Nef’s POV
Today Sasha and I were going yachting with his family on the Krasnoyarsk Reservoir. We were supposed to meet them there at 11:30am but we ended up being late because Sasha couldn’t get out of bed.
“Sasha, wake up. We’re going to be late.”
He mumbled something before rolling over and pulling the bed sheet over his head. I showered, got dressed, and Sasha was still in bed.
“Get up.” I pulled on the sheet until it came off the bed.
“I tired woman. Let me sleep!” he snapped. He can be rather unpleasant in the morning when he’s tired. We had been up making love for most of yesterday and last night. I knew that he would be physically tired but we'd both agreed to go.
I grabbed his car keys and said “I’m leaving at 11 and your car is going with me.”
I sat at the foot of the bed brushing my hair up into a ponytail. At 11 am he still hadn’t moved so I grabbed my tote bag, slipped on my shoes, and walked out the door. I had made it to the end of the hall when Sasha called me back to the room. When I turned around he was standing in the door way with the bed sheet wrapped around his waist.
“Okay. I up. Give me 10 minutes.”
He was showered and ready to go in 10 minutes.
“Evil,” he muttered under his breath when we got in the car. Hey, it worked.
When we pulled up to the dock Sasha’s family was already there and waiting.
”It’s not my fault! He wouldn’t get out of bed,” I said.
Sasha made a face at me then told me to shut up and get on the boat. We had such a wonderful, loving relationship.
”I hope you don’t mind Sasha. I invited Nadiya,” his mother said.
I saw him grimace but then he said that it was okay. If I’m not mistaken I saw Svetlana roll her eyes. It was a few more minutes before she showed up. She was tall, thin, and brunette. Sasha had told me that she was a friend of his from childhood. She’d gone away for school and he went to the States for hockey. Only recently had she moved back to Krasnoyarsk.
Valeri had decided to drive the boat leaving Sasha to play the role of host.
”Well everyone knows pretty much everyone except for you two. Nef, this is Nadiya. I told you about her. Nadiya this is my girlfriend Nefertiti.”
We exchanged the normal pleasantries. The “it’s nice to meet you,” before joining into other conversations. Lana and I dived into the conversation, talking about everything under the sun. She and I always got along. We’d spoken on the phone many times since she left the States in January. We had a few days of my trip booked out for a couple of girlie days.
”I missed you!” we both said.
”My little chocolate truffle, what have you and my brother been up too?”
”Chocolate truffle?” I questioned. I’d never been called that before.
”Hey! Don’t judge me. I was watching this French soap opera and the guy called a girl that.”
”Well my lovely vanilla sweet,” I said playing along with her, ”Your brother and I have been up to nothing interesting. Just missing each other and trying to spend as much time together as we can.”
We giggled hysterically causing Sasha, Valeri, and Ivan Senior (Lana’s husband who was called him Vanya) looked over at us. Vanya mumble “crazy women” under his breath and we threw grapes at him.
”Nothing interesting? I don’t believe it!”
”Well, he did finally say it. I told me he loved me last night.” I whispered.
”Finally,” she all but shouted. The boys turned toward us again and she lowered her voice. “He’s being going back and forth about it for weeks! He’s worse than a woman.”
I fell into another fit of giggles and Lana couldn’t help but laugh too. I knew how Sasha could obsess and worry over things.
”What is going on with you two?” Sasha asked.
”Nothing,” I mumbled.
”The feelings are mutual?” she asked.
I looked at him. I watched the warm sunlight reflect off the water and it seemed to surround him in a soft glow.
”Yes.”
Lana squealed. Loudly. She wrapped her arms around my neck and hugged me with all the strength that she had.
”Lana…Lana. I can’t breathe.”
”That makes me so happy!” She let go. ”Have I told you how much I like you?”
Sasha came to sit beside me and wrapped his arms around me.
”I know something is up. What are you two talking about?”
Lana and I both looked at him and said ”You.”
”Me? What about me?”
”Just stuff. Can’t two women have a conversation without having to explain it to the men in their lives?” I mumbled.
