Adventure Across the World Ch. 01

When one of the women grabbed the chair that was leaning on the table Drew spoke up.

"Oops not that one, I still need to fix that one before its safe. Yulia, come sit at the bar with me and let the three ladies sit at the table." Drew requested while gesturing. Yulia translated as she moved to the raised counter.

Once the ladies were seated, the kettle started to howl so Drew started to get up. But so did the women and he waived them back down to sit. They did not know what to make of this odd man. He gathered cups, sugars, and teas and placed them on the table. There had been a running dialog of Ukrainian between the women. There was some type of agreement and one of the women got up and procured cream out of the small European undercounter refrigerator.

"My apologies ladies. I do not normally drink coffee nor put milk in my tea. So, if you are going to be hanging out here, we will have to make somethings work." His wording seemed to cause some difficulty in translation, but in the end, they all smiled and nodded.

Drew was looking at each of the young ladies at the 'dining table'. It was more of a patio table, but beggars could not be choosers. He was entranced by the beauty of two of them, they could be sisters, same height, hair, eyes, and facial structure. They were tall, maybe 5'-10" with the long lean bodies of runners or athletes of some type. Dirty blond hair and blue eyes rounded out the striking package of both. They literally could be fashion models.

The third woman was more like Yulia. 5'5" or so, curvier with narrow hips but a nice bubble butt. She looked like she had large B or small C breasts on a narrow frame, so they seemed to be larger. Nipples poked out through what looked like a light bra of some type, but they seemed to overwhelm the fabric of the bra and shirt and looked very pronounced.

One of Drew's little fetishes.

She was a brunette with hazel eyes, rounded out her package. But her eyes held something else. More loss or wisdom, or age...something. She was not the most beautiful in the room, but he fell into her eyes. There was a deepness there that kept pulling him in. He had felt that only a few times in his life, it thrilled him and scared him at the same instance.

Drew felt a hand on his shoulder, and he turned to Yulia.

"My apologies. I was not expecting such lovely company so early on a Sunday. I am usually up and going by 6am," and shrugged.

"Ladies, I am Drew, and you are?" Drew asked turning back to the dining table and the three beautiful women.

"Oh, oh, I am so sorry. May I please introduce Tetyana." Yulia pointing to one of the 'twins' as he was mentally calling them, the one with a faded red streak in her hair. "She is master's student in Architecture." She paused briefly "Oh along with her cousin Darya, also a graduate student in Architecture."

Both women did a little waive and produced amazing smiles.

"I have asked them to come interview with you for positions to help on the rebuild." Yulia explained.

Drews eyes shifted over to the third woman at the dining table. They just stared and smiled at each other.

"Antonia is Darya's roommate. She would like a...ah...part-time I think is the word, as a secretary. She has little boy to care for and she is a...a...combat medic? But she was in school for Art History before the baby came."

"Is the child with the father while she is here or being medic?" Drew asked.

There was quiet as Yulia translated and then a long quiet that followed. The women all looked at the table without speaking. Yulia looked extremely uncomfortable and fidgeted in her chair.

Antonia finally looked up and into his eyes. She was crying and the tears filled her beautiful eyes.

"Husband is traitor." She stated in in very halting English and then rattled off a string of sentences and then bolted for the door.

Drew was flatlined and did not know how to react. He quickly shook himself out of the shock and then pointed to the two cousins and stating in English but with a lot of hand gestures "Go get her and bring her back here".

The two got the hand gestures and were out the door in seconds. He heard a high-pitched argument in the hallway and then Antonia was drug back in the apartment between the arms of her two friends.

While the hallway discussion was in process, Yulia had informed him that Antonia had caught her husband providing intel and coordinates, not for Ukraine, all for drinking money.

He was now on the run.

Yulia quickly explained that due to the actions of her husband she was on leave from the military until an investigation could take place. She was also being shunned by her neighbors and her family was demanding a divorce. She had reacted because she was afraid the Drew would act the same.

Antonia now stood like a convicted criminal with her hands in front of her gripping a kerchief. Her friends held her softly but firmly, so she did not bolt again.

