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Bella

By: Mahala



I look at her in amazement, unable to believe this beautiful creature was really mine. A siren, perhaps? But I do not think I am dead... A dream? Figment? Will I awaken upon attempt to touch her?

She stares at me with intense brown eyes. I've known her forever yet do not know her at all. How can one really "know" a person? And I think, 'I know you. I walked with you once upon a dream.' I know that I have had her dreams before. She knows that she is all my dreams consist of. Will I awaken?

I reach out, yearning to feel her and yet hesitant to touch. Please, do not vanish!' 'Whatever you do,' I tell myself, 'don't wake up.'

My hand slides beneath her shirt, onto the soft skin of her sides. Her presence is reaffirmed by the silent sigh she secretes, throwing her chin up slightly and stretching her neck. I grasp the skin, the muscle between my fingers, pull her closer to me. 'God, you are incredible,' I think. 'Oh God, I want to make you the happiest girl in the world. And even then, you would still be the second happiest, because I would be so overjoyed to have made you smile that your happiness could not equate to mine. ' 

She takes a small, graceful step closer to me and I slide her shirt up her waist slightly, leaning in to kiss her flat stomach. I feel her body move as if I have tickled her, her breath slow and audible. My tongue leaves my mouth and lightly kisses her again, moving up her sides as I continue to glide her shirt up.

She leans her head to one side, exposing for me her neck and collarbone. I so eagerly accept the invitation, slightly nibbling on her neck even, and then on her earlobe. She touches me now, slides her hands around my waist, and I become lightheaded. A small sound leaves my lips and she tightens her grip, and it is now that I realize she is steadying herself on me.

'But I myself am not steady!' I think. 'So come, let us hold each other as we lose our balance in this whirlpool of lust and let us drown hand-in-hand in my love!'

Her forehead rests on my shoulder now as I continue to bathe her with my kisses. I think about how I would like to find pure gold lipstick so that perhaps my mouth could be worthy of the fair skin it touches. I run my hands across her back, holding her tightly, wanting her frail body against mine, wanting to be so close that her frail body is mine, so that we have only one body between our one soul. 

And with this, I slide her shirt off of her body and drop it to the ground that is not worthy of my beloved's steps. Her breasts are small and pert, her nipples erect and as perfect as the rest of her. Her long black skirt is left hanging about her hips gracefully, accentuating her figure as she leans more to her right leg. I sit on the bed behind me, and she stands before me allowing me to kiss her stomach again, brushing up against her breasts. I feel her long fingers slide down my body and take hold of my shirt, pulling it up and over my head quickly and nimbly. Her hands return to my stomach, nails scratching lightly into my skin. 

I guide her down to the bed with me, beside me, moving my lips to hers, feeling my entire existence numb as my tongue begins to dance with hers. Leaning her back, laying her gently onto the soft sheets, the feather pillows, my lips never leaving hers, our tongues in nearly constant contact. I put my palm onto her hip, slide it up her side, over her stomach, up her breasts, to her chest, coming to rest finally behind her head, feeling her shaved hair beneath my palm. And still I kiss her. 'And I know this is making love, I think, this simple act of kissing, this gaze that we are holding, this feeling inside. I know that after such a fulfilling sequence of events, we could lay together in bed, in each other's arms, and sleep soundly.'

But the night is nowhere near over yet. 

I leave her lips and glide down her chest, to her stomach, settling on her hips, kissing and biting softly, listening to her breathes, the winds of Hawaii during the colorful sunrise do not compare to this; and I reach my hands beneath the slits of her skirt; her legs are so strong, yet they quake with each bite I put into her side. 

I easily slide the skirt from her body, taking a moment to breathe in the beauty emanating from her pores. 'I want to be that,' I think. 'I want to be your breath, your sweat, your smell. I too want to seep from your mouth, your pores, your body.'

I slide my hands from her calves now to her arms, taking hold of one of her hands and with my other, holding the small of her back as she arches slightly with my kisses.

I lean over, whisper something into her ear, and she smiles and looks up at me. Squeezes my hand. 

Still kissing her, I slide my hand from her back to her legs. I can feel the heat radiating from between them, I can smell her excitement, and with this mine grows. 

Slowly I part her lips with my finger, soaked immediately with her arousal. Her mouth opens slightly and she sighs, throwing her head back a little more. I find her clit and slowly run my finger over it, feeling it swell a bit. I lean down to her breast and take her nipple in my mouth, sucking it slightly and then leaning my head against her chest to listen to her heartbeat. I close my eyes for a moment as I continue to rub her clit.

I move my finger down slightly, to her opening. She takes a deep breath as if to prepare herself, and I immerse my fingers in of her taut body. She squeezes my hand and I begin to move my fingers rhythmically in and out of her, feeling her muscles try to hold me. Soon she is moaning and sighing, singing her treasured siren song, and it works so well. I am falling down, down, into this bottomless orifice of love that I will never be able to climb away from. 'You will be my death, little girl. And I will love it.'

I kiss her still, sighs escaping from her mouth into mine. 'I live for this,' I think. 'I live to breathe your breath. I would offer you my pulse...'

Her body squirms gracefully at my fingertips, and her scent becomes stronger. I realize that I want to taste this girl, this beautiful angel with her tortured, loving eyes, her insecurities escaping through the movements she does not think I notice- the way she moves her arms, the way she holds her legs. 'All the more perfect in my eyes, you inconceivably phenomenal creature. Do you not realize that your beauty alone is enough to kill me?'

And with this, I kiss my lips away from hers, return her fingers to her hand as my own trickle down her body, settling once more on her back. I gently kiss her inner thighs, licking them slowly and nibbling them occasionally. Her aroma reminds me of a strong French parfum, overpowering yet distinctly lovely, and I want it now.

And so I selfishly take her, run my tongue up and down her slit, tasting the heaven that she produces. I feel now like an unworthy dog, faithful to a fault, in love with love, licking up every drop of anything that tastes good. She purrs at her end, hands looking for something to hold onto before settling on my hair, her statuesque fingers combing through and then holding me securely to her. 

Her clit is swollen and my tongue finds it easily, playing with it and flicking at it with a zealous amusement. I take it between my lips and suck slightly. She arches her back and a high pitched moan escapes. 'Sing it again,' I think. I do it again, a bit harder this time. I flick my tongue ring against it, cold metal on her hot kitten. My fingers are still keeping rhythm and her body is dancing as well as singing. 

'I could hear your heartbeat in a different room right now,' I think; and then I realize that it does not matter, because whether or not I hear it, I always know how her heart is beating. I know when she is holding her breath. I know if she is having a nightmare. I know when she is thinking of me.

'Dance for me.'

I watch her intently, tasting her with every movement of my tongue. Slowly, I remove my fingers from her sweet snatch and she cries out in emptiness. Shhh, I tell her. Relax...

And with that I slide my tongue inside of her, licking her inside, feeling her muscles pulse now around my tongue, try to pull me deeper into her. I move my wet fingers to her clit and pinch it lightly, rub it a bit. Her moans are almost deafening, heavenly. Some believe that if you hear the voice of God it will kill you because it is so sweet and beautiful, and I move my hand away from my siren's clit for an instant to pinch myself. I am still alive. 

With this she wraps her legs around me and I can feel her toes curling against my back. Her grip in my hair tightens, and I feel her kitten open to me before tightening in a torrent of emotion and pleasure, wave after wave pulsing through her like small electrical shocks. Her nails move down into my neck and I shriek, surprised at the stabbing. But as her orgasm subsides, her fingers nimbly rush to the spot and rub it sweetly, making me purr at her touch. 

She pulls me up to her, next to her. I settle my head onto her shoulder and turn my body into hers, wrap my arms around her and twist my legs in with hers. She picks my chin up, has me look into her gorgeous crystal eyes. I am suddenly shy and crack a nervous smile, but she forgives me and smiles in understanding. 

'I love you, too.'

Bella



Felix watched her blush as his boy unbuttoned her tight little sweater and exposed her red lace bra underneath. She looked nervously at Felix, unsure how he would hold up throughout this experience. But Felix was relaxed, a real cool cat, not the jealous type. He watched intently as Rukus moved his hand up her smooth leg and tried to pry open her clamped thighs. Bella shook her head shyly, casting her soft brown eyes to the bedspread. Her curly cuban hair fell into her face. Rukus moved strands aside with his large dark hand and grabbed her chin, lifted it, and began kissing her pouty lips. She kissed back cautiously; it was strange kissing another man in front of her man. Yet Felix groaned in anticipation, his hand had already found his dick, and he pulled on it slowly. "That's it, Mami...give him some tongue...yeah... like that." Felix leaned to the side a little so he could see her face. She was embarrassed but he knew she was flushed with desire also.

Rukus pulled Bella closer to him on Felix's bed. He swooped his head down and began kissing her cleavage which spilled from her bra. Her young olive skin was sweet and tender. Rukus unclasped her bra and let her pretty tits hang loose. They were so large compared to the rest of her little body. "Damn, Girl...your titties are nice..." Rukus commented before sucking on each one generously. 

Bella let out a little moan as her nipples were nibbled and licked. She glanced at her fiance who sat in a chair in the corner of the room. His t-shirt was hiked halfway up his washboard stomach and his long latin dick stood straight up out of his pants. He smiled at her sexily, letting his eyes fall down her body and raise back up to her face. Bella blushed again. He nodded at her to focus back on the beautiful black man that was ready to ravish her.

Bella turned back to Rukus and he began kissing her mouth again. His lips were large and soft. Bella caught herself getting lost in his kisses. She was even beginning to lean into him, push back when he came at her more aggressively. 

Rukus again went for her timid thighs and when she wouldn't open herself to him for a second time, he gave her the alternative. "Baby, if you ain't gunna let me in there, then you gotta take the dick in your pretty mouth. So what's it gunna be, huh?" Rukus sucked the side of Bella's neck as she looked helplessly at her man. Felix stared into her eyes as he gave his friend permission to face-fuck his fiance. "Put it in her mouth first."

Bella almost started crying with humiliation, hearing Felix give her body away the way he did. But she was also turned on by his decisiveness. Rukus stood up and unbuckled his jeans. They slid down his muscular ass a little as he pulled out his long, thick cock. It was a rock. 

Bella didn't have to be asked to open her mouth when Rukus took hold of the back of her head and moved her face closer to his crotch. The black snake entered her throat patiently and slid in and out of her mouth slowly. Her lips held onto his manhood tightly as he filled her face with the only other dick Bella had ever sucked before. Felix quickened his strokes on his own dick as he watched his lady perform oral on his best man. He groaned in quietly as Rukus moved squarely in front of Bella and pushed her head into his groin with both of his strong hands. Bella almost panicked a couple times when Rukus's cock almost choked her. "Suck that dick, Baby..." Rukus murmured in satisfaction. "Damn, Dogg...your girl can suck dick fuckin' good...shit this feels amazing..."

"She'll eat your nutsack too...show him what you can do, Sweetie...and get on your knees, Mami." Felix's cock burned with desire as Bella temporarily let go of the dick, slid off the bed, and knelt before the hot black guy. She looked incredible with only a tiny plaid skirt on and slutty plastic heels. Her breasts hung from her small shoulders, accentuating her tight little waist. Bella kissed and lapped at his sweet balls. Rukus nearly blew right then and there as Bella massaged his testicles with her lips. "God, damn!" Rukus spat, his breathing getting heavier. "Start sucking my dick again, Girl...before I cum on you too soon." Rukus and Felix chuckled.

As Bella sat back on the bed and began blowing him again, Rukus worked his hand between her legs and up her little skirt. Surprisingly, she wore no panties. Rukus started tickling her pussy lips. Bella didn't resist him this time, but remained a little guarded which drove Rukus crazy with desire. He loved a woman who was hard to get. His fingers sank into her soft cunt and he felt that she was warm and very wet. He smeared her pussy juices all over her center. She was definitely ready for a long, mean fucking. 

"Lay back," Rukus ordered. He grabbed her knees and spread them open, revealing a hairless young pussy and another hot little hole that he hoped to penetrate at some point also. "Damn, Dogg...this is what you climb into every night, Man? No wonder you marrying this girl!" Rukus laughed and Felix smiled proudly. Bella let a small smile slip, which made Rukus grin at her even more. Rukus's smile was wide and white; very sexy. He was such an attractive man, the most attractive of all Felix's friends by far. She couldn't believe she was naked before his eyes right in front of her husband-to-be. "You ready for it, Baby?"

Bella nodded. Rukus pushed her legs back further and rubbed his dick up and down her slit. The fat chocolate head found her opening and was pushed up into her gut in one powerful swoop. Bella went crazy. She cried out in Spanish and bolted upright, looking desperately at Felix whose eyes were half closed as he yanked his dick like a maniac. He murmured absently at his woman to lay back and relax. Rukus pushed her back down gently as he climbed on top of her and pulled her center up to him, making the last few inches of his 9-inch pole sink into her body. She tried shutting her legs and turning to the side to get him out of her, but Rukus held her firmly on her back. Then he methodically started giving her the dick deeply and roughly. "Oh yeah...yeah, Girl...you like that?"

Bella whimpered as she felt her pussy stretching to its max. The pain of such a large intrusion began to give way to pleasure. Her cunt overflowed with wetness. Still she tried shutting her legs when she could. Each time, Rukus tore them apart and leaned into her open figure even more. He had complete command over her. And he took every bit of her femaleness.

Rukus felt like he was in a dream. This girl's pussy was the tightest, softest, warmest, and wettest piece of ass he had ever fucked. He knew Felix had made a mistake choosing him to bang Bella. Rukus knew he'd feen for her cunt long after this sexcapade. And if she got sprung off his dick too, then he planned to do anything he could to get into her gut again, with or without Felix's consent.

The long ebony rod gleamed with pussy juice as it entered Bella's body over and over. As he neared climax, Rukus pushed her legs way back by her head, exposing her entire center. Bella knew she was completely vulnerable to this black man's will. He slammed his cock into her tiny opening until tears streamed down her little cheeks. Then he yanked out and let white seed spew onto her titties and stomach. Rukus let her legs drop down limply as he climbed off her and sat on the edge of the bed. He looked up at Felix who had already busted all over himself. Felix's head was thrown back in relief. "Come here, Mamacita."

Bella slowly rose off the bed and wobbled over to her man. She would walk bow-legged for at least a day for sure. Felix stared at Rukus' cum all over her body. Rukus watched as Felix grabbed a towel from the floor and wiped his woman clean. He was so tender with her, so loving. Rukus felt the jealousy rising in his chest. Suddenly, he wanted Bella all to himself. That was his pussy, he thought angrily. Rukus lifted up and left the room. 

