Wheeler was so happy right now. Sitting in front of a campfire with his arm around Linka, and she wasn't pulling away. As a matter of fact, her head was resting on his shoulder. Why couldn't it always be like this? Because it wasn't always just the two of them. Their "relationship" for lack of a better word, wasn't just about the two of them. It was about the five of them. Ma-Ti, Kwame, and Gi all factored into it. If they were here right now, not only would Linka not be sitting this close and allowing him to hold her, she probably wouldn't even be sitting on the same log as him. She'd be as far away as possible. But her eyes would give her away. Her eyes always gave her away. The way she looked at him was what gave Wheeler hope. It let him know that even when she wasn't showing her feelings, she did indeed have feelings for him. He would catch her looking at him, even when he wasn't talking to her. She could be talking to Gi while he was a few feet away talking to the guys, but every once in a while, he'd glance over in her direction, and she'd be looking in his. Sometimes he'd smile at her and she'd smile back, other times, she'd hurry up and look away, but the blushing of her cheeks would give away her embarrassment at being caught.
"Your turn. Then what happened in your dream?" she asks him.
He smiles at her eagerness to hear his version.
"Sounds like we had the same dream. You already know what happens next," he says.
"I want to hear it from you. This is very strange. There's got to be SOME difference."
Walker woke up in the middle of the night to find Liliya asleep in a chair next to the bed. He realized that he fell asleep before having dinner. He felt bad that she went through all that trouble and he missed it. Now he was really hungry, but did not want to disturb her. He hoped that he now had enough strength to make it to the kitchen to get something to eat. He found the plate of food that she had made for him, so he sat down at the table and ate it. It was cold, but he didn't mind. It was still better than the Army food he'd been eating the last few months. He had just finished and was cleaning up his dishes when she approached him from behind and scared him.
"I will get that," she says as he jumped. "Sorry. I did not mean to startle you. You should be resting though, not cleaning up dishes."
"It's the least I can do. I don't want you to go through anymore trouble," he says.
"Stop thinking you are making trouble. I will let you know when you start to become trouble! Just let me take care of you," she says as she takes the plate from his hands.
The brief contact that their hands made as they touched sent a surge through Walker's body. He had no idea what the feeling was. He'd never gotten it before. Suddenly, his heart was pounding and he felt very uncomfortable around this girl. He needed to get his mind off of how beautiful she was. He needed to stop watching her as her back stretched to put the dishes back up in the cabinet, and he needed to stop thinking about how badly he wanted to brush those loose strands of hair that had fallen out of her braid away from her face.
"I've got a girl back home, and Liliya's married for God's sake!" he thought to himself.
"So, what's your husband do?" he asks, as he sits down at the table.
"He is in the army now. He used to own a factory. It was his father's business and when his father became ill, he took it over."
"He doesn't own it anymore?" Walker asks.
"Nyet. He sold it, a decision that he regrets now. He did not know much about the company or running a business. He ended up selling it to a rival company. The man that bought it had one intention...to close down the competition. Mikhail thought that everyone would still have a job. The man that bought it though, he fired all the old employees and placed his own people into their positions. My father and brother also worked at that factory and lost their jobs. The ironic part is, I agreed to go out with Mikhail because I thought that if I did not, my father and brother would lose their jobs. I guess it didn't matter either way."
"Well, you ended up marrying the guy, so you must've liked him after you went out with him."
"Da, I did. He was very nice, a perfect gentleman. Showered me with gifts. Of course I told him he did not need to buy my affection, but he insisted that he wanted to provide me with the best of everything. Now that I think about it, he was probably just trying to turn me into someone that he could be seen in public with and not the daughter of a poor factory worker."
Walker looked around at the humble little house in the tiny villiage. It didn't look like the sort of house that a wealthy business man like Mikhail would live in, but he didn't say anything because saying so would be rude.
