Authors: Zoya Tessi
“Give me that!” he grabbed the bottle out of my hand and unplugged the stereo in a hurry.
“Hey! Why’d you do that?” I protested and tried to take the bottle from his hand.
“What the hell is this?”
“This? Isn’t it obvious? I'm celebrating.”
“What, exactly?”
“Our wedding, of course.
It’s not every day a girl lands such a wonderful catch as you,” I pinched his right cheek between my fingers, laughing in short, hysterical bursts, “I’m so glad you came back to the party.”
I moved to power up the stereo once more, but half way toward
s it I tripped over my own feet and would have spilled my wine if Alex hadn’t caught me.
“My
my… Thank you my dear. You always were such a gentleman,” I fluttered my eyelashes theatrically and then burst into more laughter.
“You're making
a fool of yourself,” he snapped.
“Is that so? And I thought I was way past that. Let me think about it for a second
,“ I raised one finger in the air as if testing the direction of the wind, “... First, I let a criminal move into my place, control my every move and follow me like a stalker. Then – and this is the best part – I slept with the guy! I’m not sure whether I was officially inaugurated into the fools’ hall of fame right then…”
Since Alex just kept quiet, I took it th
at he understood my predicament and went on.
“And then, pay attention now, I let the same control freak, who by the way has a serious anger management problem, convince me to marry him. Or at least, his alter ego, since he used false documents. I don’t know of course, but I suspect that might be against the law. And that’s not all, oh no… I have to note that he didn’t even see fit to kiss the bride at the ceremony when the registrar invited him to, even though he’d gone to the trouble of buying the rings!” the room
started to spin at that point and I closed my eyes against it.
“Ah... sorry, I feel a little dizzy... where was I anyway?”
“After the wedding....” he clenched his teeth, not taking his eyes off me.
“Ah, yes... After our so called
wedding, and the ‘so called’ part is crucial, so don’t leave it out... That’s when I was promoted to ‘complete idiot level’, ‘cause how else would you describe someone who consciously ended up married to a criminal they don’t even like, and then only with the aid of doctored papers. Even though she slept with him, and… Where was I? Yeah, then I let him drag me to the hair executioner, who cut what took seven years to grow. And that, my dear, is how you become a crowned queen of fools, because it sure out-does any other definition of dolt!”
As I spoke
, I struggled to remove myself from the grip of his strong hands and was surprised to find that tears were running down my face, a fact that made me feel even angrier. Like a machine set to scramble enemy transmissions, Alex constantly disrupted my life and my train of thought, so I couldn’t even figure out how I really felt.
“Sasha... Calm down.” he whispered softly in my ear.
“You... Ass… You can take those damn wedding rings and stick ‘em...”
Frantically, I started tugging at the ring around my finger trying hard to get it off, but my skin only seemed to swell around it
, so that pain mingled with the rest of my sensations. Whimpering in frustration, I kept on thrashing around until Alex grabbed me from behind and started carrying me toward the bathroom.
“Let go of me!” I yelled, kicking my feet out in front of me, but he ignored my protests.
When we got to the bathroom, he set me down by the sink, holding me with one arm to stop me from scratching him. With his free hand he turned on the faucet and the next thing I knew he was splashing ice cold water on my face.
“
I’m gonna kill you!” I threatened his reflection in the mirror, as my teeth started to chatter.
Alex smiled very faintly as I issued this threat,
then turned me around so that I faced him. For a few seconds he looked concerned, as though he were unsure of what to say.
“I know this whole thing’s pretty messed up. I understand you, I really do. Anyone would start to show the cracks by now,” he stroked my hair with his wet hand, “but trust me,
Princess, I’m only thinking of you.”
It was clear that something was badly wrong with me, since his one gentle touch was enough to dispel all my rage. There simply was no explanation for the power his proximity had over me, and I’d long sin
ce given up trying to fathom it.
“Do you even know how much I despise you?” I hissed.
I saw something dangerous flash in the gray depths of his eyes and, if I hadn’t known that he was incapable of feeling hurt by my words, I would have thought I’d finally pierced him.
“No, but I can guess.”
“Good. Remember that!” I barked before I grabbed him by the T-shirt with both hands, pulled him towards me and kissed him with more passion than I’d known was ever inside me.
As soon as his lips met mine, I threw my arms around his neck and clutched at his hair. Despite being virtually subsumed by his enormous body, it seemed like I couldn’t get close enough to him, so that I kept on pressing myself closer and closer, tighter and tighter.
Taking me in his arms, Alex backed out of the bathroom and carried me through to the bedroom, never once taking his eyes off mine.
“It’s an interesting way to show someone how much you hate them
.” he whispered as he moved his mouth away from my mine, only to kiss me on the neck.
“I know
.” I peeled off his T-shirt and pushed him down onto the bed.
***
Next morning, we were lying with our bodies intertwined, as a cool breeze blew in through the open windows, billowing the curtains and bringing with it the scent of blossom from the trees lining the street below.
With my head resting against Alex’s shoulder, I was crisscrossing my fingertips over the b
lack patterns along his forearm and if a magic lamp had appeared in front of me just then, I’d have had only one wish – to make this moment last forever. I didn’t try to rationalize my feelings for him, that seemed like a lost cause, but I knew for sure that I’d never felt anything like this before.
An image of Tyler’s face flashed through my mind, and I felt a bitter sort of half-smile dance around my lips as I realized how distant and unimportant my memories of him
seemed. If I tried to compare my feelings for Alex, the torch I'd carried for Tyler was nothing more than a dim spark, or a rehearsal for something real, and that thought startled me. I’d found it so hard to break up with the guy, I couldn’t begin to imagine how painful it would be when the moment came to watch Alex leave my life.
