Galina Ivanov was now truly without any family. Her grandmother, Zoya Erin, had just passed away and when Galina received a registered letter summoning her to a lawyer's office downtown Boston, she couldn't imagine why until the reading of her will...
Galina busied herself in the kitchen. There were two nice size steaks that had been put into a marinade, so that would be the foundation of their meal. Looking around, she saw some brussel sprouts that she could peel and saute in olive oil, sea salt and crumble some bacon on them.
She needed one more thing to go with dinner, so she looked into the fridge and found everything to make a salad. Smiling that she had everything for their wonderful dinner, she went about looking for a place outside to set up for them to eat.
Rummaging around in the little backyard area, she saw a small table, a little dirty but she could fix that right up.
There were two chairs and they needed cleaning up as well. Going back inside, she gathered a cloth and then looked under the sink for some cleaning supplies.
Once she had what she needed, she went back outside and started working on the table. Standing back and putting her hands on her hips, she admired her hard work. The table looked great.
Now for the chairs. After those were cleaned up and looked good enough to sit in, she went in search of a vase or container that she could put some flowers in.
She hummed softly to herself as thoughts of her and Ilia played over and over, like a DVD, in her mind. There was no doubt she loved him more than life and she knew, beyond a doubt, that he felt the same way about her.
On a lower shelf, in the back, she found some jars that looked like what she would call Mason jars and thought those would be perfect for a flower arrangement for the table.
Looking through the tiny cabinets and the drawers, her eyes fell on a lavender ribbon that would go perfectly around the jars. She thought three jars would do it, so she tied the ribbon around all three jars, and went out to pick some flowers.
She wasn't familiar with a lot of flowers, but she knew roses and there were several types, she knew carnations, so she grabbed some of those and some daisies and sunflowers. The bouquet looked perfect!
Bringing them back in, she trimmed the tips at an angle, something Zoya had taught her, and then she plucked the leaves right up to where the water line would be.
Getting them arranged, she was completely thrilled with how great it looked. Placing water in the jars, she took the flowers outside and sat them on the table.
Next she would get the cutlery, plates, glasses and napkins. The plates were old but clean and that's all that Galina cared about. She wasn't stuffy or snobby when it came to things like that.
She was a simple girl, who loved simple things and was very easy to please. She knew Ilia had money, tons of it, but she'd hoped that she never made him feel like he had to spend it on her.
She wanted him, not his money. Sighing, and getting rid of those thoughts, she had everything ready to start on their meal.
She would go and change clothes quickly, being glad that she packed at least one comfy dress and sandals, it would be perfect for their intimate dinner.
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The bodice was white, ruffly short sleeves and a bit of lace around the cuffs and the skirt was a floral pattern, greens and white. She chose just a simple white sandal to complete her outfit.
She fluffed her hair and decided it looked okay and then did a simple powder, light blush, eyeliner, light eye shadow and nude gloss for her lips. She sprayed on a light mist of her gardenia perfume that Ilia liked and then went back down to the kitchen.
She blushed when she thought of them being intimate for dessert, but seeing as how there wasn't anything along those lines in the house, it would just have to be and it would be better for sure.
When she was looking for the jars for the flowers, she had seen a grill pan, the kind with lines, that you can use on a stove top. That would be perfect for the steaks, so she happily set to task on getting the food ready.
She never heard Ilia come up behind her, but jumped a little when she felt his arms snake around her waist, his nose buried in the crook of her neck.
"My God, baby" he breathed. "You smell like an angel" he told her sweetly. "What are you up to?" he asked as she turned to face him.
Looking up at her gorgeous man, she slowly looked his face over, carefully memorizing every little detail about him and sighed. She couldn't believe that he loved her!
"Well" she drawled a little, making him chuckle. "I thought for our first night here, we could have us a little romantic dinner outside. Come, I want to show you" she said excitedly.
Bringing him outside, she showed him the table, chairs and the flowers. She talked animatedly about how dirty the table and chairs were and how she'd cleaned them all up.
"You did all this, baby?" he asked adoringly. Shyly, she nodded. "Well, I'll leave you to it then" he said. "I can't wait to see what dinner is" he winked at her making her giggle.
Galina pouted when he turned to walk off. "Hey! Mr. Savin!" she called after him. That got his attention as he looked down at her, smirking at her boldness.
"Yes, Ms. Ivanov?" he answered jokingly. "You were going to leave without giving me a kiss?" she batted her eyelashes and tried to look like she was pouting.
It must have done the trick because he was on her before she could blink an eyelash, his lips crashing down on hers.
"Is that satisfactory" he husked. Looking at him with pink, swollen lips, she nodded and said "Very." Her breathy voice replied.
"Don't keep looking at me like that, little kot" his delicious threat warming her body. "I won't be able to keep my hands off your delectable little body and I would hate to spoil your dress."
Galina bit her lower lip and nodded slowly. "Alright. I'll let you know when dinner is ready" she said smiling at him. He winked and walked away.
"God that man" she sighed as she went back inside to finish dinner. She started on the sprouts first. She peeled several layers of the leaves off because they were tough and bitter.
Getting a skillet, she cooked the bacon and drained most of the grease, but left some to saute the sprouts in. The bacon gave great flavor.
A little olive oil and sea salt, she let them cook and started on the salad. Lastly, it was time for the steaks.
Whatever the marinade was, it had the whole kitchen smelling savory when she put them on the heated skillet grill.
When the steaks had finally finished, she took them out of the skillet and put them under a tent of foil, to let them rest and let the juices redistribute throughout the meat and then she went to find Ilia.
She found him in a clearing talking with Maxim and Roman. She stopped just short because she didn't want to disturb them while they spoke about business.
Ilia noticed her right away and stuck his hand out to her. Without hesitation, she went straight to him, taking his offered hand in hers.
"Galina" Max and Roman addressed. "Hey guys" she said smiling. "Sorry to interrupt" she started "But I just wanted to let Ilia know that dinner was ready. Just come on when you are done" she said starting to turn away.
"I'm finished, baby. I'll walk back with you" he said smiling at her. They started back towards the house, hand-in-hand when Galina turned to him, put her hands on his chest, looked up at him and said "I love you."
