Page 49 of Chained Fate
“I’m okay,” I tell her, reaching over to clasp her slender hand.For now, I choose to believe that this is for real, and if it’s not, I’ll deal with it like I’ve dealt with every other obstacle my stubborn wife has thrown in our path.
She puts on a black wool coat, and then we exit the plane and go straight into an armored SUV.From there, it’s an hour’s drive to the scenic rural area my father chose as his burial site.It’s not a cemetery, just a piece of land we own.My mother is buried there too; my father didn’t want her to be among random corpses, he told me once.
The same reasoning must apply to himself.
Ruslan is already there when we arrive, having flown in separately from us in case of a Molotov attack.Other attendees include high-ranking officials and politicians, business acquaintances, and various relatives.To my surprise, the latter includes Aunt Sonia, our mother’s sister, who must’ve flown in all the way from Krasnodar.At a glance, I count at least two hundred people, but it could easily be closer to three hundred.
The priest is still getting ready, so I walk around and introduce Alina to key people.I don’t know what I expected, but my wife is pleasant and courteous, polite to everyone.There isn’t even a hint of the enmity that’s existed between our families for so long, nor any sense that she’s reluctant to be here, with me.
Real or an act?
Fuck.I can’t stop wondering.
Aunt Sonia approaches just as Vitaly Petrov, Moscow’s new mayor, is expressing his condolences.I excuse us and go give her a hug.Though she’s never been a fan of my father, she’s stayed in our lives since my mother’s passing, and I’ll always be grateful for that.
In some ways, she’s been like a second mother to me and Ruslan, and even more so to Ksenia, who spent most of her summers with her in Krasnodar.
Once she releases me from the hug, I introduce her to Alina, who seems slightly taken aback when Aunt Sonia pulls her into a hug as well.But she recovers quickly, and I’m glad to see her smiling warmly at my aunt—who’s admittedly a bit much at times.
“Oh, just look at you,” Aunt Sonia gushes, clasping Alina’s face between her palms as if my wife were a cute toddler.“You’re just as beautiful as Alexei has always told me—that short hair is the bomb on you.I’m so glad you’re feeling better too!Though you must be so tired after your long flight.You are, aren’t you?”She grabs both of Alina’s hands in hers.“You poor thing, you haven’t even had a chance to rest and change before needing to come here.Are you hungry?”She shifts her grip to Alina’s elbow.“Come, there’s a nice spread over there?—”
“Aunt Sonia.”I gently extract my wife from her hold.“Thank you, but we ate on the plane before landing.”I glance at Alina.“Unless you’d like something?”
Alina’s lips are twitching, as if she’s trying to hold back laughter.“I’m okay, thanks.”
Aunt Sonia is undeterred.“Well, let’s get you a drink.You look positively parched!”
Before Alina or I can protest, she drags her away.I start after them, but Alina catches my gaze and gives a subtle shake of her head.I guess she’s okay with this.I sigh and turn a portion of my attention to yet another politician who’s come to pay his respects, no doubt in the hopes of securing a juicy contribution to his reelection campaign.
Most of my focus remains on Alina, though.
It always does.
Chapter24
Alina
It’s official.Alexei’s aunt has to be the nicest, most exhausting person I’ve ever met.
She chatters nonstop as she drags me to the drink station, where she proceeds to ply me with everything from fresh-squeezed orange juice—“for the vitamin C, dear!”—to berry-infused black tea and sparkling mineral water.The latter is supposed to “flush out the toxins with the bubbles.”
I politely take a few sips of each drink, grateful that she’s at least not pushing alcohol.Champagne and vodka are definitely not on the dietician’s approved list of beverages.Then again, Sonia seems to know about my cancer; her comments about me “feeling better” indicate as much.I wonder who told her.Alexei?Ruslan?Judging by the way she enthusiastically waved at Ruslan when he passed by, she’s close to them both.
It’s interesting to observe my husband in this milieu, where he and his brother reign supreme.Everyone gravitates toward him, but he’s cool and distant with them… completely unlike the way he was with the short, plump woman who’s currently talking my ear off about her recent trip to the “healing waters” in the Czech Republic—something she’s highly recommending I do.
“I’ll definitely talk to Alexei about it,” I promise with a smile.
She claps her hands.“Yes!It’ll be so good for you.And there’s an amazing psychic there too.You two should consult her.She’s told me all kinds of things over the years, and they’ve all come true!”
Okay, now she’s lost me.But I keep smiling and listening as she tells me how the psychic predicted the exact date her cat would come into her life, and what kind of curses her parrot would learn.
“I swear, I didn’t say those words around him, ever, yet he learned them, just like she said he would,” she says with amazement in her voice.“And don’t even get me started on what she told me about my dog!”
I’m not about to, but she tells me anyway.And I’m glad she does because the story somehow transitions into one about a teenage Alexei cuddling the same dog as a puppy, and my heart goes haywire at the images that fill my mind.
Alexei with a puppy.
Alexei with a baby.
