He stood at Morello's wedding, watching the young couple take their vows. He was thinking back on why he'd married Katya. He didn't love her, probably never really had. He cared for her and didn't want her feeling as if he was holding her prisoner. The best thing for everyone was to help her be her own woman. She came to him seeking a new life for herself, he had found her seeking love and friendship. To chase away the loneliness he came home to everyday. But it hasn't helped, he was in a loveless marriage. They weren't even friendly toward each other. He'd tried, he had tried to learn her language, had tried to fix things, make them better. But he wasn't good enough. He had realized weeks ago, when he and Red had become closer, that he was happier at work, in a federal penitentiary, than he was at home. He had realized that it was the vibrant Russian at Litchfield who had intrigued him, who had set him afire. Not the Russian bride he taken and vowed to love. He knew nothing could ever be with Red, but he had fallen hard over the years. Even after realizing she was using him to get the kitchen back, he craved her presence. Being near her, talking to her felt right. He looked at her now, as the Justice of the Peace spoke about looking into each other's eyes and lighting the flame with in. At that moment he looked at Red. Their gazes met for a few moments until she broke the memorizing feeling. He shook off the connection. He shouldn't feel this way about an inmate, he couldn't love her, it wasn't allowed and would land them both in trouble. But the urge to find out her feelings was too strong.

The walked together back towards his office. In a comfortable silence as if being near each other was enough.

She spoke first, "Young love: they have no idea what they're in for."

