"Dmitri came to our office in March of this year to instruct us to add a codicil to his will to favor you. Since you have no blood relationship to Dmitri, we were satisfied by his information provided to us, that the two of you only met once in January and that you had not been in personal contact with him since."
Maia interrupted, "Yes that's quite true. I wasn't even aware of his death until your telephone conversation. Come to think of it, I was in the United States at that time and was flying back to Estonia. I guess that's why I missed the news report of his death."
Attorney Bacsinszky continued, "In any case with such lack of contact, our firm was satisfied that you were not or had not exercised undue influence on him to change his will in your favor. In addition, we instructed a London solicitor who obtained an affidavit from the physician treating Dmitri for his brain cancer. The physician was able to swear that although Arkhangelsky's illness was terminal, it did not have any effect on the normal function of his brain. If he did change his will, the physician avowed that he would have done so with full knowledge and awareness of the consequence of his action. The physician was also able confirm that he was not suffering from dementia or any other equivalent affliction thereof."
Maia reacted, "Wow! You guys sure did your due diligence all right. I'm impressed. So, what manner was his bequest to me?"
Attorney Bacsinszky answered, "I shall read to you the exact wording in his will as it pertains to you: 'I bestow and bequeath the sum of 750,000 Swiss Francs (CHF) to Maia Laaning of Tallinn, Estonia, the daughter of Vivian Laaning, the former Minister of Culture in the Estonian government and stepdaughter to the current Prime Minister of Estonia at the time and date of the execution of this codicil of this my last Will and Testament. I make this bequest in gratitude for the delightful time I spent in the company of Ms Laaning. Her companionship provided good cheer to the extent that my life became much pleasanter than it would have been otherwise. Her gift to me in my view was priceless.'
"And that was how he officially and legally justified his generosity towards you."
Understandably Maia was shocked, pleasantly so by Dmitri's largesse. It was mind boggling to her, that he would willingly surrender so much money for what in essence was a one night stand, albeit there was no denying that the sex was spectacular. Accordingly, her reaction was in bewilderment as she gasped, "750,000 Swiss Francs! I can't believe it! Why that must be more than 765,000 euros if I understand the exchange rate. And I think it's almost 830,000 US dollars."
Attorney Bacsinszky said, "Quite so. Now as I advised there are a couple of documents that require your signature. The documents are in German with certified exact copies in Russian. Since we are led to believe you are non conversant in German, the copies in Russian are provided for you, so that you are exactly aware of the contents. Basically, the documents affirm that you are Maia Laaning the exact person indicated as the beneficiary stated in the Last Will and Testament of Dmitri Arkhangelsky. The other document indicates you are prepared to accept the bequest and you direct our law firm to make the payment to you upon the Court issuing the Order for distribution.
"Finally, I received correspondence from Dmitri just about two weeks prior to his death which contained a sealed unopened letter addressed to you. My instructions from Dmitri was to give you this letter unopened only after his death. Accordingly, you alone are privy to the contents of this letter. Obviously, should you wish to divulge or share the contents of this letter to anyone else that is solely under your discretion. Needless to say, you're under no obligation to divulge the contents of this letter to our firm nor to anyone of the other beneficiaries of Mr Arkhangelsky's estate. And of course, you do not need to, and I encourage you not to read the letter right here and now. I imagine that it is best you read it privately and at your leisure."
Consequently, the meeting ended with the completion of the necessary paperwork. Maia also informed attorney Bacsinszky of her mother's Zürich bank account wherein the funds of the bequest could be transferred. As it so happened the law firm had its accounts in the same bank, so that the eventual transfer of funds was smooth and seamless. Heeding attorney Bacsinszky's advice, Maia did not open Dmitri's letter while in the law offices of Golubic, Teichmann, Bencic Ltd. She took it with her to her hotel room as there was a couple of hours remaining until her dinner date with Linda Kalmet.
Thus, in the privacy of her hotel room, Maia opened the letter and read the contents which were as follows:
"My dear sweet sexy Maia,
"As you are reading my missive, I have already died, and you will be aware of my monetary gift which I have directed my lawyers to deliver to you via my Will. The purpose of this letter is to explain as best as I can what prompted me to make this gesture and especially instill in you the belief that you are well worth my regard for you and truly deserve my gift.
"You know by now that when I met you apparently on your nineteenth birthday no less, I was under a death sentence as I was diagnosed with a cancerous brain tumor about a year ago last summer. As a result, I was naturally in a very depressed state of mind. I canceled all my engagements for last year's fall season.
"As the new year approached, I wanted to shake myself out of my melancholy, so I did resolve that I should not cower to my disease but instead carry on as if nothing was amiss. In that regard I honored my commitment to perform in Il Trovatore with Anna Nezhdanova in Moscow and the special concert in Tallinn again with Anna as well. Now I discovered that it was easy to declare a resolution to improve one's situation in life, but it's another thing to actually act upon the said resolution.
"Although I gave an adequate performance in Moscow, and probably a better performance in Tallinn, I was still miserable. I only got through my Moscow engagements by consuming two one liter bottles of vodka after each performance and I was planning to do the same after my Tallinn engagement and all subsequent engagements. I developed a morbid desire that I would cheat my cancer death sentence by instead dying of cirrhosis of the liver.
"But this all changed when I met you, Maia, in my dressing room after the Tallinn concert. Your youth, your joie de vivre, your exuberance was infectious. And to top it all, you were a virgin and you indicated that you would be thrilled to have me as your first lover who claimed your maidenhood. That meant that I might be a special memory whom you'll cherish for the rest of your life. I was buoyed by such notion.
"Since you were unaware of the condition of my health your interaction with me was absolutely genuine filled with unbridled joy. The time in the sauna at your home was an unbelievable highlight in my entire life. And your mother was kind enough to forward a copy of the recording of the impromptu singing by Anna and me. Viewing it has been a source of complete unrestrained pleasure for me.
"The bottom line is that meeting you has resulted in a one-eighty attitude adjustment change for me. I no longer dread that I was soon to die; after all we are all doomed to die. The point is that you made me realize that feeling sorry for myself does not advance my felicity. But living my life to the fullest does.
"Before you, my sex life with my wife was sparse and joyless. Since Florence knew of my health condition, she was very tentative in our lovemaking, possibly afraid if she was too animated that might hasten my death. Since my time with you though, she has responded to my new found vigor and we now enjoy the stars and fireworks type of sex.
"In addition, after each performance I'm no longer content with downing a couple of bottles of vodka. Instead I now fuck either my co star or any luscious willing female who might wander into my dressing room after the concert is over.
"Oh yes Maia Laaning, you have made my life worth living as I am dying. I can't thank you enough. As I declared in my Will your gift to me was priceless. In reality what I gifted to you is a bargain compared to what I received in return as a result of meeting you.
"God bless you Maia. I hope all the best for you and I trust my parting gift will be well received by you.
"With warm loving regard,
Dmitri."
After Maia finished reading Dmitri's letter, she broke down in tears and wept openly for a considerable length of time. What struck Maia the most was not the amount of the bequest, but the realization that her time with Dmitri was apparently to him such a significant occasion that he was compelled to add her as a beneficiary to his will. Up until this time, and not aware of his terminal illness, she had assumed their tryst from his point of view was simply an unexpected lark for him, just an ephemeral moment in his life. Instead, as his letter blatantly implied, it was a game changer in his life.
