression “And I won’t let you forget this! Remember, no words to the police or your pimp, or he’ll suffer from the consequences…” and with this he stroked the swollen and red part of her face and turned around to disappear in the mass of men and women, who were going to have their lunch time, not knowing what was on that pale and desperate little blonde woman’s mind…

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