Chapter 47: Chapter 47

Blair

Dimitri and I worked together in silence, sharing our ancient complicity.

" Dimitri, we have a problem," I muttered as I found the package of quinoa, which looked nothing like what was in my mother's salad.

" What’s the problem?”

" This doesn't look like the quinoa my mother put in her salad," I held up a package of small grits.

" What do you mean? " he stepped closer, examining the contents of the package.

" My mother's salad doesn't get these crunchy grits," I pointed out.

He took the package from me, staring at it without much understanding.

" What does the recipe say? " he reminded me.

I remembered to consult the recipe on my cell phone, frowning at the incomplete information.

" It says to use one cup of cooked quinoa.”

" Let's cook a cup of quinoa then," he opened the package.

" Do you know how to cook this?”

" Blair, there are no secrets, let's just add water and spices," he smiled as if everything was under control.

I thought for a moment and he was right. It couldn't be that hard, it was just a matter of cooking it until it was soft.

I opened my mother's spice cabinet, taking out each of the small glass jars.

" What do I choose? " I lifted my face to face him as he put a cup of quinoa in a pan and filled it with water.

" I don't know, what does your mother use? " he returned.

" All of these " I started to open them one by one, lifting the cumin pot " this one smells good.”

He took the pot from my hand, holding it up to his nose before shrugging, pouring a good dose of the contents into the pan before handing it back to me.

" My mother uses these two a lot," I handed over the saffron and the Syrian pepper, which could never be missing in my parents' house.

" Is this pepper strong? " he questioned, putting the saffron in the water.

" I don't think so, my mother's food is not very spicy," I shrugged.

We left the beans to cook, turning our attention to the other salad ingredients. Dimitri chopped the avocados while I diced the tomatoes.

The aroma of the cooking quinoa pervaded the kitchen, and I must say that the smell was wonderful.

" How has your life been the last few months? " I decided to make a point.

Dimitri took a deep breath before answering.

" Well, I'm going to be an uncle. Other than that, I have nothing new to tell you, I've been trying to focus on work," he shrugged.

" Really? I never see any pictures of your trips on your Instagram anymore.”

That comment made him look at me for a moment, wondering what to answer.

" I didn't take any more pictures, the last picture I posted was when my cousin visited.”

His cousin? That woman is his cousin, not his girlfriend?

A relief came over me with this information, a feeling that I had no right to feel. He could go on with his life if he wished and his decision should not affect me!

" Uncle... you must be happy. I guess I'll never know how that feels " I searched for a new subject " Yuri or Masha?”

" Yuri, he has always been ahead of Masha and me. My parents are happy.”

I glanced at him, sensing a certain melancholy in his voice.

I felt that way myself, that I could be accompanying him through this stage of his life, although after the disaster that his wedding party had turned into, I doubted that Yuri and Katia would allow me to participate in any event involving the two of them.

They must be glad to be rid of me.

That thought made me sad. Dimitri seemed to notice this, as he drew my attention to the pan that had been on the fire for almost half an hour.

" Do you think it's ready?”

Okay, it wasn't like my mother's, the color was strange, it had yielded much more than I expected and looked more like porridge, but from the smell, it must be tasty.

" I guess now we just have to mix everything and season it," I assured.

And that's what we did, we mixed all the ingredients and were just finishing the seasoning when my mother's voice interrupted us.

" Blair, what are you…”

She interrupted her path as she guided her chair into the kitchen, alternating her gaze between Dimitri and me with a surprised expression.

" Commander Voitovich, I didn't expect to see you here!”

" I heard about what happened and thought Blair could use a little support," he explained, stepping forward to greet my mother, "it's a pleasure to see you well, Mrs. Ozkan.”

" The pleasure is all mine," she stammered.

I remembered to check the schedule, startling myself. I had to get to the hospital or I would miss my father's visiting hours.

" Mom, I have to get ready to see Dad, Dimitri will keep you company while I'm gone," I warned, rushing out of the room, "We made the salad.”