On his way back from the bathroom, Rukus passed the bedroom. He glanced inside. Felix lay between Bella's relaxed, inviting legs. He made love to her slowly and gently. Bella moaned dreamily. She was completely nude; her plastic heels abandoned on the floor. Felix kissed her round breasts; grabbed her soft open thighs; held onto her little hands, palm to palm. "More, Papi...more...ahhh, yes, Papi." Bella's requests drove Rukus insane. He wanted her to beg for his dick, call him Papi, lay naked with him, give herself willingly to him.

Fuck, I must be trippin', Rukus thought to himself. What did that female do to me?

Rukus continued past the room with Bella's little groans in his ears. He knew he'd get her again, somehow. Felix said this was a one-time thing, but Rukus promised himself that he'd change that. Bella was his little beauty now. And for all he cared, from now on...Felix could just be his bitch.



Bella



She studied the top of his head and selected the exact point of entry. It was to be the motor cortex just behind the frontal lobe. It would affect immediate paralysis of basic movements and the brain stem would cease to stimulate the lung muscles. His life would expire within ninety seconds.

He was grunting as he continued his savage thrusts into her and growled, "Do you like being fucked hard you whore."

Her legs were wrapped tightly around him and her arms were behind his back. She reached for the underside of her right forearm and with her left thumbnail picked at the flesh coloured plastic skin. She peeled back one inch and grasped the thickest part of the tapered tungsten steel spike. She withdrew it easily.

It was of no importance which way his head was tilting as both her hands were equally efficient, but as he was leaning slightly to her left she kept the spike in her left hand.

He raised his head and snarled, "Take all I got you slut," and spat into her face.

His spittle landed just above her mouth but her concentration was not effected. She put her right hand behind his neck and pulled his head towards her. Her thumb was behind the thickened base of the spike and she raised her arm. Her stomach muscles tensed and she stabbed downwards. There was a cracking sound as the spike pierced his skull exactly at her point of aim.

His body jerked spasmodically for nineteen seconds and she held his head tightly to her until his movements had ceased. She reached into her mouth and removed the wad of soft silicon that she had been concealing and wrapped it around the spike close to his skull.

She reached for a tissue and wiped his saliva from her face while she waited for the full seven minutes of average bleeding time to expire. There was no need to check her watch because her mental clock was just as accurate. When exactly four hundred and twenty seconds had elapsed she carefully withdrew the spike, at the same time pressing the silicon into the hole to stop any seepage.

The girl removed the excess silicon from around the puncture hole and folded it into the tissue that she used to clean the spike. She tidied his hair and slid the spike back into the pocket under her forearm and pressed the self-sealing skin into place.

Only then did she roll him off her and on to his back. His eyes were open but she closed them and then effortlessly lifted him higher so that his head was on the pillow. She dressed quickly and took a cheroot from the box on the bedside table. She lit it and placed it between the fingers of his hand and then folded his arm across his chest.

Once again she checked, but she already knew that there would be no trace of her remaining in the room. The transparent micro-thin pads on her fingers tips would leave no prints on the wine glass or in the bathroom.

She tapped on the door and the guard opened it. He looked over her shoulder at the man lying on the bed who had his eyes closed but was smoking a cigar. He quietly closed the door as he let her out.

The guard was heavily built and had an acrid smell of body odour. He was unshaven and his teeth were brown as he grinned at her. He reached behind and squeezed her buttocks as he sneered, "Did he give you a good fucking then?"

She stepped away from him and giggled. She said, "You look like you would be good too." As she walked to the top of the stairs she looked back at him and wriggled her bottom provocatively.

The downstairs guard looked up as the tall blonde hooker descended the stairs. He had searched her when she arrived and she had been clean. He opened the front door and gestured to the waiting taxi. She gave him a brief smile as she passed through the door and it closed behind her.

She settled into the back seat of the cab as it pulled away and lifted up the seat beside her. The case within the hollow space contained a complete set of clothes and she changed quickly. Her blonde wig was swapped for a mousy one and she altered her face makeup. She pulled on thick stockings and exchanged her stiletto shoes for brogues.

Only when she had stowed the case back inside the seat did the driver speak. "Your passport is in the pocket in front of you and your flight goes in two hours. You fly to Paris where you will pick up the connection. We'll be at the airport in fifteen." She remained silent.

As he pulled up in the departure lane she stepped out. She was no longer a brassy prostitute but a plain middle aged woman.

******************************

The morning was grey and drizzly as the girl walked along Lombard Street and turned into the bank entrance. The door at the far end of the hall was marked 'Staff only' and the lock clicked open when she swiped her card. The corridor was quiet as she made her way to the private lift and pressed the button to descend. When the lift opened she walked the few paces to the heavy oak door and pressed her right palm against the scanner. She waited the few seconds for the camera to blink green and pushed the door open.

The woman sitting behind the desk looked as drab as her office. She was in her middle thirties and was wearing a plain dark blue dress. Her hair was dragged behind in a bun. She was gazing at a computer screen and without looking up she said, "Madam said you can go right in."

The girl said, "Good morning Miss Davies, I hope you are well."

Without taking her eyes from the screen the women replied, "Good Morning Bella, I am well thank you. She is waiting and as usual you are late." The girl smiled and walked to the other door.

The room she entered was equally cheerless and panelled in dark oak. The neon strip lighting cast a depressing glow on the brown carpet that had an indistinct pattern. Air conditioning hissed softly but failed to remove the lingering musty smell. There were framed pictures of yachts on the walls and the room was without windows.

The woman sitting behind the desk was in her fifties. She was wearing a black suit and her grey hair was cut short in masculine style with a parting. She wore no makeup.

Her desk contained a computer screen and a few files neatly stacked. Extending the full width and height of the wall behind her was a bookcase filled to capacity. There was a single straight backed chair in front of the desk.

The woman looked up and asked, "Why are you always late Bella?"

The girl sat in the chair and crossed one leg over the other. The woman stared at her as if hoping for a reply but when one was not forthcoming she sighed and looked back at her screen.

She said, "Your assignment was satisfactorily completed and I am about to close the file. I am told that there was some doubt about the exact method of despatch. It is entirely up to you how you proceed but do you wish to add any notes?"

"No."

"In that case the file will be closed."

The woman tapped on her keyboard and then leaned back in her chair. She placed the tips of her fingers together as if praying and put them to her lips. She stared at the girl for a few seconds before she said, "There is another assignment and I have been deliberating who would best deal with it. It's a tricky one and I've decided to give it you as I believe your unique talents make you the most suitable."

The girl spoke softly, "Or perhaps the most expendable?"

"No Bella that certainly isn't true. We have a great deal of time and money invested in you and the last thing I want to do is waste it. You are unique in many ways." She lifted the top file and passed it across the desk.

The girl opened it and turned the few pages. When she had turned the last page she closed the file and handed it back.

The woman placed it carefully back on the pile and said, "Describe him."

The girl replied in a monotone, "Age thirty eight, one hundred and seventy five centimetres, one hundred kilograms, black receding hair. Two bullet scars; one in the left upper chest and the other in the right shoulder. Served two terms of imprisonment; the first for three years when aged eighteen for wounding with a knife and then five years aged twenty seven for violent assault in which the victim died. The murder charge was dropped when the witnesses disappeared. Known as the Bull...."

The woman held up her hand to stop the flow. She smiled for the first time. "I had no doubt that you would have stored every detail, it's just that it never ceases to amaze me."

She leaned back in her chair and with a serious expression said, "He is a very unpleasant man who has become a nuisance. As you will have seen, he describes himself as an exporter but his merchandise consists of the female population. Much of it is finding its way into other European countries including ours. He seems to have the local constabulary in his pocket which is why he continues to operate unhindered.

My associates and I decided some time ago that he should be deleted and the French sent their best man. Some of him was later deposited at their embassy gate labelled 'return to sender'. So now it's our turn."

The women gazed intently at the girl before she spoke again. "Bella this will require all of your ingenuity and a considerable amount of luck to get close to him but somehow you always find a way. As usual, anything that you require will be made available to you and will await your arrival.

The girl remained silent.

When there was no reaction the woman said, "You can download the file and you have seven days to prepare yourself. Your contact will be this man." She passed another file across the desk.

"He is Arnold Simpson and he occupies the position of English teacher at the local school where you will be his trainee. He is our eyes and ears in the area but don't expect too much from him."

The girl opened the file and looked at the photograph. She saw a studious looking man and read that he was a bachelor aged forty. She memorised the rest of his details and returned the file.

The woman placed her palms flat on the desk and sat up straight. "That will be all Bella unless you want to ask anything."

The girl uncrossed her leg and stood up. She said, "There is nothing thank you Madam."

The woman cast her eyes downwards and said quietly, "Goodbye Bella and good luck."

The girl closed the door behind her as she returned to the outer office. She strolled to the desk and perched one buttock casually on it. Miss Davies had been staring intently at her screen with her fingers fluttering over the keyboard. As the girl sat down, her fingers stopped and she said icily. "Please get off my desk Bella."

The girl remained sitting and asked, "Why don't you ever look at me Miss Davies; do I frighten you?"

Miss Davies hesitated and then with an effort, dragged her eyes up to look at the girl fleetingly before she looked away again. She said, "You don't frighten me, I just don't like you."

"Why do you dislike me?"

Miss Davies answered quietly "Because...." She paused as if searching for the correct words.

Bella smiled and finished the sentence for her. "....because of my profession?"

"No, I just don't like you so now please get off my desk."

The girl ignored her and said, "My I ask you a personal question Miss Davies?"

"No."

"Well I'll ask it anyway. Tell me Miss Davies, have you ever sucked a man's dick?"

Miss Davies stiffened and closed her eyes. She spat the words vehemently, "You disgusting filthy bitch, get out of my office."

Bella leaned forward and whispered, "Or licked a woman's cunt?"

The conversation was interrupted by Madam's voice over the intercom. "I can hear everything you say and I've told you before, please don't tease Miss Davies. Now leave her alone and go about your business."

Bella patted Miss Davies on the head and was rewarded with an evasive convulsion that almost toppled her out of her chair. Bella stood up with a smile and quietly left the office.

******************************

Arnold Simpson waited at the arrivals barrier and tried to make himself conspicuous. He had no idea who he was looking for but had been told that he would be recognised. As people drifted by, he searched for individual females and his eyes were suddenly drawn to a young girl who was walking alone.

She had short dark hair and strolled confidently as she wheeled her case. There was something about her athletic poise and elfin features that was captivating. He watched her pass and then returned his gaze to the departing passengers.

The flood had now become a trickle and he was beginning to worry when he felt a light tap on his shoulder. He turned and found himself looking into the smiling face of the girl who had attracted his attention. Her eyes were large but were they black or dark blue or purple?

She held out her hand. "Hello Mister Simpson I'm Bella."

He was never confident in the presence of females and he became aware that his heart was beating faster than usual. He stammered slightly as he shook her hand. "How do you do. I saw you pass by but you didn't look at me."

"I know, I just checked around to make sure that no one was watching you."

He looked surprised. "I don't think I would attract any interest, I'm just the local teacher. May I take your bag?"

She handed it to him and linked her arm in his. "It was just routine. Where are you parked?"

As they walked to the car park he felt awkward but also thrilled that he had such a beautiful young girl holding his arm.

The late afternoon was warm and humid and he said, "I'm afraid I don't own a Rolls Royce and there is no air conditioning so I hope you won't be too uncomfortable. It's about a forty minute drive."

As they turned onto the motorway, she reached up and twisted the handle of the sunroof. There was an immediate shower of particles as she slid it open and she exploded into laughter. He turned and saw that her face was covered with black speckles. He gasped, "Oh God I'm so sorry. I've never tried to open that before." She was giggling with amusement and he laughed with her.

When they arrived at the apartment block he handed her a key and said, "I've rented one for you opposite mine. I'm afraid it's rather basic and you have only a shower but you're welcome to use my bath whenever you wish. Oh and a package was delivered for you by an anonymous courier. Do you want me to get it?"

"I'll pick it up later thank you."

She opened the door and gave the interior a cursory glance. "It's fine; I've lived in worse places."

He drank only occasionally but in the comfort of his own apartment he poured himself a small vodka because he felt he needed it. He had no idea why the Trove agency had sent her but it had to be important.

Tidiness had never been his strong suit but he had made a special effort to clean his apartment. After thirty minutes there was a light tap on his door. She had changed into a white cotton dress that was quite short and she looked even more enchanting. She said simply, "I'm hungry Mister Simpson."

He motioned her to a chair and waited until she was seated before saying, "First of all, I would like you to call me Arnold or Arnie if you prefer it."

"I prefer Arnold."

"That's fine. Secondly, I eat out a lot because I'm not a very good cook and fresh food is quite expensive here. When I do eat at home it's mostly tinned stuff or out of packets. So I apologise for not feeding you but in any case, I don't want you to become ill on your first day here."

When she laughed it seemed as though the sun had burst into the room and he glowed with the pleasure it gave him just to look at her.

She said, "You would find it difficult to upset my stomach. I've eaten snakes, bats, toads and even rats. In fact I cook quite a good rat."

He looked astounded. "Are you pulling my leg?"

She seemed hurt when she replied, "Why would I lie to you?"

He answered hastily, "Please, I'm not in any way doubting you. It is just that I am shocked to hear of such extraordinary cuisine." He was surprised that she had been so offended. She seemed to have an almost childlike innocence.

He was relieved when she smiled and said, "I'll look forward to cooking a meal for you but it will be conventional. Right now I'm starving so when are we going to eat?"

It was early evening as they walked out of the apartment complex and he was again apologetic, "We are going to my regular restaurant on the other side of the park. Well to be honest it's really a café. Everything they serve is cooked that day and it's very basic. It's usually some goulash of indeterminate pedigree and occasionally it's actually edible."

It seemed so natural when she linked her arm with his as they strolled through the park. As they walked together, she pointed to trees and identified them and then became excited when she observed a bird that was supposed to be somewhere else in the world. He had no idea what she was talking about but he didn't care; he was just enjoying the extreme pleasure of her company.

During the meal she never took her eyes from his face and he wondered if he would drown in them. She asked for a small carafe of wine and then identified the grape as being too close to the local sewerage and on the wrong side of the railway line. He laughed continually at her nonsense and enjoyed the evening more than any that he could remember.

It was dark when they left the café and he attempted to steer her home by a different route. She immediately observed, "This isn't the way we came; why are we going back in this direction?"

He replied, "Bella, the park is a dangerous place at night. It's a haven for junkies and vicious criminals. Even the police don't venture in there. Trust me, I'll get you home safely."

She was insistent. "I want to go home through the park. I want to listen to the birds chattering in the trees and hear the rustle of the leaves."

