Say my name

Chapter 5

The first two weeks went in a flash. The guests met Wolodia, Aleksey's helper. He was a young boy but extremely hard working, polite and easy going. He had the kind of face that always seemed to be smiling and when he laughed it was infectious. All three of them loved him immediately. Kevin and Anabella helped him with pleasure in all the work on the farm. The chores were fun and interesting with Wolodia because he made an effort to explain to them everything as they worked. He spoke broken English, but his personality made up for all that was lost in translation. He joked with them and told stories about his family and people living in the area. Wolodia was a true Siberian, born and raised there. His family owned a farm not far from Aleksey's, but Wolodia liked to earn extra money by helping Aleksey. Anabella and Kevin agreed that any work with him did not feel like work at all. He always whistled or sung Russian folk songs. Anabella could not wait to tell all about Wolodia to her friends. Wolodia brought so much good spirit with him that Anabella slowly forgot the less pleasant experiences and finally began enjoying her stay.

Svetlana also was a frequent visitor in Aleksey's home. She lived in a small house not far from the farm. Svetlana did not own much land, just enough to grow her own vegetables and flowers. One-time after dinner Aleksey told them the story how Svetlana happened to live there. It was a sad story and both Jessica, and Anabella embraced her even more in their company. It was not a secret for the girls that Aleksey had some deeper feelings for the lady. It was many years since the death of his wife, so the girls wondered why Aleksey would not make that relationship more official. Neither Jessica nor Anabella feel comfortable enough though to ask more personal questions, so for the time being Svetlana was just a family friend for them.

In the meantime, Jessica drove around the area with Aleksey, took pictures and notes, and in the afternoons, she worked long hours on her laptop. Aleksey oversaw cooking most of the time. At first Jessica volunteered Anabella to help with the chore, but Aleksey said that he loved cooking and wanted to treat them to a local cuisine as much as he could. He apologized for lack of creativity with the dishes, but the guests agreed that everything he cooked was out of this world. The girls never thought that simple meals could be so tasty. The freshness of the ingredients made all the difference. He certainly got to Anabella's heart through her stomach. Although she could not communicate with him, they developed a special bond just by exchanging smiles and hand gestures. Anabella loved the old man; she admired his old-fashioned manners and gentleness of his movements. For some reason Anabella believed that Aleksey knows more than he shows, she saw in his eyes a lot of wisdom. From the pictures on the walls Anabella got to know Aleksey's wife and the boys' mother, as well as their older members of the family. Just by looking at the framed memories, Anabella figured that Aleksey and Alexandra must have been incredibly happy together. Alexandra's face was beautiful and regal, and the eyes dark and passionate. Undeniably Maxim took the looks after his mother, while Sergey was a spitting image of his father. Anabella did not ask too many questions about Alexandra thinking that she might unnecessarily dug up a lot of sadness. She never knew how to deal with people's losses of the loved ones. Losing her Babcia was such a blow, that to this day she did not like talking about her feelings openly.

Maxim and Anabella saw little of each other, mostly at the evening family meals. Nobody knew if it was because of natural coincidence or they really tried to avoid each other's company. Maxim seemed to be annoyed seeing Anabella working so happily with Wolodia, chatting and laughing unrestrained. The few times Maxim came to help them, the atmosphere instantly soured. Anabella was upset that his smile disappeared when she looked at him but instead his intense dark gaze bore into her. Anabella promised Jessica to be on her best behavior and she kept her word by not talking to him much. Nevertheless, she was drawn to his aloofness and when he did not see, she studied his countenance. For the reasons she could not comprehend, Anabella felt intimidated in his company and every time she thought about something smart to say something the complete opposite came out of her mouth causing Maxim to be even more annoyed with her. Therefore, she decided to scrap the idea of developing a friendly relationship with him and enjoyed everybody else.