Locket full of Secrets (14 page)

              “Mind if I join you?” Olena asked me, sitting on the couch after I gave a quick nod.

              After our emotional dinner, Olena headed to take a shower, giving Steven and me some time to snuggle up and cry. Okay, I was the only one crying, but Steven held me until I was ready for some silly jokes to get me back in a good mood. A little kissing helped as well, but did not last long. Steven decided he wanted to also shower and change before it got too late. So, alone in a Ukraine hotel I did what any 18 year old would do. I watched MTV without subtitles, giggling at all the funny music and dubbed over commercials. It was helping me adjust to all of Olena’s news a little better.

              “So, how are you holding up?” Olena asked, sipping at the glass of champagne she was holding.

              “I’m feeling better, now that I’m all cried out,” I joked.

              “Are you scared for tomorrow?” she asked, leaning back on the arm of the couch to face me.

              “Yeah, of course,” I admitted easily. “But I know it will be worth it to help you and get this all figured out. I want it to be easy, but I don’t think it will be.”

              “What if you just stayed here tomorrow?” Olena offered then. “I could go and get the film and make it back here without you being in harm’s way again.”

              “You know,” I began with a sigh. “I would really love that. But at the same time, I don’t think I could live with myself if I made that choice. If something happens out there tomorrow, Steven and I could help you. But back here, all we would be doing was worrying nonstop the whole day.”

              “Okay, but when this is over I owe you big,” she smiled, before turning her attention to the TV.

              “What time do we leave tomorrow?” I asked, taking a sip of hot tea. I had found it in the kitchenette after Steven headed off to take a shower. My hope was that it would make me start to settle down and get tired enough for sleep.

              “The tour leaves at 9, so we want to get there just before then,” Olena explained. “I already asked room service to bring breakfast at 6:30 so we will have plenty of time to eat before we go.”

              Glancing at my watch I was surprised to see it was only 10 o’clock. The last few hours had felt like much longer. In fact, the last few days were like that as well. Jumping time zones did not help to ease the problem, but I was hoping once we got the film Uri had hidden then we could get back to the US and life would go back to normal.

              “What are you watching, sunshine?” Steven asked, suddenly standing behind me with his hands on my shoulder. The TV was currently showing a pop song by a Ukrainian artist I had naturally never heard of.

              “MTV of course,” I smiled up at him, resting my hands on his.

              “Alright then,” he laughed before moving to the chair next to the couch. “And what are you drinking?”

              “It’s just tea,” I assured him with a laugh. “See?”
              Holding my cup towards him, Steven held my hand to steady it while giving the content a quick sniff. The chamomile smell was obviously strong enough to satisfy him. Letting go of my hand he gave me a quick wink before getting up and walking to the mini bar to grab a bottle of water.

              “And what are you drinking?” I asked, mimicking his tone as he sat back down.

              “Vodka,” he shrugged. “They put it in water bottles here so guys can still look good for their prying girlfriends.”

              “Haha,” I smirked, before going back to watching the TV and drinking my tea.

              “We should get some sleep,” Olena announced then, setting her empty glass on the table harder than was necessary and standing up quickly. I had a feeling her reaction was related to Steven’s last comment, but did not feeling like pointing it out just then.

              “Okay, you girls get the beds and I’ll take the couch,” Steven smiled, taking a drink of his water.

              “No, you take one bed, and Olena and I can share the other,” I offered, looking first at Steven and then at Olena for confirmation.

              “I need to get some things done in the morning, so it might be good if I have my own room,” Olena said slowly. “Steven will be fine on the couch.”

              It was clear that Olena had more secrets she had not yet revealed, but after all she had told us so far I did not let it get to me. That being said, I was not going to make Steven sleep on a couch when the beds were big enough for two people.

              “No, Steven can sleep with me,” I said, before my words registered and my face turned red. “In the same bed I mean. Not with me, with me. Like, he can sleep next to me and I will be asleep on the other side of the bed.”

              I shut my mouth then, not sure why I had said as much as I did. Once again I had made a big deal about something most girl my age did not even bat an eyelash at. Steven must have been used to it though, since he was just smiling at me. Olena however, made a grunting noise and mumbled a “whatever” before walking out of the room. For now my mission was to help her get those photos. Once that was done, I would have tons of time to get her to like Steven.

