Cause I'm Five Minutes Older

I unlock the hotel room still thinking of reasons Anya wouldn’t have wanted to go to dinner. Reasons she didn’t want me to ask Luka and Mikhail to dinner. Reasons why she doesn’t want to be around me anymore. Dinner without someone who could speak Russian was embarrassing. I didn’t even know what I was eating. The door clicked open. And noises ripped the air. I only caught a glimpse inside before I understood what was happening. That Russian- Those Russian bastard whores, suddenly remembering to include the person who drug me here. I ran down the hall, the stairs, to the garden. Quiet, but the fountain in the center’s water running. I stood over the edge and threw in a quarter wishing that I could somehow get home. I opened my eyes and realized that this is a Russian fountain, maybe it only takes Russian money. My wish is insignificant. This made me terribly sad. I’ll be stuck in Russia alone forever. My eyes stung with tears as I fell to my knees in front of the fountain. I don’t want to be lost here. I want Nicky to be here to pick me up off the ground and hug me and make me feel better like always. A hand landed on my shoulder. I turned my head and saw Mikhail. I didn’t even hear his footsteps on the path. He looked down at me frowning and said something in Russian that sounded like shit knee talk. It made me laugh. He offered a hand without questioning my laughter. I motion for him to follow me back into the hotel. In the lobby I grab up one of the complimentary pens and paper pads. I scribble violently making a picture to communicate what I saw upstairs to see he nods and says an angry sentence. He moves his hand for the pen and then begins his drawing. Minutes later he delivers the pad back to me. I look down at the piece of art he left. I had forgotten Anya saying something about him being an artist. The drawing amazed me. Mikhail and I smiled at me from the page holding hands. I grinned remembering the foolish crush I had on him when I first laid eyes on him at the café. Or was that Anya making me think I was foolish because she wanted him. I blinked remembering Mikhail was waiting.
“Da.” Yes. I answered in real words, one of the few I know in this language. His face lit up probably figuring I wasn’t I complete lost cause. He takes the papers back and starts again. This time a house and a family appear followed by another of me in a bed asleep. I smile, nod, and speak again. “Sasibo.” Thank you. He stood and takes my hand and pulls me to Anya and my room. Motioning for me to open the door, he tucks the drawing pad in his back pocket. When the door swings open he kisses me softly. Almost like he didn’t want to hurt me. I was dizzy when he parted from me, a little confused at what happened. The yelling I couldn’t comprehend brought me out of my daze. Mikhail charged into the room turning on the lights. Luka and Anya yelling at us. I don’t know if it was because of the interrupting or the kissing. It didn’t matter much to me.
“Abbi! Abbi!” Mikhail pronounced my name so adorably. I looked at him he was holding my pink suit case up as if asking.
“Da.” I rushed to him and helped him throw things into it. I made sure I got the essentials though. By the time half of my suitcase was full Anya and Luka had gotten mostly clothed and tried to stall us and keep us. Like we where the wrong doers. We gave up packing the rest of my stuff and scrambled out the room at a run. As we ran through the streets people’s eyes bore at us. We probably looked crazy running through the busy crowd with a pink suitcase. Eventually Mikhail stopped running on a residential looking street, until then I didn’t realize how far we had come. We where just outside the city where there were houses in groupings like the suburbs at home. We followed the sidewalks for awhile lamps lighting our way. He sang to himself and made me smile. What seemed like minutes later we stopped at the front gate of the house in his picture. I assumed his place. He was eighteen like me so who knows. He opened the gate for me and lead me to the door. He took a key out of his pocket and showed me into a foyer.
“Mikhail Alekseiovich Zhenechka!” A short woman rushes into the room and stops short at the entryway. She points at me and speaks to Mikhail. He sets my suitcase down and gives me a one moment gesture with his index finger. Him and his mother, I guess from the picture, go to another room I hear them speaking, but understand nothing. I wait there awkwardly until they emerge again. His mother overly happy like me coming was a gift from god. She smiles and shuffles off to the telephone to call someone. Mikhail takes my hand and escorted me to a bedroom in the houses basement that was sort of an apartment. He set my bag on the trunk at the end of the bed. The note pad is out again and now a picture of me and him in wedding clothes is drawn with another of his mother happy. I am confused for a second until he adjusts some things. He told her that we are married to get her to let me stay here. He starts again and reveals me in his bed and him on the couch across the room. I take the pad and recreate it opposite. We go at this for a while until I draw both stick figures in the bed. He laughs and nods. He tries giving me a tour by pointing things out. I smile and point to myself.
“Abbi.” He replies after me. Ah-bee. I laugh. I continue with things around the room. “Bed. Door. Trunk. Blanket.” It goes on and I test him and it only takes him a few times before getting some of them right.
“Ya ochen lyublyu tebya.” He spoke to me. I look at him confused. He takes my hand into his and puts it on his heart and it’s beating hard. I blush and hide my face understanding. His fingers stroked my chin. “Dorogaya.” His voice soft and caressing tells me he is complimenting me. It’s been like this for the past two weeks when we caught odd moments alone. He has had the same feelings about me, I realize. This isn’t new. He kisses my hand and takes it and walks me to a room in the corner. “Show-her.” He says in his awkward English. I didn’t teach him that word. I look at him. “Mikhail has taught.”
“You have been learning?” I ask unsure if he would get that. He nods.
“Mikhail make me-ele. Ah-bee wa-she.” I smile at him.
“You are really good at this.” He grins and leaves me to shower. I find my suitcase doesn’t have much in it. My phone cord, tooth brush, a pair of skinny jeans, the bottoms to my bathing suit, two pair of underwear, my laptop, my emergency testing kit, and some female items. I sighed and took out my phone from my pocket, dialing Nick.
“Good Morning, Abs. Why are you calling at three Russia time?” He asked.
“I am in a bit of I predicament.” I explained to Nick what happened.
“So you are staying with a random guy?”
“Well technically he is my boyfriend. My problem is that I need insulin and stuff for my Omni pod and crap. You know what I mean. Can you some how get someone here to acquire those so I can pick them up so I don’t die?”
“Of course I can, sis. You need anything else?”
“To learn Russian, but you can’t help with that. I’ll deal. Mikhail is learning English for me. I will attempt to learn Russian.” He laughed like there was a distant memory that popped in his head that I should remember too, but forgot. He pushed the thought away.
“There’s an app for that.”
“Good idea. Well I have to go.”
“Love you, bye.”
“You too.” We hang up and I head to the bathroom. I shower and try to figure out Mikhail’s bottles. I first mix up shampoo and conditioner. When I emerge I see that Mikhail has a fluffy bathrobe hanging on a hook on the door. I drape it over me and tie the strings. I pull my hair up into a messy bun and climb the stairs. I peek my head out. “Mikhail.” I call out. No one is in the room at the top of the stairs. I call again and he appears and notices what I am in and chuckles. He disappears and then comes back with a plate full of food. He follows me down the stairs and sets the food on the trunk. Mikhail rummages through shelves in a wardrobe. He offers me a large t-shirt. I smile and run to the bathroom to slip it on. It’s not like I’ve never slept in a t-shirt and underwear with a guy, many guys. Those guys where my brothers though. I refused to think of the month and a half I spent naked. I looked at myself in the mirror and smiled. I am strong and beautiful. No one can knock me down. I opened the door and walked into the bedroom. Mikhail looked up from a book he was reading and set it on the table and patted the covers next to him. I climbed up under the covers and then realized how tired I am. My eyes drooped and my head fell to his chest. His fingers played with my hair and his voice sang softly in Russian. Sleep caught up with me even if I wanted to stay with him.