Love after Chess

Chapter 9; A world of lies uncovered

"оправдание?" was the only thing Anatoly could say as he stared at the child. What would he be able to say when an 8 year old told him, he was her father. He put his hand to his head and turned away from the small girl. A daughter, a real life breathing perfect girl who looked like Florence. Why wouldn't she have told him? Didn't he have the right to know she was his. Or wasn't she? How old was she exactly? It was 8 years ago he saw Florence or was it 9? It was almost 9. She could actually be his daughter.
"Я его дочь." He heard her say 'I be daughter' in the back ground, she obviously hadn't learned to say things in Russian, not perfect anyway. What did he need to do? So Freddie wasn't this little girl'q father? Was Florence Vassy her mother?
"Your mom is Florence Vassy?" He stared at her. "You're actually 8."

"Yep and yep." She smiled. "Soo…"
"So what?" He turned away. "Where is your mom?"
"In her room." She replied. "Or at least she was a couple of seconds ago, I'm afraid Freddie is going to talk to my mother. She believes you don't care for her, but she's starting to see lies in his story. Plus, I know the complete truth. Freddie is not my father, you are."
"Why are you so sure?"
"Because my brother looks exactly like you." Ilona spoke "My mother used to say that my brother was a perfect twin of his father, you. It's the only thing that makes sense, you had a relationship the last time you were together. Freddie has been keeping you apart, saying that you wouldn't want us in your life. I said, you would really want us. I mean that's true right, you want us?"
"I want…" He stared at her. Ilona was beautiful, a child he wished he had and now the truth was revealed for him. This girl was in fact his daughter and he didn't need a DNA test for it, he felt it in his stomach. Everything started to make sense, that was why Freddie always said that Florence didn't care for him. Freddie had been telling that to the both of them, in all this years the love of Florence had been burning inside of her.
"He said you would hate us." Ilona continued. "She believed him, yes, that was her mistake. It was her mistake that she believed his lies. She didn't want us to get hurt, she didn't tell you for us. She was scared her heart was going to be destroyed again, she couldn't handle that. No one could. You cannot be mad with her, please."

"I'm not mad with her…"

LINE

"She's not a liar, Freddie." Florence reacted madly. "You can tell me anything about Anatoly and I will believe you, but you cannot tell me that my child is a liar, since I will believe my daughter over you any day. So, will you repeat what you just said? Because if you repeat the exact same words, I will throw you out of this room faster than you can say chess."
"I tell you, she's going to lie you." Freddie repeated himself as Florence's eyes turned more angry with every word he said. She crossed her arms over her body and stared to him, ready to kick his ass.
"Feddie, I am asking you to cut the crap." She turned around leaving the room, realizing she needed to kick his ass, but not really being willing to do so. She smiled for a single moment and threw the door closed a minute later. There was no one in the next room, not even her son or daughter. She actually needed Ilona to be there, so she could find out why Freddie was telling her such a weird stuff. Something was going on and she was going to get to the bottom of it. She stared at her father as he entered the room.
"What the hell is going on here?" She asked him, knowing he knew exactly what she was saying. The Hungarian had been thrown out of the window.

"Florence,…" he paused, it being years since he actually spoke full conversations in English. "I don't know."

She left him, when her father said he didn't know something. He actually knew nothing. She had a strange feeling in the pit of her stomach, like this day was going to change her entire life. She actually had a strange feeling that it was going to be a great change, why did she think this? Where was her child? And why was Freddie telling her all this horrible lies. She picked her purse from the counter and stepped in the elevator. She needed to find Ilona and ask her exactly what happened in the past 24 hours, but where was she going to find her child. The library? The common room? Maybe she was playing a friendly game of chess with Anatoly. Anatoly, would this strange day involve him as well? What if Ilona figured out the truth about Anatoly and revealed it to Freddie. What if Freddie had not been lying about the past couple of hours? What if he had been keeping a lie for the last 9 years?
Florence seemed to understand that the only one that could resolve this whole situation was Anatoly and her search seemed to change. Maybe she could ask Anatoly for help to find her daughter.

