Chapter Five

A week later, Zhenia called.

“Polina, I need to talk to you.”

“What’s wrong?” I got worried. Usually confidently loud, Zhenia’s voice sounded surprisingly soft.

“Polinochka, my dear, remember, a week ago when you saw Veronika?”

“I do remember.”

“You see, she was going to meet with me. And I had your pictures. Well, I gave her some of those and she received a letter...”

While she was telling me the whole story, my emotions went through the whole range of emotional coloring, starting with anger and confusion, ending with gaiety and interest.

“Well, what am I supposed to do now?” I asked, finally recovering from the surprise.

“They, the Americans, are coming in February. And it’s not that big a deal. If you let him stay in your place, his name is Mike, you will be able to show him the city. Then Veronika said she would take you both to Kiev. You’ll get a vacation, have some fun. After all, no one is forcing you to get married!”

That’s true, I haven’t had a normal vacation for eternity, I thought.

“You’ve been single for nearly ten years.”

“Eight.”

“Well, eight. Will anyone forbid you to date?”

“No one will!”

Was I single for so many years? No, I certainly had a boyfriend. And again I had once thought that there was no one better than him in the whole wide world. Only after he was no longer in need of my help in doing laundry for his elderly parent, he proved himself large as life and twice as ugly.

New Year’s Eve was close, coming soon. I asked twenty times how and where we were going to celebrate it. I knew I was pushing, but we at least could discuss it.

“Well, you know, I have a father,” was his answer.

“So? Will we celebrate at your place with him?”

Once again I tried to get a clear answer.

On December 31, in the afternoon, he knew exactly where and with whom he was going to celebrate the New Year.

“I’m leaving,” said my boyfriend when I found him packing.

“What about me?”

“You are staying. Anyway, I never promised you anything.”

That was one New Year’s Eve I would never forget! Russian tradition has it that how you celebrate New Year’s will dictate the course of the next twelve months. So I decided that to be dumped and hungry at the same time was clearly too much. I laid a magnificent New Year’s table with an Olivier salad; you can’t have New Year’s Eve without it. And to the salad of potatoes and vegetables, I added a fine piece of smoked ham, and was lavish with the mayonnaise. I also had a bottle of champagne, and many other delicacies.

And when, at ten o’clock in the evening, I got a call from a good friend of mine, who asked to come by to give me his best wishes on the New Year’s Eve holiday, and stayed till morning, I realized that I would be neither hungry nor alone during next year.

But on the second of January, my leaving-you-on New-Year’s Eve-boyfriend returned with a bottle of champagne and box of chocolates, and as if nothing had happened, he exclaimed, “I missed you so much! Come on, give me a welcome kiss!”

“Don’t come on to me! Just get the heck out of here!”

Proudly I held up my head, with a look of contempt to emphasize my attitude towards him. But that was not necessary. He was shocked: How was this little nobody standing up to him?

“What did you say?”

“You heard me! Get out of here.” I pronounced each word separately and distinctly. “Should I tell you where exactly to go?”

“Did you, did you think twice before you said that?”

Ha! Did I think twice? I wasn’t thinking at all. It burst out in anger. It’s no joke to leave a woman on a New Year’s Eve, and then come back, as if nothing happened and to demand love! My index finger was pointing to the door.

“The door is there.”

“I am a free man!”

“Exactly!”

“And I never promised you anything,” he tried to justify himself.

“Maybe you should have!”

“You,” he continued, trying to worm his way back into my affection. “You can ask me anything. Just never ask for money. Well, that, or to marry you!”

Wasn’t he charming?

I smiled. How you celebrate New Year’s will dictate the course of the next twelve months.

I came back to the present. “There is no one who will forbid me, I am a free woman.”

“Of course, you are!” Zhenia encouraged me.

“Okay, give me that Mike to meet.”

“Veronika will call you, so tell her about yourself, okay?” Zhenia was delighted.

“Agreed.”

Now I had to prepare my small flat to meet my dear new American friend.