He took her arm firmly but she pulled away from him and said excitedly, "You go home your way and I'll race you to see who get's home first." Before he could stop her she was running to the other side of the road.

When she reached the opposite side she stopped and twirled with her hands clasped high above her head. As she spun around, her dress rode higher and revealed her shapely legs and thighs. He watched her run to the park entrance and disappear into the darkness.

His feeling of panic was overwhelming and he ignored the horn blast from an irate motorist as he ran after her. At the park gate he stopped and peered into the gloom. There were lamps at fifty metre intervals along the main path and he saw her white dress suddenly appear in a cone of light. He shouted, "Bella come back," but she just turned and waved to him.

He had no choice but to follow and he caught up with her quickly. When she heard his footsteps she stopped and waited. He was panting as he pleaded, "Bella I'm begging you, this is highly dangerous."

She smilingly took his hand and said, "I'll look after you and I won't let the bogymen hurt you." There was a flutter of wings above them and she exclaimed excitedly, "Look there's an owl."

His heart was pounding as they continued further into the park. There was a warm breeze and shadows from the trees danced in the light from the lamps. To one side he saw the flicker of a fire deep in the darkness and he wondered if they were being watched.

Bella seemed oblivious to his fear as she swung his hand and skipped along like a child. In the dim light ahead a fox crossed their path and she gasped with excitement, "I love forests and jungles at night, there is always so much going on."

He tried to stare straight ahead but his eyes were continually drawn left and right as each shadowy shape seemed to be a menacing threat. They had passed halfway before his imaginary fear became reality.

Out of the darkness stepped a figure and he saw the glint of a knife. He spun around quickly but there was another man behind them. He felt an involuntary trickle of urine and his stomach lurched. It was the most frightened he had ever been and he prayed that it would be just a simple mugging. His throat was dry as he whispered, "Just do whatever they say."




Bella



The man in front of them moved closer holding the knife at waist height. He said in English two words, "Your wallet."

Arnold reached into his pocket and removed his wallet but as he offered it, Bella put out her hand to stop him. In the local language she said calmly, "Move out of the way, you're spoiling our walk."

The man snarled, "Shut up bitch," and made a threatening gesture with the knife.

Arnold was not exactly sure what happened next. He thought he saw Bella move her right hand but when he looked again, both her arms were hanging loosely at her side.

He heard the knife clatter onto the path and the man dropped in a heap. She turned casually as the second man came at her and this time it was no empty gesture. He had his knife poised to bury it in her stomach.

Her foot lashed into the man's genital area and as he clutched himself and lurched forward she jabbed upwards with the heel of her hand. His head snapped back and Arnold saw something leave his mouth.

As the man thudded onto his back, Arnold felt a wave of nausea. Blood was gushing from the man's open mouth and he was missing a chunk of his tongue.

He realised suddenly that he was going to faint and staggered sideways to lean against a tree. Bella was instantly at his side to support him and said, "Just take a few deep breaths; you'll be okay in a minute."

He dropped to one knee with his head against the tree and sucked in a lungful of air. For the next few seconds he fought against passing out and slowly his head began to clear. He tried to stand but his legs were too weak. Bella knelt beside him with her cool hand on his brow and waited patiently.

Eventually he was able to rise and turned to look at the two muggers. He was relieved to see that they were both moving. The first one was on his knees and gasping for breath. The second one was crawling away into the darkness.

He took a few unsteady steps with Bella's arm around his waist as she steered him carefully around the kneeling man. She stared anxiously into his face as they walked in silence along the remainder of the path until they reached the exit.

Once back in the brightly lit thoroughfare he relaxed and tried to gather his thoughts. He felt humiliated and ashamed and remained silent. When they arrived at the apartment block he left her standing in the corridor and shut his door behind him.

He slumped into a chair and put his head in his hands. He muttered, "You spineless cowardly wimp." He decided never to endure the embarrassment of facing her again and groaned, "Oh God, why are you such a pathetic failure?"

Ten minutes went by before he heard the tap at his door. He ignored it until the third knock and then forced himself to his feet. When he opened it she stepped in and wrapped her arms around his waist with her head into his chest.

She whispered, "Oh Arnold I'm so sorry; I spoiled a lovely evening with my selfishness. Will you ever forgive me?"

He reached behind and unwrapped her arms. He said, "Sit down Bella I have to talk to you."

She sat down obediently with a straight back and her hands folded on her knees. She stared at him with her lower lip protruding and her eyes were solemn and anxious. He felt an impulse to put his arms around her but then remembered that he was the one who was blameless.

He assumed a serious expression and said, "Bella let's get a few things straight. First of all I'm an academic not a commando. I avoid violence, I don't seek it. Tonight you gave me the most frightening and humiliating experience of my life and I can never look myself in the mirror again. You are obviously a Kung Fu expert or something while I can't even beat an egg."

She lowered her eyes and he wondered if she was going to cry.

He continued, "Now then; this is the important bit. Who are you and why are you here?"

She looked up and answered, "I will tell you I promise, but not now. Please, I just want you to forgive me because I will never do anything like that again."

He leaned back with a sigh and said, "All right I forgive you, but only this once."

She leapt from the chair and knelt at his feet. She said, "Thank you Arnold, I'll be a good girl from now on I promise. It's just that sometimes I can't help doing the things I do. I'm impulsive and I forget that normal people are different."

He looked puzzled, "Are you not normal then?"

She looked at him with a strange expression. "It's a long story and please may we leave it for another night? Tomorrow I want to start my job as your new trainee and be normal."

He lay in bed with a feeling of foreboding. His life was generally well ordered but that day his routine had been shattered. An angel had walked into his life but he wondered if she was really a she-devil.

He had difficulty in putting the evening's horrors out of his mind before he finally drifted into sleep.

******************************

The following morning he knocked at her door and reeled back in surprise when she opened it. She was dressed in a plain dress that hung well below her knees and she wore brown stockings and flat shoes. But the biggest shock was her facial appearance .She had donned a brown wig and was wearing spectacles. She looked ten years older and bore no resemblance to the attractive girl from the previous evening.

He gasped, "What the hell have you done to yourself Bella? I hardly recognised you."

She replied, "Am I not a school teacher? I can't turn up for my first day looking like a tart. And incidentally my name is Rebecca Henderson or at least that's what it says on my passport. But you can call me Miss Henderson."

The day passed uneventfully at the school. He introduced her to the staff and pupils and although she had spoken the language fluently in the park, she now struggled haltingly with it.

On the way home she said quietly, "For the next few evenings I'll be going out and I probably won't be home until late. I don't want you to worry; it's just that I have things to do. I'll be eating alone for a while but next week I'll cook you that meal I promised. Is that okay with you?"

He nodded and replied, "Whatever you say. I know you can look after yourself and your business is none of my business." She leaned sideways and kissed him softly on the cheek.

When he returned from his evening meal, he tapped on her door but there was no reply. Most evenings he would read or mark school papers and always watched the television newscasts. He had a music centre and would sometimes listen to his collection of classical music. That evening he retired early but was unable to sleep. He lay in the darkness and strained his ears for the sound of her returning and it was after one-thirty before he finally heard her door close.

His role with Trove was to report on a weekly basis or sooner if there were items of special interest. He had been told to watch particularly for anything concerning an Alek Dimitrov whom he knew by reputation to be the local crime boss. The method of communication was always by encrypted email. For his services, his account was credited with a small stipend which was a welcome addition to the meagre salary he received from the school.

On the second day of Bella's visit he received an email that his software could not decipher. It was marked for Bella's attention. He called her in and she stared briefly at the confusing jumble of characters. Then without comment she tapped a few keys and it vanished. He said, "Aren't you going to decode it?"

She answered, "I will later."

"But you just deleted it."

She smiled and tapped the end of his nose with her forefinger. "Don't worry yourself about it."

As soon as she had left, he clicked on his recycle bin but the email was not there. He did a search and got the same result. It had vanished completely.

For the next few days her same routine continued. She would leave her apartment in the mid-evening and return home in the early hours. During their conversations to and from the school she made no attempt to disclose her activities and he did not pry.

A week after her arrival she announced, "Tomorrow I'm going to cook you that meal so we'll do some shopping on the way home."

The next afternoon she told him to drive to the local supermarket and wait in the car. She returned thirty minutes later with two laden shopping bags. She said loftily, "Drive on Simpson, the chef is waiting for the goodies."

Back at the apartment she inspected his kitchen. "Jesus I've cooked in better field kitchens than this. Now these are the rules. If you come into the kitchen while I am cooking I will knee you in the balls, and if you take a peek when I go to change, I will know. Is that understood?"

He nodded obediently.

"Dinner will be ready on the dot of eight so I will expect you to be scrubbed up and looking presentable at that precise moment. Is that clear?"

He nodded again.

Just before seven-thirty she left the kitchen and paused at the apartment door. Silently she pointed her finger at him and then to the bathroom and he arose immediately.

He had two suits; one he wore every day and one he kept for best. He donned his best suit and a silk tie that his niece had given him for Christmas. He considered splashing on some aftershave but decided against it.

He had given her his spare key and at seven minutes before eight she let herself back in.

As she entered, his heart beat faster. She was wearing a sleek black cocktail dress cut well above her knees and with a plunging neckline. The sides of her tanned breasts were completely exposed and he knew that she was not wearing a bra. She had pendent earrings and a matching necklace that sparkled so brightly, he wondered if they were real diamonds.

She struck a classic pose and asked, "Do you like what you see?"

He had to swallow before he was able to answer. He said in a hushed voice, "I am gazing at the most wonderful vision it has ever been my joy to behold."

She replied, "Good, so now sit down." She turned off the main light leaving just two table lamps illuminating the room and then lit a solitary candle on the table.

He glanced surreptitiously at his watch as she served creamy oyster soup and it was six seconds before eight o'clock.

She poured a crisp Sauvignon Blanc to accompany the fish course and then uncorked a Durif Shiraz to go with the beef tenderloin. How she had managed to caramelise the crème brûlée was beyond his comprehension.

At the end of the meal he sat back and said, "Bella, I don't want to go over the top but that was five star quality."

She smiled delightedly and replied unashamedly, "I know."

It was unquestionably the most delicious meal he had ever eaten and must have cost a fortune. He said, "I know it's very rude of me to ask but how did you manage to afford all of that."

She replied, "Trove never question my spending, it's one of the perks of the job."

He shrugged his shoulders and as he did so he belched. He put his hand over his mouth in dismay and said, "I do beg your pardon."

She laughed and said, "I've eaten with people who consider it rude if you don't belch after a meal. In fact I actually practiced the art. She took a deep breath and released a reverberating belch that made him snort with laughter and applaud. She said, "You go and relax while I clear up."

He stood up unsteadily and tottered to an armchair. He said apologetically, "I think I'm a little bit drunk."

Within a few minutes she had cleared the table and he heard dishes being stacked. He was relaxing in an armchair when she returned and knelt at his feet. He looked down and then quickly away again because the smooth sides of her full breasts were so exposed he could see between them to her navel.

She observed his reaction and murmured, "It's all right; I don't mind if you look at my breasts. That's why I'm wearing this dress."

He felt himself growing hot with embarrassment. He looked back into her face and said awkwardly, "I'm afraid I'm a bit of a fuddy duddy and not used to looking at breasts. In fact I'm not used to female company at all and certainly not someone as beautiful as you."

Bella asked softly, "Shall we have sex now?"

For a second or two he thought he had misheard her. He stared at her in disbelief and his mouth sagged open as he gasped, "What did you say?"

"I asked you if we should have sex now. That is unless you want to wait for your dinner to go down."

He gazed at her in shock and tried to think of something to say, but eventually he managed to gasp, "I can hardly believe my ears. Are you seriously asking me to make love to you? My dear young lady, I don't think you realise who you are dealing with. I've only had sex twice in my life and I made a mess of both attempts. I'm a dyed in the wool bachelor and a very boring one at that."

She reached up and put her hand to the side of his face. "No you are not. You're a charming person and a gentleman. I like you very much and if you like someone it's nice to have sex with them."

He put his hand to his brow and closed his eyes. "Bella your candid approach to life is refreshing but it is also very disconcerting. Let us assess this situation. In the first place I must be close to twice your age and secondly, I don't know if I'm even capable of sex any more."

She asked innocently, "So you didn't taste the Viagra in the oyster soup then?"

He jumped as if he had been stung and shrieked, "What?"

Bella laughed and said, "I'm just kidding so don't have a heart attack. Anyway I'm going to make love to you and I promise that you won't need Viagra. All you have to do is enjoy it.

She went to her bag and produced a disk which she inserted into his music centre. As she returned to him, music drifted softly into the room.

She reached down and said, "The first thing that comes off is your tie; and now your jacket." She removed both and began to unbutton his shirt.

He grabbed both her hands and said beseechingly, "Please stop. You terrified me in the park and now you're frightening me again. Don't you understand; I'm no good at sex and I'll only make a fool of myself. Are you doing this deliberately to humiliate me?"

She slid onto his lap and taking his face in her hands she said firmly, "Look into my eyes. You are under my spell and you will obey all of my commands. I am your mistress and you are my slave."

He gazed into her eyes of unfathomable hue and her lips crept ever closer. Then he felt the warmth of her mouth closing over his and her breasts pressed against him. Her lips moved first gently and then firmly against his mouth while her fingers caressed his neck. Her tongue writhed against his and he tasted the sweetness of her. He was drowning in an ocean of honey and losing the desire to save himself.

She drew back an inch or two and fixed her eyes into his. She murmured to him softly, "Now are you going to be a good boy and do as you are told?" He nodded in helpless surrender.

She removed his shirt and said admiringly, "Mm, nice body."

"I used to be a rower."

When she had finally left him with just his underpants to cover his manhood, she rose to her feet and began to dance slowly to the music. She danced Asian style making provocative gestures with her arms and fingers.

Then she turned away and eased the straps of the dress from her shoulders. He found himself holding his breath as it slipped to the floor and she stepped out of it and turned to face him. But she had her arms crossed over her breasts and he felt a twinge of frustration.

She turned away again and began to slide her black panties down below her hips and then allowed them to flutter to her ankles. She kicked them away and slowly revolved to face him.

She lowered her arms to her side and he sucked in his breath as he drank in the sheer magnificence of her body. He could see that she was muscular and yet her lines were feminine. She looked powerful but she moved with the grace of a gazelle. Her breasts were full and firm and perfectly proportioned for her stature. Her dark pubic hair had been left naturally in an unruly tangle.

He felt his penis hardening and quickly covered it with his hand. He stared at her in admiration and all he could say was, "Bella, there is no creature in the world more beautiful than you."

