Saturday, January 30, 2010

Глава первая (Chapter One)

A/N: Just to make it easy on you guys, anything in italics will be in another language and anything in bold will be thoughts.



"Okay, everyone please turn in your textbooks to page 345. We'll get started with some easy equations."
Katya turned to the large dry erase board and wrote down her class's assignment on it. She loved teaching physics, especially her advanced classes.
"I'll give you ten minutes to complete them, and after your done I'll work out the ones you had problems with on the board."
She sat down at her desk, everything neat, organized, and in its correct place, and began grading her morning class's chapter 4 tests. Ten minutes later, right on the dot, she stood up to resume the lesson.
"Alright, what problems did you need help on?" She let her eyes scan the room, hopping from one lab type table to another. Not one hand popped up. She liked these days, the days everything seemed to click into place. Just as shut her teacher's edition World of Physics book the bell rang, signaling the end of the day.
"Don't forget your homework is on your syllabus and it's due on Wednesday. Have a good night guys!" Katya was gathering up her things when a knock sounded on her classroom door. She looked up and saw fellow teacher, and her best friend, Emma standing there holding out a cup of coffee.
"Well, how was the wonderful world of physics today?" Kat smiled and motioned for Emma to sit. "It was good. I only had one B on my chapter 4 tests, all the others were A's. Then again, I only have 12 people in my first class." Emma laughed and help Kat gather up her bags.
"Em, how was your date last night? You didn't call me." The two walked down the school's main hallway and out to the faculty parking lot. "It was okay. Not the best, but not the worst. He was a little full of himself. Speaking of dates, when's the last time you went on one?" Kat rolled her eyes. She dug her keys out of her purse, and unlocked her car doors. Lifting her computer bag from her shoulder she sat it in the backseat taking her crate of books and binders from Emma.
"It hasn't been that long, thank you very much. I went out with that doctor 3 months ago." Emma looked at Kat, her eyes widening. "Three months? Are you serious? That's it! We're going out tonight. Don't tell me you have papers to grade. I know for a fact that you don't have homework due until Wednesday and you don't have a test until next Monday. Meet me at our usual spot tonight at 8." With that, Emma jetted off her car, leaving Kat standing there. Kat sighed, knowing that she couldn't argue with Em.
She quickly got into her car and headed out as well, knowing that downtown D.C traffic would be horrible if she waited too long. She detoured on her way home and stopped at the grocery store, picking up a few necessities, before heading to her house. It was a small house, painted yellow with white shutters, tucked away on a small street. It even had a small white picket fence.
Kat headed inside, putting away her groceries. She listened to her messages on the answering machine, making a mental note to call her mother. When she was finished she headed upstairs to get dressed. She kept it simple changing into her favorite pair of jeans, slipping her favorite hooded sweater over her head, and she chose a pair of black ballet flats that she knew were extremely comfortable.
She left the house at 7:15 to give herself plenty of time to get there and get a table before it got crowded. The bouncer, Michael, immediately let her in and she made her way to her usual table. Kat glanced at her watch, knowing Emma would be late, so she went ahead and ordered a drink. While sitting there, she let her eyes scan the room, noting a few regulars, and a few people she hadn't ever seen before. She noticed a group of men coming through the door, laughing and shoving each other. They were all pretty tall, a few seemed to be speaking Russian, and Kat casually turned to hear the conversation.
"Wow, it's empty in here. But then again it's only 8:20. Am I the only one that's noticed that there's only one woman in here?" Kat looked around and silently begged Emma to hurry up and get there. She looked to the owner of the voice. He was tall, with dark shaggy hair, and he was missing a tooth. She took in his companions and noted that his blond friend was considerably cuter.
"Hey, hey sorry I'm late. You know how I am. I can never decide what to wear." Emma sat down and signaled for the waitress. "Wow, you already ordered a drink? You never do that." Kat laughed and watched the group of men sit at a table near theirs. Their conversation was so loud and obnoxious that Kat could make out what they were saying from across the 3 tables between them.
"Hey, Kat who's the blond adonis checking you out?" Emma was sitting caddy cornered in her seat flirting at a distance with the tall, dark, and annoying man from earlier. Kat looked over and saw the blond one smiling at her. She smiled back and raised her glass to him. He raised his in return before standing up and making his way to her table. Emma squealed and got up, winking at Kat, before walking over the tall, dark, and shaggy.
"Dance?" His voice was heavily accented and Kat nearly drooled. There was something about a Russian man that made her weak in the knees. She accepted the hand he held out and they made their way to the empty dance floor. The fast paced rock song quickly changed to a slow country love song for them to move to. He pulled her close and they rocked back and forth.
Not really dancing, just moving with each other. "My name is Katya. My Russian is rusty so I hope I'm saying this right." He laughed and nodded. "Nice to meet you Katya. My name is Alexander, but call me Alex. How did you know I was Russian?" Kat smiled back and tucked her head into his shoulder. "I heard you talking to your friends when you walked in. My mother was born in Moscow, and I lived there as a child, but I haven't spoken this language in years."
Alex nodded his head and pulled his arms tighter around her. They danced in silence through three more songs. When Kat lifted her head up she noticed that Emma, nor tall, dark, and scruffy were still at the bar. "I should get going, I have school tomorrow. I have to be there at 7." Alex looked down and smiled. Kat pulled herself out of his arms and walked to the table where she had sat.
She grabbed a napkin and a pen from her purse and thrust it at him. He took it and jotted down his phone number. "I'll call you tomorrow Katya. Maybe we could have dinner or something?" She nodded and stretched up onto her toes, kissing him on the cheek before heading out the door. When she climbed into her car, she began bouncing up and down in her seat, doing and impromptu happy dance. She leaned back in her seat and sighed. Things are really looking up.