Sasha, Valeri, and Vanya all turned to me and said ”No.” Well damn. I rolled my eyes and continued talking to Lana – we really were having a good conversation. When he stood he pulled me up and tossed me over his shoulder. He walked to the back of the yacht where the ladder was that led down to the water. Why hadn’t I noticed that the door to that part of the boat was open? When had Sasha taken off his shirt and shorts for his swim trunks…although those little purple shorts could hardly be called trunks.
”Tell me or I’ll toss you over.” he threatened.
”No! Stop, you’ll ruin my phone.” I shrieked.
I tried to get down but if I struggled too much I could accidentally fall in. He flipped off my shoes before he turned me in his arms bridal style. He tugged on my dress once and it slipped down. Damn maxi dress! I had slipped it on over a swim suit this morning. My phone was in the pocket of the dress so it wasn’t a problem anymore.
”Bad Sasha! This isn’t funny.” I shrieked.
”Tell me or I’ll toss you over.” he said again but this time his arms started to sway like he was actually going to throw me overboard.
”Okay! Okay! I’ll tell you, just put me down.”
”No, tell me and then I’ll put you down.”
”Last night. We were talking about last night. She told me you talked to her about it.”
”What else?”
”What do you mean what else? I told you what we were talking about.” He swung his arms back and my arms went around his neck. ”Alright!!!! She asked if I felt the same. She said that you really put thought into it and wanted to be sure.”
”Say it.” he said
”Say what? I told you everything.” Well almost everything. ”Put me down.”
”Say it! Tell me you love me.”
”No, you big brute. I told you everything. Now put me down!”
He leaned closer to the edge. ”I love you! You’re the best, most wonderful, kindest, and thoughtful boyfriend ever!”
”Now, kiss me!”
I had never kissed him in front of his family before. The closest we’d ever gotten was a kiss to the forehead, so I did that.
”Un-uhn, a real kiss. Like you mean it.”
I glanced back at his family. Valeri and Vanya were laughing. Ivan kept saying ”Throw her in!” Veronika was laughing at her uncle and her big brother while Lana looked like she was trying to find a way to save me without getting tossed in herself. Tatiana had that same frown on her face that I had grown used to.
I hesitated too long and he tossed me into the water. It was cold! Freezing cold…well maybe not freezing but the water was pretty damn cold. When I surfaced I promised all sorts of retribution. Everyone was laughing, even Lana. Sasha was hunched over with his hands on his knees laughing. I saw Lana run up behind him and push him overboard. Before he surfaced I swam to the ladder and tried to get out of the water, only to be pulled back in by him. I wrapped myself around him.
”Oh, you’re going to pay for that!” I threatened. I don’t know how but I’ll get him back.
Sasha’s POV
I pulled both myself and Nefertiti out of the water. I had thrown her overboard when she didn’t give me the kiss that I asked for. She was currently threatening my life and promising bodily harm.
”But sweetheart, I love you.” I said wrapping my arms around her.
She pushed me away and said ”Riiiight. Sure you do. Show a girl you love her by throwing her off a boat.”
We sat back down and I wrapped her in a large fully towel. It was lunch time and I was starving from us not having breakfast. We’d both opted to sleep in…me a little more so than Nef. Lana and Nef continued their talk and my father called me over to him.
”Yeah, Dad?”
”I want to talk to you about your relationship with Nef.” he said.
”Yeah?”
”You two have gotten closer.” he started. ”You love each other now?”
”Yes.”
”I want to tell you that...” he paused.
”Dad, before you go on, there is something that Nef and I need to tell you.”
I took her hand in mine. She looked up at me and smiled.
”Oh my God, you’re pregnant!” Lana shouted.
There was a collective gasp.
”No! That’s not it.” Nef said smiling.
She reached in to her purse and slipped on a ring and then slipped another on to my finger.
”We got married in Vegas…just before we left.” I said.
There was complete and total silence.
”It just seemed right.” she said looking into my eyes.
”I don’t…you…you’re…” my mom stuttered. She looked confused and her expression grew angrier by the second. I thought she might explode.
My father looked pensive, almost like he wanted to say something but was choosing his words carefully. Lana looked back and forth between Nef and I.
