Chapter 63 – Pleasantly

Sasha’s POV


Have you ever been at a point in your life where everything just seems to be going well? I’m there. The new season was starting, my relationship with Nef was stronger than ever, my mom seemed to be more understanding of Nef and she was making a concerted effort to get to know her. I was happy with where I am. I was happy with how things were going. When I woke up it was with a smile. When I went to bed it was with a smile.

I was with Ovi and we were getting ready to leave practice.

”So Valeria is coming for the home opener and she’ll be here for about a week,” he told me, referring to the new girl that he had been seeing.

”Ok cool.” I hadn’t really met her yet. She’d been around when I went to visit Ovi in July with Nef but she and Ovi weren’t actually dating at that time.

”My parents aren’t in town yet so the only person here is my brother. Do you think Nef will hang out with her or show her around when we’re busy?” Neither Ovi or I had very many females friends that we could ask to do something like this – at least female friends that spoke Russian.

”Yeah, just ask her. I can tell her if you want?”

”Yeah, I want to make sure that she has a good time.”

Later that night Nef and I went to Ovi’s house for dinner. I told her what Ovi and I talked about and she agreed to do it. The next day we were walking hand in hand down the street over to Ovi's house for dinner. Ovi was only a few houses over from me. The area we lived in was really quiet and the cul de sack was not off of a main road. We knew most of our neighbors and they were pretty respectful of us and our privacy. It was before sunset and the Jamesons were sitting out on their porch. They were an elderly couple that had been married for almost 50 years.

“Hi Mr. and Mrs. Jameson,” Nef said waving.

“Hi Sweetie,” Mrs. Jameson called back.

Nef had seen her one day struggling to pull something from her garage and offered to lend a hand. Since then the two talk frequently and more than once I had volunteer to help them do something around the house or yard. We talked to them for a few minutes before continuing on to Ovi’s house. He and Valeria were opening the catering containers from a local Greek restaurant to set the table. I was glad that neither one of them had tried to cook. They weren’t very good at it.

Valeria was a nice girl. She was a model. She and Ovi had met one night out in Moscow. They’d gotten together at the beginning of the summer but they had only been officially dating since the end of July.

”Hey Guys,” Ovi said when we walked in. ”I want you guys to meet Valeria. Babe, this is Sema and his girlfriend Nef.”

”It’s nice to meet you both,” she said.

It wasn’t long before she and Nef went off on a girl tangent. They started talking about myself and Ovi.

”So what can you tell me about these two?” Val asked.

”They are trouble,” Nef said laughing. ”They like to start trouble. They like to cause trouble. If they’re around and something has gone wrong it’s most likely their fault.”

”That’s not true.” I said.

”We do not cause trouble. We’re completely and perfectly innocent!” Ovi finished.

Nef shook her head and Val had a disbelieving expression. We are angels, damn it. We do not cause trouble. I grabbed Nef by the arms and shook her. She laughed and said ”See what I mean!” I bit her shoulder and she swatted my thigh. Ovi threw his napkin at us.

”These two can’t keep their hands off each other,” he jokingly told Val. ”It’s kinda disgusting.”

Later we were hanging out in the living room watching TV. Nef was sitting on the couch and I sat on the floor between her legs. Val was sitting on the opposite end of the couch and the two of them looked to be engrossed in their conversation. The season opener in Atlanta was in two days with the home opener the day after. Nef was telling Val what to expect. She offered to stay with Val and show her around DC when we left for Atlanta.

Ovi nudged my foot and motioned for me to follow him into the kitchen. He had four small squirt guns that he’d filled with cold water. He gave two of them to me. Ovi and I walked back into the living room and stood in front of the television with our hands behind our backs.

”Whatever you’re thinking about doing don’t.” Nef said.

We smiled at them and pulled out the squirt guns, aiming it at the girls.

”Don’t you dare,” Val said, her eyes narrowing at Ovi.

Never tell us not to do something. Ever. It’s pretty much a guarantee that we’re going to do it. It was funny to hear the girls squeal and try to run as we squirted them with water.

”I’ll kill you!” Nef threatened.

She picked up a pillow and started swinging it at me. She managed to hit me in the face before running. I had been aiming at the front of her shirt but now I started aiming at her hair. She’d spent a decent amount of time straightening her naturally curly hair. As I expected, she let out an indignant screech before bolting from the living room and up the stairs. I turned to Val and she was trapped between Ovi, me, and the couch.

”Looks like your new friend abandoned you,” I said.

”Nef help!” she tried before Ovi and I drenched her.

I heard Nef running down the stairs and I turned just in time to see her bring a belt right across Ovi’s ass. He screamed and jumped away. She swung it at me but I managed to get out of striking range. Val crawled over the couch to stand beside Nef. Nef handed her a second belt.

