I stared at the gorgeous trees above me, and a single tear fell out from the corner of my eye. The beautiful pale lilac and rose colors of the cherry blossoms were simply beautiful; a creation that had the work of a majestic Artist whispering through its soft petals.
"God, you are wonderful." I closed my eyes and whispered into the brisk, October air.
Indeed, He was. How He had guided me these past days, His hand keeping me safe and unharmed, but especially at peace. Another tear silently escaped me.
"Maria?"
Misha's hand gently touched me, and he turned me to face him. He had lines of worry scrunched on his face.
"Why do you cry?" His voice was soft and caring.
I let out a small laugh and wiped away my tears.
I couldn't keep it away from him any longer, I had to tell him. I placed a hand on my belly and whispered, "My baby... it kicked today, I felt my little baby today."
His face lighted up with a smile. "Maria, that is not something to cry about! That is good."
I laughed again. "I know that, Misha. I cry because Alexander isn't here, to feel the baby's feet kicking. This is his child, too, and how my heart desired for him to experience the beauty of a little baby with me."
The smile was wiped off of Misha's face and he gave me a long, saddened glance. "I am very sorry, Maria. I truly am."
With a sigh, I replied, "I know, Misha."
He looked over me. "Aren't you cold, Maria?"
I wore another strange outfit today; creme colored wide pants, with summer flowers printed on them, and a thin white cropped blouse, tied at the bottom with a knot. I had on a strange three two chain necklace, and even stranger long, dangly gold earrings. I had on cafe brown sandal heels, with a textured purse.
I shook my head; surprisingly, I wasn't as cold as I should have been.
"It's a surprise these blossoms are still so pretty," I mentioned as we stared at the gorgeous trees.
"Yes, I agree. I was surprised myself when we walked over here."
We were in Tokyo, Japan, after spending a few weeks in India. I was very scared and nervous to come here, because of the words I heard back on the plane. I was terrified of what the men were planning, and I was very terrified for my Alexander.
I glanced at my watch. 11:11. A sign from God, a tradition that my mother started. It just felt like a sign from God sometimes, especially in moments like these.
"Lord, I pray for Alexander. Guide him, watch over him, please, as he is going through a rough time. And God, I am praying for myself too. Please, let your word guide my heart."
I noticed Misha looking at me, and sent him a smile.
"Are you alright?"
I realized that a few tears had come out of my eyes again. Oh, what an emotional wreck I was.
I nodded. "I just..."
"I know you miss him, Maria. Let me try to help, in any realistic way."
"No,"I said, shaking my head, "There is nothing you could do, Misha. You can't become Alexander."
"Actually... Maria, I want you to know that while you are with us, you can talk to me about anything. You can ask me for anything, day or night. Please, rely on me, I'm not a good use for anything else. I want to be there for you as much as I can and replace as much as I can.
I looked into his kind, deep eyes. "Misha, you are a very dear friend to me but there are still certain things you just couldn't replace, and there are certain things I wouldn't want to talk to you about."
"Why?"
I shrugged and turned around, walking past him. He stood still for a moment but then rushed off and grabbed my hand, making me face him once more.
"You've got to tell me. Why am I so different than Alex, and why can't you just replace him with me- just for these few couple weeks or months."
"Okay. You see, you two are completely different. You encourage me to be myself, just Maria Tormozova. You joke around constantly and make pranks. You're loud, teasing, and you're... kind." I paused a moment and looked at him, then proceeded, "Alexander, he is cold and emotionless. He is very quiet, cool, and patient and expresses the emotions he has with little passion. He rarely talks with me, especially on personal and deep topics, he doesn't encourage me in anything, but he loves me, in a very unique and hard to understand way."
Misha walked silently, his head down.
"Is that good?"
My eyebrows raised at the question. "What do you mean?"
"Is that good? The way I act, or the way he acts?"
I let out a quiet laugh. "There's good in both of your characteristics. With Alexander, although I constantly feel like I am alone and unloved when he does express emotion, I feel as if I am the only woman in the world for him, and he loves me dearly. He has a very captivating personality, as cold as it may be. It's good, but only rarely."
