From Russia With Love

After a long and grueling day of dance rehearsals that mainly consisted of repeating the same set of steps over and over again, Dominika returned home with a stiff, sore body that ached all over. She longed for a hot bath and an early bedtime, wanting as much sleep as possible before she had to get up tomorrow and do the same thing all over again.

Donna greeted her cheerily in the foyer as she trudged in the front door, bag slung over her shoulder. She let it drop to the floor and pulled a few pins from her hair, shaking it loose over her shoulders like a veil.

“How did it go?” Donna asked eagerly.

“Long and repetitive, but still a good day”

“I’m sure it will pay off in the end, darling” Donna said as she pat Dominika’s shoulder, pulling it away suddenly when Dominika winced.

“Sorry dear”

“Don’t worry about it, I’m sore all over. I think I can hear the bathtub calling my name”

“Konstantin put aside dinner for you in the kitchen, and Donald will be home in an hour or so and will want to hear all about your day”

“Thank you. I’ll be done in less than half an hour, I just want to get washed up”

“Take your time, Domi”

Dominika pulled her bag back over her shoulder and turned to head towards the stairs.

“There’s another letter for you. I left it in the usual place”

Dominika couldn’t hide the smile on her face as she climbed the stairs with added haste, eager to read the latest addition to Gerard’s letters from Russia. The last time he’d written they’d seized control of Novgorod again and were heading into the more central part of her homeland. His letters were always upbeat and positive, perhaps even a little cocky. He seemed utterly confident they would have no real problem overthrowing Chinese control and re-establishing power. Dominika wasn’t entirely naïve however, and a large part of her believed that he omitted certain details from his writing that would alarm or upset her.

Her weekly meetings with the American-Russian correspondent she had been introduced to upon her arrival into the country were slightly less positive, and had painted central Russia in particular as a hot-bed for violence and military brutality. It seemed the foreigners had their firmest grip on the capitol, Moscow, which the Americans were now preparing to bomb in order to flush the enemy militants out. Dominika had tried her hardest not to dwell on this particular detail, the thought of the beautiful historic onion-domed churches and buildings of the ancient city in smoldering ruins being too much to bear.

Her eyes zoned in on the white envelope addressed in her name that lay on the dresser in its usual position, her bag quickly discarded so she could open it. There were two pieces of paper instead of one this time, folded together. She tore the envelope open in her impatience to retrieve the papers, and let that too fall to the floor with her bag.

She scanned through Gerard’s messy handwriting quickly, absorbing each word. He seemed in good health and spirits, but she detected another emotion brewing behind his words that she couldn’t quite place. Uncertainty? This scared her and she read on quickly, afraid she was about to be told something terrible. Her heart sunk as she read that they were closing in on Moscow, the very place she didn’t want him to be. Maybe that was where the odd tone in his letter came from, perhaps he also knew that Moscow had been completely ravished by war.
The final paragraph was the saving grace, filled with his usual humor and just an edge of that secret romantic side of him she loved.

I hope that ballet school of yours is girls-only, next thing you know I’ll be competing against some pretty boy in a leotard, and I can’t compete with that. I guess next time I see you I’ll have to put a ring on that finger for good.

Till next time, kid.

From Russia with love,
xoxo G

Dominika smiled to herself as she tucked the paper underneath her pillow and made her way into the bathroom. The room grew hot and steamy quickly as she ran the bath at full pelt, filling the large tub to the brim. She added a scoop of bath salts from the glass jar resting on her vanity and stripped her clothes off, throwing them into the corner as she stepped over the edge and lowered herself into the water.

Her mind wandered back to the letter as soon as she relaxed, and she giggled out loud at the thought of Gerard being jealous, even if he was only joking. There were boys at her ballet school, but they were few and far between, and Dominika barely noticed them anyway. It was funny to her in a way, as a little girl she’d always dreamed of growing up and marrying a nice Russian boy from a well-to-do family. Never in her wildest dreams would she have ever thought those dreams would turn to feature Gerard instead, as they had in the last couple of months. He’d always been like an annoying older cousin to her, but somehow as they’d gotten older things between them had morphed and shifted, coming to a head when they were forced together by Russia’s invasion.

As soon as thoughts of home began to creep into her mind, Dominika forcibly changed her train of thought back to the most important task at hand, that being her audition pieces. Pushing everything else out of her mind, she began to go through the steps of the Rose Adagio again in her head.

Closing her eyes, she sunk further into the bath water and reveled in the warmth that surrounded her whole body, easing and relaxing her tired muscles.

Notes

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