A Polish Adventure

She got up and I followed her; the Ambassador was still shell shocked. Suddenly he jumped up. "Miss Parker, there must have been a misunderstanding. I apologize; please sit down and we'll talk."

Unfortunately, Jenny had enough. "Mr. Ambassador, as I said thank you for your time. I expected better, but such is life." I nodded to the Ambassador, still standing there without really understanding what had happened, and we left.

So much for Step 2 of the Battle Plan. When we walked out of the building, I asked Jenny.

"What happened? Didn't we plan to get some official support from your government?"

She was furious. "This so-called public servant doesn't know who the public is and what servant means. I'll tell Allan about him! And do you believe that he would have done anything to help us? He against the Polish Prime Minister? Hah! Never! We'll do it on our own, and win!"

Pavel stared at us when he opened the car for us. Jenny was irate, and he did the only thing he could: stay silent. We went back to the hotel and even Catarina was quiet, having seen Jenny's face and body language. She only said that a gentleman was waiting for us in the Lobby. A young man was standing up when we approached. Jenny mumbled once more something probably quite impolite and then forced herself to relax.

"Miss Parker, Count, I was told to come to Warsaw and report to you. What can I do to help?"

I recognized him: Andrei Balek, our IT specialist. I had met him first two years ago, when he requested a meeting with me. I didn't like what I saw then: a typical nerd hippy, long hair probably not washed for a while, a stubble of hair on his face, a black shirt and jeans, and black tennis with laces undone. I was ready to excuse myself, claiming another meeting, when he shocked me.

"Count de Winter, I'm sorry to enter rapidly on you, but do you know that you have a very serious security problem in your IT installation?"

This definitively interested me, and I asked him to sit and explain.

"I bought this little laptop and played around. You know how our minds work: we always want to know whether we are better than the other. So I looked at a few sites and out of curiosity, entered your site. Your protocols are obsolete, and your firewall don't exist. It took me fifteen minutes to enter your accounts and another thirty minutes to get into your HR files. I stopped there because I did not want to see confidential information, but I have urgent recommendation: Beef it up substantially, but do it yesterday! Just imagine what I could have done with a decent computer! The installation is very incompetently, or it was maliciously planned. I also recommend audit of accounts!"

He started to rise, but I waved him down. "Stay for a moment. First, what is your name?"

"Andrei Balek, sir. I live here in Elk and go first year to college -- you sponsored IT courses and I take all."

I leaned back and regarded him for some time; suddenly he became nervous.

"Count de Winter, I did not do wrong. I stopped when saw confidential data. Please believe me, I did not do wrong. I am happy in Elk, and my mother received health treatment in the new hospital."

His English was recognizable, but definitively could use improvement.

I calmed him "Mr. Balek, you didn't do anything wrong; actually, you did everything right in coming to me. Now tell me in more detail, what you did and what you found."

He went into details and I was shocked. The company installing the software had been recommended by somebody close to the previous mayor, and it was time to take action.

"Mr. Balek, I am very grateful that you came in, and I'll act on your recommendations. Are you interested in working for us while you are in college?"

He nodded enthusiastically, and the nervousness seemed to drain out of his body.

"OK, so come back tomorrow morning after talking with our HR department; I'll tell them to expect you, and based on your qualifications, they'll have a job for you. Today, go to a computer shop and buy the best laptop they have -- that is your bonus for warning us. Send the bill to us. And one restriction you might not like, but it's a condition to employment here. Clean up: hair, clothes, everything. If you need a loan to buy clothing, ask HR. They have a budget for this."

