Nef’s POV
I had fun with Sasha and his family. I expected it to be awkward but it wasn’t. Tatiana didn’t say much to me, especially after the prank we played on them. Her reaction hadn’t been good. She was more annoyed with her husband rather than us.
”How could you say that to them?” she asked when she though no one was paying attention. ”It’s not okay and it would have been a disaster.”
”Because Tanya, if they’re going to do then we won’t be able to stop them. I’d rather not alienate my son. If he makes a mistake then I’ll be there for him. We can’t live for them. They have to learn on their own and besides until she gives me a reason not to trust her I’m going to trust her with my son. She’s done a good job so far.”
I talked to Nadiya. She seemed like a nice girl.
”So how did you two meet?” she asked.
”It was at a Season Ticket Holder event back in DC kinda. The day before, I had gone with one of my roommates to watch a practice after a preseason game. A lady beside me asked if I would hold her baby while she got a jersey signed. I said yes and the little runt spit up on me. Sasha and Ovie saw it and thought it was funny. At the event the next day Ovie say me and started calling me baby puke.”
”Ewww. That’s gross.” she said.
”Yeah. Well they invited me and my roommate Jesse out clubbing and after that Sasha and I just kinda kept hanging out. We started dating about a month after that.”
”So it wasn’t like the two of you just knew.”
”No, we enjoyed each others' company but we were kinda slow in making the connection. We needed a little help from Ovie and Jesse. There was physical attraction yet but we didn’t realize that there was more there…or rather we didn’t want to tell each other.”
”Why?” Nadiya wanted to know.
”Well, honestly I thought he was the stereotypical pro athlete that would sleep with anything with a pulse and I didn’t want to be another conquest. He didn’t know what my intentions were. There are a lot of women out there that want them for all the wrong reasons.”
”He’s not like that.”
”Yeah,I know that now. He’s super sweet, and caring, and wonderful…most of the time.” I looked over at him and he was playing around with Veronika and Ivan. He was great with them.
Later that night I was lying on the hotel bed talking to Lana on the phone. Sasha was with his dad and his trainer working out. He’d skipped his workout yesterday when he picked me up from the airport and he was paying for it. He had an hour workout this evening and he would have a 2 hour session tomorrow.
”So how long are you staying?” she asked.
A little less than two weeks but Sasha and I are going to Moscow to visit Ovie so I’ll be in Krasnoyarsk for a week. I was told that if I came to Russia and didn’t see him I would under no uncertain terms be disowned. I have a friend, Anna, that lives in Moscow too so I want to see her as well.”
We weren’t going to Moscow until closer to the end of my trip. My phone beeped showing a text message from Sasha. Save me, please! I sent him a reply saying that he shouldn’t have skipped his workout.
I didn’t skip it. I just had a different type of workout. ;)
Smart ass. I made plans with Lana for the following day for the time that Sasha would be at the gym. Tomorrow morning Lana and I would go out while Sasha slept in. He would get up for his workout session and I would meet him there at the gym towards the end of it so that we could go back to our hotel room together.
When Sasha finally came back to the hotel room he collapsed face down onto the bed.
”Aww poor baby, are you tired?” I asked jokingly.
”Victor told my Dad that I canceled my workout for yesterday and it didn’t go over so well.”
”Didn’t you tell your dad that you canceled it and would make it up later? Did you tell him about scheduling for the next two weeks?” We had talked about his workout schedule and how everything would fit together. There were some days that his workouts would have to be shifted.
”I hadn’t really told either of them anything. I meant to do that but I forgot. ” he said.
”Sasha!” I chastised him. ”You were supposed to take care of all that before I got here.””
”I got distracted. I talked to Victor and we’ll plan out a schedule tomorrow after my session with him.”
I frowned at him and he pouted his lips out at me. ”I’ll take care of it tomorrow, promise.” he said.
I swatted his butt and said “You’d better.” Today had gone so well and I didn’t want it to slide backward. I had received such high praise from his father that I didn’t want us to start slacking now. Just because it’s the off season does not mean that you can throw everything out of the window.
”Yes, mommy. I promise I’ll take care of it tomorrow. ” Oh that does it.
I swatted the exposed skin on the back of his thighs several times. He winced and rolled away from me.
”That was a joke! ” he said. Oh, I know. I’ll show you mommy.
I grabbed his arm and pulled him back to me. I lifted my hand to swat him again and his hands went back to cover his butt and thighs.
”No, don’t. I’m sorry.” I let go of his arm and he moved away from me. ”You’re such a bully.”
”So what time are we supposed to meet Sasha? ” Lana asked. She had drug me all over the city and we were currently sitting in a coffee shop.
”In about another hour.”
After leaving the coffee show Lana drove me to the training facility that Sasha uses in the off season. He was lying on a yoga mat with a medicine ball between his ankles doing leg lifts. Victor spotted us before Sasha did.
”Hi Svetlana,” Victor said. ”and you must be Nefertiti. Hello.”
Sasha stop to get up and say hello but Victor said ”Don’t get up. You can say hi while you do this.”
”You’re early,” Sasha said as I bent down for a hello kiss.
”Yeah, I actually came to talk to Victor.”
”Me?”
”Yes, Sasha was supposed to take care of this before I got here but he didn’t.”
I spoke with Victor out Sasha’s workout schedule while Sasha ran on a treadmill. While Lana and I were out we drawn up a rough schedule for my trip here, including the days that we would be in Moscow.
