pulling into the lot behind the theater and shutting off the ignition. Turning to face her, I said, “Baba, I don’t want you to say anything to Alek about… about Nikolai if we do run into him.” Rushing ahead when she opened her mouth, I clarified, “I’ll tell him what he needs to know, but please, honor my wishes in this. I want us to enjoy our day. I know leopards remain spotty, but, for now, I’d like to consider that perhaps Nikolai has become a chameleon and has learned to change his colors at the very least. Okay?”
She didn’t speak or move for a few long heartbeats and then reached up and touched my face. “Fine, but you really need to learn to trust, Clara. This isn’t a burden you have to carry alone.”
“I’m working on it,” I assured her, unsnapping both our seatbelts and then getting out of the car and moving around to help her out as well. When she stood at my side, my arm around her tiny waist, I gestured up at the building before us.
“Welcome to the Volkov Ballet. Are you ready to go inside?”
“Are you sure we can?” she asked, sounding a little unsure. “It looks locked up.”
“People are always here, Baba. There’s always someone around. We’ll be fine getting in.”
As we walked slowly through the hallways, with me showing Baba some of the posters hanging on the walls of performances that Volkov Ballet had done before I joined the theater, I soon heard the voices of Bella and a new member who recently joined the theater as they approached us. Seeing Bella or anyone no longer filled me with the anxiety it once had. Most of the other dancers and I now had a quiet respect for one another. All the angst was gone for the most part. I was proving myself with my hard work and obvious show of dedication to a craft we all loved.
After a brief introduction to my grandmother, I asked them if Yuri was around because I was really not in the mood for his pompous attitude right now — with my babushka witnessing it. I hated the fact he was so difficult to read. You never knew where you stood with him either. I also wanted to avoid him because of what had happened with me and Alek. Sure, I hadn’t promised Yuri I would keep away from his brother, but I feared it would affect my place in the theater if he ever found out how opposite of “keeping far away” from each other we were. I didn’t think Alek would ever burst out and tell Yuri, but I had to be careful all the same.
“No, Yuri’s not here. Alek is in the office though.”
At first, my head snapped toward Bella, wondering if she was saying that in a suggestive way, telling me that she knew something. But there was a complete blankness to her expression. She was just telling me like it was, and there was no hidden meaning in her words.
“Okay, thanks, I’ll see you later,” I said with a nod, guiding my grandmother away from them both.
“Isn’t that the woman who was so ugly to you when you joined the theater?” Baba asked with her damn laser-sharp focus, reminding me that while her body might be failing, her mind was as sharp as it had ever been.
“Yes, but she’s changed.” Smiling over at her, I added, “Or I suppose we both have. You and I knew it wasn’t going to be easy, but it’s all good, I promise.”
Of course, that was a fib. It had stopped being all good the moment a silver car appeared in Chicago.
She nodded though I wasn’t stupid enough to think she couldn’t see through the little white lie but was grateful she didn’t push it. “That’s good. Now, let’s find your Alek so I can thank him for the Pavlova.”
I smiled and nodded. I was a bit leery about seeing Alek, mostly because I didn’t want to complicate things further and didn’t completely trust myself not to spill my guts again, but I couldn’t turn down my babushka. Not when she was looking at me so expectantly.
“Fine,” I said. “But let’s make it quick. I’m sure he’s busy working.”
My heart pounded wildly as we walked toward his office. Suddenly, I was acutely aware the last time I’d been in Alek’s office, he’d mentioned how tense I looked, picked me up, and plopped me down on his desk.