Lover From Russia

Joey Stiller pulled a little pink T-shirt over her head and shook her mousy brown hair out before pausing quickly to check her reflection in the mirror and grabbing her car keys. Her deep green eyes stared back from the freckled face in the mirror. The pink T-shirt was one of her favourites; it was tight enough to bare a little of her tanned midriff and to hug her figure, showing off her slender waist and fuller breasts. Apart from that Joey wore an old pair of jeans, a little worn at the knees. Joey never took too much care over her appearance, although she liked to be noticed by guys she wasn't one of those girls who bothered particularly with that sort of thing. Her shoulder length hair wasn't cut in any particular style and she didn't really use much, or normally any, make-up. However looking at her reflection now, Joey decided she'd do all right.

Joey was eighteen and a senior in high school, her parents were very rich and Joey lived in their large, luxurious home. Most of the time her parents were away, conducting various business deals that paid for the extravagant home. Joey and her family hadn't moved out west much before this and she was easily bored and lonely. For the next two weeks they were to have a Russian exchange student staying there and, as neither of her parents were around right now, it was Joey's job to pick her up at the airport in San Diego. Joey wasn't really overly bothered by this, in the long days at home on her own she'd often get bored and she was looking forward to the distraction of the two hour drive to the airport and the company that she hoped Natalya Elkova could provide over the next two weeks.

Joey grabbed her handbag from its place hanging over the stairs and slammed the door behind her, her mom hated her doing that but she wasn't around to object and Joey enjoyed this petty act of teenage rebellion. Outside, the day was incredibly hot for October and Joey was pleased she'd chosen to wear only a T-shirt. Getting into her little red Ford, Joey turned up the air conditioning and put the car in gear. She really loved that car, her parents had bought it for her eighteenth birthday, it was small and easy to handle and by now driving it was almost second nature for her. She leant over to turn on the radio that would provide her only company on the two hour drive and turned out onto the main road to San Diego.

As she drove to the airport, Joey thought about how little she knew about the girl who was going to stay in her house for the next two weeks. Natalya Elkova was a girl of Joey's age who was learning English at her school in Russia and wanted to spend some time in America to help her become more familiar with the language. Joey's parents knew Natalya's parents through their business dealings and had agreed to take in Natalya during her stay in the US. That was all Joey knew about her. As she pulled the car into the airport car park she began to worry about this. What if she had nothing to say to Natalya? How would they spend the two-hour journey home from the airport? How would they spend the next two weeks together if they had nothing in common? Joey could see weeks of awkward silences stretching out before her. Or worse. After all, she knew nothing about this girl; she could be a drug addict or a kleptomaniac or anything. Joey told herself not to be ridiculous but she could feel her nervousness growing within her as she dropped her car keys attempting to lock the door. Her hands were slippery with sweat as she picked the keys up and locked the car, and this wasn't just from the heat. She wiped them off on the seat of her jeans and strode across the car park to the airport terminal, her sneakers squeaking loudly on the floor.

There was still an hour until Natalya's plane arrived. An hour more of nervous waiting which Joey decided to take up with shopping, one of her favourite passtimes. Joey always found shopping could calm her down and take her mind off other things. She spent a good twenty minutes in a perfume store before buying something musky and sensual that she would probably never wear. Still, she was killing time. Finally she felt her legs tire and she headed for a cafe to await the arrival of the flight from St. Petersburg.

Joey ordered a milky coffee and, after a moment's consideration over her stomach, a jelly donut and sat on her own in a corner to eat it, her legs dangling from the cafe's high stool, not even nearly reaching the floor as she swung them back and forth. Joey was 5'6", but she doubted even someone a foot taller could have sat reaching the floor in that stool.

The coffee was too hot; it burnt Joey's lips leaving a little red mark. It was cheap grey coloured stuff in a crappy plastic cup. She left it to one side and bit into the sticky donut, the jelly inside spurting its warm liquid into her mouth. Finishing the donut her lips were sticky with the sugary glaze and she wiped them clean with her napkin, worrying about what that single donut could do to her waistline.