I called our General Manager, Simon Jaroslav, and told him the bad news. It was his responsibility, and he had failed to check this. I gave him two days to take action and brief me; based on his report, he still might have a job. Maureen was furious -- we had trusted the man! The next afternoon a young guy was led into my office and I almost didn't recognize him: Mr. Andrei Balek! He had cleaned up nicely, but was rather self-conscious about his new image: he wasn't a nerd anymore! He had a job and told me that his salary was much higher than he had expected. He also showed me proudly his new laptop. At this moment Mr. Jaroslav walked in and I used the opportunity to introduce him to Andrei. What would he do? Ignore the guy who had proved his negligence, or use him? To my pleasant surprise he welcomed him and asked him to accompany him; considering that Andrei had found the first flaws in the system, he should try to eliminate eventual others, too. Good move! Later the audit found that small amounts of cash had been systematically drained off our accounts - never much, but continuously. Later I told the mayor that two IT employees were fired immediately (and the reason why; after all, his predecessor had introduced them to us, and worse, had recommended them highly), and life returned to normal. Andrei proved to be a semi-genius about computers, and we sent him to courses in Germany and the States. He was one of our fast-rising stars and would soon be speaking English fluently.

My mind went back to today's problems and I organized my thoughts. "Mr. Balek, just a moment."

I turned to Pavel. "Mr. Balek, Miss Parker, and I will discuss the IT side of our little problem, but we'll have lunch here and I want you to participate. I'd invite Catarina, too, but we'll discuss confidential matters and it's better for her if she's not involved."

He nodded to Jenny and me, walked to the other side of the Lobby, and settled himself into a comfortable chair. It was fun to see that this chair was close to Catarina's desk, and Jenny started to smile -- her bad humor was slowly draining away.

"Mr. Balek, let's go to our apartment."

He looked around and was suitably impressed with the size of the main room. "Count, my apartment is smaller than this! But please tell me why I'm here and what I can do to help you."

I got water from the fridge and we sat at the table.

"Mr. Balek, you know what is happening since Law and Justice formed the new government?"

He nodded. "Yes, Count. I saw speeches that the Prime Minister made and when I was told that Miss Parker and you were here in Warsaw and that you wanted to see me, I read everything I could on political situation and talked to Mr. Bronislaw and Mr. Tussek. They told me to support you totally, no limitation. Miss Parker, you have given Elk life and for the first-time young people like me have future. You tell me what to do, and I'll do it."

What a difference to the Ambassador!

I regarded him for a long time. "Mr. Balek, we might need to do something which would be illegal and could be dangerous. If you don't want to share this with us, please leave and nothing will be held against you."

"Count, I was told to support you with no limitation. I didn't need that order; what I know about you and Miss Parker, gives me the assurance that even doing something illegal, you'd do it for valid reason. And dangerous? I'm young and life has been boring, Count de Winter. Bring it on!"

We laughed about the enthusiasm of the young man, but were content to accept it.

"Mr. Balek... " he interrupted me. "Count, please call me Andrei. We might go to jail together, so formalities could be abandoned. But don't ask me to call you James! For me, that would be too much informality!"

I smiled - I liked this guy. Jenny was also favorably impressed; we had met Andrei before in Elk, but he had always been one among a crowd.

"Andrei, we'll meet the Prime Minister tomorrow to talk about the probable expropriation of our company. Do you know what this would mean for everyone in Elk?"

He sat straight up, and his face turned serious. He knew that this would destroy the economy of his city: Party hacks would control the company, benefits would be deviated to the party and its protégées, employment would fall, and the city would return to the state it was before our intervention: a city bereft of hope.

"Andrei, we're prepared for two scenarios: one, that it is a political ploy and we will fight it in the courts; two, that if we offer money, they'll offer leniency and flexibility in their demands. Andrei, I've never paid bribes in my life and I'll not start here. We're prepared for this moment, but we might need your help."

He nodded. "I understand, Count. What can I do?"

I asked Jenny to take out our toys and his face lit up.

"Count, these things are cool. I heard about similar devices, but I've never seen anything so small, and on top of it, pretty. Cool, Count, very cool!"

We showed him the tablet while Jenny placed the beautiful little pendant with its mid-sized sapphire, cut in a pear shape, around her neck. I took out the fountain pen and the tie clasp and laid them on the table. We gave him some background information and then we came to the spy part. Jenny took the pendant off and placed it on the tablet, inserted a long and complex password, and suddenly the tablet showed Andrei as he listened and responded to our information. The pen and the clasp had just recorded the voices, but the image through the pendant was very clear.

