Chapter 22 – The Russians are coming! The Russians are coming!

Nef’s POV

New Year’s had been fun, even if I Sasha and I weren’t together. I had called him just before Midnight in DC. We were on the phone as I watched the ball drop at the party I attended. He did the same from California. It was 3 am my time but I was happy to talk to him.

The team flight landed the morning of the January 3rd. His family’s flight wasn’t scheduled to arrive until later that evening. We had planned for me to meet them over dinner on the 4th and we would all attend the game together on the 5th. I was just as nervous as I was when he met my family. I’d always loved the story of Romeo and Juliet but in real life having families that didn’t approve of who you were seeing made for a difficult life. This is especially true when you’re as close to your families as Sasha and I are.

“So tomorrow I have practice then after that my mom is making dinner.”

“What time should I be there?”

“6 is good. My sister is taking my niece and nephew to the National Zoo and they should be home around then.”

Monday was a slow day at my internship. It was busy as it was the first day back from holiday break but it seemed to drag on forever. I left the office at 4 to metro home to pick up my car. I never drive in DC during the week. Rush hour traffic is always a nightmare. I had exactly enough time to run into my apartment, grab my car keys, exchange my blouse for a white camisole, and heels for a pair of ballet flats. I had worn a black pencil skirt, a gray three-quarter sleeve blouse, gray and black cardigan, and black pumps to work. For dinner I would dress it down with a camisole and flats.

I sent Sasha a text to let him know that I was on my way. When I arrived Sasha was at the door to meet me. He was half dressed. He’d come downstairs barefoot and in sweat. He was wet so I assumed he had just gotten out of the shower.

“Sorry. I sleeping when you text.” He took my coat and told me to wait in the living room.

I sat down in the living room and he dashed back upstairs to get dressed. The living room was empty but I could hear people talking in the kitchen. I saw a little boy’s head pop and round the corner and then pop back. It was Ivan- Sasha’s nephew.

“Grandma! There is a girl in the living room,” I heard him say.

Tatiana (yes, Sasha’s mom and Ovie’s mom have the same name), is a short woman. She was about 5 foot 3 with short hair dyed black. She and her husband Valeri walked into the living room from the kitchen. Neither said anything to me. Valeri reminded me of a grandfather. He was older, with wrinkled skin around his face and neck and a big grandpa belly. His expression was pleasant; he smiled at me and nodded.

Tatiana however did not look thrilled to see me. Her face was set with harsh lines. In speaking with Sasha I knew that this woman was fiercely protective of her son. When he had been accepted to Trakor in Russian his mother had gone with him. The family could not afford a second apartment in another city so she had slept with him on cots in an empty supply closet until the family could move. She had sacrificed so much for her son.

She never said a word to me. Instead she turned around and walked back into the kitchen; her husband followed. Have you ever had the feeling that someone was judging you just by the look of you? Have you ever had the feeling that some didn’t like you just because you were different from them? Well I had the feeling right now; and it was strong.

“What is this!” Her shrill voice echoed loudly.

“A girl our son is dating.” Valeri’s voice was calm and warm.

“She’s not Russian.”

“No, she’s not. She looks like a nice girl.”

“No, this is not okay.” So the woman didn’t like me. Okay, cool. “What is Sanya thinking? Bringing home some strange girl.”

“They have been talking to each other for a few months now. I don’t think she’s a stranger.”

“A few months!?” Her voice grew louder. “She could be anyone or anything – an American whore after ours son’s money and fame.” Okay. Not Cool

”Let’s not go that far. Sanya said that she’s from a good family. Her father is a surgeon.”

“It doesn’t matter!”

She had just called me a gold digging whore. Really?! She hadn’t said a word to me but she was judging me. Wow. I expected for his parents not to warm up to me at first sight. I expected them to be cautious at first. I did not however expect this. I went to the closet to get my coat from where Sasha had stashed it. He was coming down the stairs as I unlocked the front door.

“Where you going?”

“Home.”

He looked confused.

“What? Why? You stay for dinner.”

“No, I’m leaving.”

By now his parents had made their way back to the living room. At the sound of his voice they walked to the foyer. His father saw my coat in my hands and grimaced. He looked at his parents and then back at me.

“What happened?” He reached for my coat to take it from my hands but I wouldn’t let him.

“Nothing,” I said blankly. It wouldn’t do well to react so I tried to keep my voice as blank as possible. I’m not upset I repeated in my head.

“What happened? Why are you leaving? You just got here.” He switched to Russian. He did that whenever he was confused.

“And now I’m leaving.”

