Saturday, February 27, 2010

Глава шестая (Chapter Six)

The next morning at 9:00 Alex knocked on Kat's door. He hadn't been entirely sure about heading over so early, but he figured the sooner the better. She opened the door still in her pajamas. Her hair was piled on the top of her head in a messy bun and she had accumulated dark circles from her lack of sleep. She seemed surprised to see him and immediately stepped forward and enveloped him in a hug. All before smacking him in the back of the head. Alex pulled back and stared at her. "I really deserved that didn't I?" Kat crossed her arms over her chest and nodded, leaning up against the doorjamb to prevent him from entering the house. "I'm sorry, Katya. The thought of taking you to my home scared me. The honest truth is that I've never taken anyone home with me before. I was never serious about any of my other girlfriends." Katya straightened and motioned him inside. They settled into the couch and Katya began speaking. "When I said let's go to Russia, I meant just me and you. Not me, you, and your parents. We could spend our time in Moscow, and never come close to your parents and family if that's what you want." Alex nodded and stared down at his folded hands. "You're right. You're absolutely right. I really just overreacted about this whole thing. We'll go and just enjoy ourselves." Katya nodded and smiled. Alex smiled back and kissed her nose. "Are you coming to the game tonight? You can meet some of the guys afterwards. I can have someone bring you to the locker room." Kat nodded and snuggled back into his chest. "I'd love to meet some of your teammates. I've only met Alex, and you talk about Brooks and Mike all the time. It'd be great to finally meet them."

After Alex had sufficiently groveled, the couple had spent time hanging out and watching TV before Alex's pregame nap. They had headed to the arena together, and Kat had gotten situated in her behind-the-bench, bird's-eye-view seat. She hadn't even had to buy her own authentic Alex Semin jersey. She had picked one out of his bag. No one around her would even know that the very jersey that graced her small frame had stretched over the bulky shoulder pads of an upcoming Capitals star. The game was extremely lively that night. Several fights broke out and Alex took a ridiculous penalty, waving to her from inside the box. Unfortunately, the Capitals fell to the Flames in an overtime shootout; the final score 5 to 4. As the players filed off of the ice, Kat got up from her seat and headed down to the locker room. She spotted Alex as soon as she walked in. He seemed to have that affect on her. It seemed odd that after such a short period of time, she felt this close to him. Things were definitely looking up now.

Kat and Alex walked in the door just in time to hear the answering machine pick up. "Katya Anastasiya, it's your mother. I called to tell you that we, by we I mean the family, have decided to give you and Alex your wedding here at the house! Won't that be great? Call me back when you get this I'm dying to know what you think."

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Глава пятая (Chapter Five)

A/N: Sorry it's been so long since I've updated. I've been swamped with homework and assignments. Hope you like this chapter and I realize that it's a bit shorter than the rest, I'm sorry. I only had an hour of free time to type it out today.


The blare of the alarm clock sounded in Kat's ear the next morning. She slapped a hand over the top and felt around for the snooze button. Alex heard the obnoxious noise too, because he stirred around and slipped out of bed, just as Kat settled deeper into the warm cocoon of blankets. "I'll be back after morning skate if that's okay?" Kat peeked out and smiled. Alex leaned down and dropped a kiss on her lips before turning and walking from the room. She sighed as she heard the front door open and close. After rolling over onto her stomach, she realized there was no way she would get back to sleep. She climbed out of bed and headed downstairs to make herself breakfast. She floated into the kitchen and busied herself making pancakes.
The two hours of Alex's practice passed quickly. He soon found himself back in the locker room getting dressed into his street clothes. He heard Brooks Laich call his name, and turned in toward him, still pulling his shirt over his head. "Hey, Ovechkin told us you have a hot piece of woman hidden away." Alex smiled and nodded his head. "Yes, a history teacher and yes she's beautiful." Brooks nodded his head and clapped Alex on the back before walking away. After saying goodbye to the guys Alex walked out into the parking lot and headed home.
Kat heard the door open and close for the second time that day. She heard Alex drop his bag in the hallway as he made his way to the living room. "I have the next few days off. Let's go somewhere together." Kat looked over and rolled her eyes. "I have school. I can't just take off for days. Those kids need me." Alex shot up off of the couch. "Are you serious? When was the last time you took a vacation? 4 years ago? Yeah, I talked to Emma. Katya this break will do you good. You can leave a lesson plan for the substitute to follow. The kids will be fine. Trust me on this.We can go anywhere you want." Kat sighed and ran a hand over her face before meeting his eyes. "Anywhere I want to go? Anywhere at all?" He nodded and knelt down in front of her. She looked into his eyes and smiled. "Take me to Russia." Alex's eyes widened and his face hardened. "Russia? Of all the places you could choose, you choose Russia?" Kat's eyes clouded over with confusion. She didn't understand where his anger was coming from. He grabbed his keys off of the table and stormed out of the house. Kat slumped back into the couch and pushed her hair out of her eyes. She hadn't expected Alex to react like he had. She didn't know why he was so upset, not to mention the fact that he had stormed out and wouldn't talk to her.

