Chapter 38 – He has his admirers.

Soundtrack: Flyleaf - Treasure


Nef’s POV


When I landed at the Krasnoyarsk airport Sasha was there waiting for me. We were staying in a hotel to have some privacy but he had arranged outings with his family. Valeri, Svetlana, Veronika, Ivan, and Svetlana’s husband were excited to see me. I hadn’t seen the kids since I took them to the Baltimore Aquarium in January. They’d loved it.

I knew that Tatiana wasn’t at all happy that I was coming to Russia. She had made her option painfully clear. Sasha had done an interview for a magazine. I can't remember the name of it but it was pretty much the Russian equivalent of Redbook. The interviewer had asked the question about who Sasha was seeing. He didn’t give very many details but the magazine had run pictures of us from the NHL awards show in Las Vegas. We still hadn’t decided if we were going to go public with our relationship. I had this nightmare that I was going to be attacked by a mob of bleached blond Russian women. It’s silly, I know but I couldn’t help it. I avoided reading Russian newspapers and tabloids because whenever Sasha or Ovie were mentioned there was conjecture on who the boys were seeing. It was to the point where Ovie never took any of the girls he dated to public events.

In a sub section of the article Tatiana had answered a few questions about her son. The interview had asked “Do you know of any of the women that your son had been seeing? What of the foreign one from the NHL awards?” She answered “He has his admirers, but when the time comes he will find a Russian woman to settle down with.” I’m now convinced that this woman is just mean. If for no reason other than she can be.

”Tonight it’s just you and I. Tomorrow we’re going yachting with my family on the lake,” he said as we drove to the hotel. ”I thought that you would be tired after such a long flight.”

”So, does this mean I get you all to myself?” I asked.

”If that’s how you want me.”

Later that night as we were lying together in bed with our arms wrapped around each other Sasha whispered in my ear “I have something to tell you.”

“What is it?” I asked.

“We been together 9 months and I need to tell you that…” he trailed off.

“Tell me what?”

He pulled me on top of him, fitting our bodies as close to each other as they could.

“Ya tak lyublyu tebia.” I love you so much.

“Oh Sasha.” I looked into his eyes and he was smiling. “I love you too.”

It made sense; the excitement I felt when I saw him, the dread and unhappiness that I felt when we were apart meant that I loved him. I always thought that there would be some grand revelation, some eureka moment in time when I would realize that I had fallen in love. But it wasn’t like that. It was subtle, soft, almost like it had snuck up on us. Almost as if it had wormed its way into our hearts without us noticing.



Sasha’s POV


“Ya tak lyublyu tebia.” I love you so much is what I told her. I did love her. The past few months had told me that I was in love with her. It was her that I wanted to be with. It was her that I missed when we were apart. It was her smile, her eyes, her kindness, her light, and her warmth. I knew that I had strong feelings for her. I knew that I wanted her in my life but it wasn’t until recently I was ready and able to admit it.

A few days ago I had been out with friends. Nadiya had been included – she had become one of my hang out partners. We always had a blast together, whether it was going out partying and drinking or if it was just hanging out. I had told Nef about Nadiya and she was cool with it. Nef wasn’t the jealous type. I had never given her a reason not to trust me she said. She also said that she has lots of friends that are guys that she hangs out with and that she had no intention of giving them up so she couldn’t ask me to. There are certain types of girls that throw themselves at anyone famous or successful. I knew that and she knew that. I had always avoided them.

While I was out both Nadiya and I had been drinking. Nadiya is not a heavy drinker and she had been trying to keep up with me and the guys. It didn’t go over well. She had gotten sloppy drunk. I mean I was pretty well off myself but she was gone. She could barely stand up on her own.

”Alexander, you’re such a good man,” she said tapping my cheek. She had slumped over so that she was leaning on my shoulder. I didn’t want her to fall so I stayed there, allowing her to brace herself.

”Thanks Nadiya. That means a lot to me. You’re a good friend.” I said.

”Can I be your really good friend?” she asked giggling.

”You already are.”

The next thing I remember was her kissing me. Her hands went to the back of my head holding me so she could press her lips against mine. No. This is wrong. My body seemed to react slower than my brain. By the time I pulled away from her she was moving into my lap.

