The flight to Moscow took about 8 hours, and once we reached grandpa Voltaire's, Kai and I were weary. Partly, we were weary from the long trip, but mostly, we were weary from missing Mom so much, though, the pain had dulled over the past four days, only catching up to us every now and then in stinging spurts, like needles.
"Kai! Zoe!" came the deep grough voice of Voltaire "I'm so sorry about your mother's death, and I'm sorry I couldn't make it to the funeral"
"Thanks Grandpa Voltaire," I yawned. "Where should we put our stuff?"
"I've had Lou set up rooms for you both!" he exclaimed excitedly; he had obviously gotten over his tears, already. "And Paul will take your things in for you. You just take anything you need for the night."
Grandpa Voltaire ushered us inside and pointed us in the direction of our rooms (down the hall directly on the left as soon as you stepped into the foyer), but, before we could head over there, he was giving us the tour.
It was nice to have someone who was happy to see us, and not showing all their false pity.
His house was a three-story home that was filled with very modern furnishings. There were 6 bedrooms: the two on the first floor belonged to Kai and me and four on the second floor (one was Grandpa Voltaires, and one had belonged to Mariah, the other 2 were guest rooms). The third floor was just an attic.
There were also five bathrooms. There were three bathrooms on the main floor (mine, Kai's, and one for general use), and two on the second floor for Grandpa Voltaire.
The kitchen was on the first floor, along with the living room. the living room had nearly a full wall of windows, and a sliding glass door that overlooked the back yard, where a trampoline was visible.
Probably for Mariah's kids.
When we finally got around to our rooms, I was amazed at how much Grandpa Voltaire had done in the four days or rather had Lou do that he'd been aware of our arrival.
Both my room, and Kai's room were fully designed.
I didn't get a very good look at Kai's room, but, at a glance, I noticed that he had a full-sized bed, a TV, a stereo, a computer, and an Xbox.
Before I got to see my room, I asked Grandpa Voltaire, in awe, "How did you do all this in four days?"
"Zoe," he said. "It was nothing. Since Mariah has long since moved out, I made it my sole mission to get your rooms ready once I heard you were coming."
"That's really sweet of you," I said, hand now on my room's silver doorknob. "But you didn't have to buy things for us."
"Zoe," he said, with a hand on my shoulder. "You don't have to worry about that at all. As you can see, we are well-off, and I think it's nice to give gifts every once-in-a-while. All I ask is that you enjoy my gifts, then I'll be happy."
"Alright," I said, pushing open my door. Once I turned on the light, I couldn't help but gasp; it was so cool.
I guess my mom had told Grandpa Voltaire at some point that I liked rock music, because that was definitely the theme of the room. the walls were painted dark green, and held pictured of all sorts of guitars, and various pictures of famous rock bands. There was a desk next to the door that held a very modern-looking white computer, and a neon sign that said 'Hard Rock Hotel' on it. After I switched that on, I jumped onto my full-sized bed, with a black satin cover, and cotton sheets, underneath. Then, I checked out my bedside table. It was a stainless steel, and it had an alarm clock, and a -get this- cell phone on it. At the foot of my bed, there was a bunch of shelving that held a TV, stereo, PS2, DVD player, and room for my stuff.
" Grandpa!" I gasped. "This is a lot! Wow! Thank you so much!"
"No problem, dear," he said sweetly. "And your cell phone number is on the screen, and our home number is listed in the directory. I'll be sure to tell Mariah what it is so she can call you."
"Thanks." I checked the cell phone's screen, sure enough, my number was right there.
"Like I said, it's not a problem," Grandpa Voltaire said. "By the way, Mariah might come over tomorrow, and show you and Kai around town. So, you might want to get some rest."
"Yes, Grandpa," I said, and he backed out of the room, turning out the main light, and closing the door behind him.
I can't believe Grandpa did all this for us... It's really sweet of him... I just wish Mom could be here with us...
I blinked a couple tears out of my eyes, put on a determined face, and collapsed on my bed, falling asleep almost instantly.
--------------------------------
When I woke up, I decided to check out the closet, and figure out where the bathroom was. I opened up the closet and saw a couple of hanger rods. I also spotted a light switch, which I pulled, since my drapes were closed, and it was dark. Once the light was on, I saw another door.
This must be the bathroom.
Once I turned the silver nob, I found my guess to be true. I was faced with my very own bathroom. It was small, with a shower that had a high window right in it. If I stood on my tippy-toes, I could peek out, so, of course, there was a shower curtain over it. There was a pedestal sink, a medicine cabinet hidden behind a mirror, and a toilet. The walls were a dark crimson, a nice touch.
When Grandpa wants something done, he does it right, I thought, with an impressed look around the room.
After showering, I went back into my room to pick out an outfit for the day. As usual, I chose my chinese clothing, i wore my black and silver suit then i brushed my hair.
I heard the door bell ring, and I decided it would be polite to greet Mariah, who I assumed would be there.
As soon as I shut my own door, I walked down the dark hallway, to the foyer, where a woman with a tall, slim frame, and firey red hair stood.
"Hey, Maria," I greeted in a low voice.
"Zoe," she said as she spotted the offspring of her dead aunt.
Bitch, I couldn't help but think. She doesn't know, she doesn't care. I can see straight through that sympathetic expression.
