Chapter 35: Chapter 35

Blair

Everyone was engaged in a lively conversation in Russian, and Dimitri was quick to join in with a smile on his face. The only detail he forgot was that I did not speak a single word of Russian.

I sat down on the couch next to him, forcing a smile as if I understood every word he said. I tried to understand the tenor of the conversation, limiting myself to smiling every time everyone laughed, but it was impossible not to feel out of place, but luckily for me, my sister-in-law came to my rescue, interrupting one of Olga's lines.

" You know, we could be a little more polite. We have a visitor today and from the look on her face, she doesn't understand a word we're saying," Masha smiled, drawing Dimitri's attention.

" Blair, I'm sorry. You must be lost," he held my hand.

Joanne came from the kitchen with two mugs in her hands, offering them to Dimitri and me, interrupting the awkward mood that had taken over the room.

" Here, some Kompot for you, I hope you like it, Blair. Dimulya loves it." She smiled before calling her husband over to help her with something in the kitchen.

" Thank you, Mama," Dimitri winked, before sipping some of the liquid.

" I didn't know Blair didn't speak Russian, I'm sorry," Katia declared.

" I speak a few languages, but Russian is not one of them," I forced a smile, watching the reddish liquid with small fruits floating in my mug.

Is this some kind of tea?

" Really? And what languages do you speak? " Masha showed interest.

" I am fluent in Spanish, English and Turkish.”

" And learning French," Dimitri added.

I drank some of the liquid, holding myself back from spitting it back into the cup. This stuff is horrible!

" Wow, that's amazing," Katia smiled, receiving a cross look from her sister.

" Dimulya also speaks many languages, that's because of their profession," Yuri explained.

Damn, I'll have to drink this and pretend I like it!

" You date a Russian and don't think about learning his language? " Olga broke my rambling about that awful drink.

Dimitri mumbled something in his native tongue to the woman, who responded in the same way, annoying me.

" When I met Dimitri I was already learning French, it's not very smart to try to learn several languages at once, and French is such a beautiful language," I explained.

" I find French very sexy," Masha confided, drawing laughter from her brothers.

" Oui, Mon chéri. Your brother thinks so too," I scoffed, making my boyfriend laugh.

I felt Olga glaring at me, not really caring.

" I don't see anything special about French," she returned with that typical smile on her face.

" The special thing is not the language, but who speaks it," Dimitri declared, kissing my head as he put his arm around my shoulders.

" But it's a pity you don't like French, do you know the expression "tu es une salope rousse?" I stared at the woman with a surprised expression.

I felt Dimitri squeeze my shoulder slightly, but ignored him.

" No, I don't know it.”

" That's too bad, because it describes you very well," I answered, still smiling.

Masha stifled a giggle instead, receiving a cross look from the woman.

" I hope that's a compliment," Katia pondered suspiciously.

Before I could answer, Dimitri's parents interrupted us, coming from the dining room to call us to eat.

" I know that wasn't a compliment," Dimitri whispered in Turkish beside me as we followed the others.

" I never said it was," I replied, also in Turkish.

That subject was forgotten as we sat down at the table. Dinner was surprisingly pleasant. For a moment, I even thought our evening was saved, even Olga was not bothering me so much, although she constantly talked to everyone in Russian, excluding me from the conversation, but after supper, we all gathered in the living room.

" You had to see Blair's face every time the actress sat on my lap," Dimitri laughed as he narrated our peculiar adventure in Zurich.

" It took me days to get rid of all the glitter they threw at me.”

I declared with a pout, drawing laughter from everyone.

" Dimitri never told me about this side of the cities he visits," his father commented.

" Yes, he always makes everything seem so cultured and traditional," Masha scoffed.

" That night he wanted to take me to the opera, but I decided to surprise him with a new program," I lay on his shoulder, feeling happy to be there in his company.

" She always surprises me with her plans, it's as if I get to know completely different places when she decides to make our program " Dimitri watched me with devotion.

At that moment none of my previous longings mattered, it was me and him and we were happy, that's what counted.

" So, how is this going to work? " Olga interrupted us.

"What? " I frowned.

" Have you decided when you are moving to Russia?”

" Well, I…”

" Because Dimulya will never leave St. Petersburg, he loves every detail of that city, especially his apartment.” She looked at me with a satisfied smile as she saw my expression.

He moved beside me looking uncomfortable with the subject, making the mood in the room return to the same unpleasant weight as before.

" His apartment is very nice, no wonder he likes it so much," I forced a smile.

" It's much more than that, Blair. That apartment was his dream. He often walked by the building when it was still under construction and talked about how much he wanted to live there," she narrated, "and then he saved up every copek he earned to buy it. I never saw him so happy as the day he got the key.”

My heart squeezed at her words; after all, that was the reality that surrounded me. I was trying to escape, but she would always find us. The two of us have no future together!