”Now, we’re going to Moscow for three days. I spoke with Ovie and his trainer and if you give me a routine for Sasha he can work with Ovie while we’re there.”
Sasha looked at me as if I had grown an extra head. Hey, you were supposed to have this done before I got here and you procrastinated. Now I’m going to make sure it’s done.
”Oh, I like her. She’s feisty.” Victor told Sasha.
By the time Sasha’s workout was complete we had a workout schedule and routine hammered out for the rest of my stay in Russia as well as the week Sasha would be spending with me in Egypt. We had a routine for when we were in Cairo and also for when we would be in the desert with no electricity. Sasha of course grumbled about it, telling Victor that he didn’t need me to oversee his workouts.
”She’s not overseeing it. Think of it as motivation. She’s there to motivate you while on vacation. You know that vacations can be roadblocks to training.”
”I’m just there to make sure that you stay disciplined.”
Sasha smirked and I said ”Not that kind of discipline, you pervert.” After Sasha showered and dressed we went out to get lunch for him before heading back to our hotel.
”So, we have an early dinner with my parents and then out with friends later. How does that sound?”
”Sounds good to me. Tell me where to go and what to wear. You’re my tour guide Alexander Valerovich.”
”Ohhhh, I like it when you let me take charge,” he joked. He liked to make fun of me saying that I have issues with not being in control.
”Well don’t get used to it,” I said smiling.
Sasha’s POV
Dinner with my parents was…I don’t know what it was. When we got there I found out that my mother had invited Nadiya not only to dinner but she had told her about Nef and I going out tonight.
”Mom, what are you doing?” I asked.
”Nadiya is a nice girl and you promised that you would look out for her. I don’t want you to forget about her while Nefertiti is here.” she told me.
”I understand mom but I need to spend time with Nefertiti and my family without her. You don’t have to invite her to everything.”
”Why?” she asked. ”Has Nefertiti said something about it?”
”No, she and Nadiya seem to get along well.”
”Well then it shouldn’t be a problem.”
I had noticed that since our conversation Nadiya had become more hands on. She touched me whenever the opportunity arose. Her hands always seemed to graze my arms or legs or my back. Lana had said that she had been doing it all along but I’d just never noticed. Well I was noticing now and it was inappropriate. I didn’t know how to tell my mom that I was no longer comfortable around her. Nef and my dad had hidden themselves away in the living room. They talked about everything whenever they were together. Right now they were talking about the World Cup. When we were in Vegas she had made time to watch the important games. During the US-Algeria game everyone in our hotel had been watching and when Landon Donovan scored they went insane.
”You seem distracted,” Nadiya said coming up behind me.
”No, just watching. My dad and Nef are talking about the World Cup. Nef can be a little intense when it comes to her sports.”
”She’s a sports junky, huh?”
”Yeah, football, American football, and hockey are her favorite sports.”
I felt her hand moved to my shoulder as she came up behind me so I moved farther away from her.
”Don’t do that,” I said.
”Don’t do what?” she asked.
”Touch me like that. I would rather you keep your hands to yourself.”
She looked offended so I told her that I thought it was inappropriate.
”Nefertiti doesn’t like it when girls touch you.”
”No, she has nothing to do with it I’m saying this because it makes me uncomfortable.”
For the rest of that week I tried to keep as far away from Nadiya as I could without being rude. She still called and my mother still invited her over. Nef didn’t seem to notice anything, her and Nadiya actually got closer. Nef hung out with all my friends, not just Nadiya. I thought Nadiya had finally gotten the message.
Nef and I were packing to go to Moscow for a few days. We’d packed up everything at the hotel before going to my house to do laundry and to grab a few things. When I walked in I didn’t expect to see Nadiya in the kitchen with my mom. I didn’t expect to see her at all.
”Sashka, come here,” my mom said to me.
”Yes ma’am?” I handed Nef my duffel bag and she went to the laundry room to dump it for me.
”When are you leaving for Moscow?”
”In a couple of hours.”
My mom asked me to sit with Nadiya while she ran out for a few minutes.
”So you and Nefertiti are going to Moscow for a few days?”
”Yes, we both have friends there.”
When Nef came back I ran upstairs to my room to pack the clothes I wanted to bring with me to Moscow. It didn’t take me long to grab the things I wanted. I was on my way out the door when Nadiya walked in.
”I’ve never been up here before,” she said.
”Is there something you need?” I asked.
”Things are changing between us.” She sat down on my bed.
”A lot of the things that you are doing is inappropriate and I’d like for it to stop.”
She stood and walked toward me. Her hand when to my hair and I ducked away from her.
”Sashka, come here.” I didn’t move toward her.
When I didn’t go to her she came to me.
”I like you a lot Sasha and I know that you’re with her but your mom told me -- ”
”It doesn’t matter what my mom told you.”
This was the second time that she’d managed to kiss me without me noticing. She grabbed my head and pressed her lips to mine. It lasted all of a millisecond before I pushed her away from me.
”Stop it,” I said.
”What’s going on here?” Nef was standing in the door way.
”Nothing, Nadiya was just leaving.”
I grabbed her by the arm and marched her down stairs and out of the front door. When I turned around Nef was standing behind me.
”What just happened?” she asked.
”Nadiya kissed me.”
”I saw that part.”
I told Nef what had happened. She was less than thrilled but otherwise she took it well. She saw that I hadn’t done anything wrong and that I had tried to avoid this happening.
”I don’t think that she and I can be friends anymore.”
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