"It doesn't always end badly."
"Oh, said the man whose wife sleeps in her mother's bed to the prisoner whose brand-new divorce certificate is her most prized possession.
"You gotta believe in something. Why not love?"
"Because "happily ever after" was invented for the storybooks, so kids reach breeding age without killing themselves."
"So, love is the lie we tell ourselves so we don't go extinct? That's pretty bleak, Red, even for you."
"Oh, and you caught me on a glass-half-full day." She smiled
"So, you don't think there's someone out there you're meant to be with?" He asked his expression serious, his heart pounding. Would she realize he was referring to them?
"Of course I do. Everybody has a soul mate. But they're usually on the other side of the bars, or the wall, or the planet from you. That's the way the universe works." Her eyes never leaving his. He knew, in that moment, she was feeing what he was.
"You're not gonna be in prison forever. You got a future to think about." The unspoken 'I could be your future' left hanging in the air.
"Our ships passed too late in the night for one of them to change course, Sam" she turned and walked away, knowing she'd probably just trampled on his already broken heart.
She walked towards her bunk closing her eyes, holding back the tears that were threatening to fall. She did have a plan for when she left Litchfield. Did it include Healy? She wasn't sure. She returned to her bunk, laid down and thought about the conversation she'd just had.
She knew it could never work with him. She would always be the inmate and he would always be the CO. He would always have that power over her. There were always times she spent with him, reveling in the contentment his presence brought her. They had a lot in common, in another life, I would have been spectacular. He challenged her intellectually. The didn't touch each other often, but on the rare occasion they did, she felt electric. She could only imagine what his lips would feel like, she had many times. But it was a dream, an unobtainable reality that would never come to pass. When her time was up at Litchfield, she wanted to liver her life for her.
She had lived her life under the ruling thumb of a man. Her father then Dimitri. When she and Dimitri had defected from the Soviet Union, she had dreamed of a life where she was free to be herself. The American Dream. While they were happy and content, had wonderful boys and a thriving business. Dimitri got them tangled with the Russian Mob. They'd left behind one dictatorship for another. She knew she should not have messed thing up with that woman and it was her own fault they landed in debt to the Mafia. But she was good at consorting with them. Until she wasn't.
She promised herself her first days at Litchfield that she would leave the shy and timid Galina who did her man's bidding behind and become the outgoing and fierce 'Red'. To be honest, now that Rosa and Miss Claudette were gone, Healy was the only one who knew Galina. Was that why he believed he felt that they had a future? That maybe she'd be Galina once she was on the outside? Never again she had told herself. She often wondered if he felt the same as she did sharing a life together as a dream come true, but she seen his misogynistic attitude toward some of the inmates. She never wanted to be so dependent on another person again. If prison had taught her anything, it was independence.
Very early on she began putting what very little money she came by aside as a nest egg for a new life she begin once she'd served her time. She dreamed of opening her very own Tea Room. Over they years she became more successful and her nest egg grew. Her plans morphed over the years and now, with the alimony from Dimitri, she had enough to begin her dream. She had 2 years left, she be out on her 60th birthday. Perfect time to restart her life.
She slipped into sleep thinking about her new life.
She was dreaming. She was in a supermarket, dressed in her chefs' coat. Not her prison coat, but one embossed with "Galina's Tea Room" on the left breast. Her carriage was full of what would be needed for the next few days stock for her commercial kitchen. She looked up and saw him wheeling his own carriage toward hers. They're eyes met and just as suddenly she woke up.
She knew what to do. She'd talk to Healy the next day.
While her fellow inmates enjoyed a few minutes of freedom in the lake. Red decided now was her opportunity to talk to Healy.
She walked up the hill and back into the building. She walked to his office, he was on the phone. He motioned for her to cone in.
"Look, I have to go, we have a situation"
He looked at Red, "you're not escaping?"
"I'm too old for that nonsense. No one will run, they're just enjoying the lake. Caputo will file them back in here. We need to talk. About what I said..."
"Look Red, I..."
"No, listen. I meant it. I truly believe there is someone out there for everyone. The universe gives people the opportunity to find that person, but they have to find them for themselves. If it's meant to be it will happen. We can't kid ourselves. We'd be in trouble before anything could happen. For one thing, you'd be throw in prison with Pornstache. For another, you're married..."
"Katya left me, she asked for a divorce" he interjected
Red continued, " it's still not the right time. I'm thankful for Damitri and the mess I made of my life because it lead me to you, moya rodstvennaya dusha. But in this situation, we can act on it. The universe isn't letting us be together, its not our time yet. You're not meant to be with a felon. You are a good man, you deserve much more than a mob wife who manipulates everyone around her fir her own gain. You deserve someone who can care for you, a good person to grow old with. You've spent so many years dealing with the bottom of society, bad people who did bad things. If we jump into something now, I'll feel as if I'm manipulating the best man to do bad things for my happiness. I can't let you sacrifice you decency for a few private moments. I have 2 years left. After that I need to prove to myself that I can survive on the outside without depending on someone I once again need to manipulate. You're right, I need a plan. I've been planning a long time for what I'd do once I was out. I need six months, six months on my own to prove to myself I'm a good person, the kind you deserve. After six months, if it's meant to be we'll find each other."
She looked at him with hope in her eyes
"So, our ships have a chance to change course? You'd be willing to start again with me until we are old and grey?"
"We are old and great now, but yes. We could plan for thirty or forty more years"
He was full of hope and joy. Two and a half years would be a long wait, but it's not an eternity. He's waited years to have this kind of hope and it's finally being offered to him.
Two years later, the night before Red's release.
Healy packed his things up to go home. He sighed to himself. Somehow he'd managed to keep himself platonic with the one person on earth he knew now, shared his soul. The past two years let them continue their friendship. They enjoyed and afternoon tea, spoke Russian with each other and shared inside jokes. If anyone around them noticed, nobody had cared. On so many occasions he wanted to kiss her senseless, but had restrained himself knowing that the next thirty or forty years with her would be do much more than a moments kiss. On his way out he went by the kitchen, she was in her office packing up her things and deciding what to leave for the next chef. She looked so beautiful to him.
"Red" he started "I know you want time, but I want you to have this. In case you need help or a friend"
He handed her a slip of paper. She took it and looked at it, it was his phone number and address.
"I know you want us to find each other, but I figured I'd help the universe out. ya lyublyu tebya." He reached for her hand an gave it a squeeze.
She looked at him with tears in her eyes, "nashi serdtsa vnov' vstretyatsya" she leaned to him and brushed his lips with hers.
He turned and walked out of the kitchen. She watched him go listening to his footsteps.
Nine Months Later
Healy sat alone in his kitchen sipping coffee, reading the paper. He glanced at his phone. No one had called. He was loosing hope. She had been a free woman nine months now he had waited all that time for his phone to ring or a know on his door. He nearly given up hope. He blamed himself for falling for a felon. Of course she had played him, how else dose one get a head in prison besides befriending a guard? He'd fallen for it hook, line and sinker. Years and years of hope for something his heart wanted so badly fading into the darkness. He took a deep breath. Calmed his mind, his therapist has been helping him deal with his anxiety and mistrust. He told himself he'd wait, when she was ready they would find each other. He promised himself in another month if he didn't hear from her, he would call her son. Even if it was only to hear if she was doing well. In his heart he knew she wasn't playing him, he trusted her, he loved her. She just needed more time.
He turned the page of the paper, there she was. A picture of his beautiful Red looking vibrant and happy doing what she loved. It was an article about the owner of Utica's newest hot spot, Galina's Tea Room. Her plan had worked, she had opened an eatery she was sharing her passion with the world. He dumped his coffee and grabbed his keys.
Red sat in her small office just off the back of the small kitchen of the Tea Room. She was menu planning and making lists for the produce orders.
"Vy ne zvonite, vam ne pridet. ty zabyl menya?" She stilled when she heard his voice. Put her pen down.
"I didn't forget you. I wanted to be sure I had redeemed myself for my past. That if you didn't want me anymore, I could care for myself. I stare for hours at your number, too scared to call in case you had moved on" she looked at him " but you found me"
She stood as he came towards her, he took her face in his hands "Im so happy I did, I can't live without you any longer" and kissed her.
When they broke the kiss he rested his forehead against hers. They were quiet a long time.
"This place is beautiful. I'm so proud of you. The town has really taken to Russian tea and cakes. I saw the article and nothing could stop me from coming to you. I hope that is ok?"
"Sam, oh my Sam" she kissed him again. "My apartment is upstairs, Tea time is at three o'clock, I don't have to come back down for prep until one. Will you come up so we can start to plan our life?"
He smiled, felt all his anxiety and worry leave him, and took her hand as she led him upstairs.