I tried to keep a smile on my face, but the victorious expression of my boyfriend's ex showed that I had failed. She knew that she had touched a wound.

" It's not important, we've only been together a short time to even think about this subject," Dimitri murmured beside me.

Olga answered something in Russian, and he replied harshly, but before the mood could get any worse, Masha came to our rescue.

" Hey, it will be midnight soon, let's open the presents!”

" Yes, let's do that," Joanne agreed, getting up to take the parcels and bring them to the coffee table by the sofas.

Although Olga's words still disturbed me, I decided to try to forget about it and distract myself as much as possible. Dimitri said he had a gift for me and I was curious.

" Blair, Dimulya told us at the last minute that you were coming, but I managed to find something, I hope you like it.”

" Thank you," I smiled in reply, opening it.

I looked at the vibrant colors of the makeup palette my sister-in-law had given me with a smile on my face. I didn't know the brand, which seemed to be national, but I hoped it was a good one.

" You should see what Blair bought for you, Masha. You'll love it," Dimitri urged me to give the gift to his sister.

I handed the package to her, waiting anxiously as she unwrapped it, removing the contents with a puzzled expression.

" Wow, Blair. Is that a…”

" Uzhas (how awful), is that a hand? " Katia added in shock.

" I bought it in the Grand Bazaar, it's a Hamsá hand. It's an amulet of protection against envy and the evil eye. And this version is even better, because it has a nazar on the palm, so the protection increases," I explained.

" Ahh, that was…”

" You don't like it? Dimitri made sure you needed it, because it's pretty and shiny, so there's going to be a lot of people jealous," I sighed disappointed.

Damn, I started on the wrong foot!

But then she looked at her brother with an amused expression.

" Ohh Dimulya, I didn't know you thought all that of me. I love it, Blair.”

" Actually, I just wanted to give you the strangest present she could find," Dimitri teased her sister.

He what?

" Well, after she explained, it wasn't so strange," Yuri assured him.

" Say that after she brings you giant Dutch clogs as a wedding present," he teased me.

" Hey, it's a symbol of good luck for the couple," I muttered.

" You made that up, Blair.”

" Ignore him, Blair. That was very thoughtful," Joanne assured me, handing me a package.”This one I bought for you, as Katia and Yuri are getting married, I bought one for her and thought it might be useful for you too.”

I found this talk about marriage strange, but I accepted the package, opening it immediately, freezing as I smoothed out the white lace, nicely decorated.

SHE GAVE ME A WEDDING DRESS?

" Mom, what is it? " Dimitri seems to have thought the same as me.

" A tablecloth. It's always good to have one for special dinners," she explained.

Is that a tablecloth? I will never be able to use it for that!

" Joanne, that's very nice. Thank you," I assured her.

We spent the next few minutes exchanging gifts, and once again I fooled myself into thinking that now everything would go smoothly.

" I'm sorry, Olga. I didn't know that you would be here, so I didn't buy anything for you.” I forced a smile when I finally handed over all the gifts.

" No problem, I didn't buy anything for you either," she returned.

" Now that everyone has taken advantage of Blair's exaggerated passion for shopping, I have something special.”

He was holding a Swarovski bag that I had not seen when we came in earlier.

" Wow, someone really went all out for the present," Masha teased her brother.

" I know how much you like gifts that have a story, but I wanted to give you something new, so I thought I would combine the two.”

He explained, taking out of the bag a wine colored egg, encrusted with crystals, that had a gold base.

" This is ... " Olga stammered.

" A replica, obviously. I found this Fabergé egg in an antique shop and thought it would be a nice souvenir of St. Petersburg," he explained, handing it to me.

I analyzed every detail of this ornament completely fascinated, twisting it in my hands so as not to miss anything. Ignoring the reaction of everyone around me.

" Dimitri, it's beautiful.”

" You have to open it to get the whole present." He indicated a small clasp in the middle of the egg.

I ran the tip of my fingernail through it, opening it without any difficulty. My gaze locked on a small snowflake made of crystal. Before I could say anything he took the silver chain and held it up in front of my face.

" I thought that if I'm going to have pink sand to remember you by, you might as well have something to remember me by," he explained.

" Dimulya, put it on her," Masha insisted, drawing our attention.

Dimitri stood behind me, pushing back my loose hair, placing the necklace around my neck while I stood with a silly smile on my face. Masha took a picture of us in this position, assuring me that she would send it to me soon.

I wasted no time in turning around, wrapping my arms around his neck before kissing him.

" I love you," I whispered with my lips still pressed against his.

I pulled away from him, and Masha and Katia gathered around to look at the necklace, while Dimitri watched us with a satisfied smile on his face. In the end, everything had worked out, we were okay, and nothing was going to spoil it.