Numbers Game (Chapter 1)
written by:
PennLady

Numbers Game

Chapter 1

© 2010 All Rights Reserved

Where the hell are the dinosaurs? Anatoli stared in frustration at the map in his hands. It should have been easy; everyone had told him just go right in and he'd see them. He was here—where were the damn dinosaurs?

It was an off-day during the hockey season, and he had decided at long last to go the Natural History Museum on the Mall and take pictures of the dinosaur skeletons for his younger brother. He had his digital camera and a list of specific pictures Sergei had requested. So far, not one pixel contained anything resembling a dinosaur. He wondered if he could find the gift shop; perhaps a book or some postcards would make Sergei happy.

It was ridiculous, he thought as he sat on a bench. He'd been all over the damn museum. The Hall of Mammals, the Pacific Cultures, he'd even seen the Hope Diamond before looking over the rail and realizing the dinosaurs were on the ground floor and he was on the second. He looked up at the massive elephant in front of him. Henry, the brochure said his name was. Anatoli thought he looked a bit like a Henry.

He should have asked for help, he knew that, but he felt like an idiot. He was probably about ten feet from them; how embarrassing would that be? The real issue, though, was that he had no confidence in his spoken English. His teammates assured him he spoke better than he thought; the other Anatoli, Oborotenski, kept joking he'd stop acting as an interpreter just to force him along. Still...it was daunting to know if he spoke English, someone would speak back and there was no safety net.

"C'mon, Aunt Sara! You promised we could see the dinosaurs!"

Anatoli straightened up, looking for the boy who'd spoken. If he found them, he could follow them in; otherwise, he was going straight to the gift shop. He looked around the atrium and saw a young boy, probably around nine or ten, tugging on the arm of a woman Anatoli guessed was Aunt Sara.

She was looking down at the boy, so Anatoli couldn't see her face. Which was a pity, he thought, since the rest of her was quite attractive. "Calm down, Zach," he heard her say with a laugh. "They aren't going anywhere." She looked up and Anatoli watched as she pushed her blonde hair back. She smiled mischievously and said, "I sure hope they still have the T-rex here."

"What?!" Zach was horrified. "They wouldn't do that? Would they? Seriously, Aunt Sara? Come on, you're kidding, right?" The woman merely winked and continued walking past the elephant.

Anatoli stood up and moved to follow them, trying to keep them in sight but not get too close. The boy kept begging her to reassure him about the T-rex and she relented at last. Anatoli couldn't help but smile. They walked through the large doorway, Anatoli about ten steps behind, and then he saw the dinosaurs.

"I was so close," he grumbled to himself in Russian. All that time he'd spent wandering around looking for them, and they'd practically been staring him in the face. He glowered at the Stegosaurus as though it was personally responsible for his confusion. It stared placidly at the floor. Sighing, he took out his camera and dutifully began to take pictures to send to his brother.

x-x-x-x

"Oh, that is so cool." Zach's voice was almost reverent as he stared at the Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton.

Sara had to bite her cheek to keep from laughing. She loved spending time with her nephew. Zach had been talking about their museum visit for the past two days, and she'd begun to worry that he'd set his expectations too high. She was relieved when he seemed to be more than satisfied with the museum's offerings.

Zach prattled on about the dinosaurs, showing off everything he'd picked up from books and movies. Sara listened with half an ear, wondering what she'd do when she went home.

She didn't want to go home, but eventually she'd have to, she thought with a sigh. Jerry had broken up with her a month ago, and it was still odd to come back to the apartment they'd shared for nearly a year and find it empty.

When she was honest with herself, she would admit she wasn't over the hurt. How could she be, when it had come so out of the blue? Should she expect four weeks to be enough to get over a relationship that had lasted nearly two years?

"I'm sorry, Sara, but I've met someone else." How many other women had heard that, she wondered. How many, like her, had been utterly unprepared to hear it? In the first few days, she'd gone over and over everything in her head, breaking their relationship down to a subatomic level. She came to the rapid conclusion that she'd been an idiot. A trusting, oblivious idiot.

Hindsight made it easy to piece together the increasingly frequent late nights at the office and the messages she'd received from an alleged secretary—whom Sara had never met—regarding those same nights. "Mr. Ronson wanted me to let you know he'd be working late, Ms. Brooks. He said not to wait up."

What had Sara done? She'd believed the messages, believed the excuses. Until he'd dropped that line on her and moved out the same day.

About ten days later, at a function hosted by her brother-in-law, she'd seen him with a girl—presumably the one who used to call with the messages—on his arm. Woman, she had corrected herself, although Jerry's partner had barely warranted the word. She'd been no older than twenty-two, Sara was sure, and had a vacant, adoring look in her eyes as she'd stared up at Jerry. It had made Sara wonder if the woman was on drugs, or if someone had perfected a Stepford wife.

Sara sighed as Zach pulled her from skeleton to skeleton. If Jerry wanted the stereotypical busty blonde bimbo, then she was well rid of him. What bothered her more was the deception, and the cold way that Jerry had ended everything. Plus, she had to admit, it hurt to be replaced by a younger model. Almost thirty-two was hardly over the hill, but it felt that way when your spot was taken by a girl who looked barely out of high school.

The worst thing, she decided, was her sister's reaction. Maureen had been devastated, thinking that Sara would be "left on the shelf" (Maureen watched entirely too many British rom-coms, Sara thought) and was destined for spinsterhood. After all, Maureen had married at twenty-four and had two children by twenty-seven. In her mind, it was only a matter of time before her sister spent all her time buying tchotchkes from QVC. Sara had rolled her eyes; as upset as she was, she wasn't quite that pessimistic.

"Whoa! Hey, Zach!" Sara was startled when her nephew grabbed her hand and started off at a run. Off balance, she stumbled and nearly ran into someone standing by the next display.

x-x-x-x

Anatoli caught the woman's arm as she tripped.

"Zach!" She tugged on the boy's arm and he stopped short. "Slow down, kiddo." She turned to Anatoli, smiling with some embarrassment. "Sorry about that."

Anatoli nodded. He desperately wanted to say something to keep her talking for a moment more. He'd been staring at her far more than at any prehistoric reptile. "Okay," he managed to say. "You are okay?" He cringed inwardly; that must have sounded ridiculous.

