Chapter 4

The man stops me and turns me to face him, forcing me to step off the center of the path toward the edge.

"Well, hello," he says as if I owe him something, and not just the time he has spent waiting here. "You finish work late. You could be spending your time on completely different things."

I have to gather my anxiety into a fist so I don't look alarmed and can answer calmly.

"Hello, Maksim. That's my private business. And let go of my arm. You're holding me like you caught me."

"I did," the man tries to smirk, but he doesn't let go. "You think I can't guess you're dying to run away?"

"What do you want from me? I think we talked last time and cleared everything up."

"One more conversation, Alice, and I will leave. I don't want to look like a monster in your eyes. You see, everything is much more complicated. Hear me out..."

Everything is much more complicated when it concerns your own life. That's when you make mistakes and are willing to be blind. But when you look from the outside, you see everything more than clearly. And right now I can see that this grown man Maksim is about to tell me a fairy tale about how hard life is for him to live in this world.

He is clean-shaven and well dressed. He surely knows the value of personal comfort and is confident in himself. So why not respect someone else's boundaries and remember his own family?

"I don't want to, sorry." I try in vain to leave. "I don't have time to talk. Could you let me go? I need to get home!"

He finally removes his hand from my elbow, but he tries to take my hand, stepping closer.

"I don't understand. Am I really that scary? Women like me. Why are you afraid of me?"

"This isn't about fear. You and I don't know each other."

"Why not? Last time you almost agreed to go to a restaurant with me."

I'm astonished and frown at the same time, not understanding what this Maksim wants from me.

"That never happened! And stop touching me, or else..."

"Or else what, Alice? Listen, don't put on an act. We're adults. I just want to talk to you..."

"Oh!"

I hear the squeal of brakes, and a white Lexus stops sharply beside us. It drives straight onto the path, making Maksim shut up and let go of me.

Feeling free, I'm already about to use the pause to run when the expensive car's door opens and out steps... Ruslan Marjanov. Am I seeing that right? At the sight of us, he bares a nasty, reckless smirk at the stranger, slams the door, and lazily comes closer.

He is wearing an unzipped black jacket over a T-shirt, dark jeans, and sneakers. His dark hair is combed back, making the look in his black eyes seem especially arrogant and sharp. As provocative as the sharply cut cheekbones on his young, well-bred face.

He comes up to me and wraps an arm around my shoulders. Bending down, he kisses my lips, parted in surprise, with total confidence. Catching them, he doesn't let go at once, greedily sliding his tongue along my teeth.

"Hi, baby. Sorry I'm late, but I missed you like crazy!"

Turning to the man, Ruslan gives him an assessing look and asks lazily:

"Man, was I imagining things, or were you trying to put your hands on my girl? Who are you, old man?"

Marjanov is leaner than the man but the same height, so he looks at him as an equal, not the least bit intimidated.

"Your girl?" Maksim is genuinely astonished. "Kid, are you serious? Alice," he says to me, adding anger to his voice, "is this little punk your boyfriend?"

I don't know what surprises him. Yes, I'm older than Ruslan, but I'm still far too young to want a boyfriend "over thirty." Marjanov, however, answers for me:

"Boyfriend, future husband, and father of her unborn children. Man, don't push it, all right? Or I might think you care about Alice and start a fight. Then I'll break something off; I'm a seriously unhinged psycho. At the police station, of course, you'll say I attacked you first, but our version will be more interesting. And your jealous wife will definitely love it. You forgot to take off your ring. Those flowers are for her, right? So get yourself home."

Maksim's jaw tightens. The guy in front of him is about fifteen years younger, but he doesn't dare continue the conversation. Marjanov has always known how to be convincing and unpredictable. And I myself never know what to expect from him. He manages to be brazen without even really raising his voice.

He takes my hand and starts moving. Pausing beside the man, he promises him briefly, in a changed tone now, with no play in it at all:

"Just fuck off. Completely. Come near Alice with flowers one more time and I'll weave you a wreath out of them. A funeral wreath. Come on, Snow. It's warmer in the car."

 
It really is warmer in the car. It's an expensive luxury-class Lexus, and I have almost calmed down while Ruslan and I drive in silence, then sit outside my building without looking at each other. He said far too much, and I pretended it was all true.

I speak first, turning my face toward him:

"I didn't know you had a license, Marjanov."

"I don't. Not yet."

"I see. So you took your father's car without asking?" I guess.

"So I did. But don't worry, it isn't the first time. And you," he also turns to look at me, "work at that school?"

"Yes. I come after my university classes."

"Why? Do you need money, Snow? You don't look like you've got energy to burn, and the Foreign Languages department isn't the easiest."

His inky eyes watch me very attentively, as if Ruslan truly doesn't understand and something in the logical chain doesn't add up.

I shift my gaze to the windshield and bite my lips.

"I'm not going to answer that question. Sorry."

"What do you do there?"

There it is, the next question, and I look at him again.

"Didn't Romka tell you?" I ask in surprise. My brother is very talkative, especially with his friends.

"No," Ruslan answers. "Your brother doesn't like it when someone sticks his snout toward his sister. Much less asks questions about her. Didn't you know?"

I shake my head.

"No. I teach English to children. Little ones. They don't trust me with older students."

"Well, that's for now. You're capable."

I have to say it, so I do:

"Thank you, Ruslan, for coming. I know Romka asked you, but... thank you. I don't know whether that Maksim would have backed off on his own. I teach his daughter, and I don't understand what got into his head. I didn't give him any reason."

"He wouldn't have left you alone. And I'm not sure he will."

"Listen, Alice," Marjanov says, tensing and tightening his fingers around the steering wheel. "Why didn't you tell anyone you were being harassed? Right away."

Still, it's hard for me to talk to my brother's friend about things like that, and I look through the windshield at the building in front of us.

"Ruslan, could you maybe not say it so crudely?"

"What else do you call it? You should've seen the two of you from the outside. That asshole was practically drooling all over you, looming like that and wanting to get what he wanted! Leave that school, Snowy. If this isn't the first time he's bothering you, then sooner or later the thrill and resentment will push him into hurting you. You could end up in a situation where no one comes to help. Just read the signs and act first. It always works."