"Just one song," Alanna promised, taking a disk out of her purse and slamming it into the car radio.
After a brief flight, all three of them were feeling well and recovered, not to mention much more cheerful, as they'd piled into a new rental (much nicer, thankfully) car. And with good reason, too, given that they'd managed to escape from the bounty hunter safely, and they'd gotten Sachiko's brother into the Soviet Union successfully. They were safe.
The music started to play.
"...what?" Sachiko asked, surprised.
"I always listen to this when I travel to Russia," Alanna said, smiling. "It seems fitting."
"Propaganda?" she was puzzled.
"It's not propaganda! It's English!" Alanna protested.
"So it's propaganda aimed at foreigners," Sachiko rolled her eyes.
"No, like, the country! England! The song was originally written by the British," she said.
"Really?"
"Yes, really! Now hush," Alanna said, shaking her head. She paused for a beat, waiting for the next line, starting to sing along: "Back in the US-- back in the US-- back in the USSR!"
"It sure doesn't seem that way," Sachiko said quietly. It elicited a stern "Hush!", following by a jab in the side.
"Well," Alanna sang, swinging her arms in front of her chest to the beat, letting the car drive itself, "the Ukraine girls really knock me out, leave the West behind! And Moscow girls make me sing and shout, that Georgia's on my my my my my my my my my mind!"
Alanna turned to face Sachiko, continuing, "Show me round your snow peaked mountains way down south! Take me to your daddy's farm! Let me hear your balalaika's ringing out; come and keep your comrade warm, I'm back in the USSR!" She grinned mischeviously, leaning in close, "You don't know how lucky you are, girl... back in the USSR!"
"Do the Moscow girls really make you sing and shout?" Sachiko said with a perfectly straight face. On the far side of the car, Alexander burst out laughing.
"They're nice," Alanna said, still grinning, "But I think I prefer the Japanese girls."
Sachiko giggled, and as the next verse started, she sang along with Alanna. Two minutes later, they were still grinning.
"You don't know how lucky you are, girl! Back in the USSR!" they sang together, finishing the song with their faces just an inch apart. When the music faded out, neither of them pulled away, just staring playfully. Neither made a move for a good half a minute; then, her heart starting to race, Sachiko--
"Guys!" --was interrupted by Alexander, in an exacerbated tone, "That's adorable and all, but that's our turn!"
Alanna jolted upright, looking at the road. Sure enough, most of the traffic was exiting onto a multilane turnoff to the right, onto an exit marked with a huge painted sign that said Moscow, 40km in both English and Russian.
"Shit," she said, grabbing the steering wheel and turning it frantically right, slamming on the override pedal, driving onto the exit at the very last second. Or more accurately, about two seconds after the last second; crossing over where the road was painted with stripes to indicate she shouldn't be driving there.
"Dammit," she said, sitting back again. "Soviet maps never friggin' work in heavy traffic," she grumbled.
"You don't know how lucky you are, girl," Sachiko teased.
"Shush," Alanna replied.
Sachiko leaned against her brother, who was sitting on the other side of her, resting her head on his shoulder; he wasn't quite sure how to react, but she didn't mind.
It was night by the time they arrived at a hotel-- "the best in Moscow," Alanna had said, assuring her that "I'll cover it"-- having had watched the sun set while they were aboard the plane.
All three of them ate dinner at the hotel restaurant; it tasted like the best meal they'd ever had in their lives. Not just because they were hungry and exhausted from their escape from the bounty hunter-- mostly just because it was an expensive restaurant at a fairly expensive hotel.
"Excuse me," Alanna said to Alexander, after they'd paid, "I'd like to go out for a bit. I promised myself that when I got to Moscow, I'd get a new dress; I think I'm going to go do that now."
"Sure," he nodded.
"Um," Sachiko started, "uh, would you mind if I came along?"
"Not at all," Alanna said, smiling.
They left the hotel, walking across the street to the nearby mall; it was a huge plaza, leading underground. Right inside was an incredibly ritzy looking restaurant, clearly meant for the foreigners, beside a supermarket; a trendy one, with all sorts of fresh produce in front. It amused her how similar it looked to the market in the Polish village, just with a more expensive storefront.
They walked in, and started to wander; Sachiko was quite happy to just quietly follow after Alanna. They walked through the plaza for a good thirty minutes. It was mostly empty at this time of night, passing by the occassional foreigner only a couple of times a minute.
"This is the place," Alanna said at last, stopping in front an awfully expensive looking store, with a large, Cyrillic sign overtop the dresses on display in the storefront window. Sachiko stared in amazement at the crimson red dress to one side; very high hem, but it was very military inspired, to the point where she nearly mistook it for a uniform.
Bizarre, she thought, as she followed Alanna in.
