The Sicilian Defense

Ch. 3

"Glad to hear-" Benny was cut off.

"Hey Benny," There was a pause. "I gotta go, I'll call you in the morning." Then the line went dead.

Benny slumped back into his chair, feeling perhaps dejected. With that, he took an obnoxious sigh and began to stare at the chessboard in front of him. He was replaying the infamous match between Borgov and Harmon. The next world chess match was drawing near and he wanted to play for America. However, he knew Beth was far better at chess than he was so he'd just have to keep trying. As he got up to take a short break and pour some eggnog, an unexpected knock came at the door.

Who could that possibly be? Harry and Hilton were with their families. Beth was with Townes.

He approached the door cautiously. Looking through the peephole, it was someone he hadn't seen in over a year, and for good reason. Unsurprisingly, however, he opened the door.

"Did you miss me?" She smiled, holding up a glass bottle of champagne with two empty wine glasses in her hand. Showing herself in, she strutted her way over to the table where the chessboard was. "Benny," She whined jokingly. "Are you really playing chess on Christmas?" 

Benny who hadn't said a word since she entered, shut the door behind him. "Yeah, what did you expect?" He had a snarl to his verbose.

"Are you still mad at me? It's been a year! Just drop it. She already won." The woman went to the kitchen to get a corkscrew and popped open the champagne. She filled her glass to nearly the brim and poured a little for Benny. Both of them sat down by the chess table and drank from their glasses respectfully. Benny sighed. He didn't particularly want her company but there was no one else.

"Cleo, you cost her the match against Borgov. She relapsed after your whole thing with her!" His voice started to rise. "She could've won after my training with her here in New York." Benny sighed and took another gulp of champagne.

"Benny," Cleo started. "I didn't know she had a problem. If I had known beforehand, I promise I wouldn't have done anything like that."

"You're unbelievable," He finished off his glass and got up from his chair. "You're still blaming your mistake on her!" Benny, a lightweight, was starting to feel some of the strange effects early on his first glass. He got closer to her, anger in his eyes clearly present. Feeling a need to be vindictive, he got in her face. "Why? Just why Cleo? She would've came back to New York with me if it weren't for you." His anger turned into a shaking sadness to his voice.

Cleo was a little scared, but was clearly turned on by his closeness to her. Grabbing him by the collar, she pulled him in for a lusty kiss, which he returned. The deep passion in his eyes, for Beth she presumed, was fierce and the two of them started to get rough. They moved over to the bedroom and started to take off their clothes.

---

Benny woke up, his head aching again like it did the day prior. He turned to his side. Cleo was already gone. Getting up, he went to the kitchen. It was almost like deja vu. He made himself some black coffee and noticed a note on the fridge.

"Thanks for a good Christmas. -Cleo" There was something clearly off about what happened last night. One tiny glass of champagne shouldn't have done him in already like it did. No, there was definitely something weird going on about Cleo. But he couldn't quite put his finger on it and went back to his game on the board.

He then promised to himself that he wouldn't get drunk again tonight like he had the two previous nights.

---

"No, she wasn't there." The woman stood at a telephone booth in downtown New York. "Yeah, she isn't with him. She's with the guy that you already sent for, Townes."

"Did you get anything else out of him?" The voice on the other line had a thick Russian accent.

"Not really, the drugs kicked in pretty soon and there wasn't much he could say or do." She held her hand out, glancing at her manicured nails. They were pristine.

"So he said nothing? Nothing at all?"

"Well, he was obviously still mad about last year, but he was definitely more upset than he should've been."

"Thank you for your work Cleo. Rest assured, you'll be getting your payment soon." The man on the other line smiled.

"Good, because it took you guys an extra week before I got the money." She exasperated and hung up the phone. Throwing the hood on her trench coat over her head, she headed out into the cold harsh snow, keeping her head down.