Chapter 48 – Dinner II

Sasha’s POV

“Come on Nef, we are late,” I called to her.

We were supposed to be at the restaurant 10 minutes ago but we hadn’t left our hotel yet. It was a good thing the restaurant was only a 3 minute walk down the street.

“I’m coming!” she said exiting the bathroom and slipping on her sandals. “We’re not late. We still have time.”

I swatted her on her butt and told her to get a move on. While we were walking to the restaurant I asked her about her aunt and uncle. She hadn’t said much about them. She jokingly told me that her grandfather had sent him to spy on us. He was to report back anything that would be considered unacceptable.

“So I shouldn’t grope you under the table?” I asked.

It was the early evening and the temperature had cooled off a lot. Today had been oppressively hot and we’d gone to places that were air conditioned or stayed at the pool at our hotel. Our market trip last night had ended up with us coming back to the hotel and me stripping off my clothes because I was so overheated. Nef took care of me. She said the last thing I need is for you to get sick and then she proceeded to give me a cool sponge bath.

It was easier to move around as the sun was beginning to set and the temperature was dropping. When we got to the restaurant her grandmother was there but her uncle and aunt had yet to arrive. When they did finally arrive I could tell that he was a little shocked to meet me. I don’t think that I was what he was expecting.

“Sasha, this is my uncle Ali and his wife Hassa.”

Ali spoke English but Hassa did not. Conversation flowed between Arabic and English with Nef explaining things I didn’t understand in Russian. Ali was a lot like Nef’s grandfather, aloft and stoic but he was respectful enough. I couldn’t tell if he liked me one way or another but I guess it didn’t really matter. Her aunt Hassa thought that I was very handsome and polite.

”She thinks that you’re very handsome.”

”Tell her that I’m charming too!” Nef rolled her eyes at me and relayed the message.

“I bet my sister is absolutely smitten,” Ali said referring to Nefetiri, Nef’s Mom.

I had charmed Nef’s mom and grandmother. Now I was working on her aunt.

“She think I can do no wrong, that I’m perfect.”

“Eh, he’s okay,” Nef said scrunching up her nose.

“You crush my ego, woman!”

“Someone has got to keep you grounded.”

Nef is really sarcastic and tonight she was out in full force. She was laughing and smiling. It was good to see her happy again. I had noticed a difference in her over the phone since the Nadiya incident but after our talk she seemed to be getting back to where we once were.



Nef’s POV


What is with the women in my family falling for Sasha? They all love him. Hassa was currently gushing over how respectful and charming Sasha is. I think that my uncle Ali might be a little bit jealous.

”I don’t think my uncle likes you much. Lay of the charm, I might get jealous,” I teased.

”It’s not my fault. I’m just being me. ”

We were lying together in bed later that night talking. We had been doing a lot of that lately. Not just normal conversation either. We were talking about our feelings, thoughts, ideas, and our futures. Sasha was convinced that everything that had happen between him, myself, and Nadiya had been the result of a lack of clear communication. I held my tongue when all I wanted to say was that it was the result of a conniving, deceitful tramp.

As much as I wanted to forget all about what happened I couldn’t. I had once, early in our relationship, told Sasha that we needed to communicate better. It had been after the first nothing fight that we had. Now that Sasha was asking for the same thing I couldn’t refuse him. I couldn’t demand that he talk to me and tell about his thoughts, emotions, and concerns and then not do the same when he called me to task. Saying I don’t know or I’m not sure wasn’t an option with Sasha. He wouldn’t accept those answers and forced me to actually think and reason through my emotions.

“You always say that I need to be calm and think when I play hockey. You say that I can’t let my emotion run away, that I can’t act without thinking. Well this is same. We have to think and talk to each other.”