Destiny's Puppets. Henri Mallet
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her?»
«Yes, please, tell her to come to my office.»
In a couple of minutes Tatiana knocked on the door and entered the room. The neckline of the burgundy satin dress revealed soft, rounded shoulders and favorably emphasized the chic breasts, the object of admiration for men and envy of women. Her big, gray eyes had alarm sitting deep within them and were shining on her round face framed by her curly hair. Plump, discontentedly pursed lips expressed protest and resentment.
«Please, close the door, and stop demonstrating universal grief. I know, you are a talented actress,» Fedorov smiled benevolently, «sit down, we need to have a serious talk,» he motioned to the chair.
Roshin jerked her shoulder, raised her chin even higher and sat down. She was looking at the window away and it seemed that nothing would induce her to look at Mikhail.
«I know that you are mad at me. I’ve told you many times that I cannot divorce my wife and marry you. This will damage my career seriously. This is no selfishness, just inevitable reality. I know you are angry, but, please, try to understand that this is beyond my power. We can see each other, as before. Of course, only if you want it. I implore you not to proceed with what you plan to do. You don’t love Gleb, and he doesn’t love you. I know these things. I don’t know Svetlov’s real motives, but I know yours, perfectly well. I wish you no evil, that’s why I’m asking you to cancel your wedding. This will bring only trouble to both of you. If you agree, I could talk with your fiancé,» Fedorov spoke in a calm, soulful voice and looking straight in her eyes.
No real emotions emerged on the face of the professional actress. She was still sitting motionless, with her chin up, looking at the window. The trendy plastic heart-shaped pendant fell right between her breasts, heaving with breathing.
«That's all, that's enough, you've already sustained a pause enough, then there is a bust,» Fedorov smiled again. He took her palm with one hand and kissed her, and with the other gently ran over her shoulder, coquettishly displayed in the latest fashion.
Tatiana turned her head to Mikhail and looking straight into his eyes she asked him in the coldest possible tone, «would that be all? I can get away?
«You want to leave? Just get up and leave?» Fedorov gently lifted the girl.
Tatiana abruptly writhed herself free. Her eyes framed with thick eyelashes were ablaze with passion and rage. They were not gray anymore – they’d become velvet black. Mikhail tried to press her body towards his, but she propped her little fists against his chest.
«Leave it, I am not the one I used to be. I don’t want to be your lover anymore. Am I making myself clear? I can get away?» the girl was breathing agitatedly.
«Of course, you can go, but think about what I have told you. Trust me, it’s very important for both you and Gleb.»
«And what, are you going to fire us?» the actress haughtily looked at Mikhail and went to the door.
« Tatiana, please calm down and look at this whole circus from the side. You are much older than him, he is still quite young. These are also significant arguments against your marriage.»
«Оh! Now you remembered my age! I’ve wasted several years on you and I have nothing as a result: neither a home, nor a family! Would you like to tell me something about it?» The girl’s voice became shrill. «I will not change my mind, I will marry Gleb!»
She banged the door defiantly, the clicking of her heels died away in the distance.
«No, you will not,» Fedorov sighed and looked out of the window.
Autumn was reigning there, Moscow autumn, the time of magic changes from the warm, tender, sweet summer to icy winter cold and fluffy white snow.
7
Major Lazarev was sitting at a small table in a cozy café. He was sure the talk in a natural, familiar setting would set his interlocutor at ease and be more productive than the one in the bleak office on Dzerzhinsky square. Larisa Panko with a regal bearing was sitting near Anatoly, her legs crossed beautifully. Capron stockings emphasized the elegance of her perfect legs. The girl was dressed in the latest fashion, her hair was neatly and elegantly styled. Larissa beautifully drank coffee from a tiny cup and favorably accepted enthusiastic male gazes.
«So, in exchange for the main parts in films and, if I do well, the rank of the Merited Artist, you are suggesting that I should bear Svetlov’s child? May I ask how am I going to live all these months while I am pregnant? OK, you will take away the baby, but how shall I explain it to my relatives?»
Larisa was casting voluptuous glances at Anatoly Lazarev from behind her false eyelashes. The fashionable shoe nearly fell off her heel and was graciously balancing it on her toes.
«How interesting, she is worried about everything, but the main thing – how to get pregnant by Gleb, bearing in mind the fact that, to add to all, he is going to marry the other girl. Is she so sure about her sex-appeal that it does not worry her in the least? Under no circumstances would I jump in her bed. She is overdoing it,» speculated Lazarev, watching his interlocutress. He had to admit, though, that there was something magnetic and charming about the girl. Suddenly he felt like touching her soft skin, and the sound of her voice resonated so pleasantly in his heart.
Larisa Panko was gazing at the major, «humph, to bear Gleb’s child – I’d prefer to bear your child. I could go to bed with you right now. With you being a KGB major, I doubt I can even try to seduce you.»
Larisa Panko was somewhat of a dreamer, but she had an uncommon, virile character, and one could only envy her stamina and perseverance. She obviously loved men, but tried not to get involved in the relations limiting her freedom, the relations which could become a burden to her aspiration for fame and perfection.
Larisa spotted this well-built macho at once, when she even did not know who he was and why he had come to their theatre. She liked Anatoly Lazarev immediately when she saw him during the rehearsal. When he approached her at the stage door and invited her to the nearest café to discuss her future career, she decided to seduce him at once and started smiling amiably.
As soon as they sat down at the table, ordered coffee and cakes, major showed her his ID, Larisa lost all her appetite, including for cakes.
«And I cannot reject this offer – in this case my career will go to hell,» the girl thought a bit irritably, continuing to smile nicely.
The young actress had long realized that she could rely only on herself in this world – men should be used, not loved. She remembered perfectly well the request of the other KGB officer and what had come out of it. Everything went the wrong way – she gave birth to a girl who now practically all the time stays with Larisa’s parents and she had to hastily divorce her husband. Despite the successful completion of the task, she received little gratitude and she had been practically out of movies for two years. After her hiatus, she was remembered and even given several leading roles. The offer on the table would result in leaving the stage for several months to act in films, but in reality, she was left with no choice.
«As far as I understand you are leaving me no choice.» Larisa beamed with her most charming smile, «pray tell me what is to happen to my child when I give it up for adoption? I have to see it; will you be updating me on its life?» The girl leaned back on the chair and was peering at the major. Her light golden eyes irradiated warmth and confidence, her eyelashes quivered.
«You won’t have to worry about the baby’s fate; neither will you have to take care of it. It will be provided for, it will be under our supervision and protection,» said Major Lazarev in a cocksure uncompromising tone.
He leaned forward a little, put his palm on the girl’s fingers and was looking at her calmly. His clear blue eyes reflected all the power of his words and his total assuredness in what he was saying. Larisa did not move away her hand, and for a moment golden sparkles of amazement appeared in her eyes.
«Holy mackerel,» she thought, «the KGB needs not just a baby, but a baby whose natural parents are Gleb Svetlov and myself, or the mother even does not matter, but Gleb must be a father by all means. What