I marched up to Misha.
"Hello, darling. I'm so glad to see you!" He gave me a wink and then proceeded to take a sip of the hot cup of coffee sitting next to him.
"Your pranks are depriving me of sleep. All night I thought about your prank." I sat down next to him and started chewing away at my breakfast.
He laughed. "Which one?"
I groaned. "Misha. Stop playing pranks. Okay?"
"Anything for you, my love, " he said with another wink.
Alright. That was enough cheery and flirty Misha for one day. I took my food and walked back to my room.
"Hey hey!" He caught up with me and took my arm.
"We're going to the city. Stephan needs us to be gone today, all day. So get dressed, I'll come for you in five minutes."
I glared at him. "Make it ten. I need to finish my food."
He pressed a kiss to my forehead before I could resist. I walked away and heard him call after me, "I'll be waiting, darling!"
I rolled my eyes. I couldn't wait to go see the city of St. Petersburg with Misha, though, and so I decided to ignore his annoying self for the time being.
I quickly ate my breakfast and then hurried to get dressed.
I put on a creme shoulder-less blouse and light cafe brown business pants. I decided to throw on some leopard print stilettos, and although I usually didn't wear such prints, I decided it wouldn't hurt. A pair of simple pearl earrings complemented the look, as well as a white blazer. I was set to tour St. Petersburg!
Misha was patiently waiting for me outside the door. He was whistling a tune, and his eyes were closed.
I stepped closer to him, so I could scare him, but his eyes shot open before I could do anything.
"You won't ever scare me, Maria." He whispered as he took my hand.
"Of course not. You're Misha. You have a lot of history that would prevent me from scaring you. All those gang fights, and near-death encounters..."
He gave me a strong, deadly, but very encaptivating stare. "Maria."
I winked at him.
Woah. What? Did I just wink at Misha? Mikael Kuznetsov, my fake fiancee, the dangerous gang member that had feelings for me, and yes, I'll admit, I still had a few feelings for him...
Yes. Yes, I did wink at him.
I was such a different person!
Suddenly, I was back on the beach...
Alexander led me away from the party and we walked along the beach. We were barefoot, yes, and the waves crashed against us. He held my hand and we simply walked along, silently.
I wanted to tell him about the baby, but I was too scared. And then we walked back and I was scared to tell him I loved him.
And then I was back in the elevator...
And he gave me a kiss as soon as we heard the familiar 'ding' and the doors opened. We separated; Alexander into his office and IÂ marched off into mine.
I didn't see him until the end of the workday when Laurali and Amy had left and everything was dark and we were the only ones in that building. Just me, Alexander, oh, and of course, all the work. Loads of work and emails and projects.
Suddenly, another memory popped into my brain, I was at the beach again.
However, I was here with Misha this time. I was running around and we were playing tag, swimming, splashing around like little children.
I remembered his words as if he had spoken them to me just now.
So, you get to be just Maria Tormozova every once in a while.
He explained his scar to me, the awful burden of being in the Russian army and getting sent out into the freezing cold.
Wait... another memory came across my mind once again.
Cairo, at the pyramids after that dreadful ride on the camel. He took my hand we ran around the pyramids, and I had my stupid high-heels on.
I smiled at the memory. Why, why did I feel so relaxed and so myself with him?
I really did become a different person: I became Maria Tormozova! I wasn't His wife anymore, I wasn't The Mrs. Vasilievna, wife of Mr. Alexander Vasiliev! No, I was just Maria.
My heart was free and I could do anything! I traveled the world and learned so much about it. I also learned so much about myself.
I was able to have fun and let loose every once in a while. I wore ridiculous outfits, but they weren't actually that ridiculous anymore. I rode camels and then ran around the Great Pyramids of Giza.
I splashed around at a resort in Spain acting like a complete child and running into people while playing tag with... Misha.
I snuck into the kitchen with Misha in India and we ate that delicious rice, and we also snuck out into Moscow so I could look around my dream city. He told me the deepest stories about his life and he allowed me to breathe.
I did become a different person. I learned to love life.
"Darling! You're about to fall into a pothole!"
I saw Misha's fingers snap in front of my eyes and I blinked a few times. "Sorry... what?"
He laughed and pulled me into him. "You're going to miss out on this beautiful city if all you're doing is flying away to a made up world in your mind."
I blinked again. "Yes, sorry. Those thoughts I had were truly captivating."
I stared into his eyes. Why did he make me love life? What was it about him that caused me to enjoy every little thing and become just Maria Tormozova once more?
I thought I had lost her...
"... and so our first stop will be St. Isaacs Cathedral! Let's go, my love!"
He took my hand and before I had a chance to even realize what was going on I was inside of the most beautiful building.
Massive ceilings that were decorated with exquisite detail and carvings that made the ones at the subway seem elementary covered every inch, as well as paintings full of vibrant color and detail.
Memories of the Moscow Subway Station came flooding into my mind.
I laughed when I thought of the ridiculous way Misha brought me into the station. His words echoed through my head.
