Page 48 of Maksim
She nods with a smile, happy to have something to relieve her guilt. Her eyes pop when I don’t say anything further. “Oh, you mean now?”
I shrug. “Unless you have school to get to?”
With a wicked grin, she shakes her head and steps toward the hallway. “Just let me grab my phone and clean up. I took a nap on Maksim’s bed and am a drooler, so I have to throw the comforter in the wash. You don’t happen to know where the key to my room is, do you?”
“Sorry, hon, don’t have a clue. Do you want some help?”
“No!” She nervously laughs. “No, thank you. I’ll just be a minute.”
Without another word, I walk to the hallway dresser I’ve been using to sort junk and pull out a pair of flip flops I found shoved beneath the couch days ago. They’re a size too small and obviously Anya’s, so I hope she doesn’t notice, but even if she does, I suppose it doesn’t make much of a difference. Even in my lies, I’m a pitiful whore.
I wait for her by the door, my fingers tingling with excitement. I’m sure there will be hell to pay for this, but for now, I’m going to enjoy my first real day in this American city.
15
MAKSIM
Chinese takeout hangs from my arm, the plastic bag rustling, as I step up to my front door only to find it unlocked.
My chest seizes, my eyes glued to the gap where the deadbolt should be in place, and for a moment, I’m frozen.
Anya…
I swing the door open and step through while telling myself not to panic. Elira has been stuffing herself inside a trunk in my closet, so that’s where she’ll be.
Except, the moment I smell food, real food cooking, I know that isn’t the case. I halt in the hallway and listen to the sound of Elira’s voice. She sounds like she’s explaining something, and I stay perfectly still with my ear craned that way until my little sister’s voice replies.
Fuck.
Fuck, fuck, fucking, fuck.
I walk that way as calmly as I can, unsure what I’ll do when I arrive in the kitchen. A protectiveness takes over me that makes me question why I was foolish enough to let Elira live, to bring her here of all places, to ever think this could work.
Now I have to kill her. Now, having the audacity to threaten my relationship with my sister, with the only thing in my life that matters, it becomes obvious.
What did she tell her? What kind of lies will I have to tell Anya now?
When I step foot into the kitchen, resting the bag of takeout on the bar top, both women turn to look at me.
I expect anger. Repulsion. I expect at least one slap in the face from Anya, maybe one from Elira if she’s feeling ballsy.
I’m not prepared for this.
My face is hard, my chest open and broad even with how tight it feels. I expect the very worst, so when Anya smiles, smiles at seeing me, my brain tumbles with confusion.
“Hey,” she says as if my whore is not standing next to her in our kitchen. As if I’m not an even more despicable human being than she pegged me for just days ago. As if she hasn’t ignored every call, every text, every apology I’ve tried to give since we last spoke.
“Elira’s teaching me to make baklava.” She gestures to the stacked dough on a pan in front of her while beaming. I don’t have any idea what to make of that, so I simply stand in shock.
Huh?
“Oh,” I say at last, and if it’s possible to fumble on a single word, I succeed.
The timer on the stove goes off, making Anya jump with excitement. Elira pulls out a pan of something with an incredible smell I can’t yet appreciate properly. She sets it on the stove and tosses the oven mitt on the counter. I don’t miss how she avoids my eyes and has neglected to greet me the same as I’ve neglected to greet her.
“Oh my God.” Anya hops in front of the pan and waves the steam toward her face, leaning her head back and breathing in deeply. “This looks amazing. Mak, come look.”
She tosses me a smile over her shoulder, something she hasn’t done in … I can’t remember. When she was a little girl, she used to look at me like I was her world. She used to squeeze my hand extra tight when she was excited, pulling me along with her, throwing me that same smile, bursting with joy she couldn’t contain.