A stolen life

Chapter 6

Euphoria made it very hard to rest properly. I was eager to see Katia again, to hug her to make all the pain go away, to kiss her lips until she was no longer able to remember the last few days… And I didn’t care anymore, God knew my love for her was sincere and pure, and that my intentions weren’t mean. He knew how much she had suffered, and contemplating this idea I understood it was my most important duty to make her happy and to bring her joy.

All kind of thoughts wandered in my mind waiting for the time Gabrielle would go out to bring Katia. I was daydreaming of us, and images of our possible future weren’t hard to imagine. We’d get married and live close to the sea in a medium sized house, we could open a small business to provide us a living. Also I could even picture Ekaterina with her carefree nature, taking care of a little garden. I had never spoken about how many children she wanted to have, but in my daydreaming we had two adorable toddlers running around the house, giving the nanny a very hard time. It all felt very real and possible, until I started to get back to reality. The endless divorce had to be finished rather soon, since it was the rock in our shoes. And then, we had to make sure her ex husband wouldn’t stalk and chase us… The very unpleasant face of the man gave me the thought he could be the sort of person to behave with that manner. But this still was not the imminent future. Ekaterina had to be brought to safety.  

About 7.00 Gabrielle got up. I was extremely anxious around her asking questions such as how were we going to find clothes for Ekaterina to wear at her sister’s house among others of the kind. But she was very good at calming me using her motherly talents. Gabrielle assured me she could buy some things for Katia, and that I shouldn’t worry at all about the matter. All I should concern was to pack a few things for myself and to wait for them at home. Before leaving she reassured she had everything controlled and she wasn’t going to let the disgusting man get in her way.

The first hour passed and my anxiety grew, I tried in vain to control how many cigarettes I was smoking, otherwise I wouldn’t have any for the train ride. I was constantly looking through the window curtains to see them coming, but I wasn’t succeeding. Very slowly, the first hour became the second one since Gabrielle had left. Adding to smoking and looking out, now I grew worried attempting to not conceive in my mind all the things that could avoid Ekaterina from running away, or the things the disgusting pig could say to prevent her from going out for a “walk”. It was a horrendous torture, the nerves welled up in the roof of my stomach and I could feel myself trembling as a leaf in a windy day. At last, I stood up and decided to climb to the roof for a better vision of the streets where lots of merry people strolled, chatting happily. Out of all the crowds, few of them were groups of women that could be the ones I was anxious to see. I spent about half an hour on the roof, until I decided it wasn’t working and it was risky: it was very slippery and I didn’t want to get injured in such crucial moment. Once back in the house, I checked one last time the clock, promising I wouldn’t anymore. It was almost 11 o’clock and Gabrielle had remarked about a noon train to reach her sister’s town. The nerves and anxiety continued making me sick, and at the end I saw myself obligated to use the toilet; I was utterly nauseous, there was no possible way I could abandon the mentioned place anytime soon, until I heard noise outside. It seemed a similar sound to moving furniture, and I imagined some burglar had broken into the house. Sadly there wasn’t any object in the bathroom I could use to defend myself, so I opened the door as quietly as possible and peered in direction to the living room. The air circulated freely out of my lungs. It was Gabrielle.

-Where’s Ekaterina?-I asked rushing to her.

She gave me no answer, and immediately I felt two familiar arms hugging me from the side.

-Katia… my love- I lifted her from the ground still unable to believe she was finally there. I looked and checked over and over again if she was unharmed.