EVERYTHING TO WIN

FOUR

Anya digs through her messily packed suitcase hoping to find some clothes to wear that aren't wrinkled. She finds a pair of dark wash jeans and a nice royal blue blouse to wear. She puts on her trusty combat boots, that she likes to call her 'battle boots', and heads out. She finds Lou's diner in Google Maps and sees that it's a 3 minute walk from her hotel. She briefly looks at the directions on her phone and walks to the diner. On her way she notices the beauty and simplicity of this part of Leningrad. No one is around, all you hear is the sound of the wind whistling, your footsteps on the pavement, the birds conversing, and the trees swaying. But for the most part, complete and utter silence. She enjoys the peacefulness, since her last location was the opposite. She felt as if she belongs here and that it wouldn't be so bad to stay here for a while. But she couldn't. She had work to do. She has to find her family. She sees a large pink and blue neon sign that says "Lou's Diner" and walks inside. She sees Gleb already sitting down at a booth at the opposite end of the entrance. He sees her immediately and his face lights up. Anya walks over the booth and sits across from him. He is beaming in front of her, he stares at Anya with a big grin on his face. He wipes it away when she looks up at him.
"I didn't think you were gonna come."
"Wow. You must have bad luck with women then, huh?"
"Yeah..the last girl I was interested in bailed on me every time I invited her somewhere." Anya stared down at her menu trying to hide her smirk. Gleb immediately notices the words just said and his calm and casual expression turned into embarrassment.
"Not that I'm interested in you...I mean I am-but not-"
"Gleb! I get it." She touches his arm across the table reassuring him. He smiles at her friendly gesture.
"So tell me about yourself Anya."
"Well I already told you everything there is about me. I don't really live....or belong anywhere and I am doing historic-ish research." She says avoiding eye contact with him. Anya hates talking about her family to people she barely knows.
"You never told me what kind..."
"And I intend to keep it that way." She pauses noticing the harsh tone of her words. "I'm sorry Gleb, I didn't mean to be rude...I just don't like talking about my personal life with people I barely know."
"I get it. I respect your privacy." He says giving her a kind glance.
"Well enough about me, tell me about you." Anya says resting her face in her hands.
"Well uh...I was born and raised in Leningrad with my little brother, Toyla."
"Does he live here now?"
"Uh no...he..he died many years ago." He looked away from her. Anya knew he was still there but it felt as if he left her and relived this moment for a bit. Anya felt bad for stepping over his boundaries, she hated when others did that to her.
"Oh. I'm sorry...I didn't mean-"
"No you didn't know." He sighs and continues changing the subject. "But yeah I work as a police officer for LPD."
"That must be brutal, working all those hours, seeing awful things every hour of everyday-"
"No it's worth it. I get to do what I love. Help others. Sure it's mentally draining but in the end I know I helped at least one person and that's all that matters." Anya admires Gleb's love for service that's nothing something you see everyday. The waiter comes buy and asks them for there orders. Once they order they look at each other briefly and then look away. Anya decides to break the awkward silence.
"So what does your family do Gleb?"
"Well my dad was apart of the LPD-"
"Was?"
"Yeah he died when I was young..."
"Man, I am just asking all the wrong things today. I'm sorry-"
"No it's fine. You couldn't have known." They both take a moment in the silence.
"What happened, if I may ask?"
"Uh...well I will give you the condensed version. He was told to do something that would determine the fate of his career and he did it. Then what he did came back to bite him and he died. My mother died shortly after."
"I'm so sorry."
"It's alright." There's silence once more.
"I barely knew my parents." She interjects the silence.
"And the brief memories I have I can barely remember. Pretty much my entire family was killed and I was one of the only survivors." She paused.
"I am trying to find my grandmother, the last living relative I have...that's the research I've been doing."
"I thought you weren't going to tell me what you were researching."
"Well you told me a personal story, I thought I'd return the favor. And I trust you." Gleb smiles at her and his smile fades away to him being deep in thought.
"Are you okay?" Anya says trying to laugh off his concerned expression.
"Yeah. Sorry." He says blinking away his thoughts.  Anya and Gleb enjoyed the rest of the night talking and getting to know each other. Anya enjoyed his company and not having to be cooped in her room all day. Instead she made a friend and a meaningful connection. Once they finish there food Gleb and Anya walk side by side out the diner.
"This was nice." Anya said as the wind blew her hair back. "I am usually caught up in my research but it was nice to escape for a bit."
"I'm glad you had a good time."
"Well, I'm this way so.." Anya says awkwardly.
"I'm that way." Gleb says pointing the other way. His response not making the conversation any better.
"I'll see you around Gleb." Anya grips onto her purse.
"Goodnight." He waves to her and watches her fade away. "Anya...." Gleb finally knew why those eyes looked familiar to him. He has seen them before, but on a different face and from a different time.  His internal movie rewinds to when he he was a little boy. He remembers running around in the grass. Rolling around in it, enjoying it's prickly texture. All of sudden a loud popping noise followed by a blood curdling scream came from inside his house. Him being the curious boy he was peeked inside. He saw something he had never seen before, a thick red substance surrounding his fathers head. He had never seen him like this. He was lifeless. His mother kneeling in front of him sobbing. He had never seen her cry so hard in his life. He saw something being pointed at her and her whole body shook. She tried to speak but she was silenced by that same popping noise. Gleb was startled by the sound. At the time he wasn't sad, mad, or angry. He was in fact confused. He didn't understand why his parents were laying down lifelessly and a thick red substance flooded there kitchen floor. He was too young to understand. The person holding the gun walked towards where Gleb was. Gleb ran to the side of his house where there was a large pipe for him to hide behind. The man walked out of the house, looked both ways, and walked out of his house. A sense of guilt on his face. Glen caught a glimpse of him as he walked. He was average height, with dark brown hair, and a moustache. He walked with his shoulders back and head held high. It was as if he was royalty. He had eyes like no other; a striking shade of blue. They had a distinct shape and look that couldn't be forgotten. That's when Gleb realized. Those eyes....Anya had them. Anya was related to the man that killed his parents. He knew that he had to get closer to her, he had to find her grandmother before she could, and get the answers he never would've thought to find. After all these years he could finally find out why his parents were murdered.