"Antonia, look at me please." Drew paused until she looked up, "You have no shame because of the actions your husband. He lost his honor not you. The job is yours if you want it."

She seemed to relax with her shoulders slumping and her friends wrapping her in hugs.

"Thank you," Yulia whispered and gave him a brief hug.

*

The days turned into more days, and then weeks. The 'crew' as he now thought of them, grew more confident as a team. They grew to know they could count on him to cover their backs. They bossed around the scavengers as they delivered and arranged their 'finds.'

The 'office' as he now called a good portion of the first floor, filled up with an impressive amount of furniture. The ladies seem to keep the antiques to a sitting room area. The more modern Danish or as Americans call it 'mid-century" (60's) modern style furnishings in the office area.

*

The 'crew' completed setting up the office area of the Great Room. The oversized office became the conference room, a large dining table and several mismatched chairs had been 'procured.' One corner was designated as the CAD area. Additional shoji partitions were used to segregate the areas so both spaces could be utilized at the same time.

Drew was up in his now partitioned mezzanine. He knew from the beginning he did not need a bedroom 'half the size of a football field', or so he thought of it. Salvaged amours from his first scavenging effort had been rigged onto the second floor and placed as a false wall, so his 'bedroom area' was sectioned off from his now living room. His ensuite doorway was split so it served both private and more 'shared' space on the mezzanine level. The other two thirds of the mezzanine became his personal living room and sometimes escape space for staff.

The mezzanine continued to be accessed by the decorative circular metal stair from the great room. Plus there was a narrow back stair that dropped down into the 'mudroom' coming off the back narrow 'emergency escape' staircase.

This left the whole huge first floor as office and staff space.

*

Drew heard commotion on the first floor. Female voices modulated between deep discussion and titter'y fun.

Drew wandered over to the guardrail, looking down at the four beautiful faces of the crew and not a little cleavage. The younger crowd was talking to each other and became animated and turned to Yulia and pointed at Drew. They seemed to have questions.

"Why did you salvage that?" asked Yulia, pointing beside the door at the dressing vanity he had sitting somewhere in the complex hallway, but was now in a corner of the great room.

"Well, it's not broken. I mean the mirror was, but I found a framed mirror that is already upstairs. I may be a bachelor but hope to acquire female companionship while here. I presumed she would like a place to keep her stuff. And I hate the American fight over the bathroom counterspace." Drew then paused and scrunched his own face.

"Did you bring that in?" Drew asked looking at the gaggle at the kitchen table.

Antonia, the one with the eyes that drew him in raised her hand and said in broken English "Me, I do" she paused very briefly "It very old...sad mirror broken."

He reminded himself that her training was in art history with a concentration of museum conservation.

"You can have it if you want. I am just a lover of old things. I love how they have been touched and taken care of over the years." Drew offered starting to turn away when he saw the shadow cross her face. From the mezzanine floor 12 feet above, he saw the tears form before she turned away.

"What did I say?" looking at Darya.

"Her neighbors are demanding she leave her housing complex. They do not want the wife of a traitor living there." Darya paused as Antonia whispered loudly, but Darya just waived her arms in dismissal. "I argued that she turned him in, but people died, and the hate is pointed..." and she crunched up her face translating in her head and then just shrugged, "Pointed the wrong way."

And then Drew being Drew, opened his mouth and put his foot in it.

"She can always stay here, there is lots of room." Then he paused knowing that he was going full in. He was looking down at four confused faces and varied expanses of cleavage.

"That goes for any of you working late hours, or just needing sleep or, well anything actually." Drew commented and then turned back to his living space. There was burst of high-pitched female Ukrainian spoken quickly.

"Mr. Scott!?" came Yulia's voice. Drew knew it was more formal because the 'Drew' had been skipped and he knew Yulia was too into protocol for that to slip.

He walked back and leaned over to the same scene of beautiful, upturned faces and peaking cleavage.

"Yes?" he asked.

"What about Antonia's son Alexander? He is 4?" she ended with the tone of a question.

Drew smiled and thought of the blended family his dad created. 'In for a penny, in for a pound', his old Dad used to quote all the time.

