Fair Trade

Sei had a dream. She wanted to hug him last night. The man who whispered that he couldn’t bear to see her appeared in her dream. The sweet sound of rain combined with Bill Evans’ piano song made her feel like she was floating through the dream.

In her dream he was rough and clung to her tightly, giving her an extreme pleasure. It was the first time she had such a wild dream. Sei bit her lower lip as she felt her mouth become dry. She felt like he was still in her body. In fact, it was just a dream, and it wasn’t even real sex. So it was even more confusing for her.

In her dream, they were wearing only a thin gown on the balcony of their newly moved house. The two were frantic and completely lost in each other.

‘I think it rained….’

Her whole body was damp and when Sei opened her eyes, the pale sunlight of the early morning had already penetrated every nook and cranny of the house. With her underwear as well as her outerwear drenched, she got up and passed Stefan, who was sleeping on the sofa, and went into the bathroom.

It had been a while since she filled the tub with water and unpacked a bunch of the bath salts she’d been saving. She closed her eyes and held her breath for a long while as she dived into the orange and rose-scented bath.

Please, please… don’t think of it.

Don’t think of it.

Don’t think of it.

Her breaths became labored and her ears started to close. Just as her entire body was depleted of oxygen, she poked her head out of the water.

“Haa, damn it!”

She remembered what happened in Nice. The day she first rebelled against Giulio after hearing Yuri’s words. Sweeping her wet hair, she sighed deeply.

He bit her thick, red lips well, and licked them with his tongue. He then pushed his tongue in her mouth deeply, and sucked on her tongue as if it was some sweet candy. The feeling of their mouths against each other was so vivid that she couldn’t bear it. The whole time she kept hugging him by his neck and showered him with kisses, she felt like there was something wrong with her head.

I guess I’m being punished.

The worries she had last night were reproduced as a dream. She believed her mind was separated from her body, but her subconscious brutally proved her wrong. Sei finished her bath and came out only after her body was completely soft.

In the meantime, Stefan, who had awakened from his slumber, stretched his body out and turned his head slightly away from her when he saw her in just a bath gown.

Sei opened the closet with a light laugh.

“In Nice, you guys changed my clothes when I was passed out. Why are you embarrassed all of a sudden?”

Seeing her untie her robe, Stefan jumped up and turned toward the door.  Sei felt amused seeing his tightly shut eyes.

“I’m sorry but I didn’t do it. And if Yuri sees this, it will be enough for him to put a bullet in my head.”

“Why is everyone so scared of Yuri? I just don’t understand. Even though he’s a mafia member… He’s way too handsome. Sometimes it feels like he’s not real.”

“Hey, Rose. Pulling a gun on your forehead or your face being known/revealed all over the world. Which one is scarier? I fear the latter.”

“As if you’ve ever been there/faced that.”

Sei, wearing jeans and a baggy shirt, approached Stefan and tapped him on the shoulder. Then she turned around, and put her hands in her pockets.

“Sergei.”

The name made her steps stop.

“What?”

“You told us in Nice that day. What happened to Sergei who detained and shot an MDP member. It was Yuri’s doing. He did it in person, by the name of Keith Miller.”

Sei inhaled slowly and shook her head. Now it was no longer surprising. She was now confident that she wouldn’t be surprised no matter what he said.

“You’re right. People’s eyes can often be scarier than guns. By the way… Get ready. There’s a cafe I’ve been wanting to visit nearby, but we won’t be able to eat breakfast crepes if we’re late.”

Saying so, Sei opened the drawer, took out her auburn wig, put it on, and began to properly disguise herself. Stefan went into the bathroom, and lightly washed his face. When he came out, he blankly blinked his eyes at the black woman sitting in front of the dressing table.

“…Rose?”

A woman with glossy black skin and reddish brown hair along with mysterious golden eyes smiled smugly at Stefan.

“I’ll go out like this today, so keep an appropriate distance and follow me. I’m going to ‘Tangerine Blanc’ at 8231.”

Her beautiful golden eyes gleamed. Stefan caught a glimpse of her true face for a moment, but she soon returned to the strange black woman she was disguised as. She grabbed her handbag and headed out. Stefan ruffled his hair, feeling goosebumps erupt all over his skin.

*  *  *

“Iced coffee and scrambled eggs. A morning crepe set with an English muffin. Oh, and celery juice… I’d like to order these.”

“Wow, are you going to eat all this by yourself?”

“I want to taste everything. I came from far away.”

“Ah, I see.”

You obviously know everything.

Sei swallowed back an expletive and handed out the cash.

Celery juice? Is there anyone in the world who drinks that?

Gavin, as promised, sent her a signal just before midnight.

A flyer was pasted in front of her door late at night. After spotting the flyer promoting a cafe called Tangerine Blanc, she checked the menu highlighted/struck with a highlighter and then crumpled it up.

“Please wait for a moment.”

After receiving the receipt, Sei found a seat in the corner and sat down. She settled in a place as far away from the window as possible, hidden by large potted plants and partitions, and free from any unwanted gaze, and then turned on her tablet and accessed the site written on the receipt. Soon after, when she entered the number of bar codes stamped at the bottom in order, a file with a reading time of 5 minutes appeared on the screen.