Boomerang of Happiness - 7

Next day at work, Anna was waiting for him at the cafeteria for lunch, as usual. When he came up to her, smiling, she pecked him on the cheek and loudly announced to the entire line, “Alex and I are getting married!” Most of the people in the cafeteria did not know how to react, such a shock it was for everyone. They gave each other puzzled looks, as if saying, “Why? How did this happen?” But then a lonely clapper broke the awkward silence and everyone present started to applaud and cheer, “Congratulations! Long and happy life to you together!” Alex was embarrassed by this attention, but Anna was radiant with happiness. She was particularly chatty over lunch, talking about the details of the wedding and how she imagined it.

“I haven’t discussed the wedding with my brother or parents, so I wouldn’t rush with planning the details just yet,” Alex told Anna softly.

“Why didn’t you?” she asked, clearly disappointed. At the back of her mind, she was afraid Alex started to reconsider the whole thing.

“Because it was too late to call them yesterday,” Alex said. “But I will definitely speak with them this evening.”

“But you’ve said they wouldn’t mind a double wedding?” Anna pressed back.

“They probably wouldn’t, but I still need to ask.”

Leo indeed did not mind. He called Alex in the evening himself, and said they would be happy to share the wedding. And then he added, “But are you sure you really want to get married so quickly?”

“Nice try, Lyova. Did Andrey put you up for this?”

“Why? You think I have no head or heart of my own? We all are really concerned about you. Just want to make sure that you are not doing it because you are…” Leo paused, searching for the right word that would not offend his sensitive brother.

“Desperate?” Alex prompted.

“I was going to say ‘lonely,’ looking for a better word,” Leo said.

“Lonely and desperate, I know” Alex said and continued, “To tell you the truth, in a way I am. I suddenly realized that I may stay single and alone and it really scared me. I cannot be depressed all the time, it’s time to move on with my life. If I have someone to take care of, it’ll be easier…” He also thought, “In any case, I will never have a true love like the one I had with Irina again, so why not marry Anna?” but said nothing of this to Leo, of course.

“Well, I am glad you are thinking that way. Time to move on indeed. I guess I’ll see you at the wedding then?”

“Yes, at our wedding,” Alex clarified. “Thank you for doing this, Lyova, I really appreciate it. I’ll call Mom and Dad right now, to tell them the news.”

However, Alex’s mother already knew, courtesy of Andrey and Nina, who were still concerned that Alex was committing a blunder in a rush and hoped that Mom would knock some sense back into him. Their mother Maria was a wise and shrewd woman, tough and strong as nails on the inside and refined and delicate on the outside. Born in 1933, she was the only survivor of a large Jewish family completely wiped out in June 1941, when Nazis occupied a small Ukrainian town where they lived. Maria managed to escape and got picked up by the retreating Soviet troops who put her on an evacuation train to Central Asia. In a small village near Alma-Ata, she was taken in by a large Kazakh family that raised her as their own daughter. Growing up, she spoke fluent Kazakh and learned the Kazakh traditions, of which everyone in the family was very proud.

After Maria finished her rural school with honors, she went to the Kazakh State University in Alma-Ata to study Russian literature. That’s where she met Alex’s father Pavel, a journalism student at the same school three years senior of her. They were now both renowned experts in their fields: Pavel was the editor-in-chief of a large nature magazine and Maria was a university professor teaching Russian literature. They both could never figure out why all their kids were so “technical” – engineers and programmers. Even their only daughter Daria did not take the “humanitarian” track for her career and became a computer programmer. Perhaps she actually started the trend as Daria was the oldest sibling, four years older than Andrey.

When Alex heard his Mother’s voice on the phone that evening, he felt like a little boy who’d cheated and was found out. Maria did not even say a single word about Anna, but Alex felt Mom already knew everything. Nonetheless, he told Maria about Anna, as if she knew nothing. He described how they were spending all this time together, avoiding the word “dating,” and told about his trip to Tomsk. He was hoping that his mother would say something like “I know about Tomsk” so that his suspicions about Andrey and Nina telling her everything were confirmed. But Maria didn’t break.

Alex’s father was there too, and because the phones then did not have speakers, Maria had to retell Pavel the gist of what Alex was telling her. She was good at it: Being a university professor, she knew how to summarize anyone’s rumblings in one sentence. But still, Alex felt that without some of the details his story sounded really stupid and irrational, so he insisted on his father getting the important details.

Finally, when Alex said that they’d decided to get married and would like to have a double wedding, and that Lyova did not mind, his mother said, “It’s your life, son, if you feel you are doing the right thing, we trust you with that decision.”

“Thank you, Mom… and Dad,” Alex said with great relief. “I thought you would try to talk me out of it.”

“Why? You are an adult, responsible for your own life. And now you will be responsible for another person and your future kids. I hope you understand this.”

“Of course I do, Mom. You and Dad raised me right, to understand responsibility. It’s one of the reasons why I want to get married. I want to be responsible, to feel needed.”

“And that is wonderful, son, but I am concerned that not once in our conversation you said anything about love. Is there love in this relationship?” his mother asked. Alex knew exactly what she was doing: by describing “this relationship” in neutral terms, referring to his bride as “another person” and not asking him directly “Do you love Anna?,” his mother tried to stay detached, forcing him to think about it rationally and analytically, as if it were about someone else, a stranger. That was a bad sign.

“It will come, Mom,” Alex said, not sure of it, but not wanting to deceive his mother and himself either.

“I hope so. Because you know, marriage is a life-long commitment and when it is not based on love, it’s going to be a life-long torture for both of you. Or you can start planning your divorce right now.”

“I understand, Mom. Will work on it.”

“That’s right, son, love is a lot of work. It’s good when it is already there, but it can be grown too. So I hope it will come, as you say. Is there love coming from the other side, at least?” his mother asked, still trying to stay detached. She referred to Anna as some distant star emitting love onto him. Alex had enough of this.

“Do you mean to ask if Anna loves me?”

“Yes.”

“I don’t know, Mom. Andrey and Nina asked me the same question. Anna obviously likes me and wants to marry me. We never spoke of love.”

“I see,” his mother said meaningfully, paused for Alex to ponder about the meaning and then asked, “So, will we see this Anna of yours before the wedding?”

“It’s in two months, Mom, I don’t think we will be able to swing a trip before then. I am tied up at work, as you know. I’ll see if we can come a week before, to help with the preparations.”

“That would be great. Dad and I would like to meet Anna before you get married, just to get to know her a little.”

“Yes, Mom, I understand. Will do what I can.”

They talked a little more about other things – weather, people they know, other siblings. When Alex finally hung up, he started to doubt his decision to marry Anna. His mother’s words about loveless marriage were drilling his mind. But then he thought about it more and decided that in a lot of ways, this depended on him. If he puts enough effort in their relationship he may even learn to love Anna. He also came up with a plan that would help them start their life together anew, with no one’s influence and interference. Alex resolved that his marriage would be a clean slate, his second chance at happy life.

To Part 8

Back to Part 6