Kat looked at the clock again for the fifth time in a row. The digital clock showed 4:12. Alex had been gone since 11:00 that morning. She had tried to call, and it went straight to his voicemail. She had tried texting him and he hadn't replied to any of her messages. She had even called Ovechkin to see if he had heard from him. Every time she turned she reached a dead end. She was as close to tears as she had been in a while. After glancing at the clock once last time, she decided that there would be no use in sitting around twiddling her thumbs waiting on a man. She pulled a stack of research papers out of her bag and began grading. She worked furiously, oblivious to time and everything around her. The next time she looked up at the clock it was no long late afternoon. The sun had gone down and the moon had risen. The digital clock read 10:34.
Kat checked her cell phone for any sign of Alex and was disappointed to find neither a missed call or text. She drug herself upstairs and jumped into the shower. Not matter what she did she couldn't keep her mind off the blond haired man that had stolen her heart. She could feel that heart cracking with every passing minute without a response. She stalled for time getting ready for bed, hoping that Alex would try to reach her, but no such luck. She climbed into bed and fell into a fitful sleep.
A few blocks down from where Kat slept, Alex was holed up with Brooks Laich and Mike Green, in Laich's apartment. Alex checked his phone and thankfully there were no more missed calls, voicemails, or texts from Kat. He knew she had to be worried but he couldn't bring himself to pick up the phone and attempt to explain. His plan, formulated with the help of his teammates, was to head back to Kat's the next morning and beg, grovel, and pray like hell she'd take his sorry ass back.

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Глава четвертая (Chapter Four)

Kat flopped down on the couch and breathed a sigh of relief. She had finally gotten her family out of her house and convinced them to check into a hotel downtown. Alex sat down beside her and stretched out, propping is feet on the coffee table. Kat swatted his feet down and gave him a reprimanding look. He smiled sheepishly and winked at her. "What are we going to do, Alex? This is crazy. I should've just told them the truth. I've never lied to my parents before." Kat stood up and began pacing the living room. "We'll figure out something, Katya. I helped get you into this mess and I'll help you get out of it. We'll just have to take it a day at a time. In the meantime, we can continue like we were. Dating and having a good time." Kat looked at him incredulously.
"I'm the only one seeing a problem with this? Continue on like we were? Are you crazy? I just lied to my parents! This is a big deal to me. You could offer a better solution than just continuing to have a good time." Alex's eyes widened and he stood up to face her. "I realize this is serious! And I'm sorry you had to lie to your parents, but it seemed like the right thing to do at the time. My solution may not be the best, but at least it's something!" Kat took a deep breath and nodded. "I'm sorry, Alex. You're right. I'm overreacting about this." Alex nodded and sat back down, motioning for Kat to join him. When she sat down next to him he wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her close.
"We'll figure out something." Kat looked up into his face and smiled. She leaned forward and planted a kiss on his lips. Alex crinkled his nose and rubbed it against hers. She laughed and cuddled closer to him. Just as their lips met in yet another kiss, the tune to "Hell's Bells" blared through the living room. Alex sighed and pulled his phone out of his pocket. He stood up and walked out into the hallway for more privacy. Kat could hear him pacing and talking through the wall. He returned a few minutes later and plopped back down. "Is it possible that I can already be halfway in love with you?" Kat smiled at him. "I'd say that it's completely possible seeing as how I feel the same about you." She stood up and held out her hand. As she pulled, Alex rose up off of the couch and climbed to his feet.
"You might as well spend the night. I'll set the alarm and wake you up so you aren't late for morning skate." He nodded and followed her upstairs. He watched as she puttered around her bedroom, grabbing pajamas and disappearing into the bathroom down the hall. She returned in a pair of shorts and a t-shirt with a picture of a badger on it. She threw the decorative pillows to the floor and pulled back the blanket. She climbed in and looked at him expectantly. "Come on. You're not going to be shy now are you?" Alex laughed and reached upwards to begin unbuttoning his shirt. He got to the last two buttons and jerked it over his head. Kat stared. She watched the muscles throughout his chest work as he stretched his arms above his head. After he toed of his shoes and socks before reaching for the snap of his pants. In one quick move he had his pants unbuttoned and unzipped, slipping them down his legs, leaving him in his boxers. He crawled into the bed next to Kat and slipped his arms around her.
She turned into him and fit her body to his. They seemed to fit perfectly together. As if they were made for each other. Alex leaned in and touched his lips to hers. He ran his tongue over the seam of her lips, asking for entrance. Their kiss quickly escalated. Pretty soon, the only sounds in the room were of clashing lips and heavy breathing.