She moved forward and knelt before him. She lifted his hand from his bulge and said, "What is it that you are hiding in here?" She pulled down the band of his underpants and he was fully erect. She looked up to him and said, "Well, well, you certainly are a man of surprises. Were you a pole-vaulter as well as a rower?"

He replied disconsolately, "There is no point in having a big one if you don't know how to use it." 

She whispered, "Close your eyes because I'm going to take you to Paradise."

He leaned back and held his breath as he felt her mouth close over his penis. She began to use her lips and tongue to tease him and the tantalising caresses forced groans from his lips. First she would gently suck the glans and then quickly slide all of it deep into her throat. Every time his orgasm became imminent, she anticipated it and gently squeezed the glans to stop him.

Suddenly she stood up and shuffled forward with her legs either side of his lap. She took his hand and placed it between her thighs and he felt the soft wetness of her. She leaned forward until her lips were brushing against his and whispered, "Now it is your turn tease me."

He stroked her gently at first until he learned which caresses gave her pleasure. When he inserted his fingers into her, she kissed him passionately and when he touched the firm nodule of her clitoris he felt her legs tremble.

He concentrated on her clitoris, caressing it gently at first and then rubbing it increasingly faster while she responded with soft moans. Suddenly her fingers gouged into his back and she cried out as if in pain. He felt a warm splash on his upturned palm and her body stiffened. She seemed to stop breathing for a few seconds but then she exhaled with a long shuddering gasp.

Slowly she lowered herself to his lap and rested her forehead on his shoulder. He had no idea what to do next so he waited. When she lifted her head to look at him, her eyes were black and heavy lidded. She kissed him gently and murmured, "You have just taken me to paradise."

He felt elated. Had he actually given her pleasure?

His penis was rigid when she lowered herself on to it. He felt her vagina muscles grip him and slowly twist left and then right and pull upwards. She lowered herself again and as she repeated the same dragging movement he felt as though he was being milked.

At her third attempt his orgasm exploded. His stomach tensed as the exquisite pain flooded his loins and he groaned aloud. He could feel himself spurting and she held him tightly to her.

Finally his orgasm was over and he rested his head against her bosom and slowly relaxed. When he could lift his head, she kissed his lips and whispered, "You are a very enjoyable lover Mister Simpson."

He had never felt so proud. "Am I really or are you just saying that to make me feel good?"

"You made me come didn't you; I didn't fake it."

She climbed from his lap and went into the bathroom while he rested in contentment. She returned to retrieve her panties and slipped them back on.

While she was dressing he took his clothes with him to the shower. When he returned she arose from her chair and slid her arms around his neck. As she kissed him, she pushed her pelvis into his and rubbed against his bulge. She murmured, "Look after that Arnold, I would like to make use of it again."

After seeing her safely into her apartment, he leaned with his back against his closed door. He had just made love to a beautiful girl and given her an orgasm. His life was now complete.

******************************




Bella



After they returned from school the next day, Bella prepared herself. She opened the package that had preceded her arrival and studied the contents. She removed some jewellery and laid it on the bed.

Arnold was changing into casual clothes when he heard the knock at his door. The teacher had become Bella again and she walked to a chair. She sat down with a serious expression and his feeling of foreboding suddenly returned. He seated himself opposite and waited.

She spoke quietly. "I promised to tell you who I am and why I am here. I like you Arnold, do you like me?"

"Of course I do. You are the most delightful and exciting person I have ever known. Why do you ask?"

She paused before she replied, "Well you may not like me when I have finished my story."

He could feel his heart quicken and he clenched his fists nervously.

She hesitated and then started, "My mother left when I was five. I think she was a prostitute and probably a drug addict. My father remained but I more or less looked after myself. Then his brother moved in and they both began to sexually abuse me. I didn't go to school until I was eight and I took myself along to see what it was like. I couldn't get on with the other kids because they all seemed stupid to me.

Most of my early education came from watching documentaries on television. Occasionally a welfare person would turn up but my father threatened to kill me if I said anything about the abuse.

Both of them continued to rape me and then it became more devious. They would force objects into my vagina and take photographs. My baby making equipment is now defunct."

He could feel her pain and gasped, "You poor child."

"When I looked in their computer, they were exchanging photos of me around the world. It stopped only when they both died."

"Both of them? How did they die?"

She stared at him silently and he felt his buttocks clench.

She replied calmly, "I killed them. I buried a knife into both of them while they slept. It was on my ninth birthday."

He closed his eyes and put his face into his hands. Mixed emotions of disgust, horror and sympathy churned through his mind. After a minute of silence he recovered his composure and looked back at her. He tried to sound casual as he asked, "What happened next?"

"I went to the police and told them what I had done and showed them the photos on the computer. They took me to a hospital and I didn't see anyone except doctors and psychiatrists for weeks. They were actually very nice to me.

Then one day a woman came into my room and said she wanted to talk to me. She said I couldn't go home and I would have to spend a long time in prison because of my crimes. But she said I could avoid all of that if I went with her to another place. I really didn't care so I went with her.

I spent the next ten years with many people in many different places in the world. I was trained in martial arts and taught how to use weapons. I learned many cultures and my knowledge of the human anatomy is more extensive than most surgeons. I am now twenty-one years of age.

Of course the woman who collected me was from Trove. I know you send reports to them Arnold but do you know what the Trove agency really is?"

He shook his head slowly.

"It is an international organisation that makes its own rules. The name stands for 'The Removal of Vermin Expedited'. It ignores laws and treaties and also human rights. It's a corner-cutter and it doesn't waste time or money. It was originally set up by international billionaires who were tired of their governments and police forces pussyfooting around. Governments know of its existence but they turn a blind eye. If a quick fix is needed, Trove will deal with it.

When I suggested that I wasn't normal, I really meant it. While I was in the hospital they discovered that I have an IQ of one-ninety and total recall. I speak many languages and becoming fluent in another comes easily to me. I am able to scan one hundred thousand words in less than an hour and memorise every one."

She looked at him solemnly and said, "I am an assassin Arnold and I'm the smartest killer on the planet."

He stared at her with a blank and uncomprehending expression as his mind rejected her statement. She returned his gaze impassively and he felt an impulse to giggle foolishly. It was not possible. How could this beautiful young girl who had taken him to the stratosphere of ecstasy, murder people in cold blood?

He closed his eyes and shapeless horrors tumbled through his imagination. He wanted to ask so many questions but none that came to mind seemed appropriate. Eventually he whispered, "How many?"

"None of them deserved to live."

He opened his eyes as the obvious question came to him. "Why are you here now?"

"Alek Dimitrov."

Her answer shocked him. "Are you crazy? The man is a monster, a sadistic killer. A dismembered body found outside the French embassy was well known to be one of his doings. No one could possibly get near him. Even the police are on his payroll."

"I'm aware of all that. I need to ask you a question and I want an honest answer. Do you like your job Arnold?"

He shrugged his shoulders. "Not very much. It has no future and I'm not over the moon about this country anyway."

"Where would you rather be?"

He smiled. "I've often thought that I would like to retire to France or Italy or somewhere like that. You know, laze in the sun and drink their wine. Sadly I don't have any money and I don't own anything of value, so that's out."

"How about Switzerland?"

"Yes, that's a nice clean country with civilised people. I went there for a short holiday once. Why are you asking me all this?"

"There is a reason. I have friends in Switzerland and I own some property there. There is very little restriction on EU citizens taking up their residency. I own property in lots of places."

He raised his eyebrows. "Are you very wealthy?"

"Yes I am. I told you that I'm a clever girl and hacking into computers is child's play to me. I've taken some from here and some from there and it mounts up."

It was one shocking admission after another. "So you're a thief as well as a killer."

"I take only from people who have no right to it in the first place. The sort who don't report the loss when they discover that it's missing."

He looked puzzled. "I thought Trove had a hold on you. If you're self-sufficient, why do you go on doing what you do?"

"I'm addicted to the danger and I've convinced myself that I'm providing the world with a beneficial service. How long would it take you to pack a bag and find your passport?"

He was mystified but he answered, "About ten minutes. Is it likely to become necessary?"

"I'm afraid so. Unfortunately they know I'm living here. It was unavoidable because I couldn't show them that I knew I was being followed."

Arnold could feel panic rising. "Who followed you? What the hell are you talking about?"

"Dimitrov's men. I've been working privately as a hooker in the Central Park Hotel. Dimitrov owns the prostitution around here and I've been deliberately trespassing. They will probably pick me up tonight."

He was now thoroughly frightened. "What will they do to you and how do I come into it?"

She seemed quite calm as she replied, "They may rough me up but they won't kill me because they'll want to use me. An attractive English hooker is a valuable asset. It's the only way I can get close to him.

If I am successful it will be like killing the queen in a nest of ants; they will all run around in confusion. But then they will come looking for me and if I'm not here, they will ask you where I am. They won't ask nicely and even if you can't tell them what they want to know it will make no difference because they will kill you anyway."

He put his face in his hands. "God almighty, one week ago my life was normal and now it's gone crazy and I'm going to be murdered."

She knelt in front of him and rested her hands on his knees. She commanded, "Look at me Arnold." He lowered his hands and his face was contorted with fear. "You are not going to die because I am very fond of you and I won't let anyone hurt you."

She reached for her bag and took out an envelope. "In here is more than enough money to get you on a flight to Zurich. When you get there, you ring the number that I've written and someone will come and collect you. You will live in one of my places and I've opened a bank account with sufficient funds for you to survive comfortably."

His hands were trembling as he stared blankly at the envelope. "Why are you doing this for me?"

"Because I like you. I may never go to heaven but I'm not all bad."

She hesitated and then said, "There is another reason and I wasn't going to tell you. I will if you promise not to get too upset."

He collapsed back in the chair and looked at the ceiling. "It can't get any worse so go ahead and I promise not to cry."

"That e-mail I received; it was about you. You've become surplus to requirements."

His eyes widened slowly and he whispered hoarsely, "What does that mean?"

"It means that I'm to clean up before I leave here. That includes your computer, your papers and you. Trove doesn't like leaving a trail and if I don't do it, they'll send somebody else. That's why I'm shipping you to Switzerland."

It was too much for him and he slumped forward in the chair as his life force drained away. He was looking at the floor when he whispered, "So the bastards are going to kill me?"

Bella reached out and rested her hands gently on his. She said softly, "You have no idea what the sort of people you've been working for. They have only one purpose and that is to rid the world of evil beings they consider detrimental to society. Peripheral casualties are unfortunate but sometimes unavoidable as long as the bottom line shows a satisfactory result."

He looked up slowly and his eyes were dull. He had passed beyond the fear barrier and was in a state of subdued shock. He said without emotion, "What happens now?"

"I'll be leaving at my normal time this evening but if I'm not back before two in the morning, you call a taxi and hightail it to the airport. Get on a flight to Zurich and if you can't do that, get on one that goes anywhere until you can. Do you understand?"

He nodded. "You said earlier, 'If I'm successful'."

She smiled but not with her eyes. "One day my luck will run out." She kissed him lightly. "Now snap out of it and get packed. I'm going now and I'll see you later, I hope."

He gazed numbly at the closed door and then hauled himself to his feet and stumbled into the bedroom.

******************************

The cocktail barman looked up as the blonde English hooker approached the bar. Her dress was dark green with thin shoulder straps and it revealed most of her full tanned breasts. A long gold rope with a smaller loop at the bottom snuggled between her cleavage. Long tubular earrings dangled from her lobes and a gold lamé purse hung from her shoulder. She was wearing black stiletto heeled shoes with a single strap around each ankle.

She slid onto a stool and he poured her a martini from the pitcher. She pushed a one hundred note across the bar and he tucked it away without offering any change.

As she sipped from her glass, he looked around the room. It was a quiet evening with little prospect of trade for her. It was none of his business that she was operating privately. He had made his phone call and that put him in the clear.

Twenty minutes passed before the man entered through the revolving doors. He sat on the stool next to her and she smiled at him. He said something quietly and she motioned upwards with her eyes. The man said something else and she shook her head. He reached into his pocket and the barman glimpsed a wad of money. She shrugged her shoulders and they left together.

******************************

Bella leaned back in the car and prepared herself. The man next to her had asked her to go to his place and spend the night and as the offered amount had been sufficient, she had agreed. He was now ignoring her and was clearly just a messenger. The driver had not even turned his head when they both climbed in.

She asked, "Is it far? I'll need to be taken back in the morning."

He replied, "It will be arranged."

She estimated that the journey had been just short of six kilometres when they drove along the high wall and stopped at the heavy iron gates. The wall was topped with iron spikes that curved outwards. The driver reached through the window and pressed the control button and a floodlight illuminated the car. The driver spoke briefly to the intercom and the gates opened slowly.

As they turned into the driveway, they passed a figure standing with a firearm slung across his chest. She recognised it as an XM8 lightweight assault rifle with a shortened barrel. She asked nervously, "What is this place, where are we?" She received no reply.

The car pulled up outside the huge mansion and the man opened his door and said, "Get out."

She cowered in the back seat until he opened her door and dragged her out. She fell onto her knees and pleaded, "What's going on? Why are you treating me like this?" All the lower windows that she could see were barred.

He hauled her roughly to her feet and she squealed in pain. As she was dragged through the heavy wooden front door she noticed it had power locks. The man took her purse and glanced briefly into the contents before handing it back to her.

She was left trembling and weeping in the entrance hall while the driver stood by her. There were two doors to the left and another one short of the wide staircase to the right. Another door was at the centre far end. She noted the two cameras facing in opposite directions but high up and out of reach. There was a seated jacketless man with his back to the staircase reading a paper. He had a pistol in a shoulder holster but he was too far away for her to identify it.

Each door had a glass section above it and through the second one on the left she could see bright lights shining. From inside the room she could hear a female sobbing and then a gurgling scream. The seated man continued to read his paper. It required little imagination to guess what was going on in there.

The man who had been with her in the car had climbed the stairs immediately they arrived. He now appeared at the top and beckoned. The driver pushed her towards the stairs and said, "Up."

She stumbled to the staircase and began to climb slowly. When she reached the top he gripped her arm and dragged her to a door. Another man with a holstered pistol was lounging further along the wall.

The door was opened and she was thrust through it. The room she entered was the annex to a bedroom with doors that led out to a balcony. There were no security cameras. She stood sobbing pitifully in front of the occupant.

Alek Dimitrov was seated at a small table in the centre of the room and eating from a bowl. He shovelled food into his mouth as he stared at her without blinking. He appeared to be unarmed. He put down his spoon and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and pushed the table to one side as he stood up.