"I'm fine, thanks. My nephew, Zach, he's just a little overexcited." Sara hoped she didn't sound like she was babbling. She was saved from saying anything else when Zach piped up at the mention of his name.

"Yeah! I've been waiting to come here forever. That T-rex, it's over sixty-five million years old! And the Stegosaurus, well, he's from the late Jurassic, and the T-rex is from the Cretaceous. So the Stegosaurus is older. But," he said with the authority inherent in a blood-thirsty nine-year-old boy, "the T-rex probably would have ripped him to shreds."

"Oh?" Anatoli was baffled by the stream of information.

"That's my reaction, too," Sara said. She wished she was better at this, more forward. She decided she couldn't go asking random men for dates, even though a guy staring at dinosaur bones hardly seemed like a threat. "Well, pardon us, we need to go..."

"I come with you?" Anatoli surprised himself by asking. "I want to...be taking pictures for my brother. I don't know these things." He was astonished; surely that was the longest English sentence he'd said at one time, especially to a stranger.

"Sure! That'd be great!" Zach warmed to the idea of an audience. "I can tell you about all of them. I've been reading books. I even did a report on dinosaurs for school."

"Ah, you are expert," said Anatoli with a smile. He held out his hand to Zach. "My name Anatoli."

"I'm Zach." He gripped Anatoli's hand seriously, realizing it was time to act like a grown up, then reverted to form. "This is my Aunt Sara. Come on, come on!" Zach tried to sprint to the next exhibit, but the sheer mass of people made it difficult.

"Hello, Anatoli." She took his hand. "I'm Sara."

"Yes."

She laughed and they walked after Zach.

x-x-x-x

Anatoli couldn't believe how much fun he was having. He couldn't understand half of what Zach was saying as he named dinosaurs and the different eras in which they lived, but he couldn't deny the kid's enthusiasm. Besides, Zach talked so much that he didn't have to.

Sara appeared as overwhelmed by Zach's knowledge as he was, and they shared a few amused glances as Zach darted around the room. Funny, he thought, how you could communicate without words when you really wanted to.

Sara held his interest more than the dinosaurs. She was wonderful to look at, green eyes dancing as she laughed with her nephew, running her hand through her hair at odd intervals to keep it out of her face. Anatoli stuffed his hands in his pockets when he felt the urge to brush her hair back himself.

"Zach, you're wearing me out," Sara said. "How about a snack?"

"Can we eat at the Fossil Café?" Zach begged. "I heard about it. Dean at school said it was really neat! Can we, please? Please?"

"Sure, why not?" She smiled at him and turned to Anatoli. "Want to join us?"

He could only nod when the full force of that smile was turned on him. He'd never been this immediately attracted to anyone before; he'd eat an actual dinosaur bone if it meant he could spend more time with Sara.

They threaded their way out of the dinosaur hall and found the restaurant. Zach was slightly put off by the lack of hamburgers, but when the server pointed out the widely-accepted theory that birds were, in fact, descended from dinosaurs, Zach happily took a chicken salad sandwich. Sara took one as well, and then chased after Zach as he dashed over to pick up chips and a drink. Anatoli grabbed something and followed slowly, marveling at Zach's energy. If they could bottle that, the team would be unstoppable.

Sara and Zach went through the register ahead of Anatoli, then waited for him before selecting a table. Luckily it wasn't as crowded here as it had been in the exhibit hall. Anatoli felt himself getting nervous as the cashier rang him up, but he didn't have any trouble paying or making change. Thankfully, numbers were numbers and didn't need translation.

They found a table and sat down. Zach plowed into his "dinosaur salad sandwich," taking such large bites that Sara yanked the rest away before he could choke.

"Zach," she admonished gently, "it isn't a race. We can go look again, and go in the gift shop. Do you want to see anything else?"

"Maybe the Hope Diamond." With a glance at his aunt, Zach took his time over a potato chip. "I know Mom would like it, so I can tell her I've seen it."

Sara nodded. "All right."

"I show you?" Anatoli grinned sheepishly. "I was there before, when I can't..." He struggled and shrugged. "I look for dinosaurs.

"It's not even on the same floor." Zach frowned and Sara shushed him, then turned to Anatoli.

"It's all right," she assured him. "I get lost in here all the time." Whether or not she was telling the truth, Anatoli felt much less embarrassed.

"You come here many times?" he asked, then wished he hadn't. Even he knew what a weak line that sounded like, broken English or not. What's a cute girl like you doing in a museum like this? He groaned to himself.

"Actually, I do," she said. "I work at the National Archives building—it's just a couple of blocks over—so I come over during lunch sometimes, or go after work." Just another way to delay going home, she thought.

Zach leaned over and whispered something in Sara's ear. She smiled and nodded, and Zach turned to Anatoli. "Where are you from?" He glanced back at his aunt. "Aunt Sara said it was okay to ask; I didn't want to be rude."

Anatoli smiled. "Russia."

Zach's eyes grew wide. "Wow. Really?"

"Really," Anatoli confirmed.

Zach scrunched up his face thoughtfully. "I don't know much about Russia," he confessed. "We're studying Africa in school right now. Are you from Moscow?" That was the only city in Russia that he knew.

Anatoli shook his head. "I lived there, but I not...I come from little town." Anatoli was pleased that he could carry on this conversation, even if his English needed work.

"I hope you don't mind," Sara said quietly as Zach mulled over this information. "He was curious about your accent, so I told him it was all right to ask." She blushed a little. "I was curious, too, but now I can blame it all on him."

"Is okay," he assured her.

"Do you work here?" Zach asked. "Or are you just traveling?" His face lit up. "Some day I'm going to travel everywhere. I'm going to go to Russia, to France, to...Australia!" he finished triumphantly, naming the place furthest from anywhere he could think of.

"That will be long trip," Anatoli noted. "I work here, but I travel."

Guilt crept up on him; there was no reason he should be so hesitant in saying what he did. In fact, it was times like this that he was extremely grateful he didn't play in a place like Montreal or Detroit. Washington, DC, was a wonderful city, but when it came to sports, every team took second place to the Redskins. That made things a bit difficult for the marketing department, but it made it much easier for Anatoli and the other players to get around on their own without worrying about media scrutiny.