”No, stop. I can’t do this.” I pushed her back down into the seat.

”Why?” she asked.

”I have a girlfriend.”

”She’s just an admirer, right?” That damn interview.

”No, she’s not just an admirer. She’s my girlfriend.”





”What did you expect?” my sister said when I told her about it the next day. ”She’s been coming on to you for months.”

”No, she hasn’t. She was just drunk. We’re friends, nothing more than that.”

”Stupid boy. Nadiya wants you. She gets entirely too close and ‘friendly’ for someone that only wants to be friends. You want examples? I’ll give you examples :” Svetlana spoke slowly, almost as if she was talking to a small child.

I am not stupid.

”Like the time she asked you to stay over at her place. Or how about when you went to Vegas last month, she called you every day. She comes over to the house multiple times a week, cooking, cleaning, doing your laundry…and don’t you dare say it’s because she likes spending time with mom. ”

”If you think that’s true then why didn’t you say anything” I asked.

”Because you never noticed her coming on to you. You were completely oblivious to it so that meant that you didn’t want her.”

I spent days agonizing over telling Nef what happened. I hadn’t done anything wrong but if what Svetlana said was true then it was cause nothing but trouble for me. I spoke to Nadiya on the phone and she apologized. She said that it happened because she was drunk. I didn’t want Nadiya. I wanted Nef. I wanted Nef because I loved her.

”Nadiya, you’re a good friend but that can’t happen again.”

”You’re right and I’m so sorry. I respect you too much to let that happen again.”

It was a drunken accident. I’m not going to tell Nef. It will create unnecessary problems. I wanted My Nefertiti. She was the only thing I could think about or focus on.

”Sit still!” My dad admonished.

We were sitting together in the living room watching late night television and I hadn’t been able to sit still.

”Sorry,” I said.

“You don’t have to go to the airport to pick up Nefertiti for another 12 hours. Go to bed.”

”I can’t. I can’t fall asleep.”

”You’re that excited to see her?”

I was beyond excited. The love of my life was coming and I was going to be able to tell her that I loved her. After a few hours of crappy tv I went to bed and spent most of the night thinking about Nef. The next morning I went to the hotel to check in, I stopped to get her flowers, and then I went to the airport to wait for Nef.

Just landed. Should be there soon.

When I received the text from her I went to luggage pick up. I was there for about 15 minutes before bags started to come down the turntable. Her suitcase was one of first. She had pink ribbon tied around the handled. I learned that when we went to Las Vegas together.

“It makes it easier to find. I mean do you realize how many people have solid black suitcases?” she said.

Yes, Nef. I do, nearly everyone. It was a lot easier to find my brown and tan Gucci suitcase than it was to find the all black one that I traveled with sometimes. When I spotted her she was wearing a long blue maxi dress with a light, short sleeved black sweater to cover her shoulders and black sandals. I half expected her to show up in sweats and a parka with the way she had worried about how cold it would be.

“I don’t know what to pack,” she said.

“It July, pack summer clothes.”

“July in Siberia, not July in normal places where it gets really hot during the summer.”

I told her not to worry and that it wouldn’t snow while she was here. “So no need to bring a parka.”

Our meeting this time was muted. She didn’t jump into my arms like she did in Vegas, partly because we were in a somewhat crowded airport and didn’t want to draw an unnecessary attention to ourselves and partly because this time all we need was physical contact with each other. Her arms went around my waist and I wrapped my arms around her shoulders, kissing the top of her head.

We drove to the hotel with the intention of dropping off Nef’s things, her grabbing a shower, and heading back out. That didn’t happen. Hands, lips, and tongues were on ever piece of exposed skin. I couldn’t help it. I needed her and from the frantic way she was pulling off my clothes she needed me too. This time was hard and fast. I rammed into her as fast as I could. I felt her begin to shake and I knew she was close. I slowed down not wanting it to end too soon but she didn’t like that. She pushed me until I was flat on my back with her straddling me and the she rocked her hips as hard and as fast as she could. I didn’t last long but neither did she.

Everything seemed to fit. Me. Her. Us. I knew that I loved her. There was no breaking revelation or love at first sight. We were two people who shared a mutual attraction who decided to take the time and effort to see if it was really worth something. And you know what? It was worth something. It was worth a lot.