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"Ruskin, what do you think about it?" Charles Augustus Milverton asked his secretary about a very important matter the two men needed to deal with.
Ruskin observed the object in question.
"Maybe a bit too asymmetrical, sir. Definitely not perfect."
Milverton nodded.
"Yes, I thought just the same. The shape of this strawberry is not perfect."
"Then it is not right for your majestic strawberry cake, Mr. Milverton." Ruskin agreed. "However, it will still be good for the pie."
Milverton put down the fruit to the plate on his right which was already full of strawberries deemed imperfect.
The so-called King of Media and his secretary spent this morning in the study with a big basket of strawberries in front of them and sorted them out. Only the strawberries which were the most perfect could end up on the cake that Ruskin made for his employer. But neither of the two men were actually sure how a perfectly shaped strawberry looks, which created a strange discussion between them that wasn't so evil at once. It was a rare occasion for the King of Blackmail who took pride in being an evil incarnate and his partner in crime while they usually lived for sin, torture and temptation.
"Next one." Milverton raised another strawberry and inspected it. "It is very round. Like your eyes."
Ruskin immediately turned red for the words.
"I hope that it is a positive remark," he murmured.
"Of course. You look very sweet, like this strawberry. It is perfect."
Ruskin blushed even more when Milverton placed the strawberry onto the plate on his left side.
"Now I choose." He said cheerfully, not trying to hide his bursting happiness. The strawberry in his hands looked especially weird and it made the pair laugh.
"What does this remind you of, sir?"
"One of the House of Lords, Lord Cunningham - you know, the one who goes to brothels every night and has a soft spot for getting humiliated - at least, his dumb face. It perfectly resembles that!" Milverton pointed out with a smile.
"Now that you say it." smirked Ruskin. "So, what will be its fate?"
"Well, we can't use Lord Cunningham's face to decorate my strawberry cake with it. Its ugliness would ruin the sight. It will go to the pie."
Ruskin put the strawberry on the plate on the right. Milverton reached for the basket again. He let out a chuckle.
"Look, Ruskin - it has the shape of a cat!"
His secretary took a closer look.
"It is indeed very cute."
Only he knew that his employer was really fond of cats.
"I assume it will go to the cake then."
"Yes - to the middle. Next to the round one." Milverton placed it to the left with satisfaction. Ruskin took out another strawberry. It was formed like a flower.
"If I would be courting you, sir..." He said while awkwardly blushing. "... I give you that little strawberry flower as a special gift."
"You don't need to court me for that." Milverton winked at him. "You don't need to court me at all."
He gently took the strawberry away from Ruskin. Their hands touched and the secretary closed his eyes for a moment for the sudden intimacy. Milverton bit into the fruit and a contented expression appeared on his face.
"This is for me. We will find other ones for the cake." He stated. Ruskin picked up another strawberry while he couldn't stop smiling.
"I think this looks like a blood stain, sir. Remember your late annoying business rival? When I tortured him to death and his blood spilled to the wall, it looked exactly like this."
Milverton observed the strawberry.
"It was a beautiful sight when you tortured him. It can go for the cake."
Ruskin put it to the left.
"By the by, sir, do you have a preference of what shape a perfect strawberry should be?" He raised the question. Milverton wondered for a second.
"Some of the ones we found today are perfect - but there must be something more. Something that resembles pure evil."
"Understood, Mr. Milverton." Ruskin nodded and they continued sorting the strawberries.
******
A few days later, Ruskin stepped into Milverton's study with a small plate in his hands. There was a strawberry on it, it was round and it still had its leaves. Ruskin believed that it was indeed the perfect strawberry Mr. Milverton was looking for.
"This is yours, sir." Ruskin put down the plate in front of his employer. Milverton leaned closer and immediately thought of the resemblance - the same thing that caught his secretary's eyes.
"Yes, Ruskin." he said in a soft voice. "This is indeed what I was wishing for."
The strawberry looked exactly like an apple - the apple from the tale of the Original Sin in the Bible. Milverton watched it while his eyes started glowing maliciously, he was like the Serpent at that moment and Ruskin's breath got cut away from the sight.
"Come closer." Milverton ordered his secretary. Ruskin knelt down before his employer with awe.
"This is what holds us together - our shared evil. You are my most loyal subordinate who is just like me." He gestured at the strawberry. "Therefore, we will share this."
Ruskin stood up to reach for the fruit and picked it up. Then he brought it to Milverton's mouth who slightly bit into the strawberry. Ruskin felt the touch of the other man's lips on his fingertips - they were mellow and warm, his face turned red from the feeling. Milverton swallowed the bite and looked up to his secretary.
"The rest is yours."
Ruskin ate the other half of the strawberry, which was sweet like the sins that the two men committed together and what tied their fate... forever.
"This fruit actually reminds me of you, sir." Ruskin tenderly smiled at his employer. "It symbolizes evil and temptation... and I can't resist it, like I can also never resist you. And I never even want to resist - just like Eve."
Milverton took up Ruskin's hand and his fingers got wrapped around the other man's wrist.
"What if the serpent got Eve instead Adam?" He smiled back as he raised the question. It wasn't hypothetical - for them, this was the experienced truth.
"They lived their lives happily with their sins." Ruskin finished the sentence and with his finger, he slowly cleaned his employer's lips from the remains of the fruit. Then he raised his hand in front of his mouth and licked his finger, creating an incidental kiss.
"Indeed. They lived their lives happily with their sins." Repeated Milverton and jokingly added. "And with your strawberry cake."