Andrei was impressed. "Count, I've never seen anything like this in life; actually, I've never ever heard about something similar. Can I keep them after we're done?"

I shook my head, telling him that I had strict orders to return them after use. Then I came to the part he had to play.

"We want you to take all the information we'll get - video, voice, eventually some documents we'll get from another source - and make a story to present to the world. I hope that it will not be necessary, but if they want a war, they'll get it."

Jenny stepped in. "Andrei, I promise you that you will not suffer any harm if this gets serious. If afterwards you wanted or needed to get out of Poland, I'll offer you a job in Australia -- or Europe if you preferred this -- but this will be up to you."

He looked at her. "Miss Parker, recently my mother was very sick, and she recovered only because your company sent her to Germany for a very expensive treatment; I owe you!"

He repeated the instructions on how to use these little things, reminded us about the time limit for the video, and then lunchtime came around. I had asked Pavel to join us -- he needed to get acquainted with Andrei -- and when we came down to the Lobby, he was sitting again in a comfortable chair, waiting for us. It must have been another coincidence that this chair was conveniently located beside Catarina's reception desk! Jenny grinned -- something good might come out of this stupid adventure.

We said Hi, introduced Andrei, Jenny apologized that she could not invite her to join us since we were discussing company matters, but asked whether she would be available at night. Could she organize dinner and dance? And did she have a friend for young Andrei? I stopped her.

"Andrei, you don't have to come -- I assume that you have a girlfriend at home?"

He shook his head "No, I'm single and would enjoy accompanying you, with or without a friend of Miss Catarina."

He was polite, too.

We had lunch at the hotel, discussed other options a bit more and then Andrei excused himself -- he was going to prepare his spy work. We went back to the apartment, called Maureen (who told me that she missed me terribly), went through company numbers and Jenny could resolve an organizational problem that had come up in Western Australia. There was a call from the Australian Embassy asking us to come in the next morning, but Jenny was adamant.

"This idiot lost his chance. We have to come in? I would receive him if he appeared here, but going over to his place? Never!"

Don't get Jenny angry!

We had a nap -- no fooling around -- a shower saving water (unfortunately, still no fooling around, but Jenny promised me that she would compensate that failing later at night) and went down again. Andrei was standing beside Pavel and both looked nice: the young guy, eagerness in his face, and the man, experienced and self-assured. Both wore blazers and open dress shirts like I. Catarina was nicely dressed up: a white blouse with two buttons open showing that she was a woman, black trousers, and a colorful scarf on her shoulders. She was pretty, but Jenny was beautiful. Understated I must say, but a real beauty.

Catarina had selected a small but good restaurant with Italian cuisine, and we enjoyed the food and the company. Catarina's friend was very intelligent, and we had to be careful around her -- her comments could bite! Pavel took us to another place to have drinks and dance. There was live jazz music, and occasionally a DJ with romantic songs from decades past would appear. I always enjoyed having Jenny in my arms, but this time it was also fun seeing Catarina melting into Pavel's arms, and Andrei trying to be romantic, but without great success. It was getting late, and we had an interesting day ahead; I paid the bill and Pavel took us back to the hotel, but Andrei stayed with Catarina's friend. Good luck to him! There was a sweet little kiss on my cheeks from Catarina, and a respectful hug from Pavel.

Jenny turned to me as soon as we closed the door to the apartment. "My love, I'll have a shower while you do your things. I promised you a compensation and I'm in a happy mood -- so be prepared."

I did my things and when I came back to the bedroom, she was waiting for me. Lying naked on the bed, her arms spread wide to welcome me, her legs opened a bit showing her excitement and her dedication and trust. But as always, the best part was her smile, happy and loving, ready to give herself to me and be taken by her man.

"My love, this night is just ours -- tomorrow the real world will dominate our minds and actions. So - please take me with love... " and added with a small grin, "..... anyhow and anywhere. There's no smoked salmon, but the fridge has vodka! What do you want? Front? Back? Both?"

There was no response necessary and I hugged her. "All I want is holding you in my arms and loving you. It doesn't matter how -- just holding you makes me so happy!"

