The Soviet Comeback by Jamie Smith (best ereader for academics TXT) 📕

He caught the eye of a mixed-race barmaid in figure hugging jeans and a black vest top, with whom he had been gently flirting for the past few months. She smiled warmly at him and mouthed ‘one minute’ as she fetched a couple of Budweisers out of the fridge for a girl further down the bar. He smiled and nodded back at her.

He felt so tightly wound and irritable; the noise of the bar was making his head throb and people were pushing and shoving behind and either side of him to get space at the bar. Squeezed and constricted, his heart rate increased; he felt ready to snap.

Closing his eyes, he forced himself to breathe and zone out. Control the emotions, he whispered in his mind. Be the water, not the wave.

“Jake… Jake?” The voice felt distant but loomed louder and his eyes snapped open. The roaring of the bar came back and he saw the barmaid standing in front of him.

“Everything OK, honey?” she asked with concern.

He blinked and smiled. “Sorry, Jess, I was a million miles away there. Tough day.”

“Anything I can do to make it better?” she asked with a wink, placing a soft hand on top of his.

“If happy hour includes bourbon, then you might just be my hero,” he said, laughing.

“I think I can manage that,” she said, turning to the optics behind her, before placing two double whiskeys in front of him.

He picked one up and threw it straight down. He exhaled and felt an immediate feeling of relaxation fall over him, right through to his fingertips.

Smiling at Jess again, he said, “Like I said, my hero,” as he handed her twenty dollars. “Keep the change.”

“How about I don’t keep the change and you take me out sometime,” she said, trying and failing to look nonchalant.

Now Nikita put his hand on hers, and pushed the twenty-dollar bill into her hand before tenderly closing it. “Trust me when I tell you that taking the money is by far the better choice for you,” he said, looking earnestly into her eyes and noticing that his American accent slipped slightly as he said her name.

“Maybe I’m a big girl who can make my own decisions,” she said with a mocking smile. “One day you’ll give in and go out with me!”

“I hope you’re right,” he said with a smile, before picking up his remaining whiskey and moving away through the crowds, eventually extricating himself and arriving at the booth where his colleagues were sitting.

“Was beginning to think you weren’t coming, man,” said Blaine, clapping him on the back, “Matthew, scootch over there,” he said to the short black man with baleful eyes next to him, as they moved along to create space for Nikita, and pushed a White Russian in front of him.

“Look who’s finally dragged himself away from the barmaid,” said Chang archly, sitting directly across from him, next to Rodney.

“Why do you care if he’s talking to the barmaid?” said a thin girl with long blond hair.

“Yes, Sarah, as Zara said, why do you care?” Nikita asked with a smile playing at the edge of his lips.

“I don’t care a bit,” replied Chang. “I just thought he preferred a better class of girl is all.”

Zara snorted and said, “Like you, you mean,” causing everyone to laugh and Chang to flush. Suddenly, Rodney started choking on an ice cube from his White Russian, providing a timely distraction for Nikita and Chang. Matthew started pounding on his back with all his might and the ice cube was eventually dislodged, shooting across the table and onto the floor.

“Dude, you aren’t supposed to try and eat a White Russian,” said Matthew as Rodney leant on his arms gasping for breath, White Russian dribbling right down the front of his shirt.

“You saved my life!” he said to Matthew and tried to give him a hug.

“Dude, get off me; you’re all wet!”

“Let me give you a hug of gratitude, damn it,” the big Rodney said, spreading his arms.

“Show it in words instead, man,” said Matthew, pushing him off.

Nikita looked across at Chang as the others were distracted trying to stop Rodney from crushing the diminutive Matthew. She was looking at him, still flushed, and he smiled intently at her as he took a sip of his whiskey, and she relaxed, smiling back. He turned back to the melee next to him, with Rodney now trying to plant a kiss on Matthew, and felt Chang’s foot rub against his leg. This caused a slight flutter in his stomach that he hadn’t felt since his time with Elysia in Skyros all those months ago, in what felt like a different lifetime, and a different version of himself. He put her from his mind as he knew he must, but it was a constant battle. The job was all that mattered. The job and his family.

After a couple of hours — and multiple White Russians — one by one the CIA’s elite team of Soviet counter-intelligence agents began to filter out of the bar. Nikita had been switching between bourbon and the milky vodka cocktails all evening and was enjoying a warm feeling and no thought of the search for the Black Russian. His sides hurt from laughing. He couldn’t recall laughing before this assignment; even his childhood had been overshadowed by the hate of outsiders and laughter had rarely escaped his lips once old enough to know that he was hated and hunted. Eventually only he, Chang and Blaine were left.

“We should be heading home,” said Blaine. “I could do without another sit down with the chief again tomorrow.”

“Yeah, probably a good call,” said Chang. “Do you guys want to split a cab? We’re going in the same direction, sort of.”

“Good plan,” said Blaine, and Nikita nodded in agreement. They made