”You want to play games?” she asked, looping the belt around her wrist so it couldn’t be easily taken out of her hands. Val did the same smiling deviously.

Shit. Ovi was closer to the stairs so he bolted, leaving me trapped. I had a corner behind me with Nef to my right and Val to my left. Nef swung the belt, hitting my thigh. I grabbed her arms, only to feel Val hit me on the ass. My hands flew back for protection but it was useless. I couldn’t avoid both of them. Trying to strong arm one meant that the other was open to hit me.

Swat!”Stop!” I all but screamed, dancing around trying get as far away from those belts as I could. Swat! Swat! Swat!

”Who’s been abandoned now?” Val asked. Swat! Swat! Swat! Swat!

That bastard! Eventually Nef and Val got bored with tormenting me and ran upstairs to find Ovi.

”Open the door.” I heard.

There was no response. I grabbed the spare key from the drawer in the kitchen and ran it upstairs. Nef and Val turned toward me when I walked down the hall. I held the key up and Nef reached for it. She unlocked Ovi’s bedroom door and went in. He wasn’t in the bedroom or the closet. I pointed to the bathroom and sure enough the door was locked. She slid the key into the lock and pushed against the door. It wouldn’t budge. He was on the other side of the door holding it in place. The three of us pushed against the door and we managed to force it open.

I stood there laughing as Val and Nef terrorized him with the belts. I blocked the door so that he couldn’t run out of the bathroom.

Swat! ”Say you’re sorry,” Val order.

”No! Never.” Well that was a stupid thing to say.

Swat! Swat! Swat! They took turns striking different parts of his body, making him dance around and jumping trying to avoid the belt.

”Ahhh, okay! I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’ll never do it again!” he said finally giving in.

Both Nef and Val hit him a few more times for good measure.

”Now look here, Trouble.” Nef said. ”Try that again and it’ll be worse.”




Nef’s POV



Val was chill. I liked her. She’s Ovi’s new super tall, pencil thin, Russian Glamazon girlfriend. Honestly I expected her to be this uptight super model that work tons of makeup caked on her face. I didn’t expect to get along with her so well. We sat together at the home opener and Mikhail and I took her around DC when the guys had gone to Atlanta for the season opener.

I had been talking to her after dinner at Ovi’s place when Sasha and Ovi decided that they wanted to play. I don’t appreciated being chased around with a squirt gun filled with cold water. So as pay back Val and I chased the boys around with Ovi’s shiny D&G belts. There are few things funnier in the world then watching grown men dance around trying to avoid being swatted with a belt.

Later that same night Sasha and I were lying together in bed. It was that down time between your day ending and right before you go to bed. I’d been thinking a lot about my relationship with Sasha. Things were settling and I was happy. I was happy with him, happy with school, happy with work, happy with my friends, happy with my family and just happy in general.

“Our anniversary is coming soon,” Sasha said.

“Yeah, it’s been almost a year.” Oh wow, it had. It didn’t seem like it.

When I met Sasha a year ago I never thought that this would happen. I honestly hadn’t put any faith in this when we started hanging out. He was just a cute boy that I liked talking to. He was just a handsome guy that I enjoyed hanging out with. Now he was the man that I was in love with. I was pleasantly surprised.

“What you want for present?” he asked.

“No idea. I don’t really need anything.”

He growled at me. He did that when I said something to annoy him or something he didn’t like.

“I really don’t!” I said. I never do. I’m the worst when it comes to presents. He knows this so he shouldn’t be surprised.

“You always make it hard,” he said nipping my shoulder with his teeth.

“You don’t have to get me anything. I’ve got you and that’s all I need.”

It’s true. I only really wanted him. I have that so I’m happy.

“Did you get my present yet?” he asked.

“Yes, I got it a while ago.”

He made a noise that sounded very much like despair. His arms tightened around me, pulling me closer to his body.

”Your gifts are always so meaningful,” he said. ”There’s always some higher though or meaning behind the gifts that you give me. I feel like I can’t measure up. I can’t just buy something expensive if it doesn’t mean anything.”

”Sasha, there’s no need for that. I love you and I’ll love whatever you get me, you know that. I’m not big on extravagant presents. I’ll take you and a nice evening at home over something big and flashy any day.”

I linked our right hands together, holding them up so that I could see the two Egyptian rings we wore together. I hadn’t told him that but these rings were eternity bands. When you locked your fingers together in a certain what the top of Ank hieroglyphs would connect to form the symbol for ‘shen.’ ‘Ank’ means life and ‘Shen’ means eternity, hence the rings being called eternity bands. I just told him that they had been in my family for a very long time and because I loved him I had chosen to give it to him.

“You do that a lot,” he said, following my eyes to our joined hands.

He brought our hands to his lips and placed a soft kiss on our rings.

“It’s because I love you.”