Sunday, February 7, 2010

Глава третья (Chapter Three)

Seriously? The door bell has to ring right now? Kat sighed and pulled herself away from Alex. "It's probably Emma, let me go get rid of her really quick." Alex nodded and sat down on the couch. Kat flipped a lamp on as she walked out of the room. She slid the deadbolt on the door free and yanked it open. Her eyes widened in shock when she saw her mother, father, 3 brothers, and 4 sisters standing on the porch. "What are you doing here? It's nowhere near a major holiday is it? Did you tell me you were coming to visit?" Kat stayed inside the doorway, trying not to let her family into the house. They pushed through anyway and thankfully avoided the living room, heading to the kitchen instead. Her brother, Andrei, looked at her questioningly.
"Did you get a new car? And, no, we didn't tell you we were coming. We thought we'd surprise you." Kat huffed and pushed a hand through her dark curly hair. "Don't get me wrong it's great that you're here. I'm glad you guys are visiting, but all of you at one time? I don't have that much room. I love you, but you can't all stay here." Dmitri, Kat's father, sat down at her kitchen table. "You didn't answer your brothers question." The words were spoken softly, but they made an impact nonetheless. "No, I didn't get a new car. It belongs to a friend of mine." Kat's mother gasped. "Oh, sweetie. You have company? Is your friend still here? We should have called first, but now that we're here, let's make the most of it."
Kat nodded and looked around at her family. She held up a hand and walked out of the room. When she walked into the living room she noticed that Alex was up and wondering around looking at her pictures. "It was my family at the door. Would you like to meet them? I know we've only been on one date, but they're here and asking about you." Alex nodded and smiled. He held out his hand and walked with her back into the kitchen. "I'm warning you now. My family is pretty big. I have 3 brothers and 4 sisters." Alex's eyes widened but he didn't say anything. Kat stopped short in the doorway of the kitchen and took a deep breath. He leaned down and planted a good luck kiss on her lips.
As they walked into the kitchen, whatever conversations that had been going on immediately stopped. Her brothers straightened up from their leaning position against the island and made their way around to stand in front. Each one looked Alex up from his feet all the way to the top of his head. Kat cleared her throat and gave her brothers a death glare. Her sisters on the other hand were checking him out in an entirely different way. Aleksandra, one of her older sisters, was leaning back in her seat to try to get a look at his butt. Kat shifted back a tiny step to block her sister's view. "And who is this, Katya?"
Alex cleared his throat and stuck out his hand. "Alex Semin." Kat's mother smiled and shook his hand first, followed by her siblings, and finally her father. Her father, hesitant at first, seemed to thaw a bit upon hearing the Russian influenced name. "I'm really sorry about this. It doesn't look like they're going anywhere. You can head out if you want." Alex looked at Kat and nodded. He pressed a kiss to her forehead, drawing the attention of her family. "I'll let myself out. We'll have lunch or something this week. Text me when you can." Kat smiled and watched him walk out, hearing the door open and close behind him a few seconds later. Her father stood and looked around the kitchen. Yet again his voice was soft. "When will you be getting married, Katya?"
"What? When will I be getting married? I have no idea what you're talking about." Kat looked at her father, eyes widened in shock. "You're 24 Katya, and you have a nice Russian man taking interest in you. It's time you put this silly notion of work behind you and settle down." Kat sat down at the kitchen table with a thud. She was speechless, and from the corner of her eye saw movement in the kitchen doorway. She turned to see Alex standing there, looking sheepish.
"Sorry, I left my phone in the living room. I didn't mean to interrupt." Kat smiled at him and let him know it was ok. "Excuse me. I don't mean to interrupt, but Katya agreed to marry me. She said yes last night at dinner." His voice was heavily accented, but completely understandable. Kat stood up so fast her chair tipped over behind her. She leaned into Alex's body and nodded, keeping her eyes on him. "That's right. We were waiting for the right time to tell you, and well, there it is." Kat looked to each one of her family members, her brothers and sisters were smiling as was her mother, her father was looking Alex up and down. Seemingly, assessing whether or not he was good enough for his daughter. "I don't like you. Not one bit."

