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Chapter 4
Leander set out the next day on foot, still in Andre’s t-shirt and jeans. He felt good and thought a walk would make things even better. He felt like he was walking on clouds. He did not let the fact that he had lied that his name was Vitaliy Kolarov bring his mood down. He had not been sure that he wanted this woman who said her name was Mary Joanna, to know who he was just yet. He was still plagued by self-doubt and in the laser sharp logic of those who thrive off short changing others emotionally in relationships; he had given a false name. Not too false because the last name was the same, and as he reflected on it now he realized he had given his brother’s name. He was not surprised at this choice as he had been obsessed by the name Vitaliy all week.
He took his phone out and called for a cab rather than one of the myriad vehicles that were at his disposal.
Mary decided to sleep in that Saturday. Yesterday had seemed impossible, so today seemed to come with endless possibilities, and she was going to dream all the way. It was the best she could hope for. She could not shake the feeling that she had seen him somewhere, but the name Vitaliy Kolarov rang no bells whatsoever.
Mary squeezed herself under the blanket, and succinctly accepted before she closed her eyes that she would forever associate the name Vitaliy with sweet, secret, late night pleasures.
Mary silently beat herself up for not engineering a next date. She felt there was more to him than met the eye, and if she had not been out of the game for so long, she probably would have.
Above all she did not want to come across as desperate. She wanted him to come to her and not the way round. Play it cool she thought.
****
Two weeks later Mary had not seen, nor heard from “Vitaliy” Kolarov. She was anything but cool.
She had moved through worry, disgust, stress, and now she was just plain mad. Mad at herself for believing that she could get anything worthwhile in the long run by sleeping with a total stranger, mad at herself for that moment of vulnerability. She was especially mad, however, at he who had acted so sincere, and had taken advantage of her. Every touch had seemed loaded with meaning, and now she could hardly stand those once cherished memories. Serves me right for closing a deal too early and trusting a man to look beyond the goods, she thought.
She immersed herself into work in a bid to move past her feelings of disgust. She put in more hours at the center, to the obvious joy for Marjorie. The kids had really warmed up to the new addition to the staff, one whom the boys thought was hot and was just young enough to be an older sister but only just. She kept up with the furious energy for a further two weeks. There were days when she almost felt like sleeping over at the center. Rather than sleep on those same sheets she had shared with “him”, as she had begun to refer to Leander.
Leander had had an exciting and hectic month with his nephew Vitaliy. The boy, with a blond head and azure eyes like his uncle was the spitting image of his father. Leander had looked at the earliest image he had of his older brother Vitaliy but in living color. He had experienced that same tug at his heart strings from earlier and had doted on his young nephew. The boy, equally excited about being in the states, had jumped at the chance to experience the life of the rich and famous from the other side of the television screen. They had gone everywhere Leander could think of.
Looking back on the month, he could give a satisfied smile. Private jets all over the country, a bevy of women always in toe, from one plush nightclub to the next, it had been a whirlwind of a trip-for Vitaliy jr that is.
Leander suspected there was something wrong with himself. While the teenage girls had found Vitaliy’s accent exotic, enabling him to gather a few notable scores, Leander had not been able to think of any woman long enough to get excited about her. His mind kept wandering back to the dim room where Mary Joanne had owned his imagination, every inch of his being
No longer was he excited by the trendy beauty of the models he usually surrounded himself with. Their skinny bodies no longer held their former appeal. He had seen a woman, the woman; beautiful inside as well as outside, and he inwardly resolved to look for her the moment he got back.
He turned to look at his nephew stretched asleep in another seat of the private jet. He looked outside to the silvery reflection of the moon on the clouds below them as they flew above and reflected, not for the first time, that this lifestyle would be so much better with Mary Joanne in it.
