In the span of a week everything came to a head for Nef. She finished the last of her final exams and her graduation was on Friday and Saturday. She had a few days to celebrate with her family and friends and then her and Im were on a flight to Germany for a week. Their training and orientation wouldn't officially start until mid June but there were a few things that they need to get settle before they started, namely living arrangements, scheduling for workshops, investment client visits, etc.
When she left I was tasked with wrapping up everything at my house and her apartment so that when she left for Germany for training I could go back to Russia and she wouldn't have anything left to do other than boarding her flight. Of the two months that she would be in Germany I would visit her for about a week and once training wrapped up she would come to Russia for a week or so.
We'd moved most of her things into my house and we'd donated the furniture that she didn't need. We'd reached a compromise on the house issue. For the time being she would move in with me and we'd redecorate it together. My parents are only in the States for half of the season and they would be scaling back the time spent with me. They wanted to spend more time with my niece and nephew, Veronika and Ivan. We were entering into the next major phase of our relationship and we needed to take the time to focus on ourselves.
"Okay, so there are two ceremonies this weekend. Main Commencement with all of the graduate and undergraduate students and then my smaller department graduation. Main Commencement is Friday evening and my department graduation is on Saturday," Nef told me.
I would be able to sit through the Friday ceremony with her family and it was unlikely that there would be too much trouble from fans with me attending as there would be a large number of people. I could get lost in the crowd. Saturday would be a little trickier as the number of graduates was smaller.
Tonight we were at her parents house just hanging out. We were laying in various spaces in the living room watching a movie together. Im was home as his graduation was the weekend before.
"Are you excited about graduation?" her mother asked.
"Not really. I'm just ready to be done with school," Nef answered. "I am excited about not having to study or worry about exams or projects or group assignments...I am excited about starting work."
It had been a stressful couple of weeks and now Nef was enjoying a few moments of calmness.
Nef's POV
I don't remember much from graduation. There were lots of pictures, and hugs, and tears from my mom, and congratulations from my dad...but don't ask me what was said during the ceremony. I just remember hearing my name followed by lots of cheers from my family. I remember walking across the stage and shaking hands with the head of my department and with my faculty adviser. I remember seeing Sasha smiling at me and cheer as I walked across the stage. I remember his arms holding me closely when I found him after the ceremony. I remember my dad telling me how proud he was and I remember my mom crying, telling me how happy she was.
My grandparents have been in town for about two weeks. They'd come for Im and I's graduations but they'd also came to get a head start on our training. We'd had a few introductory meetings that discussed our positions, our responsibilities, and our training paths. The first year of our employment was completely mapped out for us.
Sasha was my champion through it all. He took over the task of not only making sure I made it to the places I needed to be on time but he also made sure that I didn't get overwhelmed before I left for Germany. I was not happy that Sasha wasn't coming with me but I had to be realistic. I wouldn't have much time to spend with him even if he did come with me. His flight home to Russia left the same day as my flight to Germany.
Saying good by to my roommates was difficult. I love living with Jackie and Jesse. We'd been friends for several years and these girls were truly the sisters that I'd never had. We each promised that we wouldn't lose contact with each other. Jesse and Jackie made me swear that the would receive invitations to the wedding whenever Sasha and I decided that it was time for us to settle down.
The night before my flight to Germany Sasha and I opted for a quiet night with just the two of us watching the at the IIHF world tournament. The Finland - Russia game was about to start.
"It's not fair that I'm leaving to start working and you are leaving to go on vacation." I whined as we snuggled on the couch.
"I work hard for months. Now time for me to relax."
He wore only a pair of boxer briefs as we were alone in his house and I could see that the bruises that he'd had from the season were healing nicely. All the aches and pains that accompanied playing hockey were leaving him. Ovie was currently playing for the Russian national team in Slovakia but after that they had a week long vacation planned in Turkey.
"Is okay. I call you everyday and tell you how much fun we have," Sasha said smiling.
I slapped his chest and glared at him. I opened my mouth to tell him that I didn't think he was funny and he shushed me. The puck was about to drop and once the game started he would be engrossed in the play. We were reclining on the couch so I laid my head on his chest, only to bite his nipple.
"Ahh, not do that!" he said trying to pull me off.
I bite down a little harder and he shouted "I sorry! I take you. I take you vacation when you finish work."
"Do you promise?" I mumbled, not releasing the flesh from between my teeth.
"Yes! Promise. I promise I take you!"