She stepped in the elevator and followed her sense to the reception. She asked them Anatoly's room number, for some odd reason the woman didn't put up a fight and handed it her right away. She made it to the room, standing in front of the door. Her heart was beating faster and faster. Like she would start to sweat any moment. She moved her knuckles to the wooden surface. Yet nothing seemed to move it. She closed her eyes for a moment.
"Get it together, Florence." She opened her eyes once again. "Don't be a fool, it's not that hard. You've done it a million times before. Just knock."
People seemed to stare at her, a person talking to herself while standing in front of a door. She knocked. The door opened it, it was Anatoly. His eyes were wider than she would have expected, standing right behind him was Ilona, the very child she had been looking for.
"Do you know?"
"That I am her father." He nodded his head. "That she has a brother and a sister. I know too, Florence I think there has been a liar in both of her lives."
"Freddie." She closed her eyes. "I should have known."
"I didn't know either, Florence." He stepped closer. "We need to figure this out, for the children. Right now that I know, I can't ignore you anymore. I shouldn't have, I should have talked to you. If I did, we would have been spared of years of pain."
"Yeah." She nodded her head. She stared at Ilona, smiling at her for a moment. "Come here, munchkin."

"I found her with Freddie in an elevator." The child flew in Florence's arms. Anatoly looked to his feet. "He hit her."
"That bastard." Florence kissed her daughter's head. "Lying makes him a horrible man. I should have known that, but I think I have been too naïve. There were times he was a great rock, but I guess he got so fixated on needing a relationship, that he showed that ugly side I despise of him. I know it grew from a bad childhood, but I just can't keep taking it."
"You don't need that kind of person in your life."

"Well, he's been part of my life for so long." Florence hugged her daughter closer. "It would be pretty hard to imagine my life without him. Yet I don't want that kind of person to be part of my life either. Anyone who would beat my child is someone I don't want in my life."
"Mom." Ilona pulled herself closer. Anatoly took a step closer pulling the duo in his arms, Ilona was sandwiched in between him and the love of his life. For once his life felt complete, he moved his hand through Florence's hair, and put the other one on Iliona's. He moved his hand in small circles over Ilona's head. He heard the tears of Florence.
"Shouldn't we get Sander and Anna Marie?"
Anatoly smiled, he hadn't thought about how his other son and daughter were named. He only actually met Ilona who was a small version of him, in a way it was. She looked exactly like Florence did, but she had his personality.
"Is Anna Marie?"

"She's an identical twin to Ilona in looks." Florence smiled. "Not so much in actions. Sander he looks exactly like you do. He's a small version of you, in looks that is. In personality he's day and night. He's so creative, so sweet and so kind."
"Sander…" He smiled. "It's a beautiful name."
"My grandmother was named Ilona." Florence explained. "I know you might have want to choose names, but I didn't want to destroy your family happiness. Plus I thought you had forgotten all about me."
"Forgotten all about you?"
He moved his hand to her head and pulled her closer. In between them Ilona smiled as her parents kissed. She was smashed between them, staring up at her parents. She put her small hands around her mother, hugging her. A hand reached for her, it was her father's, hugging her.
"I can't leave you again…" He said staring in her eyes. "I can't…"
"And I can't betray Svetlana." Florence stared at her. "She tries so hard to love you, Anatoly. She.."
"She agrees that we've fallen out of love." Anatoly stared at her. "I want to love Svetlana, I want too, but I can't. I mean I do love her as a sister, a friend."

"Anatoly what are we going to do?" She stared at him. She didn't know if their future would be that great. She didn't know if they could be together. She didn't know if she wanted to give up chess for her. She didn't know if Molakov would let them be together. She didn't want to cause Svetlana pain. She knew Svetlana wouldn't mind Anatoly and her being together. She wanted Anatoly, but she didn't know what would happen. She wanted to yell at Freddie. She wanted to tell how she hated what he did. She hugged her family and didn't let anything come to her. Today she would be happy, tomorrow she would think about what would happen.