“ So
...” he sighed.
“ So
?”
“ So
,
things do
not
seem to be
going according to plan.”
“ No
, they don’t.” I stared into the icy gray discs that were studying my face thoughtfully.
“
Fucking hell...”, he
shook his head
, twisting a strand of my now blonde hair around his finger.
“It’s that bad, huh? Blondes are supposed to have more fun, you know…”
“It’s not that.”
“What then?”
“Well...” he raised himself up on one elbow,” It’s just...I look at you and those clear blue eyes of yours and... Well, Princess... you are so damn beautiful.”
I swallowed hard, disbelieving my ears and utterly taken aback by this rare admission from Alex, so that words failed me completely. Searching his face for a sign he might be fooling around, it surprised me even further to realize that he was deadly serious. Never in my wildest dreams had I expected to hear anything like this from Alex. A wave of joy carried me away then, as I realized with horror that an idiotic grin must be plastered on my face.
“I can’t imagine how we’re going to pass unnoticed when we leave here, though. I mean, fuck. Why aren’t you plain-looking, with a big old nose and a few missing teeth? At least then we’d have a chance, but this way we’re in a ton of trouble.”
“
Oh! You really have to ruin everything!” I punched his shoulder and made to up get out of bed.
“Hey!” he grabbed me around the waist and drew me back into a warm embrace, “Where are your manners? A man gives you a compliment, and you thank him by letting your fists fly.”
“A compliment? Too bad I don’t have a big nose? You call that a compliment?” I made a show of trying to free myself, hoping he wouldn’t see that really I was in my element.
“Of course.
And stop fidgeting when you know it's no use.”
“Let go of me!”
“Hmmm... I don’t think so,” he grabbed me by the waist, flipped me round and suddenly loomed over me, “but if you ask nicely... maybe I’ll change my mind.”
“
No way.”
“OK.
” he shrugged his shoulders and let his weight drop down on my body.
I felt myself more and more powerless by the second, so that I couldn't move so much as an inch. I struggled to slide free, but there was n
o chance. Ignoring my efforts, Alex buried his face between the pillow and my neck, and breathed in deeply.
“ You
smell nice...”
“Alex... you weigh
a ton. I can’t breathe.”
Not letting me free out of his hug, he turned over onto his back and pulled me round with him, so that our roles were suddenly reversed. I brought my hand down and brushed his lips gently with my fingers, then turned my eyes to his own, wondering
who could possibly resist the gleam in them as he watched me mischievously.
“I have to warn you, Princess... If you keep on looking at me with those come to bed eyes, breakfast’s going to have to wait. And to be honest, I’m so hungry, I could eat a horse,” he put on a sort of caricatured,
sad expression.
“Unbelievable...
” I shook my head, kissed him lightly and climbed down from the bed, “I'll go and whip something up.”
I took one of his
T-shirts out of the closet, threw it on and ran quickly through to the kitchen. No sooner had I turned on the coffee maker and set some plates down on the table, than a most awful stream of Russian curses came from the direction of the bedroom.
“You’d better hurry with taking that shower, because in five minut
es I 'm going into the bathroom!” I shouted.
When no response came, I shook my head and went on humming to myself. Carried by my own, tuneless half-melody, I finally walked back to bedroom, but my voice trailed off as soon as I got to the door. Head down, and with agony clearly etched on his face, Alex was sitting on the edge of the bed, breathing deeply.
“Alex?” I ran and fell to my knees in front of him, looking up into his face to try to read the situation, “Baby, what 's wrong?”
“Bring me the phone,” he spoke through gritted teeth, avoiding my eyes.
“I'll get it, but first you have to tell me what's going on. You're scaring me...”
“Sasha!” he shouted, “The phone.”
Without asking any more questions, I rushed to the living room, grabbed the phone from the table and brought it through, handing it over between trembling fingers. I watched as he pressed the buttons, panic taking hold of me by degrees as it became more and more obvious that something was very wrong.
“Mike. Where are you? ... I need you to bring those
potions of yours... Yes, now... It is a fucking emergency!” Alex barked, pressed the red button to cancel the call and tossed the phone aside.
“What’s hap...
”
“Get dressed. Mike’s
gonna be here in fifteen minutes.”
Completely confused,
I grabbed the first pair of pants I could see and pulled them on before sitting down hurriedly next to Alex on the bed. With his eyes fixed firmly on the floor and his jaw clenched massively, he gave every impression of a man barely restraining a cry to crack the heavens. For a while I could only gaze at his features, growing paler by the second.
“Baby?
Are you gonna be OK?” I asked timidly, doing my best to overcome the tremor in my voice.
Of course, it was stupid of me to look for reassurance from him given the state he was in, but seeing him in that condition, I just didn't know how to react. Alex had become my idea of strength made flesh, untouchable, somebody who couldn’t be derailed by anything.
“Alex?”
It didn’t look like he’d registered my presence, so I took him by the arm and squeezed gently, hoping to get a reaction. Exhaling suddenly, Alex turned his head to me and looked into my eyes with such pain reflected in his own that I felt as though a blade were twisting in my belly.
“That’s Mike. Open the door,” he said just as a loud ringing from the doorbell echoed through the apartment.
I blinked a few times, jumped up and ran into the hall as fast as my legs would carry me. With shaking hands, it was only on the fourth attempt that I managed to unlock the door.