I thought about my words. Did I really believe what I said? Was Alexander's personality really good?
He made me a better person, by making me an independent and reserved woman. He shielded me from the world and its bitterness. He cared for me but he did it without spoiling me or giving me a false sense of the real world. He was full of stability and gentleman behavior, although many times it left me alone and hurt.
Misha... was spontaneous and constantly provided laughter and kindness. He never let me suffer alone, and provided lots of encouragement. Perhaps what I liked most was his longing to have deep and personal conversations with me, and the way he was able to know me so well, after only two months. Sure, sometimes I felt like he was having too much fun, and his actions made me frightened, but he made me uncover a different part of me that I had been longing for.
"You're good too, Misha," I finally spoke, "You're a breath of fresh, new air. You're fun and you always manage to place a smile on my face. You don't leave me alone, and you see me. You help me in any way you can, and you're always able to tell what's on my mind. You're way too kind and although you're sometimes too jokester or dangerous for my liking, you're just leaking with goodness."
He laughed. "Your words are much too kind, Maria. I'm afraid you don't know me that well, otherwise you would not say that."
"Well, from what I can tell, that's exactly how you're like."
He grabbed my hand once more and made me face him. "Maria, think about it. I would solely be here as just support and someone you can always rely on. Like a friend, but maybe more meaningful than that. I could half-replace Alex, or at least his position."
I closed my eyes. "No, Misha. You're not right."
"But I am. I won't do anything to disrespect you or harm you, I swear. I know you love him, and I could never come close, but I want to try and lift your spirits just a little bit if I can. I won't even try to act like him, I'll just replace him, or at least his figure, for a short little while."
"Misha..."
"You're thinking about it! Maria, I promise you I'll be perfect to you. Let me, I want to be of any service and this might place a smile on your face. It will at least be a good laugh when you get rid of me."
I laughed at his childish way. He practically begged me, like a son begs his mother for a toy. He had a bright smile on his face, and although he was a grown man with a dangerous physique, he resembled a little child. It was too adorable, and I longed to be a part of his spontaneous, childish, and dangerous personality, even if it was just for a moment.
"Sure," I whispered, closing my eyes, a smile widening on my face as soon as I said the affirmative word.
He grabbed me and pulled me into a tight hug, and I couldn't resist but burst out in a laugh and wrap my arms around his neck.
"Don't make me regret it, Misha," I said when we pulled apart.
"Oh, that was one promise I didn't make," He winked at me and I gave him a playful slap.
"So..." he said, placing his hand on my belly, "I'm glad you've finally decided to expose your secret about your baby."
I frowned at him. "You knew?"
With a laugh, followed by a wink, he replied, "Of course, Maria. Like you've mentioned, I've gotten to know you quite well, and I noticed your big appetite and the way your back and legs hurt. But also, the mood swings you sometimes got, and your belly growing... I was just wondering when you'd finally unveil your secret."
"Do the others know?"
"Well, I'm sure they also noticed your belly growing, but they have been so busy with everything, they didn't probably put much thought to it."
"We're keeping this between us, for now."
He rubbed my belly. "Of course. So, is it a boy or a girl?"
I shrugged, placing a hand on my belly as well. "I've never gone to check the gender."
His eyes widened. "Let me guess... Alexander doesn't even know about it."
I slowly shook my head. "I wanted to, many times, but never got around to telling him. I only knew a short while, maybe a week or so, before you guys interfered."
"That's wonderful!"
I stared at Misha in shock. "What?"
"I mean," he quickly said, "It's wonderful for us because we can keep you hidden. If Alexander is able to get a search going for you, a pregnant woman will never be suspected."
"Well, I'm glad my baby can be of use to you."
He laughed. "Come, let's go. We've still got to see the entire city."
He grabbed my hand and gently pulled me towards him, and all the rest of the while made little jokes that did indeed lift my spirits.
~ ~ ~
"We're leaving."
"Already?" Misha asked Stephan, a little surprise.
"Yes. We got done earlier than we thought, and so we have time to attend... Let's just get ready and leave." He answered, obviously ready to get out of here.