"Do you work at an embassy or something?" Zach asked. "My teacher said a lot of people come from other countries and work at the embassies and, um, consulates."

"Ah, no." Anatoli cleared his throat. He supposed he'd have to tell them, but then Sara stepped in.

"Zach, he may not want to tell complete strangers what he does for a living." Sara gave her nephew a pointed look.

"But we've been hanging out for a couple of hours," Zach protested. "We're not strangers anymore!"

"Is okay," Anatoli assured Sara, then turned to Zach. "I play hockey."

"Oh. Oh, wow." Zach's eyes, round as saucers before, grew to the size of dinner plates. "You're...oh, my gosh, you're Anatoli Strelkov. I can't believe I didn't recognize you! I watch all the games! You're terrific!" Zach was fidgeting in his seat as though it was on fire. "Oh, wow. Wait until the guys at school hear this!"

Anatoli glanced at Sara, who looked just as surprised as her nephew.

How could I not know? she wondered. She watched nearly every Capitals' game she could. She didn't immerse herself in the stats like Zach and his friends did, but she read the paper and checked things online. Surely she'd seen his picture. She realized she'd probably mostly seen him with his helmet on; no wonder she hadn't placed him.

"It's nice to meet you." Sara placed a hand over his in lieu of shaking it.

Her hand was soft and warm; Anatoli turned his over and squeezed. Sara blushed, and he grinned to himself. She was so pretty when she blushed.

"Can I—can I get your autograph?" Zach had been speechless, but he recovered. Anatoli laughed and nodded. Sara pulled a notepad out of her purse and Anatoli wrote a little note to Zach and signed it. Zach stared at it, puzzled.

"What's it say?"

"It is Russian," Anatoli told him. "It say, 'To my dinosaur friend, Zach.' Then my name."

Zach's grin looked like it would split his face in two. "That is so cool. Isn't it, Aunt Sara?"

"It is. And then you say..." She raised an eyebrow.

"Thanks! Thanks a lot! Hey, how do you say thanks in Russian?"

Touched by Zach's enthusiasm, even for just the one word, Anatoli said, "Spa-see-bah. 'You're welcome' is pozhalsta."

"Spaseebah, then," said Zach. "How was that?"

"Ochen khorosho." Anatoli nodded. "Very good."

Zach beamed.

"Ready for that diamond?" Sara asked.

Zach nodded and, in a fit of good manners brought on by his lucky day, offered to collect and dispose of all the trash. While he took it over to the garbage can, Sara looked at Anatoli.

"Thank you so much," she said. "You really...you just made his day."

"Made day what?"

She laughed at his confusion, but not at him. "Made it better than he expected," she explained. She wanted to say more, but wasn't sure what, and was relieved when Zach came running back to the table.

"Let's go, let's go!"

x-x-x-x

Sara kept wondering what she was doing. Well, she knew what she was doing. She was enjoying the Natural History Museum with her nephew and the handsome man they'd encountered in the dinosaur exhibit. She'd done this sort of thing before—gone to a museum or a concert, struck up a conversation with another patron and chatted for a while. Occasionally she'd shared a drink during intermission or after the show, but it had never amounted to more than friendly strangers passing the time.

This was more than that, and she knew it already. She guiltily wished she could spend more time with Anatoli without Zach around. He seemed so nice and had been a perfect gentleman; not only that, but he'd been patient and amused by Zach. That went a long way with her.

She sighed. It was probably just another ship-in-the-museum encounter, and she'd never see him again. Except on TV, she reminded herself. Perhaps, she thought with another twinge of guilt, she'd indulge some curiosity and check out his bio on the Caps' website later. It was public information, right?

"Hey, Zach, let's hit the gift shop," she said after they'd paid their respects to the Hope Diamond and wandered through the Hall of Geology. Anatoli had been intrigued by the large, near-perfect quartz sphere that sat in one room. Zach had been more interested in the meteorites. Sara glanced at her watch. "We need to meet your Mom at the Metro station in half an hour."

"All right." Zach's enthusiasm had waned as the day wore on and his feet wore out. He looked up at his aunt. "Do you think they have a fake Hope Diamond I could get for my mom?"

Sara smiled and shook her head. "We can look, but I don't think so. Maybe we can find her something else." Maureen did like jewelry; Sara decided she could help Zach find and pay for a pair of earrings or a pretty necklace. It was so sweet of him to think of his mom; she knew a lot of kids wouldn't.

"Okay." Zach turned to Anatoli. "Want to come with us?"

"Sure," Anatoli said before Sara could protest. "I need present for my brother."

"How old is he?" Zach asked as they made their way to the elevator.

"Twelve. He was..." Anatoli frowned. "Our parents not expect baby."

Sara smiled. "He was a surprise?"

Anatoli nodded, pleased that she'd understood.

The museum's gift shop was big enough to be divided into two separate stores. On one side, Zach studied the jewelry displays while Anatoli went across to examine the dinosaur stock. Sara kept one eye on Zach while she looked at the items for sale. There were lovely coffee table books, pretty scarves, and lots of sculptures and pieces of art. If I'm going to start hoarding knick-knacks, she thought, I could start here. Maureen couldn't accuse me of bad taste.

"Aunt Sara, I'll be right back, okay? I want to ask Anatoli something." Zach looked at her hopefully.

"Okay. I'll come with you."

Zach shook his head and shifted his feet. "No, just wait here. I won't be long. Besides, can you look at this? I thought mom might like it." He led Sara over to a display of necklaces and pointed out the one he liked. Before Sara could say anything, he'd darted across the hall to the other shop.

The necklace was pretty, Sara thought. Maureen would like it. It was a little out of Zach's price range, but she'd fill in the difference. Soon Zach was back, Anatoli in tow. "I'm sorry," she said, "I hope he didn't bother you too much."

Anatoli shook his head. "Zach helped me to find for my brother. Now I can be more..." he struggled a bit for a word, then shrugged. "I know better he will like it."

"I'm glad." She smiled, but this time felt slightly awkward and wasn't sure why.

