"Not officially," she whispered in my ear while we danced. She asked me to kiss her now and then. "The officially orchestrated denial of the incidence may give us a chance to get there first. Everything is already arranged. We are invited to a research station in the area. We will travel as tourists. You, being a rich American, will provide the needed excuse and financing to stage a private expedition to explore the area, to observe the reindeer population. Afterwards, after we found the object and have examined it, we are to report back to Nicolai. Fred has helped us with the financing of the mission."

      "Fred knows about this?"

      "He knows none of the details. He trusts Nicolai. He knows about the secrecy."

      She told me that it was Nicolai's idea to send me on this mission as a rich American, and to have her accompany me as my guide and interpreter. She said, this trust was his way of saying thanks.

      "For what?"

      "For convincing me to give marriage a try. We will be married in July, in Nicolai's home town." She spoke somewhat louder now. "You are all invited - Sylvia, Ross, Tony, Fred, and of course, Heather too. You are family to me, my side of the family. Besides, Nicolai wants a big wedding."

      "Now what did I have to do with that?" I almost protested.

      "Remember the symphony and its finale that will never end? It provides space for moving ahead, for bringing Nicolai up to that level. Now let me tell you something that you'll be proud of, something that shook the bureaucracy, but which Nicolai strongly supported."

      "Let me guess," I stopped the dance, "You are going to retain your maiden name! Right?"

      "Right! But how did you guess?"

      "I almost didn't notice it, Anton. Now, it makes sense. Your name was printed like that on the dinner invitation; Nicolai Vasily and Antonovna Valentina, Berendeyev Lisitov."

      "Oh you!!!" she punched me.

      "Don't you think I would have guessed it anyway?" I defended myself. "You always liked to use your full name. How could you just give it up? It's your symbol of autonomy. You're far too proud of being yourself, that you would give up your identity and take on that of another."

      "Oh you!!!" she said again. "Here, I was going to surprise you."

      "Oh, you did surprise me," I replied. "Why didn't you say something about that in Caracas?"

      "It was of no great importance to us, then." She said this with the gentlest smile.

      It was lovely to see her excitement as she spoke about these things. She was one woman whom marriage would not change, and yet the very idea seemed to have changed her. She was as radiantly lovely and enthusiastic about everything, and as free as she had been that night when we first met in the same restaurant over a dozen years ago, when the world was so much simpler. And there was another thing about her that was also still the same. She wore the same type of black velvet dress, that she had worn for our first dinner, and the same type of blouse that matched the color of her hair. It was as if she was saying that nothing had happened in the meantime, though a whole new world had opened up to us. Also the view out of the window was still as I had remembered it. The Red Square was as white with snow as it had been then.

      I would have loved to query Nicolai about the mission as freely as we had discussed the world in earlier times. I knew that this would not be possible now. Apparently, what was happening was too important to risk any more talk about it. It appeared wise to be patient. Consequently, not another word was spoken on the subject throughout the dinner, at least not directly. Still, I sensed that Nicolai was as impatient to talk, as I was to hear his story.

Next Page

|| - page index - || - chapter index - || - Exit - ||

Stories about  Love from novels by Rolf A. F. Witzsche