Vampire Smile (On hold)

Chapter Twenty-one

Chapter Twenty-one

I wipe the perspiration off my forehead and stare up at the setting sun.

Whew. I look around the lawn and instantly forget about my exhaustion when I see it clean and green. I smile and start to shove the steel push reel mower towards the tool shed just beside the garage.

“Vy nuzhdayetes ’v pomoshchi?”

I turn around and find a man beaming at me on the sidewalk.

“Oh.” I really don’t know how to speak in Russian. All I’m familiar with is the phrase ‘do svidanya’ which means goodbye and surely I can’t use it to a man who I’m just about to meet. “Sorry. I have no idea how to speak your language. Do you know English, perhaps?”

“You’re American?” He grins. “I teach English at the State University.” He walks towards me and offers a hand. “My name is Aleksander Levin.”

I politely accept it. “Nice to meet you, Mr. Levin. I’m Andi Raine Blair.”

“Call me Alek, please.”

I notice how his eyes roam around my face towards my tight tank top down to my tiny, running shorts, exposed legs and my fave Chuck Taylor’s. I shrug off the discomfort his action made me feel. With the skimpy clothes I’m wearing, it’s not his fault that he can’t resist checking me out.

Alek’s green eyes return to mine and he smiles. “Let me help you with that.” He takes the mower out of my hands and pushes it towards the shed.

“You don’t really have to, but thanks anyway.” I walk beside him and we both settle the small equipment inside Gabriel’s neat and organized tool shed.

“So, you’re our new neighbor.”

I look at him when I finish locking up the door.

“That’s our house. I live with my wife.” Alek points to a structure just beside Gabriel’s. I immediately calm down upon hearing him mention a wife and drop the thought that he’s hitting on me.

“That’s great.” I quickly bite my lower lip and hope I don’t sound too relieved.

“I never heard or saw you move in.”

I suddenly straighten. Because he really didn’t. How can I tell him I just magically appeared on the front lawn in the middle of the night? “Well, I arrived late in the evening. I haven’t been out since. You know, I was still resting from the jet lag and stuff.”

“Oh.”

“I had all the other furniture shipped ahead of me, though.”

“Yes. I saw movers coming and going for the last weeks.”

We both reach the front door of the house. I’m thinking about a nice way to say goodbye when Alek surprises me by touching my arm.

I almost flinch but manage a courteous smile.

“Hey, we can give you a housewarming. My wife’s a great cook. She can whip up the most delicious borscht in Russia. We can bring you some.”

That is not a very good idea… I think when I gaze up at the disappearing sun. I’m sure Gabriel will be in the house soon and I don’t know if he’ll enjoy human guests. He warned me to keep a low profile here, and I will certainly earn a rant from him for this. I also bet he won’t like Aleksander. I can’t say I could blame him. Alek makes me a bit uncomfortable, too.

“So, Andi..?”

“Umm…” What the heck. I’m a foreigner in this country. I don’t want to be rude to its people. I don’t even have an approved visa to live here. “Sure. I can prepare steak if you like. Dinner at nine?”