Friday, February 5, 2010

Глава вторая (Chapter Two)

"Pause. Rewind. Play. You gave that blond adonis your phone number? Who are you and what have you done with the quiet, reserved, physics genius I used to know?" Kat looked up from her desk. The school day had gone by quickly enough and she was getting caught up on grading left over homework. "She's right here, where she's always been. There was just something about him. Dancing with him was great. Hell, talking with him was great. I don't know what got into me." Emma's eyes widened.
"You really like this guy? You just met him." Kat closed her gradebook. Standing up she threw everything into her bag and slung it over her shoulder. Emma stood and followed her out the door. "Yes, I like him. The short amount of time I had with him was great. He called me last night and asked me to dinner." The two followed the familiar hallway out to the teacher's parking lot, walking to their respective cars.
"So, you guys are having dinner tonight? As in, in a couple of hours?" Kat nodded and smiled. She unlocked her car and tossed her bag into the backseat. She had just closed the door back when her cell phone chirped. She pulled it out of her pocket and pushed the OK button. Are we still on for dinner tonight? Kat smiled and typed a quick reply, pushing her phone back down into her pocket. "Well, I need to go home and get ready. You should head over with me and help me pick out something to wear." Emma nodded and trotted over to her car. Waving to Kat, she got in and sped off, heading in the direction of Kat's little neighborhood.
Kat followed suit soon after, heading down the interstate. When she arrived at her house she pulled into the driveway pulling up beside Emma's car. Emma had a key to the house and had no doubt already let herself in. Kat walked through the front door, down the hallway, and upstairs to her room. She could hear Emma rummaging around in her closet already.
"Ok, first off. You need sexier clothes. All of this is school stuff. Like Catholic school stuff. It's all long and black, designed to cover everything up. Where's the purple shirt you wore to the bar?" Kat flopped down on her bed and listened to Emma rant about her clothing choices. She pulled her phone out of her pocket and checked her text messages. I can't wait until tonight. Kat giggled. Actually giggled. Emma's head shot out of the closet. "What the hell was that?" Kat smiled and waved her away.
Me either. You'll be here at 7? Clothes began flying out of the closet. "Ah Ha! You've got dresses squirrled away back here. Dresses with price tags still on them!" Emma jumped out of the closet, a pale yellow sundress and white wedge sandals. "Ok, this is it. A little dressy in case you go somewhere fancy but still casual enough if you go somewhere nice." Kat nodded and smiled going back to her phone conversation. Emma sighed and retreated back into the closet to find the necessary accessories.
Katya's cell phone ang and she scrambled to answer. "Hello?" She smiled when she heard his voice come over the line. "Hello right back. You're not busy right now are you? We might have a problem with our plans tonight." Kat frowned but didn't let it show in her voice. "Ok. What's going on?"
Alex cleared his throat before he began. "Well, I have a friend that invited himself to go with me tonight and I was hoping you could bring your friend from school. They'll hook up again and leave us in peace." Kat laughed and headed into the closet to grab Emma. "Yeah, I'll bring her. She can borrow something of mine to wear and we'll just meet you at the restaurant." The two said their goodbyes and agreed to meet at the new French restaurant downtown at 7:30. "Emma, pick out a dress." Emma looked at her in confusion. "Grab a dress? Why would I need one of your dresses?"
Kat rolled her eyes and grabbed a dress and a pair of shoes on her way back into her room. "You need a dress because you're going with us. Alex's friend invited himself along. The one you hooked up with the other night. So we're meeting them at that new French place at 7:30." Emma squealed and yanked the dress out of Kat's hands. She quickly stripped down and stepped into the dress. "I'll take the bathroom first since it takes me less time to get ready. I'll do my hair while you get dressed." She sprinted down the hall to the bathroom. Kat laughed and picked up her own dress to change into. She slipped into the dress and stepped into her sandals. Then she headed into the closet to find a sweater to wear.
It took Emma all of 15 mintues to do her hair and make-up. She sat Katya down on the edge of the bathroom and wielded the curling iron. She worked her way around Kat's hair adding soft curls to the already wavy hair. After she was done, Kat stood up and let Emma lightly apply some make-up. The two checked their appearance in the mirror before heading down stairs. They agreed on taking Kat's car and headed out. It took them a good 20 minutes to get the restaurant due to traffic and they arrived to find the men already seated.
Alex stood and pulled out Kat's seat. She recognized his friend as the tall, dark, and scratchy man from their night at the bar. Alex leaned down and kissed her forehead before she could sit. She smiled and grabbed his hand. Emma took the seat next her which put her right next to tall, dark, and delicious. Dinner seemed to pass uneventfully and the conversation was steady. At the end of the evening the group forwent dessert and decided to head home. Emma left with, who Kat had found out was the other Alex, and Kat invited Alex back to her house for coffee.
Kat took it slow on the way back to her house so Alex could easily follow her. She pulled into her garage and Alex parked in the driveway. She came through the house to let him in the front door. She hadn't turned any lights on but the porch light and when she opened the front door, Alex seemed to be standing in the spotlight. He reached for her and wrapped his arms around her waist, planting his lips on hers. She looped her arms around his neck and moaned into the kiss.
He backed her up into the hallway and kicked the door shut with his foot. They fumbled around in the dark until Kat untangled herself and flipped the hall light on. She grabbed Alex's hand and pulled him into the living room. Kat latched onto his blond hair and yanked his mouth back to hers. Just then the door bell rang.