03-23-2024, 02:21 AM
Upon releasing from the handshake with Konstantin, he pat the man on the shoulder in a good-mannered send off and was ascending the stairs when Valentin arrived. The man was one of Nikolai’s earliest supporters for the presidency and invested heavily into the road to Moscow. Nigh on thirty years later and Valentin was as familiar a face as they came for Nikolai. Yet even after all this time, the man was still severe in the most social of moments, and the glance he exchanged with Scion was not overlooked. Nikolai and he shook hands and shared a few words over his family’s celebration as the waitress delivered a flute just in time for attention to generally settle on their host.
The momentary attention that Konstantin directed toward the Ascendancy was met with humble pride. He nodded in acknowledgement, even barking back a few words that spoke to the friendly ease between the two men, then settled into the quietude that followed.
He almost thought he imagined the voice; nor did the identity of the ‘she’ in question come into focus. His attention remained steadfast upon the stairs, but an astute onlooker might notice the sudden shadow to his expression that appeared when he was deep in contemplation.
Unlike the impression that Noémi might have received, Nikolai shared many lovers over the decades. Shallow interludes they were but never undertaken without consideration. Rare were the occurrences under the influence of alcohol, and as such, no memories were clouded with the haze of passion unrecalled. Rare also were the women that occupied his thoughts long after their time together had passed.
Mariam was one of those rare people. She was part of the press corp accompanying him circumventing the world following the formation of the Ascendant Soviet Union. The first thing he noticed about her was the way she lit up when she smiled, and the second was how she lit up even brighter when she trapped him in a corner of logic. While flying to India, he asked her to play a game of chess, and the rest was history.
He all but tuned out Konstantin’s doting over his wife, though he continued to watch and nod at requisite moments. Meanwhile, he considered his options. He could ignore the waitress, declare her behavior as inappropriate and have her banished from Moscow, send someone to investigate this claim on his behalf, have her detained and interrogated, or he could simply talk to her.
None of which were scenarios he wanted to deal with tonight, but the mere prospect that he had a child tugged at the desire to understand the circumstances of their existence. No child of his should be a mere waitress, but he was the Ascendancy, and relational claims were nothing new. Tests would be easy enough to confirm, either way, but unlike all previous conspirators, he actually knew Mariam, and this woman looked so like her, he did not doubt this was Mariam’s offspring.
But he hadn’t heard of Mariam for decades. She could easily have advanced to motherhood, and a grandiose story based on her days in the Ascendancy’s press corps to explain an absentee father was fathomable.
He raised his glass in toast as the speech came to its climax and fluidly moved away from the waitress where none would be the wiser that anything unusual took place.
He did, however, still have a mechanism in place to inquire about women that took his interest. Not that this was one such situation, but it was as smooth a cover as any. A few minutes following his departure, someone approached Nesrin, instructing her where and when to present herself for a little chat.
The momentary attention that Konstantin directed toward the Ascendancy was met with humble pride. He nodded in acknowledgement, even barking back a few words that spoke to the friendly ease between the two men, then settled into the quietude that followed.
He almost thought he imagined the voice; nor did the identity of the ‘she’ in question come into focus. His attention remained steadfast upon the stairs, but an astute onlooker might notice the sudden shadow to his expression that appeared when he was deep in contemplation.
Unlike the impression that Noémi might have received, Nikolai shared many lovers over the decades. Shallow interludes they were but never undertaken without consideration. Rare were the occurrences under the influence of alcohol, and as such, no memories were clouded with the haze of passion unrecalled. Rare also were the women that occupied his thoughts long after their time together had passed.
Mariam was one of those rare people. She was part of the press corp accompanying him circumventing the world following the formation of the Ascendant Soviet Union. The first thing he noticed about her was the way she lit up when she smiled, and the second was how she lit up even brighter when she trapped him in a corner of logic. While flying to India, he asked her to play a game of chess, and the rest was history.
He all but tuned out Konstantin’s doting over his wife, though he continued to watch and nod at requisite moments. Meanwhile, he considered his options. He could ignore the waitress, declare her behavior as inappropriate and have her banished from Moscow, send someone to investigate this claim on his behalf, have her detained and interrogated, or he could simply talk to her.
None of which were scenarios he wanted to deal with tonight, but the mere prospect that he had a child tugged at the desire to understand the circumstances of their existence. No child of his should be a mere waitress, but he was the Ascendancy, and relational claims were nothing new. Tests would be easy enough to confirm, either way, but unlike all previous conspirators, he actually knew Mariam, and this woman looked so like her, he did not doubt this was Mariam’s offspring.
But he hadn’t heard of Mariam for decades. She could easily have advanced to motherhood, and a grandiose story based on her days in the Ascendancy’s press corps to explain an absentee father was fathomable.
He raised his glass in toast as the speech came to its climax and fluidly moved away from the waitress where none would be the wiser that anything unusual took place.
He did, however, still have a mechanism in place to inquire about women that took his interest. Not that this was one such situation, but it was as smooth a cover as any. A few minutes following his departure, someone approached Nesrin, instructing her where and when to present herself for a little chat.