Stay, I Pray You

Part 7

Gleb had returned to his office and was on the phone again with his superior Gorlinsky.

"The train returned to Leningrad and she wasn't on it?" He demanded from across the phone line.

Gleb had to reply somehow. "A temporary setback. We'll find her, never fear. She thinks that she can elude us, but she'll end up here."

"A ragged little popstar, engaging in a crime." Gorlinsky said. "The little street sweeper is running out of time."

The phone line went dead, and Gleb sat down at his desk. He put his head in his hands, wondering how gullible he was. He kept being tricked, and he had been starting to fall for Anya, so her betrayal hurt. 

***

"Thank you for the help, Anya" Vlad said. Anya was going her own way, and had to leave Vlad and Dimitri.

Anya nodded. "It was no problem. Is he going to be ok?" She pointed to Dimitri, who was blatantly ignoring her. Vlad shrugged. He didn't know.

"Goodbye Vlad." Anya said, then started walking.

***

*Sorry for the long timeskip, but two weeks later*

Anya had arrived in Paris just that morning. She sat down near the bridge named after Tsar Alexander. She pulled out a guidebook she found, and started looking through it. One name caught her eye. 'The Neva Club' it said on the fifth page.

Anya headed to the address, asking people for help if she needed it. When outside, she saw it was a club for rich russians, which she was not. A man came out when he saw her. "Greetings, comrade." He said to her.

Him saying comrade reminded her of Gleb, who's friendship she missed. "Fresh off the train? The Russian tea shop on Rue de l'Arc, number 17, is hiring." Anya looked up at him, gratitude on her face.

"Thank you." She said, as he turned back to the door to talk to some patrons of the Neva Club.

When he turned back to Anya, he said "Please don't loiter. They won't like it. You can go to the back door for something to eat. Ask for Oscar." She nodded and stood up.

"Thank you again," She called as she headed to the back. When Anya got to the back door, she knocked on it. A man in a uniform like the doormans opened it. "The doorman sent me back here. He told me to ask for Oscar?"

The man nodded, then said "He can't come out now. Can you wait until closing?" in a gruff voice. Anya nodded, and walked over to a nearby park to sit down.

A little over an hour later Anya walked back to the Neva Club. The sun was setting, house lights were going on, and a cool breeze was blowing. She knocked on the back door again and asked for Oscar. "I'm Oscar. Did Sergio send you?" At Anya's look of confusion, he added "Sergio is the doorman."

She nodded and he let her in. Anya walked into the ballroom of the Neva Club and a few things caught her eye, like the chandelier. She walked around, imagining a life like the people who came here's lives must be. She saw a flash of white by her foot and she bent over.

There were two tickets to a performance of Swan Lake next week. She picked them up, feeling strange, almost like someone saw exactly what she was doing.

Anya decided to go to the address given to her from Sergio earlier. She walked to the address, still feeling like she was being watched. Anya was interviewed for the job their, but they didn't want her, so she went back to the Neva Club.

She slept there every night for the next five days. When she woke up that morning, Anya realized she couldn't go to the Paris ballet in almost three week old clothes, so she went back to Sergio, whom she had made friends with over the last few days. "Do you know anywhere I can get fresh clothes?" She asked, gesturing to her dirty skirt and blouse.

Sergio shrugged, but then started talking. "You could try the shop down the Rue de l'Arc, near the tea shop." She thanked him, then ran over to the shop.

Anya picked out a white jacket and skirt, which she kept in the bag she got them in until the day of the ballet. She went back into the shop to try some stuff on and put on the clothes.

Anya pulled out the envelope, but saw only one ticket. 

***

Sorry for the late update. I only have one more chapter for this written, and I'm having a hard time continuing to write this. The next update will probably be in two weeks, and then I'm going to place this book on hold for a while. I'll still work on it, but Part 9 is probably going to come out in a month or so. Thank you for reading this book so far.