The short sleeved shirt that he was wearing was unbuttoned to the waist and his body was matted with thick black hair. His belly was straining the band of his trousers. He growled, "Come here."

She stepped cautiously towards him and whimpered, "Who are you and why have I been brought here? I haven't done anything wrong."

She took seventy five percent of his swinging slap and fell backwards to the floor. He looked down at her and snarled, "Nobody sells their cunt around here without my say-so; and especially not a fucking foreigner. Get up and strip."

She climbed shakily to her feet and pulled her dress up over her head. She stepped out of her panties and removed her shoes. As he returned to his chair and sat down, she could see from his expression that he was impressed. She pleaded, "Please don't hurt me. I'll be nice to you and do whatever you want." 

He reached and picked up a half smoked cigar. He lit it but kept it in his mouth. That was bad and something that she had not anticipated.

He blew a cloud of smoke out of the corner of his mouth and growled, "You're a good looking bitch. Can you do anything special?"

She answered, "I used to be a dancer before I started working for myself."

"Show me."

She was going to get only one opportunity and it had to be timed perfectly. The cigar was a hindrance but she had to take a chance. She began to dance with erotic movements in front of him and he sat and watched her.

She moved to his left side as if she was going to encircle him and slipped her right hand into the lower loop of her gold rope. He turned his head to his right where he expected her to reappear and then removed the cigar from his mouth and spat.

It had to be now. With her right hand through the smaller of the two loops she lifted the entire rope over her head with her left hand and dropped it over his. The short tube between the two loops concealed a slip knot and as she braced her left hand against the back of his head and pulled, the larger loop snapped tight around his neck. The gold lacquered rope was four stranded steel wire with a tensile strength of one thousand pounds.

His first reaction was to clutch at his throat and try to stand up but she tipped his chair back. With his throat constricted he was unable to make a sound and his legs flailed helplessly. He tried to reach behind but she avoided his hands.

With an effort he rolled sideways to the floor but she kept behind him. He put his hands down and struggled to his knees but she kicked hard into his kidney area. He collapsed flat and she stood on his back and continued to pull. Gradually his struggles weakened until finally he became motionless.

It had taken exactly one hundred and three seconds.

The rope was so deeply imbedded she had difficulty in removing it but she managed to extricate it and wiped it clean on his shirt. She left him face down on the floor.

She put the rope back around her neck and walked naked to the door. She opened it a few centimetres and peered out. The man with the holstered pistol was fifteen paces along the corridor and smoking a cigarette as he lounged against a wall. She opened the door and stepped out. As he looked up she beckoned to him and said, "He wants you."

He looked surprised and straightened up quickly. He dropped the cigarette to the floor and stamped it into the carpet. As he strode towards her, she backed two paces into the room so that his view of the body was obscured and stiffened the fingers of her right hand. He stepped into the room and as he looked left and right, she moved to one side and stabbed her fingers into his throat.

Her stiffened fingers could punch a hole through three millimetre hardboard and the effect on him was lethal. His larynx was crushed and his vocal chords became paralysed. His windpipe constricted to block the air passage to his lungs and his heart went into shock. He stood erect with bulging eyes for three seconds and then his legs gave way. She stepped quickly behind him with her arms around his chest and lowered him to the ground.

After closing the door she stepped over his body to pick up her dress and put it back on. She climbed into her panties and retrieved her shoes and then twisted the heels. They snapped cleanly to leave flat rubber soles. She put them on and tightened the straps around her ankles. Finally she removed her tubular earrings and put them in her bag with the gold rope.

The weapon was next and she received a surprise. It was a Chinese type sixty-seven silenced pistol with a nine round magazine. A curious choice for a gangster but it was probably used for discreet executions. She raised her eyes heavenwards and whispered, "Thank you."




Bella



She left the room and walked quietly to the stair rail and leaned over. The man was still reading the paper and the pistol sneezed discreetly as she shot him through the top of his head.

She descended the stairs quickly and walked towards the main entrance just as the door opened where the bright lights had been. A man holding a video camera stepped into the hall and gazed uncomprehendingly at the guard slumped in his chair with blood pumping from his skull.

He turned to her and stared blankly at the pistol. She squeezed the trigger and a black hole appeared neatly between his eyes. She caught the camera before it could clatter to the floor as he fell backwards.

She stepped quickly into the room and looked around. There was nothing she could do for the female body on the bed but the naked man wiping blood from his body jerked forward as she shot him through the back of his head.

It was becoming untidy and she needed to regain control. She had unavoidably spent two rounds but there were six still remaining. She made for the main entrance again just as a vehicle pulled up outside; so she turned and sprinted back up the stairs.

On the landing, the man who had accompanied her in the car was walking to Dimitrov's room. He looked at her in surprise and the pistol sneezed again.

Back in the room she tried the French doors but they were locked so she took a pace backwards and kicked into them with the sole of her foot. The wood splintered and she stepped onto the balcony. She was to one side of the house with a six metre drop to the ground. She put the pistol into her purse and placed the strap around her neck. She relaxed her body as she hung from the rail and then let go.

She rolled neatly as she landed on grass and rose to her feet to take her bearings. There was shouting coming from the main entrance and her work in the hallway was clearly the reason for it.

The land extending around the house had plenty of trees for cover and only the driveway to the main gate was lit. Then she heard the thudding of solenoids as floodlights around the house illuminated the surrounding area.

She looked up and there were three lamps on her side. Glass tinkled to the ground as she extinguished each one with a single shot. The land in front of her was now in darkness and she crouched low as she sprinted for the cover of the trees.

There were two rounds left in the magazine and she knew she would need to use at least one of them. Five men were running along the main driveway and all carried drawn weapons. They were shouting to the guard with the XM8 and waving him towards the dark area where she had to be.

He set off across the lawn but stopped thirty metres short of her position and levelled his weapon. The advantage was with her because she could see him but he could not see her. He sprayed only one short burst before she dropped him with a shot to the centre chest.

She needed his gun and had no choice but to break cover. Crouching low, she sprinted to the body of the guard as all five men starting firing together. She felt a stinging sensation in her upper right arm as she flung herself behind the guard's body.

The men were fifty metres away but clearly illuminated in the floodlights as she raised the rifle. There was no point in wasting ammunition so she nudged the lever up to semi-automatic and put one round in each of the two men on the right. As they both went down, the other three scattered and she flicked the lever down to fully automatic. She fired two bursts and another man went down before the magazine was empty.

As she turned and ran back to the trees she saw other men gathering outside the house. In the cover of darkness she was aware of a tingling in her right arm. She felt gently with the fingers of her left hand and the outside of the deltoid had been nicked. It was nothing serious but it could marginally reduce her efficiency.

The floodlighting fell short of the exterior wall and she ran along the side of it until she found a tree with branches that extended close to the top. She hauled herself up into the tree and looked towards the top of the wall. There was a sturdy branch protruding towards it and she walked sure footed as far as her weight would allow.

Although it was dark, she calculated that it was just over three metres and using the branch as a spring board she launched herself at it. She grabbed a spike with her left hand and then pulled herself up. The spikes all curved outwards to deter entry but they presented no problem for someone trying to get out. She slid over the spikes and dropped down to a grassy bank.

Her mental clock told her that it was twenty minutes after midnight as the gates opened and a car turned onto the road with screeching tyres. That was bad but not unexpected.

She ducked down as it passed and then jogged along the road as she waited for suitable transport to arrive. Traffic was sparse and only two lorries lumbered past during the next ten minutes. Then she saw the lights of an approaching car and stepped onto the road.

The male driver picked up the blonde girl in his headlights and she appeared to be in some distress. He braked and she walked to his window and opened the door. The gun in her hand looked very real as she said politely, "I'm very sorry about this but I need to borrow your car. Please get out."

He stepped out of the car and she pulled off her blonde wig and handed it to him with, "Here's a souvenir for you."

As she slid behind the wheel and placed the selector into drive, she became aware that her deltoid was beginning to stiffen. The owner stood back as his Mercedes left rubber smoking on the road.

******************************

Arnold sat slumped in the chair and his mind was numb with dread. He had never imagined that the last hours of his life would be so terrifying. The two men stood silently either side of the door and were listening. The guns in their hands hung loosely by their sides.

When he had heard the tap at his door he had assumed it was Bella and opened it readily.

Long minutes dragged by in silence. Suddenly the sound of window glass breaking came from the bathroom. Both men looked sharply at each other and moved quickly across the room. One took up a position by the bathroom door and the other crouched behind a chair. Both their pistols were levelled in readiness. Arnold also stared at the bathroom door and tense seconds passed in silence.

The apartment door crashed open and Bella hurtled into the room crouching low. The gun in her right hand spat fire and her left arm straightened as if throwing dice. The man behind the chair clutched at his face and screamed.

Arnold looked at the man by the bathroom door and he was sliding down the wall but leaving a shiny red trail from the back of his head.

He turned in bewilderment to the man behind the chair who was writhing on his back with something protruding from his right eye. Bella was standing over him and Arnold heard the sickening sound of bones crunching as she lifted her foot and stamped hard onto his chest.

And then there was silence.

Bella dropped to her haunches in front of him and asked, "Are you okay my darling?"

He was unable to answer and got quickly to his feet with his hand over his mouth. He made it to the bathroom and knelt with his head over the toilet. Bella followed and began to rinse a cloth in readiness. When he was able to stand, she carefully wiped his face clean.

She led him back into the room with her hand covering his eyes and straight into the bedroom. She sat him on the bed and said, "You're not intending to use the kitchen again are you?"

He shook his head.

Back in the room, she switched on the computer and then dragged the bodies into the kitchen. She returned to the bathroom and examined her arm in the mirror. It was nothing more than a burn so she washed it and covered it with a plaster from the cabinet.

She returned to the computer and tapped a few keys. The screen went black and then an hour glass appeared.

Arnold was sitting on the bed when she walked back into the bedroom. She said, "I hope your computer contained nothing sentimental that you wanted to keep because it has just self-destructed. Are you packed?"

He nodded and enquired, "Dimitrov?"

"He has been deleted."

He pointed to his eye. "What was that in the....?

She opened her purse and took out one of her long tubular earrings. She unscrewed a cap and withdrew a ten centimetre steel spike. She said, "I had only one round remaining." He winced and turned his head away.

On the way to the airport he said, "Nice car."

She answered, "A gentleman kindly let me borrow it."

When they had passed through security Arnold began to relax. The four hours passed slowly until his flight but finally the queue formed and she hugged him close and kissed him. Her dark eyes held his as she whispered, "I'll come and visit you soon and we can try some positions I learned in India."

She waved back to him as he disappeared along the corridor.

******************************

The morning was grey and drizzly as the young woman walked along Lombard Street. She passed under some low scaffolding and a workman stopped his task to watch her as she turned into the bank entrance. The door at the far end of the hall was marked 'Staff only' and the lock clicked open when she swiped her card. The corridor was quiet as she made her way to the private lift and pressed the button. When the lift opened at the lower basement level she walked the few paces to the heavy oak door and pressed her right palm against the scanner. She waited the few seconds for the camera to blink green and pushed the door open.

Miss Davies was wearing the same blue dress and without taking her eyes from her screen she said, "You're late but Madam said go right in."

Bella passed by without comment and entered the other room. She sat down and crossed one leg over the other.

Madam stared at her impassively and then said, "You have accomplished your task and I am satisfied. However it was rather untidy. Was it absolutely necessary to exterminate most of the male population?"

She received no answer.

Madam folded her hands and said, "Now let's get to the important bit. What have you done with Mister Simpson?"

"He has moved."

"You have defied my specific instructions and that is a serious offence. Bella, you are not completely irreplaceable."

Bella uncrossed her leg and leaned forward. "Now let me tell you something Madam. I do my job because I am also keen to rid the world of evil bastards. But I don't kill innocent beings who pose absolutely no threat to the organisation. Furthermore, if you ever send anyone after me, I will return them to you in pieces."

Madam listened without a trace of expression.

Bella continued, "And one more thing; I've taken out some insurance. I have many friends around the world who are sympathetic to the cause and I am in contact with them regularly. If they were to stop hearing from me, they would assume that I had passed away in unexplained circumstances. Their computers would immediately begin to broadcast information about Trove; every name, every agent and every benefactor. Criminal organisations around the world will be most interested. So Madam, I suggest you say a prayer for me every day."

Madam remained rigidly upright. "Have you finished?"

Bella leaned back in the chair and crossed her leg again. "I just want us to understand each other. Do you have another job for me?"

"Not at the moment so that will be all thank you. I will be in touch."

As Bella got to the door, Madam said quietly, "Please cross the road carefully."

As she walked back into the outer office she paused at the desk. Miss Davies immediately put her hands over her ears and said, "I'm not listening." Bella smiled and left the office.

The workman looked down again as the young woman passed under him. As she walked away she wriggled her bottom and he laughed and called after her, "Yeah, nice one."



Bella



I was sitting enjoying my morning espresso at an outside table at Starbucks in Honolulu. Actually it was a Venti Java Chip Frapachino. That is my favorite drink. The girls at the store start making me one as soon as I walk in the front door. I guess I'm a creature of habit. I do get a few dirty looks from people waiting in line when one of the girls walks down the line and hands me my drink with a pleasant, "Good Morning Mr. Mitchell. Of course the tip may help.

It was a typical Hawaiian day, not a cloud in the sky, the temperature was in the mid 70's, and the breeze was mild coming out of the west from the ocean. Actually that's a dumb statement; Hawaii is an island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. No matter what the direction of the wind actually is from, it's always coming off the ocean.

I sat outside at my small table under a palm tree. The palm just provided enough shade that I was safe from a nasty sun burn. My driver (Keanu) and I enjoyed the peace and tranquility. I was trying to read the Wall Street Journal. He was checking his eyelids for light leaks. But today my mind kept wandering back over the last five years.

Yeap it's been five years since my wife divorced me and took off with her lover.

__________________

I was living in western New York State at the time, working as a computer nerd for a large manufacturing company. I wasn't the greatest tech employed there. In reality, I was a little lower than average, 

I didn't even try hard. I guess I wasn't the most ambitious rep they employed. Too be exact if I finished one job, I would just wait until the next job was assigned to me instead of looking for more work. 

I tended to hide a lot.

As normal I was surfing the web after finishing my last assigned task, when my supervisor walked into my cubie. He said the Department Manager want to see me. 

This was an unusual request and I was just a little apprehensive. We walked to the elevators together to visit him.

When my supervisor and I reached the big boss's office, Margaret (his secretary) asked us to take a seat. I believe she said, "Mr. Martin is on the phone and will see you shortly." Shortly turned out to be almost 30 minutes, the longest 30 minutes of my life. When we were finally escorted into his office, we weren't even offered a chair.

