BUYING ON MARGIN by @MGranovsky #NaNoWriMo

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BUYING ON MARGIN

Written by Maria Granovsky



NaNo Excerpt


"I'm bored," Olga Mueller said, irritably waving the sugar packet before ripping it open. The seven rose gold bracelets clanked loudly in agreement with her mood.

"You wouldn't be if you did something more productive than shop for shoes and lingerie," Benedict Vickers replied. He caught the hurt look on Olga's face and immediately regretted his flippant remark.

"I only buy them because you have a fetish, practically, for high heels. You keep telling me how much they turn you on. If I had my druthers, I'd walk in flats all the time. Besides it's my money."

Benedict attempted to caress her silk-clad arm but she moved it out of reach. "I'm sorry," he said, smiling. "That was a silly thing to say. And you do look awfully hot in each and every one of those recent acquisitions."

Olga picked up her cup but didn't drink from it. "If we're honest, we'll both admit that there's not much beyond decent sex between us these days. And that's not much to build a relationship on, is it?"

"That's ridiculous, Olga, and you know it."

Olga put her cup down gently. "I don't want to be with you anymore." She looked up to meet Benedict's surprised gaze. "I want to go back to the U.S. I'm an American-trained and licensed attorney. I feel completely useless here."

"If you want to go back to the U.S., we'll go back. Give me a few weeks to wrap up my research, and we'll move."

Olga shook her head. "No. I want to go back alone. And I want to break up."

Benedict became aware of a curious sensation, one he had only experienced once before in his life, when he watched his brother fall to his death during a Himalayan climb. He felt faint, and his field of vision was beginning to close in. He forced himself to calm down. Once certain that he wasn't going to pass out he said, "Before meeting you, I never realized it was possible to love someone as much as I love you. And I will be devastated if you leave. But I'm not going to beg you to stay."

"No?" It was Olga's turn to be surprised. Sudden tears turned the light blue shade of her eyes darker and greener.

Benedict relaxed. Olga was just having a moment and he had called her bluff.

"No, babe. You need to make a decision you can live with, and you have to make it on your own."

Olga picked up a napkin and wiped the tears that were now streaming freely down her cheeks. "You're right," she said through her sniffles. "It's not your job to make me feel like I matter."

She found her key chain and unhooked the keys to the penthouse that had been their home for almost a year, then laid then by Benedict's cup.

"What are you doing?" he asked. "What about your stuff?"

Olga stood and picked up her bag. "That's the thing about having money. There's nothing in that apartment I cannot replace."

Author Bio


Maria Maria Granovsky uses her background as a cancer biologist and lawyer, and her international travels, to craft fast-paced, intricately plotted capers, where the protagonists rely on their wits rather than their brawn, and the body count rises only as much as is necessary. She currently lives in New York City, but has lived in many other places, from the exotic (Wilmington, Delaware), to the normal (St. Petersburg, Jerusalem), to the entertaining (Florence -- in a convent). While it's difficult to be the new kid on the block repeatedly, this nomadic existence - in terms of geography and career - continues to yield a rich vein of thriller plots.