" Wait, is that the smell from the salad? "I heard my mother ask in surprise as I hurried to the bedroom.

She must be proud that I had finally managed to cook something good, that little gesture made me feel better about the explosion earlier.

I managed to get to the hospital on time for the visit, spending the next few hours with my father, managing to distract myself a little from worrying about my mother. I only thought about her again on the way home.

Dimitri had texted me that my mother had eaten, and it made me wonder if I should start cooking for her.

Maybe I'm not as bad at it as I thought.

But, when I got home Dimitri had bought dinner, and to my surprise, my mother had eaten without complaint!

Lauren seemed in a better mood when she went to bed and Dimitri left us, promising to return the next morning to keep her company while I followed my father's surgery at the hospital, and he kept his word, leaving me free to focus on my father, knowing that my mother was in good company.

The surgery lasted five hours and was a success. Yusef would still spend a few days in the ICU for follow-up, but the surgeon assured me that he would recover.

After all the stress and anxiety of the operation, I began to think about Dimitri and all that his presence could mean to us.

I missed him so much, but would it be good to try to get back together? Would it be good for both of us?

It was these doubts that I expressed to Abby on the way back from the hospital.

" Blair, I don't know if now is the right time for you to be thinking about this," her voice sounded over the speakerphone inside the vehicle.

" And why not? He's here!”

" And you're fragile about everything that's going on! What if you decide to get back together only to find out that it's not what you really want? " she brought me back to my senses.

She was right about that, I shouldn't make any decisions while I'm feeling fragile.

" He's being perfect," I sighed.

" It was nice of him to make the decision to help you, but remember that he himself said he wasn't looking for a reconciliation.”

Once again she hit the nail on the head. If he wanted to, he would have brought it up by now, right? Anyway, I will say goodbye to him today, since he has a plane to catch tomorrow morning.

As I arrived home and shared all the details of the medical report with the two of them, I felt even more relieved. Dimitri had dinner with us and left late, and to the disappointment of the part of my being that was hoping he would mention it, he didn't say anything about us.

Is he really that willing to forget me?

" You are so quiet." My mother approached me while I sat on the balcony the next day, watching every plane that passed in the sky, wondering if Dimitri was on one of them.

" I was just wondering if one day I will get something like this for myself," I explained.

" Something like what?”

" You and my father, your relationship is so beautiful, it borders on perfection.”

" You were on your way to get something like that," she warned me.

She and my father never understood the reason for my breakup with Dimitri, although they respected my decision.

" Mom, please, it wasn't even close," I muttered, looking up at the sky again.

All right, it might not have been the same, but I was happy. I thought sadly.

" No? Because I have never seen you as happy as you were back then," she turned her head to look at me.

I looked away, feeling my heart clench at her words.

" And what good did it do? Mom, you were willing to fake every possible illness and go through countless tests just to stay in the hospital near Dad.”

" And you got in the way of that," she murmured discontentedly.

" I'm sorry. But you were willing to do all that, while Dimitri and I couldn't even give up the place where we lived. It's not the same, I don't see myself fighting in a hospital to be let stay there for him," I sighed.

My mother took a deep breath, as if I was being the silliest girl on earth.

" He was willing to get on a plane just to support you in a difficult situation," she reminded me.

" But he still didn't bring up the subject of reconciliation, so I guess it wasn't meant to be.”

" Do you know what was your biggest mistake? You wanted everything to be perfect right away, do you think my relationship with your father was like that from the beginning? We've been together for thirty years, Blair!”

" But…”

" We struggled every minute to build what you call a perfect relationship, it didn't come about overnight. Maybe if you'd gone slow on the important decisions you'd still be together.”

I looked away, feeling increasingly melancholy about the direction of this conversation.

" I thought I would talk to him before he left.”

" Why didn't you? " she stared at me.

" Abby didn't think it was the right time. She said I'm too sensitive," I explained.

" And I think you should start putting your happiness first. If getting back together with him will make you happy, then you know the number to call," she warned before walking back into the room, leaving me alone with my thoughts.