Half an hour later, they headed back to their hotel, Alanna carrying her new dress under her shoulder. Sachiko was quiet; there was something she wanted to say to Alanna, but she was nervous.
"Something the matter, Sachiko?" Alanna asked, looking down at Sachiko; catching her staring up at her.
"It's... uh, nothing," she said, turning flustered.
"Oh, come on," Alanna said, smiling. She stopped walking, forcing Sachiko to stop as well, feeling even more embarassed.
"It's... just... I sort of like you, Alanna," Sachiko stammered.
Alanna ruffled her hair, causing Sachiko to blush. "See, that wasn't so hard," she said, smiling. "So, you sort of like me? Gosh, Sachiko, you're such a kid."
"I'm not a kid!" Sachiko insisted, as flustered as she'd ever felt in her life. She realized, maybe it was a bit childish, blurting it out like that; she wouldn't have had any problem staying cool if Alanna was a man, but she'd never had any experience with women before. But still-- she really wasn't a kid. "Alanna, I'm like your age."
"You are not, dear," Alanna said, still smiling.
"I'm 25," she grumbled.
"I'm not," Alanna replied, leaving it as a mystery. Sachiko wondered how old she actually was, then; she thought she was her age, but she couldn't be that much older. 30, at most, she thought.
"Well, fine," Sachiko said. "But I'm still not a kid."
They stood there, staring at eachother, in silence for a while. Sachiko finally looked away.
"Sorry," she said, "I shouldn't have thrown that on you like that. Just... uh... forget it. Never mind."
"Forget what?" Alanna teased. "You just said you like me. What's the big deal about that? I'd hope you like me, we're friends..."
Sachiko looked down-- she was certain that Alanna was just toying with her now.
"That's... not what I meant," she stammered.
"Oh?" Alanna asked. She put her fingers under Sachiko's chin, pushing gently; her head followed, staring up at Alanna. She shivered. "So what did you mean, then?"
"I...," she stumbled over her words, "I'm in love with you, Alanna."
"See, that wasn't so hard, was it?" she said, smiling.
"It's just, I... I...," she stammered, sincerely flustered.
"I know," Alanna said gently, making Sachiko blush even more as she stroked her hair. "I know, I know, hon. I feel the same as you."
"You... do?"
"Gosh," she said, teasingly. "You're too cute. How could I not?"
Alanna hugged her tightly, and took her by the hand.
"Come on," Alanna said to her, still smiling down at her, Sachiko's heart racing as she did. "Let's get back."
Alanna led Sachiko back to the hotel, and by the time they got there, there was no question in either's mind as to whether or not they would be sharing the same room. They rushed in, Alanna pinning Sachiko to the bed almost instantly after they had gotten into their room, neither feeling any need to take things any slower. Sachiko had never slept with a woman before, but Alanna took lead and didn't seem to expect anything from her; when Alanna was finally done with her, she felt oh-so incredibly satisfied.
Something was eating away at the back of both of their minds, but just for that night, they decided to ignore it. Tonight was just for each other. They could worry in the morning.
Alanna looked down at Sachiko-- she was sleeping soundly, curled up
naked beside her. Alanna couldn't help but smile. As far as she was
concerned, Sachiko was the cutest thing in the world right now; at that
moment, she seemed so innocent, and vulnerable, an adorable, faint smile on
her face.
Definitely sure that she was asleep, Alanna crept out of bed slowly, carefully not to disturb her. She snuck across the room, picking up a pair of underwear that at least looked like hers, then dressed quickly, opting to slip into her new dress draped over the chair; it'd be quicker. She took her purse and snuck across the room, closing the door slowly behind her, being careful not to make a sound.
As she walked down the hallway and went down the elevator, it occured to her that the panties she had taken were, without any fraction of a doubt, several sizes too small. Dammit, she thought. They were riding up and were incredibly uncomfortable.
She walked into the bar. It wasn't quite deserted, but it was close enough. The bartender was cleaning up, the only person at the bar being a depressed looking German man, chugging back a beer. She got the distinct impression it wasn't even close to his first. At the front, a local teenager sat at a table, staring out the window at heaven-knows-what.
She sat down in her own corner, opening her purse. She couldn't help but be curious as to what their stories were; but she was tired, and she had snuck off to actually do something.
She took out her tablet, starting to scribble on the screen of her computer; stopping before she'd gotten a single word down. She went back into her purse, and lit herself a cigarette first, then started to write again.
Alexander has safely arrived in Russia, although the trip was an interesting story. I'll tell you all about it later, she wrote. I'm still keeping a close eye on Sachiko; we're starting to become close. She definitely seems to trust me. I still have not gotten any word on what information Alexander received, but I think I'll get it from him soon enough. I'm going to need Sachiko until then.