"Hey, Aunt Sara, you need to go across the hall."

She turned and raised an eyebrow to her nephew. "I do?" She sensed an ulterior motive and glanced at Anatoli, who avoided her eyes. Zach radiated impatience. "All right, then I guess I do. Let me know when you're ready to pay for the necklace, Zach."

She stepped out into the hallway. It wasn't long before she was summoned back. She used a credit card for the necklace but solemnly waited while Zach counted out what money he had and put it in her wallet. She remembered what it was like to be making those first purchases on your own and didn't want to deny him the pleasure.

"Come on, Zach, we'd better walk fast."

"Okay." Zach was tired and couldn't hide it.

They exited the museum onto Constitution Avenue just as the sun was setting. Despite her tired legs, Sara debated a walk along the Mall before going home. She loved to see the city at night, and pondered the idea of taking the Metro back towards the Capitol and walking from there for a while. There was a pretty reflecting pool there, but it didn't get the attention of the one in front of the Lincoln Memorial.

Sara turned to Anatoli. "It was so nice to meet you. I can't thank you enough..." she trailed off, not sure quite what she was thanking him for. Company? Tolerating an over-enthusiastic nine-year-old boy? She realized the awkward feeling from before was back, and now knew why—she didn't want to say good-bye.

"I walk to Metro with you?" Anatoli asked. The Metro was the one thing he'd felt comfortable with when he moved to Washington. It was newer and smaller than the one in Moscow, but a subway was a subway.

"That would be nice," Sara said.

They crossed the street and turned right, making their way to the National Archives/Navy Memorial Station. Maureen was sitting on one of the benches around the monument and waved when she saw them.

"Hi, Mom!" Zach found a small burst of energy and sped up to go hug his mom. "Here! I got this for you." He handed her a box.

"Well, thanks, sweetie." She opened the box and picked up the necklace. The colorful stones glittered under the streetlights. "It's beautiful." She gave him the box and fastened the necklace in place. "What do you think?"

"It looks great," said Sara. "Hi, Maureen."

"Hi." Maureen stared at the man next to her sister. If Sara had moved on from Jerry, she'd done so in fantastic style. He was over six feet, with dark blond hair and she could tell he did some serious time at the gym. Jerry had been about five foot eight, with thin (and thinning) black hair, and wouldn't go into a gym unless at gunpoint.

Way to go, sis, Maureen thought.

"Maureen, this is Anatoli Strelkov. Anatoli, this is my sister, Maureen Clarkson." Sara could see the shock on her sister's face and couldn't help but be amused, although she did manage to keep a satisfied grin off her face.

"Nice to meet you." Anatoli extended his hand and used one of the phrases he'd managed to memorize. Maureen took it.

"And you."

"Mom, do you know who he is?" Zach was bouncing with excitement.

"Should I?" Maureen glanced from her son to Anatoli.

"He's Anatoli Strelkov! He plays for the Capitals!"

Sara thought Zach might bounce into orbit.

"Really?" His mother was at a loss, but then recovered. No wonder he looks like an athlete; he is. Maureen smiled. "I wish I could say I've seen you play, but Zach will tell you I'm allergic to sports."

"Is okay." Anatoli shrugged. "Not everyone is hockey fan."

"Well, we'd better get going. You can tell me about it on the ride home, Zach," his mother said before he could launch into a detailed narrative of the day. She stepped over to hug Sara. "Thanks, sis. I hope you had fun."

"We did." Sara patted Maureen's shoulder. "I learned more about dinosaurs than I thought anyone could know. I'll probably forget it by tomorrow."

"All right." Maureen glanced at Anatoli, then back at Sara. "Call me."

Sara just nodded at the loaded words.

"Bye, Zach." Sara gave him a hug and dropped a kiss on his head. He bore it stoically. "Maybe we can do Air and Space next time, okay?"

"Cool!" Zach nodded vigorously.

"Good-bye, Zach," said Anatoli. He held out a hand and Zach took it with an expression of awe. "It was nice to meet you."

"Bye," said Zach. Then, "How do you say that in Russian?"

Anatoli smiled. "Do svidanya."

Zach repeated it, grinning when Anatoli nodded in approval. He waved again and then he and his mother got on the station escalator. Sara watched them descend and then turned to Anatoli.

x-x-x-x

Ask him to dinner or something, she berated herself, but the words wouldn't come. Instead, she said, "Thanks again. It was so nice to meet you, and you were so good with Zach."

Anatoli shrugged. "I like Zach. He make me think of my brother." He was silent for a moment, debating what to do. He'd enjoyed his time with both of them, but now he wanted to spend time with Sara alone. The easiest thing was to ask her to dinner—there were several restaurants within walking distance. He just wasn't sure, and his nervousness about the language didn't help.

"Well...I guess I'll go, too," Sara said. "I'll have to—"

"You come to dinner with me? Please?" The words came out in a rush; Anatoli was afraid if he waited any longer, he'd never say them at all. "I had good time today," he went on, trying to make sure he used the right words. "I would like to be more with you."

Sara blinked. Had he read her mind?

Anatoli waited for her answer. Had he been too forward? Too eager? Had he misread the signals in the museum? Surely body language was mostly the same in different places. Sara had seemed to like him—she would look over and smile, give him the exasperated look that she didn't give Zach; a couple of times she'd even touched his arm to bring his attention to something. To him, it all added up to the fact that she might like him, so he'd taken the chance.

God, he wanted her to say 'Yes.'

"I'd like that." Sara nodded.

He grinned.

x-x-x-x

"Do you miss Russia?" Sara asked. They sat at a table at a little restaurant, TenPenh, right on Pennsylvania Avenue. It was a quiet Sunday night, and the sparse crowd let them talk without shouting.

Anatoli nodded and shrugged at the same time. "Yes. It is home. But Washington is home, too." He was becoming more comfortable speaking with her, and he was relieved that Sara wasn't impatient. That was probably the most frustrating thing he'd encountered: someone would ask a question, and when he tried to answer, they'd end up suggesting words or finishing the sentence for him. It made him feel awkward and a bit stupid.

Sara, on the other hand, would ask something and wait for his answer. She'd only suggest a word if he looked at her with an unspoken request that she do so. It was such a relief to talk to her.