Liliya must have read his mind as she explained,
"After the factory closed, everything was lost. We had to sell most of our possessions and since Mikhail had no experience working anywhere, it was hard for him to find a job. He decided to try farming, which is ok...for a few months out of the year, but then when the war started, he joined the army."
"Wow. That must be pretty rough on you, going from having it all to...struggling."
"Nyet. It was pretty easy for me to get used to. It was harder for me to get used to having nice things. Now, things are just back to the way I am used to. It is hard on Mikhail. He is not the same man I married."
Walker wonders what she means by that. Does he hurt her? Does he still love her? Did he ever, or was he just into her for her looks? The next words just flew out of his mouth before he could realize he said them out loud.
"Do you still love him?"
At first, she was shocked by the stranger's forwardness, but she felt comfortable around him. Which is why she answered him honestly, as if he were her best friend that she told everything to,
"I do not know if I ever really did."
"I do not think that she did," Linka says.
"What makes you say that?"
"It sounds like she went into the relationship out of obligation. Then she stayed in it because she settled. I do not think she really knows what love is."
"Why do you think that?"
"Because she said so in my dream."
"Tell me about it," Wheeler urges.
The way the young Yankee looks at her with such sadness, Liliya wonders if maybe she's shared too much. She has known Walker for less than six hours and most of that time, he was sleeping.
"If you didn't love him, why did you marry him?" he asks.
"I thought I had to. I had never been in a relationship before. I was 16 when I met him. Most of my friends were already in serious relationships. I thought something was wrong with me because I had not been. I thought my time was running out and that if I passed this one up, I would never get the opportunity again."
"Are you serious? You're beautiful. You could have any guy you wanted. I can't believe you haven't had to beat them off with a stick."
"I am poor. No one wants to marry down. Which is why when my father introduced me to Mikhail, I had no choice. I had to agree to a date. It would have been foolish not too."
"And you kept seeing him because you felt like you had to?"
"Da. Not just because I was worried that if I said no, my father and brother would lose their jobs, but because I did not think an opportunity like this would ever come again," she explained.
"Weren't you scared?"
"Of what? Of him? Nyet. As I said, he was kind."
"No, not scared of him. Scared that someday, you would find someone that you loved, but then you couldn't be with them because you were married."
"What are the chances of that happening? I do not go anywhere or do anything to meet new people."
"But what if one day, a handsome stranger appears on your door step?" he jokes, gesturing to himself.
"Well then, lucky for me the only handsome stranger that has ever appreared on my door step was running away from his army so that he could get home to the woman he loves...so there is no chance he could possibly be interested in me."
"You just told me that Tracy had probably found someone else...that I should be prepared. That if she really loved me, she'd wait for me, not tell me she couldn't do this anymore...maybe that handsome stranger has reconsidered."
"You are going to go back to your army?" she asks.
"No. I'm already in too much trouble. But now, what's the point in going home? Maybe I'll just stay in Russia. You can teach me how to speak it."
"Are you serious?"
He was only joking at first, but then he reconsiders. What other options does he have?
"Da!" he says.
"If that is what you want...I will try my best to teach you...but you cannot be seen. WE cannot be seen together. People might get the wrong impression."
"Ok," he says as he yawns.
"You should go back and lay down."
"Nah. It's getting late. You should sleep too. I can't take your bed. I'll just sleep on the floor. I'm used to uncomfortable sleeping arrangements...being in the army and all."
"Nyet. You are injured. You should be comfortable."
"I'm not takin' your bed Babe, so either you sleep in it, or no one sleeps in it."
"Fine. I will sleep in it...but so will you. There is room."
"Are you sure? I don't want you to be uncomfortable."
"I will not sleep knowing that my guest, who is injured, is sleeping on the floor...besides, I can keep a better eye on you and make sure your wound is ok and you do not get feverish from an infection."
She does not know what has gotten into her. It took months before she even felt comfortable sharing a bed with her own husband, and now, after only knowing him for a few hours, she's sharing a bed with a stranger. Nothing will happen of course, but still. It is not like her to feel so comfortable around someone.
To Be Continued...