Joey sipped at her coffee, more out of habit than out of any desire to drink it. Now she looked down at her watch and saw the flight should be arriving in five minutes. She looked at her half drunken plastic cup of coffee and decided, after a moment's thought, to leave it that way. She picked up her handbag and the classy paper bag that contained her perfume and hurried to the arrivals lounge, her sneakers continuing to make an annoying squeaking sound on the polished, shiny airport floor.

Standing and waiting for people to emerge from customs Joey's nerves began to return again. The flight had landed ten minutes earlier, according to the screen above her, but she knew it would take a while for the Russian passengers to be allowed through customs. Joey began to chew nervously at her fingernails which, as a result of this habit, were pretty short and messy, and to finger the spot where the coffee had burnt her lips. She remembered the conversation she'd had with her parents a couple of days earlier over her worries about Natalya Elkova.

"So, do you know Natalya?" she had asked her father as he spooned soup into his mouth.

"Sergei Elkov is one of our most important and wealthy clients," he had replied between mouthfuls, "And your mother and I have spent some time with him and his wife."

"But do you know Natalya?" Joey had persisted.

"We've never met her before," her mother cut in, "But I'm sure you'll get on just fine, her parents are very keen she gets a good home while she's in America."

"But what if we don't get on? What can I do if it's just us in the house and I've got nothing to say to her?"

"Don't be silly, there's plenty to do around town. You won't even need to be here that often."

"There's not plenty to do in River Falls," Joey was becoming annoyed. Clearly her parents didn't really care about her nerves and were just trying to humour her.

"I'm sure you'll find something in common," her mother had said, trying to sound reassuring but actually just infuriating her daughter more, "Now can we talk about something else."

And that was it, her parents had never even met the girl that was going to stay in their house for the next two weeks. That was hardly reassuring, and neither was the fact that they didn't really seem to care how Joey and Natalya got on with each other. As passengers emerged and walked passed Joey she couldn't see anyone who looked like the eighteen year-old daughter of a Russian businessman. Most people had already left but there was still no sign of her. Worries begun to fill Joey's mind again. Had Natalya missed her flight? Had Joey got the wrong place or the wrong flight to meet her from? What if Natalya had decided not to come at all? Joey could understand that, she herself could never spend a couple of weeks in a stranger's house in a strange country. Then Joey saw her.

Joey didn't know how she knew this was Natalya, maybe it was because she was almost the last person to emerge from customs, she just knew it. A good four or five inches taller than Joey, she had jet black hair and legs to die for. Her dress sense and style made Joey feel greatly self conscious in her jeans and sneakers. Natalya was wearing a little shiny grey top which covered little more than her breasts and left her midriff bare and a short black jacket. Almost the whole of her legs were shown off by a tight black mini-skirt while over her shoulder was a little leather handbag. Her black stiletto sandals made her stand even further above Joey. Designer sunglasses were perched on her head, pushing her straight black hair out of her dark eyes and pale face.

She walked almost as if in slow motion, swaying her hips and tossing her long black hair. She walked with a confidence and sassiness that Joey wished she could display, let alone feel. She turned towards Joey and walked over. Joey felt herself blush pink and become sweaty again, anxious at the impending meeting and slightly embarrassed by her lazy appearance.

"Hi, I'm Natalya Elkova," said Natalya, coming over and extending her perfect white hand, Joey could see an expensive scarlet manicure which made her a little self conscious about her own chewed nails, "You must be from Mr. and Mrs. Stiller."

Joey gave a little cough, clearing her throat which had become clogged up as she waited, and took Natalya's hand, feeling it soft and well moisturised, "Yeah, I'm Joey."

"You are Mr. Stiller's daughter, no?" Natalya said, speaking in a noticeable Russian accent and raising her arched eyebrow a little as if perhaps she'd expected some servant or flunky of Joey's father.

"Yeah," Joey said and paused uncomfortably trying to think of something to say, "Welcome to America."

Joey smiled, she'd been told that her smile was her best feature, that it lit up her face. Obviously this helped a little as Natalya's arched eyebrows turned into a smile of her own. Joey took one of Natalya's snakeskin suitcases and carried it towards the car park, attempting to make small talk on the way.

"So, how was your flight?"

"It was not so good. You see usually I fly First Class, but this time no," Natalya replied.

Joey didn't really know what to say to this, she'd only asked out of a need to make conversation. She bit her lip again, still nervous, and drew a dark spot of blood. Natalya noticed.