"I like it here, too," she said. "I'm originally from a small town in Massachusetts, but I always thought it would be exciting to live in a city. I tried New York, but it was much too big and busy for me."

Anatoli thought about that, decided he agreed. He'd been in New York numerous times for games, and had even taken a few weekends to go see the sights. There was an appeal, but it wasn't for him. Studying Sara, he felt he could see why it wasn't for her, either.

Sara found herself quite taken with him. She didn't think it had ever happened before, that first quick shock of attraction. Even with Jerry, it had been a gradual thing. They'd met through her sister, dated a few times and things had grown slowly. She sighed to herself, doubting Anatoli had any similar feelings. He'd been sweet in the museum, and it was flattering that he'd asked her to dinner, but she didn't expect more.

"What's Russia like?" she asked, then blushed at the broad question. "I've always wanted to go," she murmured, brushing her hair back in a nervous gesture.

"Each part different." He was pleased that she'd asked. "Russia, she is big. Moscow is huge city and I come from small place."

"I wanted to go St. Petersburg," she said, "to see the Winter Palace and the Hermitage. I took Russian history courses in college and that seemed more interesting than Moscow. My grandmother was from St. Petersburg, too, so I guess that's why I wanted to go."

"I was there for games, for..." He looked for the word. "For tournament?" Anatoli sipped his water, watching her over the rim of the glass. He was gaining confidence in his English the more time he spent with Sara. He liked her a lot, found himself wondering if she would go to dinner with him again. "But team was busy. No time to see things."

They chatted a bit more, relaxing as they got to know each other. When they finished, Anatoli moved to pay, and Sara didn't protest. She had a feeling he might be a bit offended, and perhaps it was selfish, but it was nice to be treated. It made her feel special, and after the last few months, it was a refreshing change. She decided she'd enjoy it while she could.

They walked out into the cool October evening. The street had a few pedestrians, but given the late hour on a Sunday, not many. Sara checked her watch and saw it was only seven-thirty. She sighed; it still felt too early to go home.

"You are all right?" Anatoli asked. He'd been trying to think of a way to stay with her a little longer.

"Oh, yes, fine." She glanced at him and smiled. "I was just deciding what to do." She sighed. "I know it sounds silly, but I'm not ready to go home yet."

"Why not?" Anatoli was curious.

"I...if I go home, I'll be alone. I'm not ready to do that yet." Sara winced. How pathetic does that sound?

Anatoli reached down and took her hand. "I not want to go home yet," he said. "Where we should go?"

Sara kept her mouth closed only by an effort of will. "I...I was going to take a walk." Was he actually holding her hand? The warmth of his hand and the gentle pressure from his fingers told her he was. It was the best thing she'd ever felt.

"Pretty lady no walk alone." He winked at her. "Not safe."

"But you...you don't have to do that." Sara shook her head, determined to speak without stumbling over the words. "You must have things you need to do, or a practice tomorrow or..."

Anatoli shook his head with that little smile that she found she was liking way too much. "We have break between games," he said. "Coach...he give us time off. Practice tomorrow, but later." He could feel her uncertainty but wouldn't let her pull away. He wouldn't let her become just "Sara I met at the museum that day." He'd be persistent, just like he was when he played. Persistence paid off, after all.

Sara gave in. "I was going to walk along the Mall." Why shouldn't I walk with him? she asked herself. He likes me, he's fun to talk to—so why shouldn't I?

Anatoli thought for a moment, then asked, "Can we see Lincoln Memorial?"

Sara's face lit up. "It's beautiful at night. You'll love it."

x-x-x-x

"Is amazing," he told her, squeezing her hand. "Very pretty." Anatoli stared up at the Lincoln Memorial from the bottom of the steps. A few cars went by, but he hardly noticed. White light filtered out between the huge columns, the stone giving everything a bluish tinge.

"I like the Jefferson Memorial a little better," Sara said, "but it's too far to walk at night. Have you seen it?" What a stupid question, she thought. He'd been here long enough to have seen all of the monuments, she was sure.

"One time." Anatoli looked down at her. "Maybe I see again with you?"

"Maybe." She hoped he couldn't see her blush. "I...Have you ever been to St. Basil's Cathedral? It looks incredible in the pictures I've seen." She knew she was speaking too quickly but couldn't help it. How did he make her feel like this? So nervous, like she was on a first date.

Good Lord, was she on a date? She realized Anatoli was speaking and she forced her attention back to him.

"I saw from far away," he said. "Too many games. And I was..." he tried to think of the word, and Sara waited. "I wanted to be home many times."

"You were homesick," she said, and he nodded. She looked back up at Lincoln, absently patting his arm in belated comfort. "I know the feeling."

He glanced down at her again, taking in her profile. He thought perhaps he saw the hint of her Russian ancestry in her face; she had the angular features he associated with that part of Europe. However, the features were softened and gave him the impression of someone who had strength underneath. It was an appealing combination.

"So," he said as they walked in front of the memorial, "why you not want to go home?"

"Hmmm? Oh." She reddened a little. "It's...well, it's not a long story, but it isn't very interesting, either."

"Is okay. We walk, you tell me."

"Where?"

He shrugged and smiled. "Your turn."

She laughed softly. "You know, your English is very good."

He smiled a bit shyly. "You think so?"

"I do. I know it's a hard language to learn as a second one, and you do very well."

"Thank you." He squeezed her hand. "You try to change. Why you not want to go home?"

Sara sighed. Why not tell him? It wasn't like she'd see him again to be embarrassed about it. "All right, but first—have you seen the Albert Einstein statue?" He shook his head. "I'll tell you while we walk."

She led him up to the light at 23rd and Constitution, then crossed and went right. "It really isn't a long story, Anatoli. I was dating someone, and he broke up with me. We were living together. We started talking about more long-term things."

He listened silently, wondering about the fool who would let someone like Sara go.

"Anyway," she continued, "about a month ago, he said he'd met someone else. That was it." She swallowed as she found the path leading to the almost-hidden statue of Einstein. It was one of her favorite places in the District. "So he took his things and left. Then about two weeks later, I saw him at my brother-in-law's business function. He was with this girl who was younger than me." This was the part that hurt, so she hurried past it. "So, that's it. It's still hard sometimes to come home to an empty apartment. I'll get over it."

