Reunion After 25 Years 19: Potential Rival

Andrea awoke the next morning in Anton's new house. Memories of the events of the previous day washed over her. She looked over at Anton and saw that he was still asleep. She watched him for a few minutes, thinking about how adorable he looked with his dark blond hair streaked with white in disarray and his eyes closed. She closed her own eyes again and cuddled up closer to him.

After awhile she found her hand wandering southward until it encountered his privates. She stroked him until he was hard, then moved down in the bed until she could take him into her mouth. Within a few minutes she felt his fingers stroking her hair and looked up to see him grinning at her.

"Sorry. Did I wake you up?"

He laughed. "It is all right. A very nice way to wake up." Gently he positioned her to where her mouth was level with his and kissed her deeply. Then he made love to her again.

Later in the morning they were busy unpacking when the doorbell rang. Anton went to answer it, and when Andrea followed a couple of minutes later, she saw him talking to an absolutely stunning blonde in about her early thirties who was holding a platter of brownies.

"Hi! I'm Sally. I live next door," she said. "I saw you moving in yesterday and wanted to come over and welcome you to the neighborhood."

"It's very nice to meet you, Sally," said Anton. "I am Anton, and this is Andrea, the woman I love."

"Oh! You're from another country!" Sally squealed. "I love your accent!"

"Yes, I am from Russia." Anton grinned, stepping aside as Sally pushed her way into the house. Immediately she began asking Anton questions, almost completely ignoring Andrea, who tried to be patient but soon found herself becoming irritated.

Sally stayed for several hours before finally saying good-bye, leaving the platter of brownies behind.

"Whew! She is gone," Anton exclaimed with a relieved chuckle.

"You sound happy about that," Andrea commented.

"She seems to be nice, but she talks a little too much." He took a bite of a brownie. "She is a good cook, however."

Later that afternoon, they took a walk for a few blocks until they came to a small deli, where they bought smoothies and sat on the patio in front drinking them and talking. A small orange cat came up and began rubbing its body against Anton's legs. Anton scratched between its ears.

"You are cute little one, but I cannot take you home. I have nothing to feed you."

When they finished their smoothies and left, the cat followed right behind Anton, still rubbing against his legs and mewing.

"It looks like you have a cat now, Anton," Andrea said with a smile.

The next time Andrea saw Anton, he was livid with rage. She'd never seen him so upset before.

"Just look what they sent me in mail!" he exploded, shoving a paper in Andrea's face.

Andrea glanced at it. "Why, it looks like it's just a bill from when Darya had her appendix out."

"They will make me pay just because I had to take my daughter to the hospital?" Anton was incredulous.

"Well, yes, Anton. That's the way it works in this country. You have to pay for health care just like you pay for rent and electricity."

"But health care is a basic human right, just like education! The government should take care of that for everyone, like in my country!"

Andrea laughed and shook her head.

"I will not pay it!" Anton declared, stalking away angrily.

"That's up to you, but if you don't pay it, you'll start getting nasty letters from collection agencies."

Anton scowled.

"You really should pay it, Anton. If you don't, it might mess up your credit rating and make it harder for you to buy things over time. If you talk to the billing department at the hospital, I'm sure they can work out monthly payments for you that won't be too bad."

"Maybe America is not such a great place, after all."

"You don't really mean that. You're just upset right now." Andrea rubbed Anton's back, and he seemed to calm down. Within moments the cat was there, staring curiously at Andrea.

"Well, hello there," said Andrea, reaching to pet it. "What's your name?"

"The cat's name is Sasha." The hospital bill temporarily forgotten, Anton grinned. "For my great nephew. His name is Alexander, but we call him Sasha. His father was my nephew Petya. He was killed in Afghanistan in 1984. Did I tell you about him?"

"Maybe you did. I don't remember."

"Anyway, I don't know if the cat is a boy or a girl, so I call it Sasha. It is a girl's name in U.S., like Nikita, right?"

"Yeah. Has Sally been by again?"

Anton laughed. "Oh, yes. She asked me lots of silly questions. She asked if in Russia we wear those fur hats all year long. I told her no, we do have summer in Russia, even though it is very short, and in summer we wear swimsuits just like Americans do. She is a nice girl, but not very smart. She watches too many movies."

"Is she married?"

"Yes, but her husband is in the Middle East, like Anna's husband."

"Does she have any kids?"

"No."

"She's probably just lonely, then."

"Maybe."

Andrea felt uncomfortable about the idea of a woman as attractive as Sally living next door to Anton, but knew that there was nothing she could do about it.