"You should not do this Jody . . ."

"Joey," corrected Joey.

". . . you will make yourself bleed."

She took a pristine white handkerchief from her handbag and reached over to wipe the blood from Joey's lip. Joey smiled in appreciation but said little else until they reached the car park.

Natalya raised her eyebrows a little sceptically again when confronted with Joey's old Ford.

"My parents won't have me driving anything flashier as I've only recently got my licence," Joey felt the need to explain as she helped load Natalya's luggage into the trunk.

"I am impressed Joey that you can drive. My parents will never let me do this, I am driven everywhere."

"I don't think it would be very easy to drive in those heels," Joey tried a feeble joke as they got into the car, to which Natalya just looked confused.

Joey backed the car out of its space and headed out of the airport. The two-hour drive went a lot quicker than it had on the way out here with Natalya for company. Conversation didn't exactly flow but Joey wasn't as completely stumped for things to say as she'd feared. Natalya, Joey was relieved, spoke excellent English and beneath her strong Russian accent was a curious hint of an American one. By the time they reached River Falls Joey knew that Natalya attended a prep school in St. Petersburg and had learned English since she was five. Her parents were among the very richest people in St. Petersburg and she lived in a large mansion with a number of servants. Joey's initial impression of Natalya as being a little stuck up and selfish began to disappear as she heard Natalya talk more enthuisiastically about her home and family.

"My parents do not spend a lot of time in the home. They have a lot of business to do in other parts of Russia," she said and Joey instantly felt sympathy for her.

"I know what you mean but at least you have all those servants to keep you company."

"Sometimes I would like to have some brothers and sisters," Natalya continued and Joey felt further agreement with her.

Joey drove through the centre of River Falls, not particularly because it was the quickest route, but to show Natalya what the town had to offer. It was a tiny town and the roads were mostly quiet. The town was surrounded by scenic green hills through which ran the river and series of little waterfalls that gave the town its name. Joey felt that her guest would at least be impressed by the scenery, even if the town was a little dull. The cloudless skies on this hot sunny day made the place look even more appealing. The centre of town was made up of little more than three or four streets. There was a little supermarket and a few other stores, the only one that interested Joey sold CDs, videos and teen clothing where most of River Falls' teenage population hung out in the winter. To do any real shopping you had to take the couple of hours to drive to San Diego where there were all the shops anyone could want.

Apart from the shops, the main thing that dominated River Falls was the high school which was surprisingly big as it didn't just serve River Falls but also a number of other towns in the area which meant Joey's friends were scattered all over the place and she didn't see them as often as she'd have liked outside school. Most of the streets were empty but every so often Joey would drive passed kids on skateboards or sitting idly on the sidewalk. One thing River Falls did have in abundance was wide open spaces and in one park by the river Joey could see some of the guys from school throwing a football around. Brock Stewart, the captain of the football team, had the ball raised above his head in a classic quarterback pose as he waved the other guys further away. Brock's chest muscles rippled beneath the sweat soaked white vest that he was wearing. Joey had sat next to Brock for a year in math class, they sat them alphabetically, and he was your classic dumb but still quite easy on the eyes, and he knew it. Brock would spend most of class smoothing back his gelled hair to make sure it was just right.

"I know some of those guys a bit," said Joey noticing Natalya watching the football game, "I can introduce you some time if you want," she smiled, eager to please and happy her town had something to offer Natalya.

Natalya was impressed again at the sight of the super popular Sinclair twins walking down the sidewalk to their home in the centre of town. Both tall, blond, beautiful and popular, Jesse and Jessie Sinclair were the envy of the whole of River Falls.

"Now those people it's not even worth bothering to get introduced to," Joey said, "They're like royalty round here."

The Stiller house was a little way out of town in an even more quiet and secluded spot, after all Joey's parents had moved there a year earlier for the scenery and ad chosen a property with full appreciation of it. Their nearest neighbours were almost a mile away along a winding road up the hill. Joey pulled into the long driveway beside her dad's Mercedes and looked over to see what Natalya's view of the house was.

"I like your house Joey, it is very cosy," she said to Joey's amusement, to Joey on those lonely empty days the expansive house seemed far from cosy.