I was worried. What had happened that caused them to already finish? I thought that it would take much longer to take away a city from somebody.
We went to get ready, all of us. I noticed that Misha grabbed Eugene and shoved him inside a room.
'So... he thinks something fishy is going on as well.'
I couldn't ask anything, and so I decided just doing what I am told and being patient would be the best option.
I heard doors slamming and soon Misha stormed into my room and sat on the bed, a grumpy frown on his face. I observed him but continued to fold my clothes and stack them in my suitcase.
"So," Misha growled out, "Apparently we're going to Russia. Moscow. What a surprise. We weren't supposed to be there until a little lot longer and the men won't tell me what's going on."
I sat at the edge of the bed next to him. "Ah, don't beat yourself up over it. I'm sure they'll tell you soon. Be glad they're actually telling you something. I don't get to know anything until weeks later. You get used to it, don't worry."
He sneered at me. "I don't want to get used to it. I'm going to go beat up Shurik and Eugene until one of them fesses up. I'll be waiting for you, so hurry up before I actually don't kill someone."
He slammed the door on his way out which caused me to laugh. He really did act like a little child sometimes. I finished packing and headed out of my room. It was very quiet- too quiet when you're living with a Russian gang. Maybe Misha accidentally did kill someone.
I placed my suitcase down and crept down the hallway.
'Where was everyone? Weren't we in a huge hurry to get to Moscow? I guess not since no one was ready to leave yet.'
I saw light coming from a room and so I stopped right at the edge of it, and leaned in. The door was slightly ajar, and I could see Misha sitting at the table with Eugene, and the others standing around him. I quickly backed away so they wouldn't notice me. Thankfully, I could hear pretty well what they were saying.
"So you couldn't do it? You couldn't get Egypt? Seriously?"
Misha. With his deep, dangerous voice but somehow I heard a little hint of childish whining in it. When did I get so close to him that I could make out that subtle childish hint?
"Oh, shut it, Misha. We got half of it, and our men are there right now, but Alexander has men there as well. Half of it is ours, but still, the other half is his. And now he knows it's us." Stephan explained in an annoyed, gruff Stephan voice.
Misha, or at least I'm guessing that it was Misha, slapped his hand on the table. "Now he knows where we are. Does he know we have Maria?"
"Stop, stop, just shut your big mouth already. Let me start from the beginning."
"Okay, well, we've got to get on a flight soon, and so we can't start from 'Once upon a time...'"
I could feel Stephan, and Eugene, rolling their eyes at Misha. He had a point, though.
"Let me just explain, donkey. Okay?"
I peeked into the room to see Misha lean back, cross his arms, and stare at Stephan as if he had all the time in the world and couldn't wait to hear the story. I smiled at that man.
"We were expecting Alexander to be good, and so we set up another attack in Dubai. It was little, but we were able to get much of Alexander's influence out of there, so although we only have half of Egypt or Cairo, right now, we've got almost all of Dubai. We never stopped there, and it's a very heavy tourist city, and he wasn't prepared for that."
"Okay, okay, that's fine. Not bad."
"Well... he knows where we are. He tracked us down somehow."
It got pretty quiet, too quiet. Maybe they suspected that I was eavesdropping. I wanted to run off before it was too late, but then Misha spoke.
"Before God Almighty, are you telling the truth?" He had his very deep, dangerous, and terrifying voice that sent shivers even through me.
The room was silent until Eugene spoke, "That's not the worst. He gave us a letter."
"Wait. I think we should tell Maria now. He's found us, he wrote a stupid letter..." Misha interrupted.
"Misha!" Eugene yelled at him, "Listen."
I heard papers being moved until Eugene spoke, "Stephan Parfenov and your gang, I know you have my wife, or at least had her a few weeks back. Please, keep her until I give further instruction. She is not necessary for me at the moment. Alexander Vasiliev, Vasiliev World Inc."
I didn't hear anything after that. In fact, I didn't care. I ran off, before the men would hear my crying.
My husband didn't need me. In fact, he wanted me to be kept kidnapped.
Ah, what a stupid freaking world I lived in.