Okay, now I'm completely embarrassed, she thought as Anatoli said nothing. I never should have said anything. The last thing any guy wants is to hear about the ex on a first date. Or whatever this is.

"Here he is." Sara led him in front of Einstein. The bushy-haired scientist was larger than life as he sat with an open notebook on his lap. Anatoli looked at the inscription and smiled when he saw "e=mc2." Even he could recognize that.

"I like him," Anatoli said.

Sara was relieved that he didn't say anything about her story. "Look, here." She pointed at their feet and pulled him back so they stood in front of the statue. "It's a map of the stars. The heads of the nails are different sizes, like the stars."

Anatoli saw she was right and was intrigued. He wandered around, looking at it from different angles, and even saw a couple of constellations.

Sara watched him, then took a seat next to Einstein. She'd loved to come here with Zach and his sister when they were younger and watch them climb all over the statue. It was a special place to her, for whatever reason. Maybe it was the semi-seclusion of the trees, or the fact that while it was on one of the main thoroughfares in Washington, it wasn't well-known and was rarely overrun with tourists.

During the first week or so after Jerry had broken up with her, she'd come here a couple of times just to think. Funny, she thought now, but she'd never brought Jerry here. He wouldn't have appreciated it, she was sure. He would have looked around and said, what's next? She stole a glance at Anatoli, who would walk a few steps and look at the map, then step in another direction and look at it again.

He gets it, she thought. He gets the appeal of a little place like this. She laughed to herself over the idea of having met a hockey player—and one who got some attention—at the museum, of all places. Not just a hockey player, either, she reminded herself. Anatoli was a nice guy, who had treated her nephew and herself very well when he hadn't had to. A guy who would brave the Natural History Museum to take pictures for his younger brother.

The kind of guy, Sara had to admit, that she could get to like.

Anatoli watched Sara out of the corner of his eye as he walked around the map. She sat on one of the lower steps, leaning against one of the big metal legs. Deciding he'd had enough of the map, he walked over and sat beside her.

"Thank you. I like this place."

"Oh, you're welcome." The lights were bright enough for him to see her blush just before she turned her face away. Then she turned back. "This is one of my favorite places; it's nice to have some company here."

"You come alone?"

"Sometimes."

"You bring him here?"

Sara shook her head. "He wouldn't have liked it."

"Then is good he broke up." She looked at him in surprise and he winced. "I mean...I think..." he broke off, frustrated.

Sara considered and then realized what he was trying to say and gave his hand a grateful squeeze. "I think you mean I'm better off without him. You're right. Thanks."

He sighed in relief. "Yes."

"It's just..." She shook her head. "You get used to someone, I guess. We'd been seeing each other for close to two years. Now I can see that some things weren't very good. They weren't terrible, so I guess I let them slide. Then when I saw him with that girl..." She sighed. "I could tell they'd been together for a while, and it explained a lot of things about his behavior. I just feel stupid for not seeing it before."

"You not stupid." Anatoli gave in to temptation and pushed back a lock of her hair. "He was stupid."

Before Sara could even react to the tingle she felt when his hand touched her face, he leaned down to kiss her. Her eyes widened in surprise and then closed as his hand rested against her cheek and his lips pressed gently against hers. Tentatively, she raised her hand and covered his, soaking in the strength and warmth of it.

When he felt her hand on his, Anatoli pulled back slowly, wondering if her heart was racing like his was. He let his eyes wander over her face, coming back to fix on her eyes. He saw a little nervousness, but a flash of desire along with it. Persistence has to start somewhere, he thought, and kissed her again, bringing his other hand up to tunnel in her hair and hold her in place.

Sara gasped and gripped his shoulders. He pulled her closer and she slid her arms around his neck while one of his hands stayed in her hair and the other moved down to her back. Oh, he felt good. She loved it when a man stroked her hair, and as he moved his fingers, she sighed.

Knowing an opening when he saw it, Anatoli teased her lips with his tongue for a moment before moving it inside. He knew he'd have to see her again, but for now he concentrated on everything he could touch or taste about her so she'd be fixed in his mind until the next time. She was spicy and warm, and soft under his hands.

Footsteps and laughter on the other side of the trees startled them into breaking the kiss, but Anatoli didn't let go of her. He kept her close, stroking her back until the voices faded.

"Wow," Sara said when she had her voice back. Rock the red, indeed, she thought. Anatoli had rocked her world off its foundations for a few minutes.

He chuckled softly and brushed his lips over her forehead. "Ochen krasivaya".

"What?" She looked at him, puzzled.

He kissed her lips again. "Very pretty."

"Thank you." Having no idea what to say, Sara was grateful when he nudged her head down on his shoulder.

Too soon, reality started knocking. What was she doing? What was she thinking? Wasn't she still on the rebound, recovering from a breakup? It was hardly fair to start anything with Anatoli, if there was anything there. Reluctantly, she lifted her head.

"I really should get home."

"You still not want to."

She shrugged. "No, but that doesn't change the fact that tomorrow's Monday and I have to work." She was mentally reviewing how much leave time she had available before she realized what she was doing and cut herself off.

"I see you tomorrow? After work?" Anatoli wasn't entirely sure what his schedule was the next day, but he knew there was no game, so he should be able to work something out.

"You...you want to see me again?" Sara wondered if her imagination had jumped into high gear.

"Yes." He frowned. "You not want to see me?"

"No...I mean, yes, I do, but..." She shook her head to clear it. "I just..." She gave a weak laugh. "Apparently I'm not so good with English, sometimes." He laughed with her. She started over. "I just don't know what you want, or think you want, and—"

"I want see you again." He placed a finger over her lips. To start with, he thought.

"All right." She smiled. "I'd like that very much."

"Good." He reached into his back pocket to retrieve his wallet. He fumbled through it and pulled out a card. "Here, is my number. You call me, please." When she still looked a bit doubtful, he tipped her chin up and met her eyes. "Please."

"I promise." What else can I do? she thought helplessly.

"Thank you." He leaned down and kissed her once more. When it was done, Sara smiled mischievously.

