Chapter forty two

"This better be very important Vladimir , you just had me called out from an important business meeting saying that you have something urgent you needed to talk to me about and I find you here leisurely lounging about and smoking a cigar? Do you think that this is some sort of a joke? Do you think that I will hesitate to have your son tortured or killed? Do you not understand the severity of the situation you are in or does your son mean so little to you that you are willing to throw his life away for some meaningless posturing?"

Since my cellphone was destroyed and all my money burnt to a crisp along with my wallet and since neither Delilah nor Sergei had money or a phone, we had to walk and hitchhike all the way from the warehouse to the bunker with an awkward silence hanging in the air as Sergei attempted to be as far away from Delilah as possible without leaving us behind while Delilah insisted on being as close to me as possible. But all that torturous awkwardness and trudging through the snow was worth it because I could finally get to do this, I looked at the irritated face of Marcus Fairweather on the giant screen behind Vladimir, put my tongue between my lips and blew a giant raspberry before saying, "Get the stick out of your ass Marcus and stop being so damn pompous, we don't give a rat's ass about your threats or ultimatums."

I could see the confusion and rage on his face and I couldn't help but giggle. Marcus turned back to Vladimir and said, "Are you going to let her speak to me like that? Need I remind you that your son's well-being is dependent on my good will."

Vladimir just took another puff from his cigar and replied, " She's right you know. You need to loosen up a little, nobody likes a stuck up prick."

Marcus's face turned so red that I thought he was going to have a stroke or a heart attack or something along that line. His voice was shaking in rage as he said, "I will give you one last chance, sign the documents immediately and send them back to me or I will have your son's soul tortured for all eternity."

Vladimir picked up some documents and showed them to Marcus , "You mean these documents?" Then he touched one end of paper with the butt of his cigarette lighting it on fire , "oops, I am so clumsy sometimes."

Marcus was now so furious we could see veins popping allover his forehead as he put his hands in his pocket and took out his cellphone. He screamed, "You asked for this!" then started to poke the screen of his touchscreen so hard that it cracked and broke from the abuse. He finally had to mash the number manually into a normal phone in the conference room he was in and so we were able to hear the robotic automated voice saying "The number you have dialed is disconnected, for more information and support you can connect to our call center by dialing 905 , thank you for choosing Verizon wireless."

Usually that message makes me want to go to their 'call center' and set off a low yield nuclear weapon but now it was the most hilarious thing I had ever heard.

Marcus didn't seem to find it as amusing because that finally pushed him over the line and he completely lost it. He completely trashed the room he was in, he broke the table in two , he threw chairs around and even threw them through windows. At one point he made such a ruckus a couple of oriental looking businessmen came to check what was happening and saw the ending of Marcus's little temper tantrum.

I didn't know how to speak Japanese (that's what it sounded like to me) but I was pretty sure that they were discussing taking their business elsewhere as they quickly left the room.

A few minutes later Marcus was in a different conference room and he seemed to have calmed down considerably even though his usual smug expression was absent and he had a small twitch near the left corner of his mouth, "I apologize for my outburst earlier, I don't know what came over me."

Vladimir just chuckled, "That's quite alright , it was actually quite amusing."

I suddenly cut in, "It was more than amusing , it was freaking hilarious. I actually recorded it and posted it on YouTube. It already has over ten thousand hits in under ten minutes and the video is seven minutes long so you do the math. I'm pretty sure you are going to be an internet star Marcus, although I don't know how your shareholders will feel about it."

The twitch near the corner of his mouth suddenly became more pronounced, "Ms Persephone, why do I feel like all my misfortune is somehow connected to you?"

I just smiled innocently and looked as angelic as possible , "Why would you think that?"

"Because I had two of my best men guarding the boy, one of them was an elite of the shining ones and even among us he is feared and respected. No bullets could have defeated those two, how did you manage to beat them?"

I didn't want him to take too close a look at me so I took a calculated risk, "You have it wrong Mr Marcus, I wasn't the one who foiled your plan. It was a man in a white mask who says he is a friend of yours."

Either he was a really good actor or he really was enemies with Mike because his eyes suddenly bulged out and his face twisted into an expression of absolute fury. I could actually hear his teeth grinding as he said, "Adonis..."

It seems I could trust Mike after all, that was good to know.

Marcus finally got his expression under control although the twitch near the left corner of his mouth was joined by a one near his right eye, "Alright Mr Vladimir , I know when I am beaten. I shall cease all operations in Russia until a later time so this is my farewell to you, at least for now. As for you Ms Persephone I have a feeling that you are going to be an annoying thorn in my backside so I am sure we are going to cross paths sooner rather than later so until we meet again I bid you adieu."

He would have sounded quite cool and suave if he had not grabbed the armrest of his chair so hard that he broke it when he said that.

I just dissolved into another fit of laughter. That was so enjoyable that it almost made what I went through that night worth it.