Yuri’s Delusional Journey

Boris takes a seat in his office, which is on the ground floor of his country estate. It is a cool fall day, which he spent most at the Manheim Auto Auction overseeing the auctioning of his 100 vehicles. It is a demanding process, but nothing compared to what he must deal with in a few moments. Before his nephew, Yuri, enters the room, his eyes fall on his favorite bottle of Cognac, sitting on the right side of the desk next to a couple of glasses. He hastily grabs the bottle and pours himself a generous portion of the French liquor and downs it in one gulp.

“Good evening, Uncle Boris, may I come in?” Boris raises his steel grays eyes and sees Yuri standing just outside the frame of the open door. He wipes his mouth with his hand and waves him in. “Yes, Yuri, come in. We have much to discuss.”

Yuri hurries in and has a seat. “Before we get started, I want to apologize for my oversight of the cars on lane 8. I thought I checked the interiors of all of them, but I did not see the loose door panels.” Boris leans forward in his chair and thumps the empty glass in his right hand onto the table. “Yuri, you are my beloved Sophia’s son, and I vowed to her on her deathbed that I would take care of you. It is for that purpose alone that you are sitting here unscathed. Do you have any idea what kind of disaster would have transpired if anyone but myself had tried to reinsert that door panel on that Ford Fusion today?”

“Yes, uncle, I do. It was very fortunate that you were the one. Had anyone else seen the product that was falling out, it would have been terrible.” Yuri says as he reaches across the desk for the extra glass next to the cognac. Boris slaps his hand away as he stands and glares at him. “Fortunate I was the one! Terrible if anyone else did! It was a bloody miracle I saw it before anyone else did. Your stupidity today could have destroyed a 300-million-dollar worldwide operation!” Yuri pulls his hand back and leans back in his chair. Being yelled at by his uncle is something he associates with the beatings his mother used to give him with a switch when he was a child. “Uncle Boris, please, nothing happened. I…” “Don’t uncle Boris me you imbecile! Not even your mother Sophia, fate rests her soul, would have tolerated this kind of incompetence. Our clients depend on us to be discreet in our handling of their products and businesses. This blunder is not something I can ignore, Yuri. There are going to be changes made and they are happening tonight.” Yuri’s eyes reel back and up as he absorbs his uncle's words. “What changes, Uncle Boris.” Boris sits back in his chair as he twists the empty glass in his hand and a crease of a smile manifests across his hard, unforgiving face. “You are leaving tonight on a flight to South Texas, where you will take over as our border crossing manager. Your job will be to make sure that any of the units we ship to the Rameriz and Santiago Cartels in Mexico and Central America get through customs.”

Yuri gulps down a spasm of panic. He knows that once his uncle has decided something, there is no changing it. “I see, Uncle Boris. I will go pack.” Boris waves his hand dismissively. “No need, nephew, I had it done for you. One more thing, Danielle Edwards is living down there now. Monitor her for me. You may go now.”

Six hours later. “Sir, you’ve had three martinis since we left Baltimore. I am not serving you anymore than that.” The busty redheaded first-class flight attendant says as she collects the empty cup from his tray. Yuri’s bloodshot eyes glare at her as what is bumbling around inside his alcohol-soaked brain try to find its way to his vocal cords. He manages to sputter out, “The nice man at the airport bar gave me 4 and didn’t complain.” The attendant rolls her eyes, reaches over her head and grabs a pillow and tosses it at him. “Sleep it off. We have one more hour until we land. I hope you have someone there to help you. If you don’t, I am sure the TSA are going to take you in for drunkenness.”

Yuri takes the pillow and presses it against the window and closes his eyes. The stewardess watches him for a few moments, huffs, and walks away.

Yuri’s head is spinning so fast he feels like he is on a roller coaster ride that is spiraling downward. “I didn’t deserve this, Uncle Boris. It wasn’t my fault.” He says before he passes out. His mind replaying the meeting he had with his uncle earlier that evening over and over. Now, the subject of his nightmare.

“Don’t uncle Boris me, you imbecile! There are going to be changes made, and they

are happening tonight.” Yuri’s eyes reel back and up as he absorbs his uncle's words. “What changes, Uncle Boris?” Boris sits back in his chair as he twists the empty glass in his hand and a crease of a smile manifests across his face. “You are leaving tonight on a flight to South Texas where you will take over as our border crossing manager.” Then he said it! “Monitor Danielle Edwards while you are there.”

” Sir, it’s time to get off. We’ve landed.”

His uncle’s face jiggles out of focus as he feels a hand on his shoulder pushing him. Yuri dumbly stares at her and nods his head as he scooches across the empty seat. Stands up and reaches for his carry-on overhead. “No need, sir, I had it brought out front to the lobby. Do you have someone at the terminal waiting for you?” “Yes, yes, my uncle will have someone there to meet me.”

As he enters the terminal, the bright lights and noise cause him to lose focus, and he forgets where he is and what he is doing. Then, Danielle’s name hits his mind. Yes, she is the reason he is here.

Yes, Danielle Edwards, the heiress, Jim’s granddaughter. After her parents died, she moved down here to be with her mother's parents. Now, she runs a nonprofit ballet academy and works part time for her maternal grandfather.