"Pozhalsta."

He threw his head back and laughed, hugging her to him. He dragged a finger over her cheek. "Remember, yes?"

"I will."

x-x-x-x

"Well, you're in a good mood."

Anatoli looked over to see Drew Stamenski, one of the other forwards on the team, leaning against the boards next to him.

"What?" Anatoli had been lost in thought.

"I dunno." Drew put his stick behind his shoulders, grabbed it with both hands, and twisted to stretch his torso. "You're just a lot looser than usual."

"I had good day off," Anatoli told him. Drew was right. He'd felt relaxed since waking up and it had carried over to practice. He was skating fluidly and his shots were on target; it was so much better than the days where he gripped his stick too tightly and the puck went everywhere except where he wanted it to.

"You must have." Drew winked. "Obie said he tried to call you all day but you didn't answer your cell phone."

"I forget," Anatoli admitted. "I go to museum." He looked around; no one was nearby, but he lowered his voice anyway. "I meet girl there, Sara." He could trust Drew to keep it to himself; they'd become good friends since he'd come to America.

"Oh, yeah?" Drew raised an eyebrow. "You met a girl?"

"Yes. I wait for her to call."

"What's she like?" Drew bent over to stretch his back.

"Pretty. Funny." Anatoli tried to find the words. "She was with boy, nephew. We talk. Is easy talk with her."

"You going to see her again?"

"I hope." Anatoli changed the subject. "What you do yesterday?"

"Not much." Drew squatted down, stretching his legs. "Slept in, saw a movie, called my mom." He sighed. "She told me she wasn't going to watch anymore if I got into another fight."

Anatoli laughed, then looked up as the coach whistled the team to the next drill.

"Oh, I hate this one." Drew winced as they lined up to take penalty shots. "This is the worst part of my game."

Anatoli winked. "Just shoot where net is empty." He took off at the whistle, zipped between the circles and flicked the puck into the upper left corner. The goalie tapped his stick once in frustration and got ready for the next shooter. Drew just shook his head when Anatoli looked over.

Anatoli skated back into place for his next turn, letting his mind wander for just a moment to seeing Sara that evening, then bringing it back to business.

x-x-x-x

Sara sat at her desk, staring at her computer screen. It was her lunch hour, and technically she shouldn't have been using the computer for personal use. Her boss was pretty easy about that, though, so she wasn't concerned about it. What had her flustered were Anatoli Strelkov's stats. Most were fine: six-foot-one, 200 pounds, right-handed shot, born in Russia. That was great; who didn't like a tall, handsome man with an accent? It was the date of birth that got her.

August 12, 1984. He was twenty-five years old. Nearly seven years younger than she was.

She rubbed at her forehead. Now what? She'd gone on the site to check the practice schedule, not wanting to call while he was busy. Then she'd figured why not, and went to the roster to get his basic info. She felt a little weird about it, but people googled each other all the time, right? This was out there for anyone to see, it wasn't like she was going through confidential files. Still, it felt strange. She'd never done this before.

Oh, God, what am I going to do? The thought kept circling in her head: if a guy a few years older had dumped her for someone younger, then what was to stop a younger guy from doing the same?

You're getting ahead of things, she chided herself. They'd had one sort-of date, at the end of which there had been kisses—yes, okay, amazing kisses—but she shouldn't blow one impromptu walk on the Mall into anything more than that. They weren't even at a point that if one of them walked away, it could be called a breakup.

No, this was silly, she thought as she pushed away from her desk. She was going to go outside, grab a lunchbox from Teaism up on Eighth Street, and enjoy it at the Navy Memorial. She'd call Anatoli this afternoon. She had said she would, and she hated it when people reneged on such promises to her. You always make mountains out of molehills when there aren't even any molehills, she admonished herself.

x-x-x-x

Anatoli had made sure he did not walk out without his cell phone that morning. The day before, after realizing he'd forgotten it, it had been nice to know people couldn't get him at the drop of a hat. Today, he had to stop himself from continually checking that the ringer was on and reviewing the call list to make sure he hadn't missed Sara.

What if she doesn't call? He couldn't call her. Stupid, stupid, he berated himself. He hadn't even gotten her last name, let alone a phone number. Well, he reflected, he had her sister's last name. He supposed he could look her up somehow. He was so busy figuring out how that would work that he didn't hear the cell phone's first two rings.

"Hello?" He nearly dropped it in his haste to answer.

"Hello, Anatoli?" Sara sounded tentative. "This is Sara. Sara Brooks. From the museum."

He filed the last name away. "Hi, Sara. How are you?"

"I'm fine, thanks." She gave a short, nervous laugh. "I wasn't sure you'd remember me."

Anatoli smiled to himself. Remember her? She had to be kidding. "I could not forget you," he said.

"Oh." Sara was silent for a minute. "Um, how are you? How was practice?"

"Good, thank you," he said, pleased she'd known. His previous girlfriend had barely bothered to find out when he played games, let alone practiced. There was a relationship that never should have gotten started, he thought, then pushed it away. "I saw boy there," he continued, "and he remind me of Zach. Maybe Zach come to practice some time."

"He'd love that!"

"Maybe you bring him."

"Oh. Maybe." She paused, then said, "I've never been to a practice."

"Is not very exciting," Anatoli admitted.

"No, I'd like to," she said hastily. "I just..." she gave a frustrated sigh. "I'm sorry. I can usually talk better than this."

" I see you tonight?" Anatoli asked, forcing her to shift mental gears again. "Maybe we walk again?"

"That would be great."

x-x-x-x

"Sorry." Anatoli apologized to Drew after he hung up. They had gone for a late lunch after practice finished.

"No problem." Drew took a long drink of his soda. "So, that was Sara?"

"Yes." Anatoli couldn't hide his smile. "I worry she not call."

"You must have made a good impression," Drew said. "What happened, anyway?"

Drew listened as Anatoli managed to get the story out, finishing with their plans to meet. It sounded fine, there was nothing to raise suspicions. People had to meet somewhere, somehow, right? Drew thought to himself. Well, he supposed they did, but that didn't mean he had to like it.

