DRAUMRS - Dreamweavers Among Us

23 - Cherry Tree

Gloria Black was regretting giving in to Water's request to travel to see Mikilo. Not that she didn't want to see Cherry again, but the uncertainty of the agenda, the lack of prior communication, not knowing how he was or if he was amenable to seeing her, not knowing how tense things might be; all these gaps in information nagged at her like an old-country mother and were messing up her preparations.

On one hand, the Elders had been informed that Cherry was anxious to see them to clear up misunderstandings and to recover relations with the First Circle. The delegation would be welcomed with open arms, wined and dined, and assured of complete cooperation; so they were told. It was predictable window dressing on a very bad situation. On the other hand, evidence was mounting that Cherry was actually behind a terrible series of destructive dreams that had injured and killed the very dreamers Draumrs were sworn to protect. How could he expect the First Circle to ignore the obvious?

She held onto her recollection of Cherry as a tough guy, but a gentle lover who treated her like royalty any time she was with him. Chivalrous and polite when she was with a current partner. But, when she was on her own, steamy nights with caviar and champagne ended in great sex. She had loved the palatial surroundings of his home and his various dachas when she was younger.

But now, though the trappings all seemed to still be there, she had sensed an underlying shadow of a very different man. On her last visit, several years earlier, servants had bowed and scraped, rarely making full eye contact. Associates, when they interrupted, did so with something that could have been either fear or loathing in their eyes. They smiled and said all the right words, but Gloria could see that they wanted to make the contact brief and risk-free. She never felt threatened, but that was during much better times. Now, she might feel the same trepidation as those who suffered his other side.

"I'll need clothes for business and for pleasure, all kinds of pleasure." She was talking in the general direction of her secretary and assistant, a Black Clan cousin who also served as a public representative for her whenever a buffer was needed. Right now, her assistant was helping to plan the trip that would start when she joined Armand on a private jet at Heathrow that evening. Mostly, Gloria was muttering to herself to keep her thoughts on preparations and planning, rather than letting them drift into worries about any of a dozen things that could go wrong. Her secretary knew it was one way that she worked through uncertainty. She nodded and added "mmhm" positive responses whenever Gloria looked up, which was exactly what the boss wanted her to do. It wasn't her place to point out the obvious. But, she thought it all a very dumb plan.

"I have no idea if he is bed-ridden or just had a sniffle. He used illness as an excuse for not showing up, but I've never known him to be sick a day in his life." She wondered about the ploy. "Hell, he used to pass out in a snow bank in his skivvies and we'd find him two hours later. Never as much as a sniffle, then."

"For all I know, he'll be in perfect health and want to drag me out on a boar hunting trip or something equally grotesque. But, if I'm supposed to get him in the sack for real, I'll need to find a way to rub him the right way and get in very close."

Her secretary was aware of the full plan. Gloria suspected that her partner was as well, although they had discussed it only as a diplomatic mission. But, there had been no objections or questions from him on the morality of seducing a foe. He had shared her affections before and trusted that she would be back to him when the task was done. This kind of 'wet-work' was just accepted as part of her assignment to try to head off this damn conflict.

"Or he might want to go out dancing and partying." She didn't expect a response from anyone now. She was off on a rant. "I should just call him up and say that I'm coming to fuck and what does he want to do to get his dick hard?"