              “So, ready for bed?” Steven asked, after Olena had walked away and shut the door to her room.

              “I think so,” I replied, my face returning to its natural color. “I don’t know how well I’m going to sleep thinking about tomorrow.”

              “Well, we will just have to get you more tired then,” Steven said, getting up and walking into our room.

              I followed him, my teacup still in my hand. Standing in the doorway, I watched as he pulled back the sheets and blanket on one side of the bed, and just the blanket on the other. He was making a natural barrier for us so sleeping next to each other would not be the big ordeal I had made it out to be with my nonstop talking moments before.

              After changing into the pajamas Olena had provided as part of my new wardrobe, I brushed my teeth twice before climbing into bed. Steven was already lying down, under just the blanket. I wiggled under the blanket and sheet, and laid so I was facing Steven. We were at least two feet away from each other on the bed, our silence making the space feeling even bigger.

              “Comfortable over there?” Steven finally asked with a smile.

              He was in the center of the bed, clearly handling this much better than I was. It was not a big deal, lying next to him, but this was the first time for something like this for me. Sleeping in a car or plane was one thing, but together in this bed was a whole new level for me.

              “I promise I won’t bite,” Steven tried again, reaching out a hand and resting it on my hip.

              With a smile I scooted closer, feeling a little less embarrassed. Steven and I were just going to go to sleep tonight, so I did not need to get too worked up. Bigger steps in our relationship could be faced once we were back at school. For now, this was just about both of us having a place to sleep comfortably.

I reminded myself of this fact as I got close enough to feel the heat off of Steven’s body. His hand was still on my hip and I rested one hand on his upper arm, the other under my head on the pillow. Steven smiled and leaned in to give my head a light kiss before looking me in the eye.

“Have I told you yet how proud of you I am?” Steven asked.

“What do you mean?” I asked in return.

“Well, it’s been a long few days,” he explained. “We’ve been shot at, you’ve been injured, and we had to get on a plane and fly halfway around the world. Not to mention the fact that you just found out your best friend had a whole heap of secrets she was keeping from you. And now tomorrow she wants you to go into a radioactive wasteland to help her bring down some bad guys.”

“But why would that make you proud?” I asked again. “I’ve cried, passed out, bled a lot, and kind of broke down a few times. I feel like I’ve been a big baby everyone else needs to take care of.”

“You reacted how most people would,” Steven tried again. “You had no warning anything was about to happen, and all you have been through in the last few days would be hard on anyone.”

“Not on you,” I commented, remembering how calm Steven was overall at learning the plan for tomorrow.

“I’m a history major, Claire,” he explained with a slight shrug. “This is the first time I have heard someone talk about it first hand, but I have heard the stories of Chernobyl before. I really love European history so for me it was just hearing about the event again, only from someone I know now. And, I’ve never known another side of Olena like you have. This is the only Olena I’ve met.”

I nodded, thinking about his words. It was true. Steven was better equipped for things like this. He knew the backstory of Chernobyl from his classes at school and did not have the emotional connection with Olena that I did. This was much more personal for me, causing me to get much more emotional at the drop of a hat.

“Tomorrow, I don’t want to slow her down,” I whispered, as if saying it quietly enough would keep it from coming true.

“How would you slow her down?” Steven asked, his thumb rubbing circles on my hip bone.

“If I get scared, or hurt again,” I explained, his touch sending chills through my body.

“I’ll take care of you, sunshine,” he smiled. “I promise.”

Steven leaned in closer, causing all my worries for the next day to disappear as our lips met. Something about lying in the same bed made the electricity between us even more explosive than usual. I found myself tangled in his arms, pushing my body closer until I was lying on top of him, the sheet between us all but forgotten. Our kisses were much more passionate than ever before, fueled by all of the emotions that had been brought up since we started our journey to Kiev.

As Steven’s hand wove through my hair, pressing our mouths even closer together, the sound of Olena’s door opening and closing suddenly reached my ears. Obviously hearing the sound as well, Steven sat up as I rolled back to my side of the bed. We sat breathing deeply but quietly as we listened to Olena’s footsteps walking from her room to the mini bar and back. As her door closed once again I let out a sigh before lying back down and covering my face with my hands. My heart was still hammering in my chest and my lips were still tingling from the pressure of Stevens’s mouth on mine.