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Chapter 14
I never thought Friday night would come ... seriously, the longest Thursday of my life and Friday daytime dragged on ... what the ...? I was dreaming, hoping, desperately praying that The Russian would be my first really serious relationship – maybe my last, if you get the drift. But, no matter how mature, clever, independent and successful you might think you are at laying out your future, you are never too old for a major serve from your parents, and they timed that right before my date.
In fairness, Dad was a gentle soul, not one of those fire and brimstone type reverends; Mom was the tough one, but I guess she’d had a few hard knocks in life. Dad sort of fell into the religious life ... he was working as a counselor in a hospital and often gave patients comfort or helped their families. After a while he wanted to do more than work with the sick and dying, he wanted to work in the community. So he decided to combine his faith with a job where he could help people every day.
Mom was the church warden at the first parish that Dad got assigned to. Her job meant that she organized pretty much everything from keeping order in the church to organizing the maintenance of the grounds. It wasn’t long before she was organizing Dad, and they’ve been together ever since. They really were perfect for each other; they just fitted together.
What I most loved about Mom was that she told it to me straight, I could always count on her for that. Dad on the other hand was so supportive which was great, but sometimes you just want someone who says “go for it” or “dumb idea”. You know what I mean?
Anyway, I was in the bathroom blow-drying my hair for said big date when my phone rang. I didn’t hear it at first, and only just answered in time to find Mom on the line. She got stuck into me because it had been several months since I had come home for dinner, and really, as she pointed out, they were only a couple of hours away by car. I could even stay the night if I wanted to – no thank you, I loved my folks but that ship had sailed, besides I liked driving. Then like good cop, bad cop, Dad got on the phone and did the soft sell – how much they were missing me and how the family was important. Sigh, of course they were right. Then came the crunch ... they wanted to meet The Russian; Mom had seen him in the media, which meant her nosy neighbor had told them all about it and she hated to hear anything about her daughter second-hand, which I understood.
I assured them I would definitely be coming home for dinner, but if they could just give me a couple of weeks to wind up my old job and settle into my new one—read between the lines, settle into Alex— I’d definitely sort something out and be home to tell them all about it. That pacified them for the moment and I got them off the phone.
I did the final check—no lipstick on my teeth, my butt didn’t look big, no stray hairs, perfume not overbearing—good to go. I wished Josh a good night and he asked me if I had a condom. I gave him a look that initially said ‘that’s the man’s job’ and ended with ‘do you think I should take one?’
I headed off, keen to check out The Russian’s place inside since I had only seen the exterior – it was one of four white condominiums scaling down the hill on the beach front, each condo boasting a huge balcony that faced the ocean and in touching distance of the beach. When I had dropped in the other day after work so he could drive us to his parents, I hadn’t gotten the tour; The Russian had been outside waiting for me. It must’ve been an amazing view, Sasha had mentioned Lucas lived in the same area.
I was big on punctuality and it was just nearing seven-thirty when I drove into his street. I brought some divine creamy brie and crackers, plus liquor dark chocolates; I figured if the main course was a disaster, at least we had a starter and dessert.
My stomach was churning with excitement and nerves, and maybe desire too; hard to tell with that much churning going on. And, I was going to work really hard at not doing anything that caused tension between us like the other night. I wanted the night to end on a high.
I stopped at the security gate—it was a gated community—and the guy on the gate checked me off the list. He welcomed me and told me The Russian’s place was the second condo. I thanked him and drove on. Each of the condos had a private entrance, a level of their own –seriously! The Russian was pretty gracious to rave about my place compared to where he was living. I parked on the street outside and, juggling the chocolates, cheese and crackers, I made my way to the front door, adjusting my clothes one final time. Deep breath. As I approached I heard voices; I looked behind, but I was alone. I moved closer and the door to The Russian’s condo was ajar and the voices were coming from inside. I was just about to knock when I heard the female raise her voice. I stopped in my tracks. Had he a girl in there? I didn’t know what to do now. I bit my lip, standing on the doorstep like a groupie.
“I came back to see you,” I heard her say.
“I didn’t ask you to come back to see me,” The Russian sighed. “We’re over. That’s it ... you go and live your life, I’ll live mine. Good luck and all that.”
It was Leesa; his ex-girlfriend was there on my date night. Fuck, fuck, fuck it. All my dreams for the night were just fading in front of my eyes.
“I didn’t mean to call it off,” she said, “I just thought we needed time out.”
“And you were right,” The Russian said. “The first time, the second time and the subsequent ten times you called it off.”
“So what is this? Payback? Now you’re calling it off?” she demanded, with a raised voice.
“You, me, whatever. Leesa, it’s over. We gave it a fair go but we’re different people, it’s amazing we’ve lasted this long.”
“We’re not that different. We both love sex and partying, and we have a brilliant time together. “
I pulled the knife out of my heart at the thought that they loved having sex together, and took in a small breath. I was frozen to the spot.
The Russian’s voice remained calm, but I could tell he’d had enough, his sentences were becoming clipped.
“I don’t like partying. You love fucking partying, that’s why you can’t take my lifestyle. In fact, I don’t know anything we have in common.”
“Why do we have to stay here though?” she whined.
“Because I’ve got a three-year contract that’s just been renewed – a huge fucking contract ... this is my career, this is what I do, what I want to do,” he said, voice raised.
“Doesn’t mean you have to stay home all the time.”
“You don’t get it. I’m in training, I’m playing professional soccer. This is my career.” Again his voice was raised and filled with disbelief.
“It’s frigging boring. You don’t need to work, you know Daddy said he’d give us ...”
“Leesa!”
“Well he will, we could travel and party,” she whined.
