“That’s it.”
“It’ll get clearer. It will. Just take your time and decide for yourself, not anybody else.”
I nodded in appreciation. “Thanks.”
“Why thank me?” she questioned. “While you take your time, you could help me with work. It's neither boring nor stressful, I can assure you.”
I sat back on the couch. “I’ll think about it. Do I even know where my glasses are?”
“Clearing out records will also help you clear your head,” she promised.
“Milady!” Greta called, smiling as she approached.
“Oh, Greta.”
“Hans always tells me you’re well every time I send him up with your food, but I'm still worried. I wasn’t sure if it was a woman thing. What do the men know?”
“I’m fine, Greta. I just felt like having some time alone. Sorry I worried you.”
“Ah, it’s nothing. I’m happy to see you hale and hearty.”
“I am okay, thank you.”
“Should I serve lunch now?” she asked, looking from me to Mila.
“Yes, please!” Mila answered, making me chuckle.
At least, I still have normal days like this to hold on to.
**********
I wasn’t avoiding Konstantin. I knew it looked like that, from pretending to sleep, to my curt greetings whenever we ran into each other. But that was not it.
The simple fact was that I wasn’t sure of how to be or act around him. My head still wasn’t clear enough for me to have answers. That was probably the main reason I took up Mila’s offer.
So we were both in the office, sorting through recovered files and building a clean audit trail to present to Viktor and the authorities. We had been busy with it for most of the past two days. Things had to be officially done, and I needed to clear my name with the authorities.
With each activity I participated in and every task I took on, I found myself becoming part of the Lobanov Bratva machine instead of its prisoner.
I was bent over the laptop screen, busy comparing some scanned documents with my glasses sliding down my nose, when I saw Konstantin. He stood by the doorway, his gaze on me. I wondered what he was thinking of. Then he was gone.
Mila and I took a break for the day, even though I teased her about going back to it since she seemed to be unable to stay away for long. So I decided to go to the balcony instead of my room upstairs. Since it was evening and the air was chilly, I took one of my two blankets and brought it back downstairs with me. Sitting on the sofa facing the few stairs leading to the entrance door, I wrapped the blanket around myself.
The breeze caught the hair that was slowly escaping from my twist as I sat there, trying to just relax. I didn’t want to entangle myself in as much thinking as I’d done in the previous days. So I just took in the fresh air and enjoyed the view.
I looked to the left as the entrance doors opened. Konstantin joined me on the balcony, his hair loose around his face, his feet bare.
He didn’t say anything as he came to sit beside me.
“You’ve been quite good at hiding these days,” he accused, his tone light.
“I’ve been trying to sort things out in my head,” I admitted.
“I understand.”
I nodded slowly, sighing again.
“Alina.”
