I did not wonder that I had slept more than I thought. It still felt like a dream to me the fact of being there in that situation. But I really needed that sleep, to get my powers back. The Tiger had ordered a maid to wait until I woke up and give me new clothes. Those clothes did not look like trendy clothes. They looked like office work clothes, I was wondering. The maid told me to follow her and go to the dining room. They had prepared a magnificent breakfast for me. One of those tasty breakfasts you get on fancy hotels I had only seen in movies. There were only two plates there and the table was so big that the person in front of me felt like they were miles away from me. She told me to wait and eat something. She said that the Tiger would be here soon.
I did not hesitate to eat. But that food was cooked brilliantly. Oh my god, I had never tasted such great food for breakfast. Coming from a poor family, it looked as if I had just won the lottery. But I had not. While I was enjoying my food, some words came out of nowhere:
"That food is perfect. Julie cooks the best food for us. No wonder why you are enjoying it so much. From now on, you are going to eat food cooked with her own precious hands. So it looks like you are dressed up for your first day of work. This is the uniform you are going to be wearing by the time you are here. I thought that the perfect position that would fit you, would be to be my secretary. The last one got fired because she started becoming a snitch at what she was doing. So it has been a while since I have not had a secretary. You will be helping me with a couple of files. I will let you know later on. You will have your own office and you will be living here. You have your own room now and we are proceeding to bring some other clothes for you from your family or if you want, we can bring some designed clothes and you can dress whatever you want. This is how you will justify to my son what you are doing here. And I hope you do your duties the right way and the thing I can guarantee you is your freedom and your family will be safe for the rest of your life. Here you will be safe and will not suffer for anything. I will make sure you have the right conditions to do your job perfectly." - said the Tiger while he was sipping a brand new whiskey.
There was a moment of silence there until we finished our breakfast. Imagine how many people would dream to be in my situation and how many people would fight to have to share a table with the Tiger. There are workers who have been working with him for years and most of them do not have an opportunity to sit with him. And here I am enjoying my breakfast with him. But some questions were popping inside my head, so I had to ask him.
-"Sorry if I am interrupting, but I want to ask you something. I have been thinking about this for a while now. What do you win out of this situation? I mean what you are looking for is me doing some paperworks for you, which could be easily done by some other members, and taking your son out of his comfort zone. Is that what you really want? What do you get out of this? Is there something you have planned for later on and you are not willing to tell me? Do not misunderstand me, I trust your word, and I think you are more honest than most of the people I have met. And when you give me your word, I know you are doing it. But it confuses me, after all my father's debt and all that money that you have to get back, is this the best way you are getting repaid?"
The Tiger did not react at first. But he was just looking at me and drinking his whiskey. Not long after he said:
-"You have to know only one thing, I always win.I already know how you are going to lie to my son, for example. You will probably tell him you are an orphan or your parents are divorced and ended up here because you were looking for a job to afford the payments and I would pay well. And you would justify working for a criminal because you are here only to do your job and do not care about it because you are an independent and strong woman, and of course there is nothing wrong with it, but acting that way you will gain my son's attention. I know you have already figured out what you are willing to do next. And most of the words you are going to say. I said this to emphasize that I see things in the long vision. I do not plan my time day after day. Every piece I move will help me to achieve what I want. I play chess, hard chess, while the rest is still calculating my first move, I am calculating their 15th. So that means that I am 15 times ahead in the way I plan things from the rest. And you know that Russians are good chess players. So all of this is one of the reasons why I stand here today. To answer the question of what I win, I win a lot in this situation. I win my son back. You think criminals do not have feelings, and that is not a great way of thinking from you. But yes we do. We have more feelings than normal people. Because every decision I make, changes the lives of hundreds of people. Do you think that is easy? Do you think that is not having emotions? You will soon, by the time of staying here, understand my goal in this. And of course, it is not as obvious as I am doing it. Step by step you will understand, but I still assure you, your freedom will be given back to you."- said the Tiger and everything became silent again.
His phone rang and he talked there for a couple of minutes. I was still trying to figure out in my head what his plans for me were. But at the moment where I was still trying to figure out what I was here for, the Tiger said:
-"Get ready now, my son is at the gym. Find a way to get in touch with him. Your generation loves challenges, so challenge is on. He is here and you are good to go now I think. I have to leave now and will come back to tell you about the office work you are going to do. But until then, you have all the time in the world. Clock is ticking, good luck with it. If I win, you win. If you lose, I still win."- he said while leaving.
It was on. My challenge was ready to take place. I had to find a way now to get his attention and get to understand him better. I did not have time to figure things out. Now it was show time for me, to prove my worth, and to gain our freedom.