Malkin and Me

Chapter Five

After about five minutes, there was a knock on my door and it opened.

"Lida, what is going on?" Evgeni demanded. I could tell he was upset.

"Nothing, just leave me alone." I rolled over so my back was to him. He didn't say anything. It was quiet for so long, I wasn't sure if he was still there or not. At last, I heard him sigh and leave. I felt bad. Somehow, I was tormenting him, though I wasn't sure how. I felt completely alone. I called my sister, tears streaming down my face.

"Hello?" She picked up. The sound of her voice made me cry harder.

"Kat... I miss you so much," I sobbed.

"Oh, Lida, what's wrong?"

"I don't know. I'm so lonely. The only person I can talk to at all is Evgeni and I'm pretty sure he hates me!"

"How could he hate you? You're incredible! You're just over-reacting. Tell me what happened."

"He said I'm weird."

"Everyone is weird, Li."

"He isn't. He's perfect." I released a shuddering breath.

"You like him!" Katryna accused. I just answered with a sob. "Shh, sweetie. It's okay." Kat tried to soothe me.

"I just don't understand what's happening to me. Where do I find these guys? First Antonio and now Evgeni..." I trailed off. I buried my face into the pillow.

"Antonio and Evgeni are not the same thing. Antonio was a bastard. You need to get it together. Evgeni is fine! There is nothing wrong happening here. First of all, you don't even know if he likes you back or not. Second of all, even if he doesn't, it doesn't make him a bad guy. Relax."

"I can't, Kat! Don't you think I'm trying?"

"Listen to me! He is never going to fall in love with you if you act like you're always on the verge of a breakdown. Get. Your. Shit. Together." I nodded my head, forgetting she couldn't see me. I took several deep breaths.

"Thanks, Kat. I don't know what I would do without you."

"Probably go so crazy, Evgeni throws you in an asylum." We laughed. I showered, cleaned myself up and went downstairs. I promised myself to do whatever I had to do to make living with Geno work. Even if he never felt the way about me I felt about him, we would be good friends.

Evgeni was watching TV and I sat down on the couch with him. We watched in silence, until eventually I went to bed. In the morning, I got up first. I made breakfast and then cleaned the living room. After vacuuming, dusting and organzing the DVDs, Evgeni finally came down.

"There are pancakes in the warming drawer," I said, smiling. Evgeni gave me a weird look.

"Thanks..." He sauntered into the kitchen, looking over his shoulder at me. I smiled and he ran a hand through his hair. My heart pained as I thought about running my own fingers threw that hair. I closed my eyes for a second, gathering myself. As he sat at the bar eating, I cleaned out the fridge. Geno watched me, saying little.

"I thought we could go to marineland," he said, "In Niagara Falls. Have you ever been?" I laughed.

"No."

"No, of course not. I knew that. Anyway... if you want to go, there's a plane tomorrow." Evgeni raised his eyebrows at me, waiting for my response.

"I would love to," I said, smiling.

"Great. I'll make the reservations then," he said. He got up, rinsing off his plate, and left. A little while later I heard him on the phone, speaking in English. I smiled to myself. Niagara Falls! I was excited. I spent most of the day cleaning. I had a hard time sleeping that night, being anxious about the plane ride and also excited.