She read over the note quickly; it seemed good to her. She tapped a few menu buttons, and waited as the computer encrypted her document, displaying a completely innocent looking letter on the subject of the musical tastes of teenaged girls. She smiled just barely; the encrypted document was always fairly amusing, being a perfectly coherent letter, but they always read as being kind of goofy. It wasn't perfect, but it was enough to fool anyone at the post office who might open and read her mail. Or at least, that's what they hoped. She hit the "print as a letter" button, her computer whirring away for a few seconds before feeding out an envelope, her letter inside.
She scribbled an address on it and pasted a stamp on it, then packed up and brought the letter to the bar.
"Excuse me," she said to the bartender, uncertainly in English. He looked up. "Where's the nearest post box?"
"I can mail it for you, if you'd like," the bartender offered. "I'm going home in... about two hours, I can send it on the way. The nearest one's a ways off, and you seem exhausted."
Alanna smiled. "Thanks," she said, handing it over, "I am. It's much appreciated."
"No problem. Good night."
Alanna waved as she walked off. "Good night!"
She didn't think twice about trusting a total stranger with getting her letter to the mailbox safely; as far as she was concerned, it was about as safe as trusting the post office to get her letter to its destination without getting lost. The Russian postal service was notorious for being miserable, especially internationally; but there was nothing she could do about it.
She opened the door to her room, slipping in silently. She undressed, taking off the dress and Sachiko's uncomfortable panties, slipping back into bed.
"G'night," Sachiko murmured only half above a whisper, as Alanna got in next to her. Alanna put her arm around the still mostly asleep girl, all curled up. She smiled; she really was so incredibly adorable when she was sleepy.
"Good night," she said softly. Sachiko crooned softly as she felt Alanna kiss her on the forehead, then on the lips; happily falling back to sleep in her arms.
The next day, nobody was in any particular hurry to do anything; Alanna
wrote her story, Sachiko spent most of the day talking with her brother.
Both had ideas about what they were going to do next, but neither knew what
they were going to do with the other. One thing was clear to Sachiko: she
was madly in love with Alanna, but didn't know if her wandering lifestyle
could work with her.
In the evening, Alanna finally said to her, "We need to talk," and she didn't disagree. They went out into the hotel lobby-- the receptionist waved at Alanna with a smile-- and stood in the far corner, Alanna lighting a cigarette.
"So... um... how does this go?" Sachiko asked, staring at Alanna uncertainly.
Alanna sighed. "It starts with you starting to tell me the truth," she said.
"A-about?"
"No, I mean, seriously," Alanna said, narrowing her eyes. "It starts with you being honest to me."
"What do you mea--," Sachiko started to stammer, getting cut off by Alanna.
"L'espirit de l'escalier," she said. "It doesn't mean spirit of the stairs, it means staircase wit. L'espirit sounds like spirit, sure, but in this case, it's not what it means. You don't speak French."
"I--," was all Sachiko managed to get out.
"Secondly, he's not your brother," Alanna continued harshly. "I've seen the way you two act, and the way he treats you, and seriously-- you're not fuckin' siblings. Period.
"And... thirdly, your car in Turkey? It was working just fine. It was a very good effort, and I probably really would've just brushed off meeting you as an improbable coincidence. But you left the heat on, I could tell. Your car was running just fine, I could tell," she said, glaring. "I could go on-- but suffice to say, I'm wise to you. So seriously, the shit ends now."
Sachiko stared at her, looking scared, thinking about what to say; then she closed her eyes, and nodded slowly. When she opened her eyes, she looked perfectly calm.
"Fine," Sachiko said. "Game's up. You caught me."
Alanna was surprised for a brief second; she wasn't expecting her to response like that at all. She'd expected more denial, not an immediate confession. It threw her completely offguard.
"So... be honest with me. How much was true?" she demanded, glaring at her. "Was any part of it not a lie, or was it all just taking advantage of me?"
Five minutes later, Sachiko ran off into the night, leaving the hotel and disappearing. Alanna didn't try to chase after her; she knew she couldn't catch her, she knew there was no point, and more importantly, she knew that sticking around with her was only bound to lead to trouble.
She was irredeemable, Alanna decided. She'd been expecting part of the dishonesty from the moment she met her, but what Sachiko confessed to was far, far worse than she could've imagined. That bitch, she thought, that fucking bitch, was about the nicest thing she could think about Sachiko. She smoked another cigarette, wondering what Sachiko had really been up to; she had an idea, but little more. She sighed, trying to force herself to think about that instead of how she'd come to feel for her, as she left the hotel lobby in tears, walking back to her room.
She betrayed me, Alanna thought, slumping onto her bed, sobbing. That stupid fucking KGB bitch betrayed me. She lay there for an hour, crying herself to sleep.