i laid in my bed giggling to myself, biting the pad of my thumb. my face was so warm and i kicked under the duvet from pure happiness.
the last time i liked a guy he dumped me mid way through our trip to dubai. i should've saw it coming, he only ever hit me up when he wanted something and i was always paying for everything; and i guess that wasn't the problem, money isn't an issue for me but i just wished he treated me better considering what i did for him.
"konfetka are you up?" ksenia knocked lightly at my door. "can i come in?"
"yes mama." i sat up crossing my legs as she came in.
she reminded me of my mom so that's what i called her. she encouraged it so i guess she didn't mind much.
"breakfast is done and aleksandr and i are going out, would you like to come?" her slightly wrinkled face beamed at me.
"mhm, i'll get dressed." in a rush to get up, i nearly fell out of my bed.
"eat first." she chuckled. "i'll make you muffins too, okay."
"okay." i blushed.
normally i hated being treated like a child but when ksenia did it it was different. i feel loved and it isn't that i haven't felt like that in forever, but i missed it. i missed my parents so much and ksenia and alek filled that gap.
we ate breakfast, and i was so excited to see more of st. petersburg. they'd been taking me to all kinds of places, and i just absorbed it all. my favorite place to go was ksenia's friend calina's dress shop. i loved looking around at all the dresses and trying them on. so far i had helped two girls pick out birthday gowns and it was really nice. they didn't speak much english, and i knew basically no russian, but they understood me gushing at how cute they looked.
aleksandr drove us to red square where i wandered around like a child at disneyland. my eyes were wide as i looked at all the different things going on around me. the people, the sounds, the smells, just everything had me in awe.
ksenia held onto me as we passed by the tomb of unknown soldiers by the entrance of the kremlin. from what i could tell it was a grave for the fallen soldiers of world war two. we even saw the guards change. it was like how the guards change shifts around buckingham palace.
we went to see these pretty cathedrals, they were like museums showcasing little artifacts. i even got to see lenin's mausoleum where his body's been on display since he died, and that was in the 1920's. there were also some tombs for other important people, like the very first guy to go to space. i had always assumed buzz armstrong was the first to go to space but apparently not.
"are you hungry?" ksenia asked me as we came to a mcdonalds. it was surprisingly packed and the line was fairly long.
i had yet to eat fast food so i nodded my head and we got in line.
in front of us this little girl was tugging on her moms jacket, very obviously begging for something. i didn't know what though.
"what's she asking for?" i looked up at aleksandr.
"dessert." he said simply. "she can't afford it though, the prices are jacked up because of tourists."
"would it be offensive if i offered to pay?" my eyebrows pinched together as i saw the mother hush the child.
the interaction reminded me of when i was little and my mom didn't have a lot. for us going out was something of a luxury, eating out at restaurants was for special occasions. at the time i didn't understand where money came from, nor did it hold any value in my mind; i would beg and beg and plead on my knees for my mom to buy me a toy or stop at the bakery for sweets. i didn't get why she said no every time.
"i can ask for you, what would you like me to say?" aleksandr offered to translate.
i hummed softly. "ask her if i can pay for the meal, all of it."
he tapped the woman's shoulder and she turned around, flustered at her child's behavior. i assumed she started to apologize for the disruption but aleksandr waved his hands. he then pointed to me and began speaking their native language.
i smiled and tried not to feel too awkward about it. i didn't want her to take offense by me asking, i just really wanted to help where i could.
she looked at me as if to ask if i was being serious and i just gave her a smile. not knowing the language created so many barriers but i wanted to still be polite.
the women shook her dark hair. "no no."
"tell her i want to. it isn't a problem." i told aleksandr.
ksenia chuckled, patting my hand. "you're doing a good thing."
eventually the women gave in and i insisted she buy whatever it was she wanted off the menu. of course she tried to be cheap but then realized that i was being serious. i paid for all of our meals and the women thanked me a bunch.
it wasn't an issue, i had more than enough money so why not help her out. money was such a superficial thing to me, i didn't want it, at least not the way that i came into it; so i tried as much as possible to educate myself and help people that actually needed financial stability.
The Red Square
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liked by fuckjahseh, 90210marley and 35,471 others limoswitz // its kinda cold
{comments} 90210marley you look like a marshmello ahhh 90210marley so cuteee !! 😇💖 user1 you look like a pimp haha 🤩 user2 are those pajama? user3 an icon rugrat_stoke i can keep you warm 😋😘