A strong hand grabs Yury's shoulder and swings him around. He starts to push away but stops when he sees Ivan, Boris’s shop manager. "I flew in on the same plane. Boris wanted you watched." The man says as he hands Yury his satchel.

Yury chuckles and points a finger at the man. " I was treated like a king by the sexy stewardess in first class!"

Ivan shakes his head in disgust, smelling the alcohol on Yuri’s breath. "He said to take you to your new apartment after landing," Ivan recounts Boris's instructions. "Then tomorrow, catch the afternoon flight back to Baltimore."

Yuri waves dismissively. "Ivan, I'm in charge here. We have a stop before heading to South Padre Island. We are going to Danielle Edwards Dance Studio first."

"No, Yury," Ivan insists. "Boris was clear—straight to the apartment."

Yury puffs out his chest and pumps both fists on his breast as he sucks air between his clenched teeth. “You take orders from me, so rent a car and take me to her dance studio. Uncle Boris specifically instructed me to moniter her for him. I will text you the address so that you can call it up on the GPS.”

Ivan holds up his left hand and points at his watch. “It 11 pm. She won’t even be there.”

“Not true. She works late every Friday. Sometimes until 2 or 3 in the morning.” Yury says.

Ivan watches him for a moment, dumbfounded. Then he shrugs his shoulders and grabs the extension, starts to pull on Yury’s suitcase and follows him.

The drive from Brownsville Airport to Danielle's dance studio is uneventful. Ivan grows uneasy about arriving unannounced. Although he has done more dubious things for Boris, it is also Boris who had warned them not to interact with the Edwards family without his approval. Reminding his men that he pays rent to Jim Edwards for the use of his facilities.

Ivan glances at Yury. Yury is infatuated with Danielle Edwards and may believe he loves her. Everyone in Boris’s organization knows the infatuation is not reciprocated at all by the heiress.

When they arrive at the dance studio parking lot, Ivan pleads, “Yury, call Boris and check with him first.”

Yury glares at him for a moment and scoffs, “What does that wrinkly old scarecrow know. Danielle is my soulmate.” Then panic manifests across his face.

“I don’t have any flowers or candy to give her!” He desperately scans the area for a store of some kind.

“It’s almost midnight. Everything is closed. Come on, let's just leave.” Ivan says.

Yuri then sees it, 2 large purple cactus plants with yellow and red flowers in big clay jugs in front of the dance studio. “Don’t just stand there like a baboon, come over here and help me get some of these for my Danielle!” Yury orders.

Ivan shakes his head, examines the pots, pulls out six flowers, and hands them to Yuri. "You're giving her own flowers to her? Really!"

“Quiet, Danielle will understand.” Yuri says as he walks over to the door and tries the latch. The door is locked, but to his delight, it pushes open. Obviously, whoever used it last forgot to pull it closed so it would latch.

Yuri sticks his head into the dark front reception area and looks around. The faint glow of a light from around the corner barely illuminates the surroundings. He steps in with flowers in hand and Ivan on his heels. “Danielle, I wanted to surprise you! … Blam!

The light suddenly goes out and something slams into Yuri’s chest with the impact of a baseball bat. Next, he feels his legs swept out from underneath him and a small but very hard fist cracks him in the jaw. Ivan, blinded by the sudden departure of light, hears Yuri scream and steps forward to help. A foot’s heel cracks him in the temple, and then another foot follows by slamming into his stomach, sending him back reeling to the ground.

As they convulse on the floor, a lone figure walks over to the front desk and gets something out of the drawer and points it in Yurin and Ivan's direction, then turns on the overhead light.

Danielle Edwards holds the can of police-grade pepper spray at the two intruders she just subdued and yells. “I told you little punks, the next time you try to break in here, there would be consequences. Now I am calling the police.” But when her eyes adjust, she can’t believe what greets them. “Yury, Ivan! What are you two morons doing in Texas?”

Yury pushes himself up into a sitting position with a groan, holds up the flowers, and grins. “I came all this way just to see you. Look, I did not come empty-handed either.”

Danielle blinks twice, steps closer and gasps in disgust. “Yury, you picked my prize cactus flowers!? What is the matter with you?

Danielle rolls her eyes and scoffs. “I thought you bozos were a stupid street gang from around here that breaks into the business in this strip mall and tries to intimidate us to pay them protection. Now, I wish it was them.”

Danielle glares at him, as she recalls something. “Do you remember how much trouble you got in when my grandfather threatened Boris with putting a restraining order on you to leave me alone? Don’t think for a second I won’t do that here. Now get out and stay away from me. If you or Ivan show up here again, I will call the police.”

“But Danielle, you are my soulmate….”

Ivan grabs and begins to drag him out of the front door. Yury protests, but Ivan sticks his face into Yury’s and icily says, “Say one more word and I call Boris!” The threat has the desired effect, and Yury sheepishly complies.

Driving away, Ivan reaches up and rubs his temple where Daniel kicked him earlier, sees Yury holding his ribs and scoffs, “What did you expect. Her father fought and killed Boris's champion Dominic Thrace with his bare hands. Boris says that proved he was one of the most lethal men alive. We both know he trained Danielle to fight since she was 4 years old.”

A half-crazed smile manifests on Yury’s face as he leans back into the seat, closes his eyes and says, “Yes, Danielle is my soulmate. We are destined for one another.”