"You gotta live, my dear! Live! Be childish!"
Suddenly, he swept me off my feet, quite literally and twirled me around. Laughing, I wrapped my arms around his neck.
"Misha! Quit it, let me down!" I yelled, trying to break free.
"Maria, live!"
We ran through the subway and people looked at us like maniacs but for some reason, I didn't care. I didn't care that I looked like a fool in front of everyone, with a growing belly and a dangerous gangster man right by my side, running through the halls of the station. In fact, I loved it!
"Maria, my love, we won't be able to come back here again! Stop thinking and just enjoy the moment. We're here. In St. Isaacs Cathedral in St. Petersburg!"
He stood in the center, threw his head backward, extended his arms and then just spun around.
"Misha!" I laughed and my laugh echoed through the Cathedral's golden walls.
He stopped and stared at me. "Come!" He said, waving his hands towards me.
And so I did. I ran into him and he took me and we stood together, looking at the gorgeous paintings. Ah... I didn't want this to end. Ever.
"Miss?"
I whirled around to face a beautiful young lady. She had a bright smile and curled blonde hair and very exquisite earrings.
"Yes?"
"I wanted to congratulate you two! Is the baby a girl or a boy?"
I grinned and turned to Misha. He placed his hand on the baby and gently said, "A girl."
"That's so wonderful!" She gleamed, "I'm so happy for you two! It's wonderful to see two people so in love and young and happy! Please, may the Lord bless you and your family! Stay together and in love, it's rare, you know, to find the person that makes you complete. That causes you to love life."
Ah... that hit me right in the center of my heart.
I smiled. Yes, yes it is quite rare.
"Thank you, thank you so much! I'll- We'll be sure to keep your words in our hearts forever, yes? May God bless you as well, my dear!" I exclaimed and kissed her cheek and she kissed mine.
I could feel Misha's grin light up the room and that caused my own smile to brighten up a tad. What an effect one person can have.
When the lady left Misha gave me a long, strong hug. I gripped him right back, trying to express all that I wanted to tell him without having to actually say it. He seemed to understand me; he always did.
"Let's go back?" He whispered.
His forehead was pressed to mine and our eyes were held in each other's gaze. His eyes were pulling me in, making me forget the entire world surrounding us. It was just him and me.
"Isn't it too early to go back? We just got here."
He smiled. "No, Maria, we didn't. You've been lost in your thoughts for too long and it seems you lost track of time. We've been here way longer than you may think."
I smiled and closed my eyes. "Of course. Alright, let's go back."
He took my hand and with much hesitation, we pulled away from each other and walked out of the doors of the magical, beautiful, stunning and just... priceless and magnificent St. Isaac's Cathedral.
We were almost at the doors of our hotel.
I mumbled, "Thank you for bringing me here, Misha. And not just here. Everywhere, you've really shown me many things and taught me to be just Maria again. Thank you."
He gave me a simple, genuine smile and that spoke to me things that words could have never done. Yes, we understood each other too well. But I was okay with that.
I quickly placed a kiss on his cheek, and neither one of us mentioned anything about it being too close to his lips.
"Thank you." I breathed and walked off to my room.
He stood out in the street, but I didn't know for how long because I didn't turn back. If I did, then who knows what could have happened.
So I just kept walking until I reached my room. I sat on the bed and memories danced in my head about today's wonderful adventure.
I thought hard. What did he teach me today? What did I learn from my Misha?
I remembered his smile, right before I kissed his cheek... yes, the power of a smile, silence, and emotions. The power of knowing someone so well that words are not necessary at all.
I hurried to the trash can and took the gibberish letter from last night. Maybe all that gibberish could be translated into something?
I took a pen and some paper and read the first paragraph.
I adore my Allison; love, encouragement, x-ray, admirable, never defeating, exciting, ravenous, valentine, awesome, so intelligent, lovely, incredible, elegant, vibrant.
Oh, I had no clue where I could even start!
I threw the letter on the floor. How did I even know that there was a hidden message here? What convinced me?
The power of no words maybe?
But this wasn't no words. This was many words. Too many nonsense words!
I had to break them up to make it easier.
Clearly, x-ray wasn't part of the list of things that Allison was to be adored for. So why was it there? Why was the x-ray in there?
Maybe it would stand for a letter? Such as x and r?
Hmm. I took the first letter of each description of Allison.
l, e, x, r, a, n, d, e, r, v, a, s, i, l, i, e, v.
I jumped in my chair when I heard a knock at the door.
Gosh, I would die from all these heart attacks! People had to stop knocking!
I quickly stuffed the paper and letter into the drawer and walked up.
"Maria. We're having a little crisis. Come help." Stephan said with a very impatient look written in the wrinkles of his face.
I nodded. "Of course!"
He gave a sneer and then walked away.
I glared back at the drawer with the letter. I would figure it out as soon as I solve this mysterious crisis.
I hurried after Stephan before he would actually sacrifice me in honor of the Russian Federation.