”I love her…and she loves me.” I said pulling Nef closer to me and placing a gentle kiss on her lips. I could feel her smirking against the kiss. Neither of us would last much longer.
”What were you thinking?” my mom began to shout. ”How could you do this?”
When we pulled away Nef buried her face in my shoulder. Her body was shaking and it looked as if she was crying. It was several moments before she could pull herself together.
”Married? So soon?” my dad asked.
”But if you two didn’t tell each other--” my sister started but a murderous glare from me and a loud, rather dramatic sob from Nef stopped her mid-sentence.
”No, this isn’t happening,” my mom said.
”It is.” I said. I buried my face in Nef’s shoulder much like she’d done to me. “I love her. She loves me and we’re happy together.”
”Well, if you’re certain. I do wish that you two had put a little more thought into this.” my dad acquiesced. ”Congratulations and best of luck. ”
Nef and I turned to my father and said ”Thank you,” before bursting. We were laughing hysterically. Everyone still looked confused.
”That was a joke.” Nef told them giggling. ”Awww thanks Valeri but come on you know we’re more responsible than that!”
”That’s it. You’re both going overboard!” Lana threatened.
”You don’t love me anymore?” Nef said. ”I thought you would appreciate my sense of humor.”
”I almost thought that you two had gone and gotten married without inviting me!” Women and their priorities.
I handed the ring back to Nef before it slipped off my finger. It was a little loose. She gave it back to me, slipping it this time onto my middle finger. She then took the ring that she was wearing and did the same. For the first time I actually looked at it. The band was thick and there were Egyptian hieroglyphs engraved on the band. I looked at her ring and it matched mine. I could tell that the rings were very old. The hieroglyphs matched almost exactly to a part of the tattoo she had running down her back on the right side. (AN: Picture of the ring at the bottom.)
”What’s this?” I asked.
”A present. Don’t lose it.” she said sternly.
”I won’t.” I kissed her forehead.
Lana pulled Nef away from me and they went back to their conversation. I went back to talking to my dad but not before I tried to dodge the swat that I knew was coming from him. He tried to hit me on the side of my head. I take it he didn’t find our little joke funny.
”You and Nef. It’s more serious than I thought.” my dad said.
”What do you mean?” I asked.
”When you first brought Nef home for us to meet I wasn’t sure if it was serious. You know how you young ones are with dating but things have changed between the two of you. So far I have no complaints about her. She’s a good girl.”
”Dad, what are you trying to say?”
”I guess I’m trying to say that if she makes you happy then good. I’ve noticed a change in you. You’re more settled, more focused. You played one of your best seasons in DC while having a huge distraction…no let me finish.” he said. I was about to tell him that Nef wasn’t a distraction. ”Being in a relationship with someone is a distraction, sometimes good and sometimes bad. You were able to find that balance that made it work...now if only we can figure out this monster that is the post-season.”
”Thanks Dad…I think…that was a compliment, right?” I said jokingly.
He swiped at my head again before pulling me into a hug. I love my dad but it wasn’t often that we had talks like this. There wasn’t much to talk about when it came to my love life. There wasn’t exactly a whole lot of time for one and when I was seeing someone I didn’t bring them home to meet my parents. It often times didn’t make it that far. This time was different. I was excited to bring her home and introduce her to my family. My dad had always been the one to sit down and talk to me about stuff and how it related to hockey. He was the one that was always critical…not bad critical but when I wasn’t working hard enough he was the first one to tell me and make suggestions on how I could improved.
The level of effort that I put in this year was different from previous years. There was a hunger that was there that couldn’t be sated easily. This year I think that we learned that you can’t just want something. You have to fight for it. Just being hungry for it isn’t enough.
”Wanting it isn’t enough. You have to be willing to fight for it. Montreal fought harder than you and they won” my dad said after the Montreal series. ”The question now becomes are you willing to fight for it?”
”I’m not going to lie. At first I was a little worried that she would be a bad distraction but she’s not. I’m glad you chose well. I told your mom that I would be ready to step in if it was needed but it wasn’t.”
”Thanks Dad.”
-----------
The ring
No comments:
Post a Comment