"Jim" (that's me), he started "you have been an employee of this company for "(he stopped to look at some paperwork on his desk) "15 years. I regret to inform you that your services are no longer required here. You will receive one year's severance, all your accrued vacation and personal time in your next paycheck. "

Well that was it. I was fired. What the hell was I going to do now? I was too old to start all over again. 

"What the hell was I going to tell Shelia, my wife?" I thought as I packed my belongings in a box. 

I'm not really sure what the next couple of hours contained, but I found myself sitting in a bar having a double, actually my third or fourth double, when the bartender suggested that I had had enough and it was time to go home.

I drove carefully home. "No use getting a DWI arrest," I thought. I pulled into my garage and promptly drove partially through the rear wall. I guess my wife had some work done today and it involved shortening the garage. 

Well the noise should have brought her out to the garage. But it didn't.

When I finally got to my feet and tried the door to the house, I found it unlocked. I opened the door to a completely empty kitchen. The table and chairs were gone. But even worse, all the kitchen appliances were also missing. 

The first though entering my foggy mind was, "We've been robbed"

I staggered into the living room and everything was gone. The room was as bare as it was when we first bought the house. My head was still a little slow and I never noticed the pile of my stuff in the middle of the living room floor.

I carefully climbed the stairs to the bedroom area. I found everything missing. Well not everything. All my clothes and stuff were thrown in a pile on the bedroom floor. 

The pile stunk. After a while I realized that the smell was urine. As I got closer to the pile, the smell got stronger and stronger. In my drunken state, I vomited. To culminate my day, I hit my clothes.

I went down stairs and curled up on the carpet. I won't claim that I fell asleep. I think I just passed out.

When I awoke the next morning I had the world's biggest hangover. My head throbbed, my mouth tasted as if an army has marched through, and my body was stiffer than a board from sleeping on the floor. I stumbled out to the garage and noticed my wife's car was gone. I staggered back to the kitchen, planning on fixing the some coffee, if there was any left. 

There wasn't. She took that too.

It took a few minutes for my brain to engage a little more, before I saw the note on the counter. I picked it up and started reading

"Jim,

We have been married almost 14 years. In that length of time you have turned out to be a loser. You are not a good husband, a good provider, or a good lover. You are selfish and think only of your wants and needs.

I have moved my stuff out and into my lover's house.

I will be contacting a lawyer to start divorce proceedings.

Sheila"

Well I guess I knew where today was going. Sheila was a legal secretary for a large law firm. I suspected that she was planning to upgrade to one of the attorneys as well as use the firm to gut me. Thank God we didn't have children.

I was a little pissed. So I looked for the house phones. They were all gone. I still had my company cell phone (they forgot to ask me for it). So as a final act of defiance, I called the bank and I reported that I was mugged last night and my wallet was stolen. A very helpful young lady froze all my credit cards and my checking and savings accounts (Debit card was stolen to).

After I got off the phone, I was smiling. Boy was Sheila was going to be pissed when none of our joint cards worked. I packed my things into my car. The bitch took all the luggage. I couldn't even find any garbage bags. 

The bitch took everything.

One of the reasons "Some Place Else" was my favorite watering hole was the fact that it was owned and operated by my best friend since childhood. The one person I trusted with my life.

So, I went to his bar for advice. Bartenders always give the best advice. And besides he had an ex-wife, and might know a good divorce attorney. There was also the problem of hiding my final check.

I didn't want Sheila to get it.

Martin poured me a double as I walked into the barroom. "After last night, I figure you could use one." he stated with great sympathy.

I downed the glass in one gulp. He looked at me in shock. I really didn't drink that way. So I told him my story from when I left his bar last night. 

When I got done, I had the name of his divorce attorney, an apartment over the bar, and an IOU equaling the amount of my severance check. He was going to include the check in one of his banking deposits and just dole out the monies as I needed.

Time went on and so did my divorce. 

___________________________________________

It was a year later that I found myself a divorcee living in a small one bedroom apartment in a questionable neighborhood. My loving wife had hired a shark for a lawyer (hell, she worked for the firm) and I was cleaned out. She got the house, the 401K, the investment account, the checking and saving accounts. 

However she almost got alimony payments. 

But since I had no job or money, the judge took pity on me and forgave them. 

Ha! I still had the severance check. No one on her legal team thought to ask about it. 

It might sound as if my ex made out, but the house was upside down on the mortgage, the savings account had less than $1000 in it, the checking account was almost empty from paying the monthly bills with no deposits and the newly started 401 had less than $2,000.00 in it. 

And best of all, in my opinion, was the fact that most of the joint credit cards were near their max. It seems Sheila went on a spending spree before the divorce was final. I guess she planned on sticking me with the bill. 

Since I had no income at the time, the judge stuck her with them. I think it took a week to get the smile off my face.

Eventuality, I had to get a job. I wound up as a janitor in the school system. I worked the night shift. My days consisted of either sitting at my computer or sitting at my friend's local bar. 

Guess what I did with my free time when at the bar? I was on my way to becoming an alcoholic. 

One morning I found a Power Ball ticket in my pocket. I didn't remember buying it, but I did remember that the bar I favored sold them. I tossed the ticket on my desk and went to the bathroom. I did the three S's and started my morning coffee. I needed that wonderful elixir to feel human in the morning. Well actually it was 1:00pm but that was morning to me.

When I got out of the shower I noticed I had a "woody". So I felt a little internet porn might be the answer. As I waited for my PC to boot, I noticed the Powerball ticket beckoning me. So once the PC started I fired up Firefox and went to the Powerball site. 

I checked the numbers on the ticket three times. They matched the winners. I reread the web page. There was only one winning ticket sold and it was worth $250,000,000 {that's Millions folks}. My "Woody" disappeared. 

I grabbed a pen and quickly signed my name on the back of the ticket.

My next item of business was to call the lawyer that represented me in the divorce. I got his answering machine (it was a Sunday). I left a detailed message asking him to call me. Two hours later he called back.

I guess he didn't have anything going on this Sunday either.

Explained my winner, I made an appointment for Monday.

The next day we had a very long discussion about trusts, investments, tax avoidance, and most importantly, that my ex was not entitled to anything. It took almost a month to set up all the hidden bank accounts and take possession of the money. 

Two weeks later I was looking at property in Hawaii. I wanted a fancy place on one of the hills near Hawaii Kai, a suburb of Honolulu.

It took almost a year before I had the new place set up to my liking. But now I was finished and enjoying the good life. My favorite memory of this period was when I got a call from my lawyer. It seems that my ex-wife wanted to talk.

She had heard about my winnings. 

My lawyer shot her down.

I knew there was something I liked about him.

___________________________________

So there I was sipping my Frappe and enjoying my thoughts when I felt something. Did you ever have one of those funny feeling that you were being watched? 

I started to alert my driver (he was also my bodyguard) when I looked around and spotted a little girl of about 5 or 6 standing there watching me. She had long dark hair and the prettiest blue eyes I had ever seen on a child. But they were very sad eyes. She had a small doll clutched to her chest and a small blanket under her nose. 

She tore at my heart and I wanted to just hug her and make all her problems go away.

I looked at her and gave her my friendliest smile. There was no sense in frightening her with a dirty look. At the same time I looked for a hovering parent. No parent I knew would ever let their child wander around strangers. I widened my search, still nothing. 

I got the attention of one of the counter girls and with some improvised sign language asked, "Who is she?" I watched as she asked the other counter girls and all I received in return for my efforts was a shrug of her shoulders. 

By now I had attracted the attention of a couple of women sitting around the court yard. As I surveyed them, they all shook their heads "no." 

By now the little girl was scared. There were tears dripping from her eyes. I gave her my best smile and handed her my clean hanky. She took it and just stood there with it in her hand. I took her little hand and dried her eyes. 

For my efforts I got a small smile and a dirty handkerchief. 

A couple of the women walked over to me and started talking to her. All their efforts accomplished was to cause the little girl to scoot under the table, kneel between my legs, and wrap her arms around my one leg. 

Let me tell you, she had damn strong arms for a little kid. 

One of the women pulled out her cell phone and dialed 911. I heard her talk to the operator about a lost child. When she hung up, she turned to me and said, "five minutes." The little girl started making small noises. So I started running my fingers through her hair. 

I gave her a soft little kiss on the top of her head.

She looked at me and said, "Grazie Popie." It had been 20 years, but I recognized the phrase. It was Italian for "thank you, Grandfather." You see in the late 1980's I was stationed in Italy courtesy of the US Army. I picked quite a lot of Italian while I was there. If a guy wanted to get close and personal with one of the bar girls speaking the language was necessary.

This little girl was speaking Italian.

"Bella Ciao il mio nome è Jim," (Hi Beautiful my name is Jim) I said. I saw her eyes light up and a great big smile crossed her face. She hugged me tighter.

"Qual è il tuo nome, Bella?" (What is your name, beautiful?) I asked next.

"Bella".she answered.

Well I tried a couple of more times, but got nothing different. So I decided to try another direction. "Acqua?"(Water?) I asked. I got a little smile. So I took her hand and into the Starbucks we went. While we were looking at the cold drink cooler one of the baristias whipped up a small Caramel Frapachino and gave it to Bella. 

One sip and Bella was hooked. 

She gave the girl a big smile and said, "Grazie." A polite child!

We walked back out to my table and Bella sat next to me and slowly drank her treat. I spotted the Honolulu Police Cruiser pull up at the curb and waved at the officers. They walked over to me and asked what was going on. I explained that Bella appeared to be either lost or abandoned. One of the officers started talking to Bella.He was nice and polite, but he was speaking english.

I could see the frustration building in his face, when his partner noticed the smile on my face. "OK, do you know why she won't talk to us?"he asked.

I nodded my head, "It appears that she only speaks Italian, My Italian is about 20 years old, so I can't get a lot out of her. Do you guys have anyone who speaks the language that you can call?"

"Bagno?" (Bathroom) she asked. 

I motioned to one of the women sitting around the patio, pointed at Bella and said, "Bathroom." One of them came to my rescue. But Bella wouldn't go with the woman, so the three of us made the trip. 

I stayed out in the hall. 

Bella called me a couple of times just to make sure I was still there.

When we got back to the table I was informed that the police could not find anyone to speak Italian so they called Child Protective Services and a case worker was coming. 

Two hours later the two cops, Bella and I went to McDonalds for lunch. Bella knew exactly what she wanted and by pointing made her choices known. I bought lunch for the four of us.

When we got back to Starbucks a very angry case worker was waiting for us. She started right in on the police officers. She bitched at them about wasting her time by forcing her to wait for us. 

Well they weren't about to take any shit from her, so a shouting match started. 

Bella was getting scared, so I walked her away from all the noise. The case worker saw me and started yelling that I was kidnapping the child and I should be stopped. I pulled out my cell phone and started making calls. I had been a large contributor to the current Governor's campaign fund. 

My thought process was if I gave all that money, I might as well start getting a little benefit from it.

I got one of the Governor's underlings on the phone, explained who I was and what my problem was. 

The reply was, "I'll take of it."

It took about 5 minutes when the case worker's cell phone rang. She answered it very rudely. She was starting to yell at who ever interrupted her when suddenly she got very quiet. All I heard was a lot of "Yes Sirs" from her end of the conversation.

While she was "listening" an unmarked police car pulled up. I recognized the man getting out of the car. It was the Chief of Police. He walked up to his officers and they went into conference. He then walked up to the case worker and said, "Hang up the phone. Get in your car. Leave! And that's an order. If you fail to obey, I'll have you arrested."

The case worker left.

The chief walked over to my table with his two officers and introduced himself. "Did either of my officers act in anyway discourteous during their interactions with you?"

"No Sir, they were very polite and helpful. They are working to find a translator so that we could help the girl." I said. 

The two uniformed patrolmen smiled at me. 

The Chief sat down at my table and we started discussing little Bella. The two officers returned to patrol duty. The chief and I tried to deceide what to do with my new found friend. We decided that Bella would stay in my house until they found her parents or other relatives, and they would try to find an Italian translator.

My driver had returned to my house. He wanted to do a little yard work so I called home and requested pickup. 

We were going to be very busy this afternoon buying Bella a wardrobe of little girl clothes. So it was off to Ala Mona Mall for an afternoon of shopping. My driver's wife was also my housekeeper and cook. I asked if he'd bring her along to help pick out Bella's outfits. 

Keanu (my driver) and his wife Aolani showed up about 15 minutes later.Aolani spent the whole trip to the mall quizzing me all about Bella.

When we got to the mall the "girls" visited all the childrens stores. Keanu and I just made trip after trip back to the car with packages. If I remember correctly,we visited The Disney Store, Gap Kids, Gymboree, Janie and Jack's, Pitter Patter, and The Children's Place. We didn't exactly buy something in every store but it wasn't for lack of trying.

My American Express got a real workout.

Bella and Aolani became the best of friends. They chattered back and for to each other, neither one understanding what the other was saying, but that didn't stop them. They shared the universal language of women, shopping. That's all they needed.

I don't remember which store was selling children's bedroom furniture, but both of them stopped and stared at all the little girls bedroom stuff.We didn't go in that store (Thank you –God) but I had a feeling we would be back another time.

By the time we got done buying out the mall it was too late to cook dinner so I was elected to buy everyone their meal. I had a brain storm and selected Auntie Pasto's on South Beretania Street in downtown Honolulu. I figured that I might find someone who spoke Italian there or at least find directions to someone who does. 

I mean let's face it, it was an Italian Restaurent.

No one was around that spoke Italian but the owner promised to keep an ear open for a native speaker. He was 4th generation Italian and all his Italian speaking relatives had long since departed this earth. But the food was good and Bella had pizza (like all kids). 

For a little kid, Bella ate almost the whole thing.

It was getting late when we left the restaurant. I think before we reached the Freeway (H-1) there were two sleeping people in the back seat, Bella and her new friend Aolani. 

Shopping takes a lot out of you. 

Keanu and I unloaded all the bags into one of the spare bedrooms. Aolani and I put Bella into the bedroom right next to mine and Aolani picked out a pair of Disney PJ's for Bella and helped her get cleaned up and dressed for bed.




Bella



After Keanu and Aolani left for home I decided to have a small drink before calling it a night. As I sat on my liane watching the stars, I heard a small voice calling, "Poppie." I walked into the house and found a little girl huddled in a corner softly crying. 

It broke my heart. I picked her up and carried her out to my chair. She cuddled as she sat on my lap and soon was back to sleep.

We spent the night in the lounge chair. Boy was I stiff the next morning.

Aolani woke us up the next morning wondering what we wanted for breakfast.

I looked at Bella and said, "mangiare?" (eat).

