Chapter 24: Chapter 24

Zenovia

It was the second day Maksimillian was out of sight. I just had been with him for what? A couple days? I couldn’t believe myself that I was already attached to him like we’d known each other for years, and I missed him like this.

No, it wasn’t just about sex. It was his presence. His companionship.

I missed his voice… the way he talked…

I missed his eyes… the way he looked at me… the way he closed them when he reached his climax.

I missed looking at his lips… the way he smiled at me… and of course, the way he kissed me, either the upper set of my lips or the ones down south of my body.

“Căcat (Crap)!” I cursed in a whisper.

Erase. Erase! I said nothing about sex, but it all came down to it. But then, I knew it was more than that, I promise. And I shouldn’t, should I? After all, I shouldn’t think much about the man who would eventually become my child’s father, as I was the one who proposed the no-strings-attached relationship!

“Oh, Doamne!” I groaned, rolling to the other side of the bed in his hotel room. It was already past nine in the morning, but I felt like not going out today either.

I inhaled deeply, and I could still smell him on the pillow, his expensive musky cologne and his unique masculine aroma. I closed my eyes and just let myself drown into it.

Maksimillian told me to check out of my hotel, and he managed to find someone who sent all my things in his hotel. He said he wanted to find me in his room when he’s back. If this was being a pushover, maybe I was. But part of me wanted to do this for him, to wait for him where he wanted me… where he could immediately—I don’t know—track me, reach me or something? Because I still didn’t give him my phone number, although he gave me his.

“But I won’t call him!” I said aloud, though my voice was drowned in the pillow, where my face was buried.

He had no idea when he could come back, so I was sort of pathetic like a lovesick puppy.

“No! I can’t be like this! I have to enjoy my vacation! I have only ten days left to enjoy the city and around it.”

I sat up quickly and ran to the bathroom to take a quick shower and change. I decided to wear one of the dresses that Maksimillian bought for me and the underwear I bought. Luckily, I wasn’t bleeding anymore.

I planned on having breakfast at the restaurant below while applying a light makeup.

My phone rang as I was about to go out of the room. Oh, God! My mum was checking up on me again. She’d been like this lately, since she learned that I had been to the hospital to diagnose what I have. I didn’t tell her, but my best friend did, because she couldn’t trust me to tell my mother. Antonia thought I’d never tell my mum. Well, she was right. I had no plans on telling her, so my doctor took the matter into her own hands as a concerned friend and my mother’s first daughter. Insert eye-rolling here.

“Da, Mămică. Don’t you have any summer class to teach?” I answered in one breath and chewed on my inner cheek.

I remembered to grab my purse. After having breakfast, I planned to come back up to brush my teeth and call a taxi while trying to decide where I’d want to explore all by myself next. I guessed it wouldn’t be too hard to find something interesting, since there were a lot of places I could go around here.

“I’m still worried about you, Zenovia,” my mother countered right away. “And no. My next class will be this afternoon, so I have a lot of time to talk to my daughter.”

“Well, sorry, Mămică. I don’t have much time. I’m about to go out!”

“Where? I heard you’re still in Brașov and that you met a guy! When are you going to tell me this?” she confronted me.

I didn’t actually tell her I wasn’t in Iași because I knew she’d fuss about it. And I wasn’t wrong. Here she was.

“Antonia told you?”

“Antonia sponsors your vacation, at least I can tell that much even though she hadn’t told me but only of your whereabouts. And this guy. Who is he? Where is he from? Can you tell me?”

“Mămică, it’s not what you think, okay? I just…” How could I tell her I was just using this guy to have a baby? She’d go mad!

“You’re getting to know this guy?”

“Uh… sort of?” I winced at the white lie.

I heard her laugh. “Bine (Good).” She was actually happy about this new development in my life. “You just take care of yourself, all right?” She was about to hang up but said, “Text me his name, will you?”

“Mămică, nu!” I protested, groaning.

“Bine, bine (Fine, fine). Ai grijă (Take care). Pa (Bye)!”

I blew my breath as a sign of relief.

I opened the door and noticed that the red tag “Do Not Disturb” was still hanging there. I could just gape at it but didn’t get to touch it as a woman’s excited voice startled me.

“Oh! You’re that girl!” she exclaimed in her Russian accent.

I blinked as I recognized the older blond woman. She was slim, tall, elegant and beautiful as I remembered her in The Black Church. She wore a pair of flare-type slacks of colour brown and paired it with the same shade of sleeveless blouse. Her makeup was light, but her thin lips were painted with fuchsia. Hence, they could get attention right away.

“H-hi!” I stammered in a single word.

La naiba! (Damn it!) She saw me going out of her nephew’s room with the red tag on the door! Oh, God! Can the floor swallow me now?

Her eyes darted to the said red tag, and she smiled knowingly. I could not define how hot my face was right at this moment.

“I’m Marisha Frolova, Maksimillian’s aunt.” She went over to me and offered her hand.

I immediately noticed the rings on her three fingers, as well as the glittering bracelets around her wrist. They were all gold, with diamonds as accents and decorations. I could just guess they must worth thousands and thousands of euros. Or more?

‘How rich is Maksimillian really?’ I began to wonder. Not that I really cared because I didn’t really care about his money. Besides, we only had an agreement to make a baby, and nothing would really matter afterwards, would it?

I did shake Marisha’s hand. It was so soft like a baby’s. I bet she never worked in her life. Her floral perfume was obviously expensive but strong for my taste. I was glad I didn’t make a face because of it. But I was astounded when she suddenly embraced me and kissed me on both cheeks. She then cupped my face and looked at me in the eye.

“You should know I’m thrilled to have you all by myself!”

My jaw dropped. “E-excuse me?” I asked in a low tone, confused.