"He will be welcome too. We have lots of room and we will make it work," Drew stated using one of his own favorite quotes. There was a fair amount of squealing and hugging below him.

"We will all take turns taking care him, so he is not underfoot." Yulia stated with too much excitement.

"Oh, no you will not," stated Drew with a little force. The female chatter stopped immediately on the first floor.

"We will all be very busy...soon. So, reach out to friends, classmates and the neighborhood and find a couple of teenagers that can babysit while we do work." Drew paused and all he saw was open mouths and the same smooth fine cleavage.

"OK?" Drew ended with four sets of heads bobbing and Antonia's eyes flashing happiness.

*

Drew was becoming increasingly agitated over the inability to access the museum site. They photographed the exterior and Drew had borrowed a small drone to do higher flybys. They made sure security was installed to stop looting, but there were a lot of hungry and shady people still looking for an easy score.

So, on his umpteenth time to the Defense and Cultural Ministries, some clerk got fed up with his demands and stamped his permission to tour and then take over the site.

*

Antonia's move-in was almost immediate and it was interesting for Drew to have another body living in his space, even one so huge as this apartment. They ended up sharing meals and discussing the delay in retrieving her son from her parents. It was a power play from her parents for a divorce and money. It took the whole crew to get her parents to release Alexander plus some cash from Drews safe. Yulia led the charge, and it was done on a Friday.

Alexander was so full of curiosity his first day at the office. Regretfully his biggest fascination was where the circular stairway went. After the first half-dozen times of finding the small child climbing the steel steps, Drew went scavenging in the other apartments again. Sure enough, there was a fully loaded nursery with child gates and playpen. Drew could only surmise that they were another American expat family that had fled the fighting.

A quick transfer of materials and Alexander, the little high spun midge was corralled.

*

Drew was busy going over the antiquated plans for the museum with both Tatyana and Darya. They had all agreed that the East Wing was the first to get stabilized. It was by far the worst, taking direct impact from artillery and then a fire. The water used to put out the fire may have done more damage than the limited fire. They would not know until they could stabilize the wing's walls and forensically pull-out what art and antiquities survived.

Drew explained that they would keep the walls and re-brace them. This would be done in stages as the antiquities and demolished structural members were removed. Anything that could be salvaged would be, and then sorted in the adjacent warehouse they had claimed in a sort of 'eminent domain' action.

The crew left early so they could be back ready to explore at the early morning light. Drew, Antonia, and Alexander fended dinner together. Drew was going to do some additional work, but little Alexander had other ideas.

"Hraty!(play)" came out as a demand from the munchkin.

Being a father of adults, Drew still remembered his little ones being snippy when either hungry or tired. Since Alex had just gorged, he knew it was time for bed. Antonia took that time to arrive.

"I am so sorry. Ill gather him up and take him in the bathroom with me."

Drew could see she was dressed in a thin robe, that proved she was at least braless. Her thick nipples showed through and teased Drew.

"No, leave him here. I'll find something to keep him busy so you can take a shower in peace."

"You're sure?"

"Please, go...have a moment of peace. We will try not to burn the place down while you shower."

And with a beautiful smile, Antonia wiggled her way to the first level bathroom. Drew wondered if, or how much of that wiggle was for his benefit. She turned her head as she made the corner and saw that he was watching her and where his eyes were glued. When caught he just blushed and shrugged his shoulders. She burst out laughing as she vanished on her way.

As for the munchkin, Drew had the perfect American style parenting planned. He pulled over an Eames style lounge chair and ottoman facing the large CAD monitor. He clicked into the computer and then through the internet to his Amazon account. He clicked over to Prime and grabbed the squiggling creature before he could escape.

Drew laid back placing Alex in the crook of his arm and clicked again. "American genius rocks!" Drew whispered to himself as SpongeBob Square Pants and his band of odd creatures burst forth across the large hi-def screen.

Music blared and then was quieted by Drew. "Forgot the ladies were rocking it this afternoon," he thought to himself quietly.