She jumped up and grabbed Aolani's hand and the two of them headed for the kitchen. Soon I was served a cup of coffee by a very proud little girl. She chatted away to me as if I knew exactly what she was saying. I helped her set the coffee cup on the table so that we wouldn't get any spills.

She stood there and watched me with the coffee. It took a few seconds before all the grey cells in my head realized that she was waiting for me to sip my coffee. I did and with great exuberance said, "Perfetto." 

I was rewarded with an ear to ear grin.

I noticed that Aolani was standing in the doorway watching. She smiled at me and said, "Way to go Boss.Now go take a shower and get cleaned up while Bella and I prepare breakfast."

One thing I learned at my mother's knee, OBEY ALL COMMANDS given by a female or you'll regret it. So I headed for my bathroom.

As I was finishing dressing a little voice said, "Popie, prima colazione (Breakfast)" When I opened my bedroom door there she was waiting for me. She took my hand and escorted me to the kitchen. There I found the table set in my finest china. On closer examination I noticed that the silverware was set in a very haphazard manner. I looked at the little one and gave her a big thumbs up. 

This time along with my smile I also got a hug. 

After breakfast I got on the phone and started calling in favors and other forms of blackmail. I was looking for a translator. As much as Bella was growing on me, I knew that somewhere someone was looking for her. She was just too precious a little girl.

____________________________________

I think I should stop for a second and tell you about my "estate ". When I bought the property there was a small inlaw house behind the main house. Since I didn't have anys, I rented the house out to vacationers in monthly periods. 

My estate was in a gated compound with all the necessary security. So the rent was high.

Because of the security, location, and ridiculous rent I charged, I got people who were famous and wanted privacy. My current tenants were no exception. They arrived last night and I was yet to meet them. All I knew was they were a husband and wife with a small child. She was the main breadwinner, with a job on national news.

Bella and I were enjoying our breakfast when we heard "Excuse me, could I borrow some milk for coffee and our child's cereal?"

Now I knew that between renters, we tossed out any leftover food. With the humidity, nothing lasted very long.

I smiled at him and said, "No. But you guys must join us for breakfast. I know there is nothing to eat over there."

"Please join us. We have plenty of food and would love the company. "After a few false starts, he agreed. 

He went back to the guest house for his wife and child. When they returned, we introduced our selves and sat down to one of Aolani's fabulous meals. Since I was ahead in the food department, I explained about Bella. My goal was to see if they knew any Italian speakers. 

They didn't, but our news anchor paid very close attention to my tale.

We were even enjoying coffee from my Keurig coffee maker. Aolani had brought out a selection of coffees, teas, and some hot chocolates for the kids. My guests had a good time inspecting all the choices.

My house phone started ringing. Aolani answered it and after a short chat, handed me the phone.

"Good morning." I started. 

And very formal voice asked, "Please hold for the Ambassador." Then put me on hold.

The next voice I heard was a very pleasant male with a slight Italian accent. "Mr. Douglas? I'm the ambassador to the United States for my government. I understand that you have found a child of one of our citizens. "

"Yes, Sir and I need some help with her." I went on to explain Bella's discovery and everything we had done so far to help her. He listened politely until I was finished. He then asked if he could speak to her. I handed the phone to Bella. 

"Pronto", she began. 

For the next 30 minutes she listened and occasionally replied with a "Si" or some rapid Italian I couldn't quite translate. Finally she handed me back the phone.

The ambassador highlighted their talk. It seemed that Bella only knows of her life with her kidnappers. She did not know her mother or father, her real name, her age, or birth date. She was kept chained in small rooms as she grew from an infant. 

Her food was put in metal bowls on the floor of what ever room she was being kept in. She was never allowed out of her "room". She was not allowed anything to wear but the shift I found her in.

She was only ever called, "Girl." That was the only name she ever knew. 

The Ambassador indicated he was sending a representative of his government to delve into her history. He also indicated that his "people" had checked me out and it was decided that Bella would remain with me until her fate was determined. 

The Ambassador's representative would be flying out in three days and would be staying with Bella at my home. "If that was agreeable." He said.

It was very agreeable with Bella and me.

I spent the next hour answering questions from everyone at the breakfast table. When they finally ran down, the Chief of Police showed up. 

I went through the mornings events with him.

Somehow, it was decided that Bella needed a "little girls bed." Guess who was volunteered to buy one.

Keanu brought the car around while Aolani dressed Bella. Somehow my renters were invited along to see the mall. I knew the husband didn't relish spending one of his vacation days shopping. So, with very little effort, I talked him into spending the day at the golf course.

We all fit into my Bentley, with room to spare. I drove the car to the mall while Keanu dropped off the husband at the golf course. 

Bella recognized the mall and when I explained that we were going buy her a bed of her own, she cried tears of joy. She dragged me to the store where she saw the "pink" bedroom set yesterday. Now Ala Moana mall is a big place. Bella navigated the mall to that store with out a single error. 

When she grows up, she'll be one he'll of a shopper.

Bella did not understand all the in and outs of shopping, but she was learning fast All she knew was that she wanted the pink bed and the great big teddy bear in it. I handed Aolani my Gold Card any they left with the sales lady. 

She and Bella left to pick out sheets and pillows and all the other stuff Bella need to establish her own room.

Everything we purchased was to be delivered and set up by 5:00 PM that day. Bella would sleep in a real bed tonight. Her own bed.

We were a happy group. So we stopped at the food court for junk food and ice cream. Bella was overwhelmed. She had never seen anything like the food court. She wanted to try everything. But Aolani put the kibosh to that idea. 

I guess I didn't mention that Aolani was a health food addict. Junk food was not in her dictionary. But Bella still got some junk food. That kid could charm the socks off anyone.

It was 3:00 PM when we arrived home. And found a large furniture truck waiting for us. Bella's new bedroom had arrived. The movers had most of the items off the truck and they were sitting in front of the garage waiting for us. 

Bella was so excited that I was surprised that she didn't have an accident in her panties.

She walked up to the biggest mover and started jabbering away in Italian. The two of them entered the house hand in hand, with Bella leading the way. She took him right to the bedroom next to mine and started pointing to the existing furniture. As she pointed to a piece, she would demonstrate carting it out to the hall and into the next empty room. 

The movers loved it. Before long they were a perfectly coordinated team. The guys carting and Bella directing. It took until 6:00 PM, but the guys got everything set up. I walked the two men out to their truck. I gave each man $100 as a tip. At first they refused the money explaining that Bella was worth their time and I didn't need to tip them. 

But I prevailed.

Bella, Aolani and my renter went to work putting Bella's stuff into the various drawers and storage things. When we purchased her clothing it looked like a lot of stuff. But when it was all put away, the drawers and things were painfully empty. I knew there were a lot of trips back to the mall in my near future.

I sent Keanu out for food and the golfer as Bella gave me a tour of her new room. The big teddy bear was in the middle of her bed. In his arms was her little doll. Bella walked over to the bed and pointed at the big bear, "Popie" she said. Then she touched the little doll, "Bella" was all she said. 

I just stood there with tears running down my cheeks. 

Bella reached into the pocket of her dress and came out with my handkerchief from yesterday. She pulled me down on my knees and started drying my cheeks. 

That night I wore pajamas to bed in case I got a visitor. In the middle of the night, I got a little visitor. This time she wasn't scared. She was happy and wanted to cuddle.

Toward the end of the week I got an email from the Italian Embassy. It was the flight number and arrival time of Bella's tutor. Bella, Keanu and I were standing in the arrivals lounge when Ms Gina Castillo walked through the gate. She was stunning. Dark hair, olive skin, dark eyes, about 5' 6". I've never been good at guessing a woman's weight but the body was perfect. She was dressed in a business suit that heightened her attributes. 

In my humble opinion, WOW!!!!!!

We went through the greeting routine between us adults. When everyone was introduced, Gina squatted down and introduced herself to Bella in Italian. The two of them must have chatted for at least 5 minutes. When Gina finally stood back up, Bella was holding her hand. I felt a twinge of jealousy. But Bella pulled Gina over to me and took my hand in her free one. We walked out of the airport with Bella between the two of us holding our hand.

We walked to the baggage claim area. Gina pointed out two small bags. "Not a lot of clothes", I thought. I hoped she was having the rest of her stuff shipped. 

When we arrived home, KeanuKeanu put her luggage in one of the spare rooms. Bella gave Gina the grand tour of the house ending with Bella's bedroom. It was a busy afternoon. Bella and Gina spent until Bella's bedtime just talking even through dinner. The two of them disappeared into the rear of the house. About an hour later, the two of them reappeared. Bella had on pj's and Gina a long house coat. They both had that fresh scrubbed look. 

Bella kissed me good night and said something to Gina. Gina laughed and said, "Bella wants to know if you are still going to tuck her in bed or will you be tucking me in instead."

I guess my jaw dropped open.

Bella said something to Gina. Gina started laughing. "Bella wants to know if it's still alright to climb into bed with you if she gets scared or will I get mad at her. I guess she thinks we'll be sleeping together."

I guess I couldn't believe my ears because I was mute.

Gina just smiled. "Out of the mouths of babe's." I thought.

I took Bella's hand and walked her into my bedroom. I took her over to my bed pointed at my side and said, "Popie". Pointing at the other pillow, I said, "Bella". I was rewarded with an ear to ear smile. I had a very happy little girl. 

Bella looked at the bed and started pointing. "Popie, Bella, Gina?" indicating which pillow was for each of us.

I looked over at Gina who was just enjoying the shit out of this whole conversation, "OK, explain your ass out of this." I challenged.

Gina just looked at Bella and said, "Si'".

Now it was my time to shit.

After I got Bella all tucked in, I went looking for Gina. I found her on the lanai waiting for me. She was drinking a glass of wine. I fixed myself a Crown Royal on the Rocks. A strong one. 

"We've got to talk. I learned a lot about Bella today. "

"Damn right we do", I replied. I was pissed.

"I was just having fun with you. You really need to loosen up a little. First, and most important, is that Bella has never had any education or mother child bonding. She was left to raise herself. Her language skills are about equal to a 4 year old. She has never been taught any personal hygiene. She has never been shown any affection in her whole life."

"Well the language skills aren't that far off. I figured she's 5 or 6." I replied.

"Sorry, but as near as I can tell, she's around 10 or 11."

Gina went on to tell me her qualifications. She was a Child Philologist, educated in Rome and Switzerland. She said that Bella was a blank slate. We could mold her into a productive member of the human race, if I wanted to help.

Gina went on to tell me all about her afternoon with Bella. Gina looked around and said, "This is your home, but Bella refers to it as if it's both of yours. You need to be very careful how you refer to it around her."

Me? I was still stuck at her age.

"Next, I will start teaching her English," she continued. "As soon as her English improves, I want you to start reading to her at bedtime. It will not only help her English, but it will also help her learn affection. We need to replicate all the personal interactions a child would have during their early years."

"I can do that", I said proudly.

"The next thing we need to do is demonstrate affection between adults. By that I mean simple things, like hand holding, simple kissing, hugging, and affectionate touching. Now I'm not suggesting that we tear off our clothes and have sex on the floor in front of her."

"It sounds that you have a lot of work laid out for us. How long will you be staying and will your husband/boyfriend object?" I asked.

"I have no one in my life at present. And as for how long. We'll play that by ear."

"Get a good night's sleep. You should have your friend join you, when she gets lonely. "She continued.

I must have looked at her funny, because she said, "Not me. Bella"

Over the next couple of weeks our renter/news lady spent a lot of time with Bella and Gina. When Gina told her not to work on a story just yet, she was just being protective toward Bella.

The next few days were crazy around the house. First there was the arrival of Gina's stuff. The UPS guy made at least 5 trips with his hand cart. I knew women liked clothes but this was ridiculous. She with, Bella's help, managed to get everything unpacked and either stored in her closet or in the dresser. 

I did get a laugh at some of what they sent. There were winter clothes and a set of ski's. In case you don't know, it very rarely gets below 65 degrees F. The tall volcanoes may get an occasional few inches of snow but there aren't ski lifts and there's not much call for cold weather outfits.

It seemed as if Bella and Gina were joined at the hip. It you saw one the other was right next to her. I began to see a method in Gina's madness. When Bella asked a question, Gina answered it in English first, then if Bella didn't get it. Gina went back and slowly answered it again. This time explaining the English words in Italian. I began to notice that Bella was accepting the English answers more often than not.

The next big surprise was when the UPS man arrived with boxes of school books. Bella was to start her adventure into home schooling. She took to it like a fish to water. She and Gina set up a small classroom in one of my spare bedrooms. They spent at least 4 hours in the morning, broke for lunch, did some girl things, and then if time permitted, the rest of the afternoon before dinner. If Gina wasn't handy, I was given the chance to answer Bella's "school" questions. Bella tried to talk to me in English when she asked a question. Under pain of death from Gina, I was required to answer in English. Bella had an Italian/English dictionary with her at these times. I could judge if my answer was over her head by the amount of page turning there was going on. 

______________________________________

Two months had gone by and I was really impressed with Bella's progress and Gina's skills. One morning at breakfast, I was interrupted by a phone call from Washington, DC. It was the Italian Ambassador. It seems as if we were the darlings of the morning news shows. 

My renter did a special on Bella, child kidnappings, and our success with saving Bella. There was Bella, smiling from ear to ear holding Gina's and my hand, Bella at the Starbucks, Bella at the mall. 

We had a long conversation. The core of which was of course Bella and her safety.

The Italian government could find nothing about Bella. No parents, no siblings, no nothing. Unless someone would step forward and adopt her, she was headed for an Italian orphanage. 

I didn't even have to stop and think, I just said, "Of course I will."

The Ambassador just laughed, "I knew you would. But I had to ask." he said he would make all the necessary arrangements. 

His next statement floored me. "What about Gina? 

"Her being available will cease when you adopt Bella." he stated. "She is attached to the Embassy."

Bella would be heart broken if Gina left. "Can we get her a work visa? Then I could pay her as a tutor." I liked having Gina around. Eye candy and all that. And besides, I liked our chats after Bella went to bed. At first, the talks were all about Bella and her progress. But with time, they evolved into conversations about each other. 

We found compatibility.

"Talk to her and let me know." was all he said.

That night Gina and I had what was to be the first of many talks. I told her about my decision to adopt Bella to prevent her from ending up in an orphanage. 

Well I had always heard that Italian women had terrible tempers. Gina proved that to be a fact. She read me the riot act. I guess I struck a nerve.

Gina yelled that while my intentions were good, "I was a stupid jerk (actually she used a much stronger adjective describing what I sat on. And she wasn't referring to a chair). When she finally calmed down we discussed the adoption into the wee hours.