Now the grin was wide on her face. "Well, if you cannot make up your mind, let me handle this. After all, I'm the CEO and you're just a little director!"

She moved over, covering me with her body. It was wonderful as always, and always it was different. She wanted to make love, not sex, and that was what she was going to get. She looked into my eyes and I fell deep into them, feeling her love radiating out to me.

"Remember when you first kissed me?"

I remembered well that night when Maureen had asked her to come home with us and she let Jenny kiss me when she left. Sweet and with promises of good things to come.

"Remember when you first touched me on my pussy?"

I remembered that also when Maureen -- the sun around which my life turned - had decided to give us more liberty with each other.

"Remember when you first took me, making me yours?"

I remembered it and would never forget it -- when she offered her body and heart to me and I took her as mine and gave myself to her as well. It had been wonderful to feel her love, her dedication, and trust, and to give her my own. And today those feelings were multiplied manifold, between her and me, and between the three of us.

"Since Maureen -- and you -- allowed me to join you, my life has never been better; actually, it has improved every day. I have money, an executive position, can buy whatever I want -- and I don't want to hear any remarks about handbags -- and nothing of this counts. All I need is to look at you and my body tingles; I touch you and I want to melt into your arms, and I feel a thousand feet high when you praise one of my decisions. James, there's nothing more I pray for from whoever up there looks after me than to be with you for the rest of our life, and I pray every day that it will be a long, long life together, you, Maureen and me."

She started to cry and hid her face on my chest. I hugged her and lifted her head, trying to kiss off her tears. She sniffled, but then decided to come back to her original intentions. She moved her body slowly up and down, pushing her breasts into me and her stiff little points told me what she wanted. When I decided to help her, holding my hands around her hips and pulling her close, she lifted her body, straddled me, and looking down, addressed her best friend.

"George, I'm in need of tender loving care. Will you help me? Please?"

Stroking him tenderly, his reaction showed that he was ready and willing to do anything she wanted. She pointed him at her entrance, took a deep breath, and was slowly sinking down, impaling herself on me. It was wonderful to see her reaction as she was sliding down: Expectation, hesitation as I slipped in, tension as I spread her inner walls, closing her eyes as I reached her deepest reach, and then she again looked at me: there was joy, satisfaction, thrill, approval, and principally delight and pleasure reflected in her shining blue eyes. She welcomed me, holding me tight; she gasped and bending down to offer her breasts to my lips, she whispered "Do me, love." I gently bit her nipple applying just a small amount of pressure and she responded with a small gasp of pleasure A last feathery kiss, a nip on her earlobe and she settled back.

I drew out a bit, and then ran my shaft firmly back in, she accepted me eagerly.

"Yes, love. Do me."

I thrust upwards, building a rhythm, varying my depth and angle. Her reaction was now more pronounced, flexing her muscles and massaging my penis. I remembered that she wanted gentle loving and slowed down, but she seemed to have changed her mind. "James, faster. Please!"

I obeyed her demand and as I pushed up, she pulled me into her; we were on a swelling wave, ready to break. She opened her eyes and looked at me. "James, now. Come with me, my love!"

She was blazing hot and her walls squeezed and massaged my shaft, taking me closer and closer to the edge. A last push and she closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and came; I followed her, falling into our awareness of being together, giving each to the other, and feeling again the deep love that united us. Slowly we came back to reality and she rained kisses on my face. Her luscious black long hair was falling over one shoulder and hiding her breast; I pushed it away and kissed her stiff nipple. She pulled back against my protests and went back to regard me; it seemed that she procured my soul; then her hand stroked down the side of my face, her soft fingers transmitting her pleasure. Our lips touched, and she whispered "Thank you, my love. I'm so happy!"

I was touched by her soft words and looking at her, I saw that she was not only happy, but she also radiated happiness.

I slowly slipped out of her and she sighed contented.

"Darling, every time you take me, it is so marvelous, so thrilling that I'll never have enough. Promise me to repeat this many, many times?"

I nodded. "Many, many times, my love."

She snuggled into my shoulder and stretched her body. Her arm came up and she hugged me. "Love, I miss Maureen!"