She's only trying to be nice, said another voice in Mariahs's defense, but the first voice answered it viciously:
I don't care. She doesn't know.
"I'm so sorry," she said, wrapping her arms around me; I stood, limp, in her grasp. "Let's just try to have fun today, though. Aunt Svetlana would have wanted that."
She's right. Mom would have wanted that. I should just let go... for today.
But not forget!
No, not forget.
"Hey, Mariah," Kai said, in the exact same way I did, earlier. He looked like he'd just gotten out of bed; his hair was messy, and he was only wearing boxers and a wife-beater.
"Kai," she said, gliding past me, and pulling Kai into a hug, just as she had done for me. "I'm just so sorry about what happened, but, don't worry. Today is going to be a fun day. Today, you should just concentrate on being happy. Like I was just telling Zoe, it's what Svetlana would have wanted."
"I'll be in the car," I said, interrupting their little moment.
Oops. That wasn't very polite of me. Oh, well. Too bad.
"Here's the arboretum," said Mariah, as we drove by the town's arboretum. "It's a nice place to think."
Oh, you're so helpful, I thought sarcastically, secretly considering checking it out.
After driving a couple more minutes, Mariah parked the car and said, "Here we are!"
I hopped out of the car, and I noticed Kai and Mariah do the same.
We were probably in downtown Moscow. Looking up and down the street, I could see a couple family restaurants, a grocery store, a library, a town hall, a coffee shop (where we were at), and a record store right across the road.
I'll definitely have to check that out.
I followed Mariah into the Starbucks (They're everywhere!), and allowed her to order a drink for me ("You will love these!" she'd squealed).
At the table, I could vaguely hear Mariah babbling on about how we would love school, and the rest of Moscow. I wasn't really paying much attention, though.
I sipped my... uhh... whatever it was she'd ordered, and found that it was pretty okay. I usually thought coffee was disgusting, but whatever I was drinking was nice and sweet.
Sucking on the straw, I looked out the window over at the record store. I watched a few boys enter it.
There was a pale guy with jet-black hair leading the way, a kind small guy with light brown hair and big glasses after him, and a short blonde guy following them and then a bluenette guy with a hotdog half way down his throat.
"Kai, Zoe" Mariah interrupted my thoughts. "I'd like you to meet someone."
I looked up, and saw a girl about 5'7" with blonde hair up in a messy bun smiling down at me. I tried to smile, but her pink sweat pants and fake smile contorted it into more of a grimace.
"This is Jessica," Mariah announced.
"Hi!" Jessica chirped. "You can call me Jessy!" She stuck out her hand, and I cautiously took it. "And this is Clare," she added, letting go of my hand and pushing another girl towards me, while she moved onto my brother, whom she seemed to like.
Clare hadshoprt Blonde hair with loads of layers with a black bit in it aswell; I liked her much more than Jessy, already.
"Zoe," I said, getting up and putting my hand out.
"Like she said," Clare rolled her blue eyes over to Jessy, who was turning on the flirt full-blast to a repulsed-looking Kai, "I'm Clare."
"Cool," I replied, sitting back down, and motioning for her to do the same.
"I like your hair," she said, in a slightly monotonous voice. "It's really long... and black. Did you dye it?"
"Yeah, I like your hair, too. It's... edgy." i replied
"Thanks," she said.
For a while, we just sat there looking at each other, smiling a little, and nodding slightly. It was like we had this profound connection... like we just understood each other, even though we had just met.
"Let's ditch this snooze-fest and head over to Bobby's Records," Clare suggested. "It's much better than watching this ditz." She jerked her thumb over at Jessy, before hopping down from her stool.
"Yeah," I agreed, looking over at Kai, who was hopelessly cornered by Jessy. "Poor Kai."
"Brother?" she asked me, referring to Kai, of course.
"Yeah, twin, actually," I said. Then, I asked Clare of Jessy, "Sister?"
"No, cousin," Clare replied dully, pushing open the door, and walking out onto the sidewalk. "I just have the misfortune of sharing the same school, and neighborhood. It's sad, I know."
I knew she didn't mean sad in a boo-hoo-I'm-gonna-cry way, but her saying the word 'sad' just tweaked something in me. It must have shown on my face, because a second later, Clare was asking me, as we crossed the street, "What's wrong?"
"You probably don't want to hear about it," I said, trying to shrug it off.
"No," she disagreed with what I had just said, in a concerned-friend way. "I do want to hear about it."
We stopped in front of the door to the record store, and looked at each other for a bit.
I finally said, in a small voice, "My mom just died... and I just... remembered a little more intensely for a second."
"Oh my God," she said, looking ashamed of herself. "And here I am talking about my life being sad. I mean, plenty of things are fucked up in my neck of the woods, but your mom dying. God, I am so sorry."
"No, no.." I said, trying to act like it didn't bother me that much. It wasn't her fault, and I didn't want her to feel bad about it. "It's not your fault..."
"C'mere," she said, bringing me closer for a hug. I obliged, and rested my head on her shoulder. She was a bit taller than me at 5'6", so the hug fit nicely, and I was grateful for her kindness.
After a few seconds of letting the pain wear off, I stepped back, and said, "Thanks. It's nice to have a friend."
"Anytime," she said.
"Shall we?" I asked, gesturing towards the record store door.
"We shall," she answered, linking arms with me, and pulling me inside as the little bell atop the door rang.