I saw his mother face blanch from the corner of my eye. She’d assumed I didn’t speak Russian. Believe it or not people who aren’t Russian do actually speak Russian. I pulled open the front door and walked to my car. Sasha followed me, still trying to wrap his mind around what had happened while he was upstairs.

“What did they say to you?”

“Nothing worth repeating.”

I unlocked my car door and slide into the driver’s seat. “I’ll call you later.” I pulled off and headed home.



Sasha’s POV

What the hell just happened?! I had been gone for all of 10 minutes, just long enough to throw on some clothes.

“What happened?” I reached for my coat to take it from her hands but she wouldn’t let it go.

“Nothing,” She said blankly. Her voice was too level, almost as if it was devoid of thought and emotion. She only did that when she was upset and didn’t want anyone to know.

“What happened? Why are you leaving? You just got here.” I switched to Russian. I was really confused and didn’t understand what happened to make her leave 10 minutes after getting here.

“And now I’m leaving.”

I followed her outside to her car trying to get her to tell me what had happened.

“What did they say to you?”

“Nothing worth repeating.”

She slide into her car and said “I’ll call you later.” With that she pulled out of the driveway and headed home.

I walked back into the house – my parents were still standing in the foyer.

“What happened?” I asked.

My father looked embarrassed and apologetic but neither of them said anything.

“What did you say to her?” I was annoyed at their silence. Clearly something had gone wrong while I was upstairs.

“I didn’t know she spoke Russian.” My mother.

“What did you say?” Just answer the question.

“We were just being cautious,” My father said. He was trying to smooth over the situation. “You’ve only known her a little while.”

“Why are you dancing around the question? Just tell me. What could you have said that was bad enough to make her leave?”

Silence. I called Nef but she didn’t answer her phone. I ran upstairs to grab my car keys off my dresser and a jacket before going to the garage.

“Where are you going?” My mother asked as I walked through the kitchen. The door to the garage was in the kitchen.

“To Nef’s place. Since you won’t tell me what happened I’ll find out from her.”

“Uncle Sanya,” Ivan called. “What’s an American whore?”

I stopped dead in my tracks. I turned to him. Ivan is 5. He shouldn’t know those words. He was sitting on a stool at the island counter in the kitchen. It looked like he’d been helping my mother with preparations for dinner. I looked at my mother in disbelief. She refused to meet my eyes.

“What did you say to her?” Now I was angry.

“I didn’t say anything to her! I was talking to your father.”

“About her! Which she overheard!”

I’m not going to have this argument right now. I’m too angry. I walked into the garage and mother followed.

“When will you be back?”

“I don’t know.”

As soon as the garage door was open I peeled out onto the main road; probably driving faster than I should have been. I made it to Nef’s place in half the time that it should have taken me. I called her again and this time she answered the phone.

“Hello?”

“Come open the door.”

“What? You’re here?”

“Yes, now come open the door.”

I heard the buzzer sound and I went inside the building. I went to her apartment door and it was open. Stephanie was sitting in the living room watching TV so I went to Nef’s bedroom. The door was open and she was lying on her bed watching television.

“Why aren’t you at home having dinner with your family?”

“What they say to you?”

“Nothing. Your mom and dad didn’t actually speak to me. They were talking to themselves.”

“Tell me what they say.”

She exhaled sharply and said nothing. Her eyes focused on the television and she said nothing. I took off my jacket and kicked off my shoes. I crawled into the bed beside her and took the remote from her hands turning off the television.

“Talk to me.”

She looked at me and said “There is nothing to talk about. Your parents don’t like me. End of story.” She took the remote and turned the TV back on.

“I’m sorry,” I said.

She told me that I didn’t have anything to apologize for. I decided to stay with her for a while. We ordered Chinese food and watched a really bad Lifetime movie. At around 9:30 pm my phone rang. It was someone calling from my house. I hit the ignore button.

“You should answer that.”

“No, not right now.” I was here to spend time with her and if I spoke with my parents right now we would get into an argument.

At 11 Nef told me that she was tired and wanted to go to sleep.

“I stay with you tonight.”

“Not the night before a game. We have a rule.” She frowned.

I shrugged my shoulders and began to undress. Once I was down to my briefs I crawled back into bed beside her.

“You should really go home. Your family will be worried.”

“Is fine. They know I come your place. I not want to be home with them right now. I want be with you.”

She stared at me for a moment, almost as if she was trying to figure out what I was thinking.

“I miss you,” I said. “I want spend time with you.”

“I missed you too.” She snuggled down beside me, resting her head underneath my chin.

I wrapped my arm around her waist and pulled her until there was no space between us.