That Night…

Nadia called Vlad on the phone. He was in a different hotel than she was so she had to use the phone. The phone rang once, twice, three times and then he picked up.

"Hello?" said Vlad.

"Hi." Said Nadia, "I was thinking."

"About what, about how we will never see each other again? Or about how we may be able to see each other, but at a terrible cost?"

"Well, both, actually." She said, "Maybe you should come down to my room."

"Wait, maybe you should come to mine. We can talk with Tikhonov about this."

"Alright, I'll be right there." She said, and hung up.

Sally was sleeping, since it was 10:00 at night. Nadia thought about waking her up, but decided not to. This was something she and Vlad had to work out.

Nadia got to the door of the suite. There was a mirror at the end of the hallway so she quickly went to check herself. She had on a red blouse and white jeans and everything looked good. Nadia, after seeing how she looked, knocked on the door. Vladimir Petrov answered the door.

"Oh, it's you." He said rather harshly.

He shouted in Russian for Vladislav to come to the door. He came, looking happy to see her.

"Nadia…" he said, sounding like he was out of breath, "Tikhonov is here and can help us."

Tikhonov came out of what looked to be his room to the door.

"Hello Nadia." He said and put his hand on her shoulder.

Every time he touched her, she felt awkward.

"Listen," he said, "You and Vladislav should probably have some privacy to talk this over."

Nadia looked at Vlad and blushed. They both went into the room that Krutov and Vlad shared. When they got in, Vladislav turned off two of the three lights so the room was dimly lit.

"I've been thinking this over and don't see how we can make this work." Said Nadia calmly.

"I don't either," said Vlad, "This doesn't look good to me. We might never see each other again."

Nadia sat down next to Vlad on one of the two beds.

"Last week was the best week of my life," said Nadia, "It was so great to finally see you again."

She kissed him on the cheek to show her thanks.

"I didn't know a tough hockey player like you and a little girl like me could ever become…" she started, but was too dazed to finish. She only had one thing on her mind.

"Believe it or not, I didn't think so either." Said Vlad.

Nadia, who was feeling uncomfortable because of her thoughts, changed the subject.

"I'm a little chilly. Can I borrow a jacket?"

"Sure." said Vlad.

Nadia went into Vlad's dresser. She opened the first drawer and it held his boxers. She quickly closed it and giggled.

"What?" he said, "You've never seen my boxers?"

"Vladislav Tretiak!" she said with a raised voice, but quickly started giggling.

She got up and went to his closet. She found it held his uniforms, goalie gear, and, finally, a jacket. It was his red "CCCP" jacket that she had worn only once before and, even then it hung off of her.

Vlad laughed and said, "Come here, I'll keep you warm."

Nadia recognized this phrase from a long time ago. She had heard Red say this to Chelsea last April in Russia, before she and Vlad had met. Nadia and Vlad snuggled together on his bed. The same thoughts that were in Nadia's head went into Vlad's head and he also felt awkward. They both sensed each other's nervousness and parted.

"You know, I'm really hot now." Said Vlad, taking off his shirt.

Nadia looked him up and down and then touched his shoulder. He shivered a little and Nadia said, "Your freezing, aren't you!"

"Yeah." He said shivering.

"Put a sweatshirt on or something." Said Nadia being very concerned.

"Not just yet." He said.

Nadia caught on quickly and moved closer to him.

"I haven't been this close to you since last April. I missed it." Said Nadia.

She rested her head in his lap, looking up at him. He leaned over and kissed her lips.

"I missed the feeling of being in bed with you." She said.

Vlad blushed a little and said, "I missed your soft skin and the way you always knew exactly what to do."

"I never knew what to do." Said Nadia, jokingly.

Nadia felt him touch her shoulder and the sleeve of her shirt. Nadia started to unbutton her blouse and Vlad looked on as she tried to get the last button open. He slowly reached to help her and got it open. Nadia looked at Vlad and fell over on top of him, kissing his lips and all around them. Vladislav proceeded to take her blouse off and finally did so. He felt all over her arms, shoulders and around her hips. Nadia's giggles became very faint as she wrapped her arms around him and felt the muscles in his arm get tense, but then relax again. Nadia and Vlad looked at each other and stopped. They felt a little ashamed that they couldn't hold their emotions in of a few days. They both knew that Vlad had to focus on nothing but hockey and that Tikhonov was giving him a privilege by allowing him to see Nadia. They both stayed lying down on the bed, Nadia's head on Vlad's hard body. This was the same way they had laid when they told each other they were in love, back in April.

All of a sudden, Krutov walked into the room that he and Vladislav shared. He saw Nadia with her bra on, lying next to Vlad, who had his shirt off. Nadia screamed.

"What are you doing!" she asked, frantically trying to hide herself.

"What are you two doing in here?" asked Krutov, "With the lights dimmed and, well… Nadia with her… Wait? Were you two having—."

"Were discussing how to stay together when the Olympics end." Said Vlad, interrupting him.

"Oh, so that's what it's called these days!" said Krutov sarcastically.

Nadia got up off of the bed and walked over to Krutov.

"Hey, um, I'm feeling a little uncomfortable right now, so could you, maybe leave?" she asked sweetly.

"Maybe…" he said.

"Please?" she said again.

He put his hands on Nadia's hips, and Nadia got a little angry with him.

"Please take your hands off of me." She said, "The only one who I allow to touch me is—."

"Tikhonov?" said Krutov.

"That's gross! Vlad is the only one that can, and you know it!" She said.

Krutov leaned forward and kissed Nadia deeply on the lips. All she could do was say, "Ah, what?" It was one thing for him to kiss her, but a whole other thing for him to kiss her while she was almost topless.

"Hey, Vladimir! Cut it out! She's not like that!" said Vlad defensively.

"I'm just kidding with her!" he said, "Tikhonov told me to come and get you two, so he could discuss this problem with you."

"Okay, just let me get my shirt back on." Said Nadia.

Vlad and Nadia put their shirts back on and walked out from the room.

Tikhonov looked at them and saw that they were both a little weary and red.

"So, what did Krutov interrupt?" he asked.

Nadia blushed and looked at Vlad.

"Nothing." He said, "We were just discussing the problem."

Tikhonov looked into Nadia's eyes.

"Her eyes told me the whole story." Tikhonov said.

Nadia mouthed the word "sorry" to Vlad.

"I told you I didn't want anything to happen between you two until the Olympics were over." Said Tikhonov sternly.

He shook his head with annoyance and changed the subject, "I thought of the one way that Nadia could come back to the Soviet Union." Said Tikhonov.

"What?" they both asked.

"Well, her parents would have to Russian citizens, making her a Russian citizen."

"Oh… well, I'm not sure if they are." She said, "They ran away from the Soviet Union on a cargo plane. I'm not sure if they are citizens still."

"Well, we'll find out later." Said Vlad, "It's late."

He looked at the clock and it said 11:03 PM.

"Wow, I think I should get going." Said Nadia.

They leaned in to kiss, but stopped half way. They smiled at each other and said "goodnight" softly.