Artist

Pavel stepped out of the train and headed towards the escalator. "Another boring day," he thought, "That's the life of a bank clerk. Barely a life at all." He stopped on the escalator steps and looked around. The station was still almost empty. On the escalator going down to the platform, he spotted a woman. A tall blonde in a red dress. "What a strawberry," he thought while pretending he didn't stare at her. He waited until he passed the woman and turned around. Suddenly, she turned around too and looked him in the eyes. She smiled. "Now! Now or never," Pavel thought and ran down the escalator. The woman stopped at the end of the stair and waited, smiling. "Hi, I'm Pavel," he introduced himself while trying to catch his breath. "Monica," she said, "Do you chase women often?" "What? No. No! Sorry. I just... what do you do today during the lunch break?" "I guess I'll drink a coffee with you."

***

Pavel stood at the corner next to a coffee shop and waited. "I'm making a fool out of myself. No way she will come. She agreed to make me go away and stop bothering her," he thought, "Actually, I shouldn't be surprised. What a creep I was." Pavel looked around and spotted a dog sitting next to an empty bench. He crunched and let the dog sniff his hand. The dog waved its tail while still sitting, brushing off dust from the pavement. "I should get a dog," he thought while petting the animal.

"Hi Pavel," he heard the familiar voice behind him. "Monica! Hi!" Pavel almost tripped over while standing up. They purchased the coffee and sat on the bench next to the dog. "So, what do you do?" she asked. "Well, I work at a bank." "A bank. That's interesting." "No, not really. Let's not talk about the bank. What about you?" "I'm an artist." "What do you do? Photography? Sculptures?" "I guess you could call it performance art," she replied. The dog stood up and brushed its nose on Pavel's hand. Pavel petted the dog while talking. "Anything I could have seen?" he implored. "Oh, not yet. But you will, "she squinted her eyes and smiled. The dog moved towards Monica and tried to lick the fingers of her hand in which she held the coffee cup. The animal yelped as she smacked its head and pushed it away. Pavel's eyes widened, and he sat for a second with opened mouth. He looked at his watch, "I have to go," he muttered without looking at the blonde, stood up, and briskly walked towards the office building.

***

Pavel dropped a pile of documents on the floor when he saw Monica entering the bank branch. She stopped for a second, smiled, and sat in front of him. "Hello, I would like to open an account." Pavel stood speechless until he spotted his boss looking at him. "Hi... Hello. Certainly, we have our standard savings account," he said without looking at the blonde, "It's available for new customers. Would you like...," he looked at the woman, "Would you like to talk with my colleague about it?" "Why? Can't you tell me about it?" she asked, leaning towards Pavel and crossing her legs, "Can you tell me more about the minimum balance requirement for this account?" the blonde asked while flicking her hair. Pavel's body tensed up. He grabbed a pen and began fidgeting with it. His head turned up and down as he couldn't decide whether to look at the document in front of him or Monica. "To open the savings account, you will need an initial deposit of $500," he accidentally dropped the pen on the desk, "and we require a minimum daily balance of $200 to avoid any maintenance fees." Monica grabbed the rolling pen and began twirling it between her fingers. "Are there any other fees?" she asked, tapping the pen against her red lips. "I will print you a list of all fees." Monica smiled and leaned closer. Her perfumes wafted towards Pavel.

Pavel took the printed document in his shaking hand and handed it over. Monica grabbed his hand. He backed off, and the piece of paper landed on the desk. Monica stood up and took the document, "Thank you." She put Pavel's pen back on the desk. She opened her purse and took an envelope out of it. A vivid smear of lipstick marked its surface as if she had kissed the letter before sealing it. "It was fun. See you later." She put the envelope on Pavel's desk, turned around, and left the bank. He looked at her through the window as she stepped outside and threw the document into a trashcan.

Pavel went to the break room and leaned his back on the wall. His hands shook as he opened the envelope. Inside, he saw a photo of a naked woman. Her face was out of the frame, but he was sure it was Monica. On the back of the picture, he read two words. "Would you?"

***

Pavel returned home later than usual. He decided to avoid the station where he met Monica and walked to the next stop down the line. He entered the apartment and smelled the familiar perfumes. His heart pounded. "It's impossible. I'm losing my mind. She wasn't here," he said out loud while looking into a mirror. "Wait a second," he said when he noticed a cup standing on the counter. "I didn't leave it here." He grabbed the cup in his hand. It was a half-full cup of coffee. Still warm. On the edge of the cup, he saw a smear of red lipstick. He screamed and dropped the cup on the floor. He ran around the apartment, opening all cupboards, shelves, and wardrobe doors. In the bedroom, he saw another envelope on his pillow. Again, it was marked with a kiss. Pavel dropped to his knees as he opened the envelope. Inside, he found a piece of red, lace, cheekless panties.

***

"I'm telling you for the fifth time, officer. I'm being stalked by a women. I met her today in the morning. She broke into my apartment. She came to my office and gave me a nude picture."

"Listen, son. It's impossible. No women would ever do that. For sure a woman like that wouldn't do that. She looks like a million bucks, and you...," the police officer looked up and down at Pavel, "you look like loose change in the pocket." The officer stood up. "Actually, aren't you the one stalking her? Do you want us to find where she lives? Tell me. Are you a creep?" "No! You have to believe me!" "Listen. I could be looking for a gorgeous woman who wants to seduce you and sends you nudes. I could spend my entire career looking for her. But I would never find her because it's impossible. Such things don't happen!" "What should I do?" Pavel whispered. "Go home. Order some food and take a cold shover. Stop day dreaming. Have you been drinking a lot lately?" "No," Pavel stood up and left the police station.

***

Pavel returned home, closed the curtains in the windows, and switched on all of the lamps in the apartment. He sat in the kitchen holding the picture of Monica in one hand and her underwear in the other. Someone knocked on the door. "My pizza arrived," he thought. It was Monica. Naked. The last thing he noticed was a knife in her hand.