When I let go of his nipple he turned away from me and called me a bully. Once the game started Sasha said very little. He may have decided not to play but he was still very much interested in the outcome. Team Russia did not play well. They lost 3-0 and I could tell that Coach Bykov was losing it. Every time the camera panned to him he was screaming.
Sasha told me that he thought that Coach Bykov may not be the National team coach for much longer. There had been a lot of fall out from the losses during the Olympics and coach Bykov's uncompromising nature and his unwillingness to change with the changing dynamics of the team made the governing body less than happy. There was a lot riding on the outcome of this tournament for Coach Bykov.
After the game we turned off the television and spent the rest of the night together.
"Okay, so there are two ceremonies this weekend. Main Commencement with all of the graduate and undergraduate students and then my smaller department graduation. Main Commencement is Friday evening and my department graduation is on Saturday," Nef told me.
I would be able to sit through the Friday ceremony with her family and it was unlikely that there would be too much trouble from fans with me attending as there would be a large number of people. I could get lost in the crowd. Saturday would be a little trickier as the number of graduates was smaller.
Tonight we were at her parents house just hanging out. We were laying in various spaces in the living room watching a movie together. Im was home as his graduation was the weekend before.
"Are you excited about graduation?" her mother asked.
"Not really. I'm just ready to be done with school," Nef answered. "I am excited about not having to study or worry about exams or projects or group assignments...I am excited about starting work."
It had been a stressful couple of weeks and now Nef was enjoying a few moments of calmness.
Nef's POV
I don't remember much from graduation. There were lots of pictures, and hugs, and tears from my mom, and congratulations from my dad...but don't ask me what was said during the ceremony. I just remember hearing my name followed by lots of cheers from my family. I remember walking across the stage and shaking hands with the head of my department and with my faculty adviser. I remember seeing Sasha smiling at me and cheer as I walked across the stage. I remember his arms holding me closely when I found him after the ceremony. I remember my dad telling me how proud he was and I remember my mom crying, telling me how happy she was.
My grandparents have been in town for about two weeks. They'd come for Im and I's graduations but they'd also came to get a head start on our training. We'd had a few introductory meetings that discussed our positions, our responsibilities, and our training paths. The first year of our employment was completely mapped out for us.
Sasha was my champion through it all. He took over the task of not only making sure I made it to the places I needed to be on time but he also made sure that I didn't get overwhelmed before I left for Germany. I was not happy that Sasha wasn't coming with me but I had to be realistic. I wouldn't have much time to spend with him even if he did come with me. His flight home to Russia left the same day as my flight to Germany.
Saying good by to my roommates was difficult. I love living with Jackie and Jesse. We'd been friends for several years and these girls were truly the sisters that I'd never had. We each promised that we wouldn't lose contact with each other. Jesse and Jackie made me swear that the would receive invitations to the wedding whenever Sasha and I decided that it was time for us to settle down.
The night before my flight to Germany Sasha and I opted for a quiet night with just the two of us watching the at the IIHF world tournament. The Finland - Russia game was about to start.
"It's not fair that I'm leaving to start working and you are leaving to go on vacation." I whined as we snuggled on the couch.
"I work hard for months. Now time for me to relax."
He wore only a pair of boxer briefs as we were alone in his house and I could see that the bruises that he'd had from the season were healing nicely. All the aches and pains that accompanied playing hockey were leaving him. Ovie was currently playing for the Russian national team in Slovakia but after that they had a week long vacation planned in Turkey.
"Is okay. I call you everyday and tell you how much fun we have," Sasha said smiling.
I slapped his chest and glared at him. I opened my mouth to tell him that I didn't think he was funny and he shushed me. The puck was about to drop and once the game started he would be engrossed in the play. We were reclining on the couch so I laid my head on his chest, only to bite his nipple.
"Ahh, not do that!" he said trying to pull me off.
I bite down a little harder and he shouted "I sorry! I take you. I take you vacation when you finish work."
"Do you promise?" I mumbled, not releasing the flesh from between my teeth.
"Yes! Promise. I promise I take you!"
When I let go of his nipple he turned away from me and called me a bully. Once the game started Sasha said very little. He may have decided not to play but he was still very much interested in the outcome. Team Russia did not play well. They lost 3-0 and I could tell that Coach Bykov was losing it. Every time the camera panned to him he was screaming.
Sasha told me that he thought that Coach Bykov may not be the National team coach for much longer. There had been a lot of fall out from the losses during the Olympics and coach Bykov's uncompromising nature and his unwillingness to change with the changing dynamics of the team made the governing body less than happy. There was a lot riding on the outcome of this tournament for Coach Bykov.
After the game we turned off the television and spent the rest of the night together.