We left it that it was Bella's decision. I knew I would be heart broken if Bella didn't choose me.

Gina was quiet around me for the next month. And I walked on eggs. 

One morning when Keanu and I were returning from coffee, we were met at the door by Gina and Bella. Bella ran up to me and just hugged me with all her might. Gina threw her arms around my neck and gave me a kiss that curled my toe nails. 

I guess I did something right. But I'll be dammed if I knew what.

When Gina finally gave me my lips back, she said, "You are a wonderful man. The Ambassador called today. The papers are being FedEx's to us."

"What papers?" I never claimed to be the sharpest pencil in the box.

"Don't you try and fool me. I know you planned everything. Adopting Bella and sponsoring my visa so I could stay here with you two."

That night there were two females in my bed. Now I'm not a pervert, but Bella was in her usual spot and Gina was spooned against my back. Damn, I got a really good sleep.

The next morning, I woke with my "woodie" poking Gina in the butt. It was a nice way to wake. Too bad that Bella was wrapped around my back. I could have stayed that way all day, except my kidneys were demanding some serious bathroom time.




Bella



As I wiggled my way out of bed, I heard not one but two females complaining. After my bathroom stop, I got undressed and shaved and hopped in the shower. About halfway through, I felt a draft. Gina had drawn back the curtain and was "inspecting" me.

"Not bad", was all she said before leaving.

I started to protest her departure, but then I heard Bella's voice. I decided that I'd start researching summer camps for Bella. That way I could get some alone time with Gina.

It was a nice idea, but I found that there weren't any overnight summer camps around.

_______________________

The next couple of years just flew by. Bella accepted Gina and I as her parents. I really don't know when or how it happened, but one day I noticed that we were mommy and daddy when she referred to us. 

Gina and I grew closer. While I was still gun shy as far as marriage was concerned, that didn't stop me from allowing her to move into my bedroom. Bella even stopped visiting us in the middle of the night.

Gina and I started taking afternoon naps when Bella was in school. Just in case we got a little visitor in the middle of the night.

As part of Bella's development, she started going to school with her peers. She did great!!!! She blended in with her age group and we had kids visiting the house almost every day. Our house became the neighborhood hangout. Every weekend Bella had a couple of her friends sleep over. Aolani loved the kids. Her grandchildren lived in California; these were her substitute grand children. 

One day I asked her if taking care of all the children was too much for her. I know Italian women have a temper, but I never realized that Hawaiian women did also. And to make matters worse, Hawaiian women were really good with knives. 

One of these days I'm going to learn to keep my mouth shut.

One Sunday Bella sat on my lap to chat. "Poppie, when are you going to ask Mommy to marry you? You know she loves you very much and you love her too. And besides, I want a baby sister or brother before you are too old."

And lot of thoughts crossed my mind in a few seconds. The one that ended up in the forefront of my mind was "why not?" so I asked Bella, "If you can keep a secret, you and I will go looking at rings after school tomorrow."

When I picked her up the next afternoon, she had a list of all the jewelers on the island. She wanted to visit all of them. What Bella wants. Bella gets. She and I spent the next couple of weeks shopping.

It was the usual conundrum. We ended up back at the first shop we had looked through. The ring we chose was a simple diamond surrounded by small cut birth stones. They were Bella's, mine and hers. The jeweler said he could add more birth stones if we had more children. 

It was simple but elegant. Bella approved and I paid. 

The next thing Bella did was plan how I was to propose. She told me, "You are the best dad, but you don't understand women. I'll plan the proposal." 

And plan she did. She and Aolani worked out all the details for a special dinner. They planned it for the date that Bella found me at Starbucks. That sounded good to Gina. 

A special dinner on the day that our little Bella joined me. 

Aolani did her usual excellent job of preparing and serving the meal. We were having a very relaxed dinner when Aolani served desert. On Gina's plate was only the ring box. She just sat there with tears running down her face. Still not yet opening the box. 

Bella broke the silence, "Well aren't you going to open it?"

Gina just sat their shaking her head and crying. She made no move to open the box.

Bella just looked at me and said, "Well ask her."

So I did, "Gina will you make me the happiest man in the world and marry me?" I know it wasn't an elegant speech. But I'm not that good a speaker.

At that point Bella put her 2 cents in, "Say 'yes' so you can start making me a brother or sister."

Gina picked the box up and held it in very shaky hands saying "Yes, Yes, Yes!!!!!"

_________________________________________________________________

The women went crazy for the next three months. They decided the location for the wedding (the park at Waikiki) and they even got a Catholic priest to provide over the outside wedding. The reception was to be at my country club, where there were to be about 200 guests, the bridesmaid was to be Bella and the best man was to be Keanu. The rest of the wedding party was to be our friends. Some of Gina's friends worked for the Italian embassy in Washington. 

They were invited all expenses paid.

Gina's parents had died but she did have a sister and brother in Italy. They, along with their entire families were invited. Again all expenses paid. There were even a few distant cousins. (Yeah you got it.)

The 200 attendees grew to a little over 400 (all expenses paid). I ended up renting a couple of floors at one of the beach hotels. I don't even want to talk about the cost.

You guys know the routine. I wasn't allowed to do anything concerning the wedding dress (except pay for it), but both Bella and Gina accompanied me to pick out the tuxedos. I was under the impression that all I had to do was basically pick one. 

Well was I wrong! Let me tell you, Gina and Bella spent all afternoon making sure my outfit was perfect. They almost drove the tailor to a nervous breakdown down with all their changes.

I'm just glad it was a black tuxedo with a white shirt. Just think what would have happened if I had wanted a colored shirt or, heaven forbid, a patterned cummerbund. We'd probably still be in the store. 

All I can say is when Bella gets married, I'm going on a yearlong around the world cruise, ending the day before the wedding. I'm not going to be around for all that planning. I just couldn't stand the stress. I'm just going to leave the American Express card.

Every time Keanu walked by me, he just laughed. I was going to fire him after the wedding. I told him so, and he just laughed even harder.

The big day finally arrived. I wasn't allowed in my own house the few days before. I ended staying in the hotel with all Gina's relatives. They turned out to be a really fun bunch. Between my broken Italian and their broken English, (and my credit card), we got along famously. 

There I was, standing in front of the makeshift altar with the priest, when this beautiful vision in white started down the aisle with the bridal party leading the way. She was my soon to be wife, Gina. 

The rest of the afternoon was a blur. I remember saying "I do". I remember the reception. 

I remember everyone congratulating me. And most of all I remember the wedding night........

That night we started on making a baby. But Gina had been on the pill and it took almost five months before it took. 

Gina and I were gone three weeks on our honeymoon. She took me to her homeland and showed me the land of her birth. Italy is a beautiful country. And every night was special. 

I hated to leave and return home to normal. That is if you can call living in Hawaii, normal.

_________________________________________________

I really don't know who was happier between the three of us. All I know was that Bella helped pick out everything for the babies room, helped send out shower invasions, and accompanied Gina on all her visits to the OB. 

Gina did draw the line at the labor room. Only I was allowed in there.

It was a beautiful May afternoon when Giorgio Douglas entered the world at 8.3 pounds. A very healthy baby boy. When Bella was allowed in the room, the first thing she did was visit her new brother, "Hi Giorgio, I'm your big sister. Welcome to our home."

The nurse picked the baby up and let Bella hold him for just a moment before giving him to his mom to start feeding. Bella watched everything Gina did with the baby. Bella had discovered the miracle of life and started to realize her place in it.

The wait in the hospital worked out, it was two days before Gina and son could leave the hospital. I think they were the longest two days in Bella's life. Bella had arranged to take the day off from school and was up and dressed at dawn. She supervised Keanu's installing the baby seat, placement of the diaper bag, and, of course, picked out all the baby toys. She lectured Keanu on keeping to the speed limit, missing pot holes, and general safe driving procedures. She informed him, "You are driving my brother home."

I knew I had to give him a bonus at Christmas for his patience. 

Bella had plans to show her brother all the sights on his way home. Unfortunately, he slept all the way.

Anybody who has raised children knows that for the first few months, the child just eats, sleeps, and uses up diapers. Bella spent all her free time just watching her brother and asking Gina all sorts of questions. If I wanted to visit with Bella, I had to pick her brother up and leave the room. Bella followed as if on a leash.

I still can remember at about 3-4 months when Giorgio recognized his sister and gave her a big toothless grin. Bella was hooked. From that point on, Bella was his perfect big sister. 

When Bella's friends came over they were subjected to tales of Giorgio's accomplishments. But being girls, they, loved it. It was cute to see all the girls watching when ever he needed a diaper change. And it was even funnier, when one or two of the girls got baptized during the changing. 

They all complained....

I whispered to Gina that when the girls got older, they might enjoy getting squirted in the face. That earned me a punch in the arm and a dirty look. "I didn't know I married a pervert." was Gina's only comment.

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It took another year before anything of note happened. Gina and Bella had their annual physicals. Gina wanted to accompany Bella because Bella was approaching puberty and the check up would be more intimate.

When they returned, Bella was a very quiet little girl. She and Gina disappeared into Bella's bedroom with a pamphlet the doctor gave her. I guess Gina was going to tell Bella the facts of life. 

Dads were not invited to these discussions. 

They spent until dinner in Bella's bedroom. But when they sat down to dinner, Bella was acting like her old self. Gina held my hand through the meal. But she did give that, "We'll talk later." look. 

We did talk later. Gina explained everything she, Bella, and the OB/GYN discussed. The out come of our talk was that I was to "keep my mouth shut, and not embarrass Bella." 

I guess there are things fathers can't know concerning their daughters.

About a week passed when the doctor's office called. We were to bring Bella in for some additional tests. "No big deal, but the doctor just wants to check some additional things". The nurse gave us a series of appointments at the hospital and the lab.

The end result of all the tests was that Bella has leukemia.

We had a family visit with an oncologist. The man was full of hope and good news. There were phrases of "We caught it early, a bone marrow transplant and a little chemotherapy is all that's required." 

And most important, "She'll live a long and productive live."

I was worried about finding a bone marrow donor because of our non-blood relationship. We got lucky. Bella had a very common bone marrow type. A match was no problem. A lot of Bella's friends volunteered to be tested as donors. While none of them were used, it made Bella very proud of her friends.

When it came time for the transplant, Gina and I just about lived at the hospital. She got cards and letters from all her class mates.

The bone marrow transplant was a success, but the oncologist wanted to still do chemotherapy, "Just in case".

Bella was a sick little girl. Her hair fell out. Gina and I shaved our heads too. The three of us made quite a sight. Bella picked out head scarves for Gina and I. The girl's scarves looked good on them. Mine was a weird pattern and color. My girls would look at me and snicker. I knew I'd been set up, but if it helped Bella. I didn't care.

One day I got a phone call from the school. They wanted me to bring Bella in for a homecoming rally. When the date of the rally arrived, Gina and I escorted Bella into the school's gym. Imagine my surprise when we walked in and found we were facing about 200 bald teenagers. 

Her class had decided to show their support by shaving their heads.

Bella was weak, but she held on my arm and just smiled from ear to ear. The kids just chanted, "Bella." over and over again. Bella and Gina cried. 

Me? Well let's say I must have gotten something in my eyes because they watered freely.

It was about a year after that first meeting with the oncologist, that we got the good news. The Doctor said the chemotherapy had worked and Bella was cancer free. She could start high school in the fall as a freshman.

We were a very happy family. 

That night I overheard Bella telling her three year old brother that she'd be around to help him grow up. I cried my eyes out later. I never realized that Bella was contemplating death while dealing with her cancer. 

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Bella and her brother were inseparable. If you found one you usually found the other. It got so bad that Gina and I enrolled him in preschool. This allowed Giorgio to tell his sister all about his "day at school". Gina and I watched in amazement as the two siblings developed a special bond.

The years flew by. Gina and I grew closer. I guess Bella's sickness was the catalyst. We behaved like an old married couple. By that I mean, sex dropped off to once or twice a week, we didn't sit on the couch and cuddle every night. Only on those nights!

Bella's sophomore and junior years passed quickly. Soon we were discussing colleges. In Hawaii, there aren't a lot of choices. So we expanded our search to the main land. We searched the west coast and the ivy leagues on the east coast.

Bella decided that she really didn't want to leave home so she elected to apply to Brigham Young University -Hawaii (BYU). It was a beautiful campus next to The Polynesia Cultural Center. 

It was during the Christmas holidays that I noticed Bella wasn't her normal cheerful self. I chalked it up to the strain of the holidays and selecting a college. Well you can image my surprise when the school called. Bella had collapsed and was taken to emergency. 

The Doctors poked and prodded the poor kid. They kept her overnight. Gina, Giorgio and I slept in her room at the hospital that night. The next morning, her old oncologist visited her. He kept ordering tests most of the day. That night, he sat us all down. 

All he said was, "It's back."

Gina collapsed and I managed to catch her before she hit the floor. Giorgio ran from the room wanting to be along with his fear. Me, I just walked over to Bella's bed and started talking to her, "We'll beat it again. They will have new medicines. You'll be ready to graduate this spring and before you know....."

The Doctor took my arm. He just shook his head "No". 

"She has about four months. There's nothing we can do. It's just too far advanced."

Gina collapsed again. 

I felt Bella's arms go around me from behind and she said, "Just hold me, Poppie."

My daughter and I had a good cry.

Bella didn't make the doctor's promised four months. Bella left us one night about three months later, with Gina and I holding her. Giorgio, holding Bella's great big Teddy Bear at the foot of her bed with tears rolling down his cheeks.

The funeral was a solemn affair. Most of her senior class showed up at the grave site carrying simple leis of white flowers. Most of them ended up decorating her coffin. I'll admit it. I blubbered like a fool, "My little girl was gone".

That night I had my first dream. It was of a little girl with beautiful eyes watching me at Starbucks. I couldn't get those eyes to go away. I got out of bed and opened a bottle from my bar. I sat on the couch and finished the bottle. It helped me sleep that night.

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One morning before I started on a new bottle I saw Aolani watching me. She had a disproving expression on her face.

"It helps me forget her. It helps with the pain. It will only be for a little while." I explained. 

She looked at me and said, "You've been drunk for the last six months."

"Gina would not let me be that the way"

Then Aolani hit me right between the eyes.

"Your wife and son have left you. They have gone back to Italy. They won't return until you're sober."

It took a few minutes because my brain wasn't hitting on all cylinders, but it finally sunk in. I resolved to start sobering up.

I got up from the chair and opened another bottle. I'd start tomorrow or maybe the next day but Friday I was checking in for detox. 

Then the plan was a visit to Italy to reclaim my family just like Bella would want her Poppie to do.

The end.