There was a squeak and mumbled 4 yr. old Ukrainian come out next to him. A little arm came up, and a little hand pointed, as Sponge Bob and Patrick danced across the screen. Drew played the game of trying to get the munchkin to say the names, but Drew just laughed as the little head turned and the eyes glazed over.

In less than 10 minutes Alex was fast asleep. Drew continued to watch and play with his phone. As he learned from taking care of his kids, if you switched channels, no matter how deep the sleep, they would awaken. And Drew got a kick out of SpongeBob, so no harm done. He did mute the speakers to bring calm to the household

Antonia came out of the bathroom wrapped in a large bath towel and another around her hair. She had every intention of teasing Drew just a bit more. It had been a long time since anyone had looked at her with the quiet hungry look that he did.

Heading to the main open area, all she heard was...nothing. Alexander was pretty wound up when she fearfully left him with Drew, and now there was just silence. She was not afraid of Drew's babysitting skills. She was terrified that Drew would make them leave this place of safety, peace, and calm.

She rounded the corner and saw the silliest huge cartoon creatures cavorting across one of the two huge display screens. The comfortable chair and ottoman that Drew had salvaged had been drug to the center of the screen and she could see Drews legs sticking out but where was her Alexander?

And what was that series of weird creatures doing on the giant screen?

Drew had heard her quiet exclamation and softly rotated around a little. She slowly walked up with her hand over her mouth, tears forming in her eyes. Alexander had shifted slightly and rolled to his side, his head in the crook of Drews arm and a small hand gripping one of Drews fingers.

Drew hardened immediately. It was one thing to have her draped in a robe. Yes, he got a bit of a nipple show, but compared to the show he was seeing now, not a comparison. The oversized towel, while technically covering everything was an absolute tease. Cleavage bunched on top. The towel barely cover her mons and he was sure that the cheeks of her bubble butt would dip below...once she was not walking straight at him.

She walked over and bent at the side of the chair, putting her hands on his right arm. The one not wrapped around her son. She stood staring at the sight of her son in this man's arms, safe, comfortable, and deeply asleep. She had never seen her husband ever do this with their son. The tears started to fall off her face.

But she was bent over. He was a 'seasoned' male of 63. She was a hot 32-year-old female in only a towel... so he snuck a look. Her ass looked amazing, just peeking out of the towel. The angle of her leaning made it even more pronounce and 'even more arousing' Drew thought.

She caught him looking of course. As their eyes met, she lowered her face down to his and gave him a short, soft sensual kiss.

"Thank you," she whispered as their lips parted.

She straightened and then walked over to the other side, to gather her son. Drew started to shift but a gentle hand from her, settled him back. She gathered Alexander up in her arms with his head on her shoulder. He wiggled a bit in dream derived frustration and then did a wiggle kick.

Her towel slid to the floor.

Both Drew and Antonia were at first shocked and then mutually embarrassed. Then, eyes locked on each other, she just shrugged, smiled, and began her slow walk to her room to put Alex to bed. Drew started to get up from the chair, while never taking his eyes from her lush body. He had just clicked off the display monitor when he saw her look back.

Antonia stopped and did a quarter turn. She pointed at him, and then spun her finger in the air and pointed back at the chair. Being married twice and with several long-term relationships during his long life, he knew an order when he 'heard one.'

And, with his aged seasoning the thought of the stupidity of arguing with a naked beautiful younger woman. It had not escaped his noticed she had shaved her lower mons while in the shower.

Whose lower lips were engorged and swollen purple.

Whose nipples were so hard they could cut glass.

'Starting an argument? Well, that would be plain stupid.' He thought as he slid back into the chair.

Drew sat his old ass back and waited for floor show number four. He knew she was teasing in the robe when she had first walked out. The towel was an incredible tease, and she rocked the tease. The unveiling was an accident, but the walk out of the room was priceless. Absolute tease number three.

He was waiting on the return...and he knew she would return.

She came sauntering back in her robe and she looked stunning. She had run a brush through her wet hair. Her nipples led the way and did their own dance under the thin fabric of the robe. Each step caused a jiggle that caused the nipples to move and weave their own dance for his eyes delight.