The Baker And The Queen Pin

Chapter 33: A Long Day

~~~Booker

What was the text message supposed to mean? I think. She tells me she has to go immediately, it's a family emergency. She didn't even come, she just texted me. I told her I don't feel comfortable with her being around her dad and she said it was okay. I didn't trust anything that had happened but I let it go. I had no choice, I texted her asking if I should leave the apartment. She said no, we'll work on our relationship when I come back.

I sit and see the message as she then says I'm about to go to Russia now. Please take care of yourself, I'll talk to you when I come back. I put the phone down as I begin to calm myself. She's doing this and I don't know how to deal with it. I don't know how I can even talk to her now because the phone's no longer accepting messages. I calm myself as I try to think about why she would do this. Nothing comes to mind, she wasn't unhappy and she told me not to leave so how do I deal with this?

How do I deal with this situation at all? It's then that I see Belle come in the door. 'Dad, I'm sorry,' she says. She could tell on my face what was wrong. Her eyes were red as she came close to hug me, I guess we were all feeling this. I get ready to go to the bakery and I think about everything that's happened today. I couldn't help but feel tears flowing down my face, maybe it was my fault that women left me, maybe I wasn't as good as I thought.

I then stop myself from self-wallowing as I drive down the freeway. The sunshine beaming into my car reminded me how warm it could get in Maryland. I was hurt, my feelings were hurt and I realized how much pain I was really in. I realized that I was alone again, I didn't like this feeling. I've had to deal with it all my life and I hated it. I was in the car as I got closer to the bakery and I think about everything she's done for me. It's then that I realize how much money she invested in me and I push the thoughts out of my mind. She didn't abandon me and I needed to figure out why she left so suddenly.

I needed to talk to Gregor. As I get closer to the shop, I find myself wondering what am I going to ask this man? He only came to work for the company because of Maria. I know he was making good money so would he even tell me? As I get into the bakery, I realize that Gregor wasn't even there. I checked the entire area and I saw that he was on the schedule for today but he wasn't here.

"Paul" I say to him as he's surprisingly calm. He walks up towards me as he says, 'Yes, Mr. B?' I look around and ask, "Where did Gregor go?" He then looks at me and says, 'Gregor quit, sir. He said he had a family emergency,' It's then that I say, I was a bit crass as I said, "Paul, do you have a family emergency too?" Paul then says, 'No but I can see why you think I would have one,' "So, why did Gregor disappear?" I ask Paul. It's then that he says, 'I don't know. I couldn't tell you, sir,' think "So, you're telling me he just handed him money randomly throughout this entire time you were working with him?"

'How did you do there was money in the packages?' I then say, "Paul, I know when something's going on underneath my nose. All I want to know is why you were handing him money," It's then that Paul says, 'Maria is a very rich woman. She invested a lot of money into the shop. All she's doing is gathering her cut of the money, sir,' I remember the agreement I and Maria signed and I remember how she charged for an obscenely low amount of rent.

I then say, "Fine," feeling my emotions get the better of me, I didn't want to judge her, and I didn't want to doubt her though my intuition told me I was missing something. I stay calm as I think I needed to have faith in Maria. "Paul if I find out you're lying, you won't have a job," He then says to me, 'I wouldn't dream of lying to you, sir,' I say, "Good. I'm sorry Paul but Maria just disappeared,' Even though it was none of his business, he probably knew something. He looks at me and says, 'Well then that would explain why Gregor left,'

I take a deep sigh as I look at him and say, "How has everything been?"

~~~Maria

We were going back to Russia and I had to make sure I packed well. Russia was notoriously cold and we were going in March and it could still be cold there. "Why are we in Russia, father?" He looks at me and says, 'Firstly, we're here to find a room,' We drive from the airport to a hotel, and he looks at me and says, 'Have I taught you nothing? We will be going to a motel,' My eyebrow raised, "Why would we be going to a motel?" I asked. 'Why? Because we wouldn't want to attract too much attention to ourselves,'

As we go to a hotel, I Look around and see that it was populated with plenty of cars. He goes to get us a room. At that moment, I sat there, waiting, realizing I hadn't changed my cell service. I could text Booker now and talk to him but I knew I couldn't do that right now. I knew that calling or trying to contact Booker would be an immediate problem and I perished the thought of talking to him.

As my father is in the motel, I was sitting there, waiting. It's then that I notice something, something that didn't escape my vision: a van. It was something about that van that made me nervous, it was then that I subtly looked around. I look at my phone and immediately take note of the time. With that, my father comes into the truck and he says, 'I hope you're not planning on calling that American,'

I then say to him in a hostile tone, "Didn't you tell me to leave him out of this? Do you think I'd lie to you, father?" He looks at me as he says, 'Yes, you would,' I was almost offended but I shot back and said, "I don't have time for games. Let's go to our room," We get out of the car as we begin to walk to our room, I was told not to pack any good clothes so I packed joggers, leggings, and winter wear that was less than extravagant.

"So, what are we waiting for?" I asked him. 'For now, we're going to get ready to go to sleep. We have a busy day tomorrow,' I look at the time and say, "It's only 9:30. I'd rather find something to do before going to sleep," He nods and says, 'Do what you want,' "I always intended to," I say to him. As I leave, I make my way to a nearby market called Magnit. As I go in there, I grab a few things from food to cigarettes to fast items such as jerky. I didn't want to waste too much time at the store but I needed to get as much as I needed.

I knew what I was doing and I took my time. It's then that two casual men walked in, one grabbed a pack of smokes and he spoke heavily-accented American Russian enough that you could tell that he was not American. The man looks at me but keeps walking. We make a brief amount of eye contact but I could tell he was not a native from here. It was his clothes that gave him away, he dressed almost too normally. Russian weather was cold but typically, you wanted to bundle up very well. They weren't bundled up at all, almost as if they were sitting in a car all day.

As I finish up my purchases, it looked as if I was eating for four people. I make my way and finish up the rest of my transaction. We both meet up at the register, it's then that he says, 'Добрый вечер (Good evening)' I smile and say, "Oh, I'm sorry. I don't speak Russian," It's then that the cashier says and I don't know why the greedy bastard raised the price of the food. The food went from 20 dollars up to 35.

It's then that he has in a stern voice in Russian, 'Зарядите его по справедливой цене, сэр (Charge it for the fair price, sir' It's then that I say, "Thank you," As I get ready to leave, I get in the car. It's then that he says, 'I'll be seeing you then,' I smile and nod at him. As I drive back to the beaten-down motel, I throw the cigarettes to my father and he catches them. He sits there in his towel and I say to him, "For god's sakes, get decent. I'll wait,"

It's then that he says, 'Wait. Two guys left shortly after you left. Did you see them?' I nod and say, "Yeah. Two Americans? Caucasian?" 'Look about right. So I take it they didn't take the van?' "Yes. They must have walked there and given how far the place was," I say, "It would have taken them at least ten minutes while it only took me a few to drive up there," We both nod as there was a very high chance this area was watched by Interpol or the CIA. There was a chance that any of this would happen.

"They can't be watching us. We just got here, but we must be careful," I say. 'That doesn't mean we shouldn't be careful, though. They could easily be alerted to whatever we're planning,' he says. I nod and accept that for facts. As I step outside, I take my time and take a deep inhale, looking at my phone. I see the last message he sent me and I am still upset with myself. My father may have had a point, maybe this was the life I had to be cut out for.

I let it go as I get ready to go to sleep. I had a long day ahead of me from what my father said.

End of Chapter 33: A Long Day