While Anatoli went for another drink, Drew sighed to himself. When had he signed up for another younger brother? Wasn't the one he had enough trouble?

"Hey," Drew said when Anatoli returned, "I need to go into town tonight. I'll give you a ride."

x-x-x-x

Sara couldn't help smiling to herself. They had agreed to meet at six, Anatoli offering to meet her at the Navy Memorial, since it was across the street from the National Archives, where she worked. Sara flipped her phone closed and shook her head. It was so nice to have someone work around her schedule, even for a little thing like this. Jerry had, for one thing, hated public transportation. Meeting him had always been difficult.

He had never wanted to pick her up at work because he hated to drive in the city. His office, on the other hand, wasn't within a reasonable walking distance to a Metro station, and Sara took the Metro to work. So meeting up had taken a lot of work—finding a mutually agreeable place (more often than not, Sara just let him pick, not wanting to argue), then Sara trying to decide if she could use Metro and bus, or needed to go home for her car.

After all that, here was Anatoli, offering to meet her in the city and they hadn't had to discuss any other conditions. Stop comparing them, she ordered herself. She slid the phone back into her purse and turned back to her computer.

"So who was that?"

Sara looked up and blinked, then smiled. Quentin Malli was one of her best friends in or out of work. He joked that as the resident gay man in the office, he had to keep track of all the relationships or he'd lose his credibility. Sara had to admit that at a glance, Quentin was not what most people thought of as gay.

"No one you know." Sara turned back to her computer.

Quentin raised an eyebrow. "Oh, really? You have no idea how many people I know. Tell me." He leaned on the cubicle wall.

"Someone I met at the museum." Sara relented. "When I took Zach yesterday."

Quentin zipped around the wall and dropped into her extra chair. "Well, come on, tell me more."

"It's nothing," she said, sitting back. She'd get no work done while he was here, so there was no sense trying.

"It's never nothing," Quentin countered. "Is he cute? Is he a good kisser? He is, isn't he!" He grinned when Sara blushed. "Come on, Sara, just tell me. You know I'll get it out of you."

She sighed. "His name's Anatoli and that's all I'm going to tell you."

Quentin raised his eyebrows. "Anatoli? Russian?" When she just stared back, he gave an aggrieved sigh. "Oh, come on. Who am I going to tell?"

"Besides everybody?"

"Sara."

"I know, I know, I'm sorry." Sara rubbed her eyes. "I just don't know that there's anything to say. I met him yesterday and yes, he kissed me, and I'm going to see him later. Other than that..." she spread her hands.

"Well, what does he do?" Quentin asked. "Ambassador? KGB? Or whatever they're calling it these days?"

"He's a hockey player."

"Oh, okay," said Quentin. "My brother plays hockey. You know, one of those club leagues. That's not what you mean, is it?" he asked when Sara started shaking her head. His eyes widened. "You mean he plays hockey? Like, professional hockey?"

"Yes, like professional hockey." Sara couldn't help laughing.

"For what team?"

"What do you think, Quentin?"

"For the Capitals? Seriously?" Quentin's face began to look dangerously like Zach's when he had realized who Anatoli was. In another blow against stereotypes, Quentin and his partner were both big sports fans, although their preferred game was baseball.

"Yes, for the Capitals." Sara found that for some odd reason, this whole conversation was assuaging her nervousness.

"Well, let's see then." His eyes lit up. "There are only two Anatolis on the team, right? Is it the big guy, O-something?"

"No," she said, "it's the other one." Quentin gave her a dry look. "Strelkov," she said, giving up. "His name is Anatoli Strelkov."

"Show me a picture," he demanded.

"Why?"

"Because I'm too lazy to look it up myself."

"Quentin, you really don't need—" Her arm jostled the mouse and the screensaver cleared.

Quentin hooted when he saw the roster up on her screen. "Ow!" he complained when she whacked his arm.

"Keep it down," she hissed.

"Sara, what's wrong?" He'd been joking around, but he could tell something was bothering her. He could understand wanting to keep a new relationship under wraps for a while, but Sara was acting as though it was classified material.

"Oh..." She shoved herself away from the monitor. "Look for yourself."

Quentin stared at her for another minute, then shrugged and scooted over to her screen. He studied it for a bit, trying to figure out what had Sara on edge. What, she doesn't like tall guys? he wondered.

"Okay, I've looked." He pushed the chair back. "I don't get it. He's tall, good looking, and presumably in incredible physical shape. I can't for the life of me figure out why you'd be attracted to him."

"Did you happen to notice his birthday?"

"I'm not going to send him a card." He held his hands up when she glared at him. "Okay, what?"

"He's twenty-five, Quentin."

"Ah, I remember that age," Quentin said dreamily. He tilted his head back. "Just out of school, looking for a job, looking for love...good times."

"I'm thirty-one."

Quentin blinked. "And?"

"He's twenty-five. I'm thirty-one. I'll be thirty-two in six weeks." She looked at him expectantly.

"Oh, come on, Sara," he said. "You can't be upset about that. Good Lord, that's nothing."

"It's seven years."

He rolled his eyes. "I can do basic math, thanks. So what? Sara, I really don't understand. So you're older; it's not like he's under age or anything."

"He doesn't know." She dropped her head back on the chair.

"What?" Quentin gaped. "You mean you didn't exchange every single vital statistic each of you had? What were you thinking?"

I wasn't thinking at all when he kissed me, Sara thought, then focused on the conversation.

"Look," she said, "I don't mean to sound like a soap opera. But I was recently dumped and replaced with a younger model. And Jerry was older than me. Why would someone who's already younger want that?"

He rapped her on the knee with his folder. "Excuse me? Tim Robbins and Susan Sarandon? Ashton and Demi? There's a lot more than seven years' difference in either of those."

"Susan and Demi are a lot better-looking than I am," Sara said. That earned her a whack on the head with the folder. "Yeesh. Okay, okay, they're just richer. And besides, Tim and Susan split up."

"Don't you start," Quentin said with a glare. Sara held her palms up in surrender. "Better. Now, get all of this stuff out of your head. The seven years between twenty-five and thirty-two are not the same as between twenty-seven and twenty, or twenty-five and eighteen. You're both adults, for God's sake."

"I know, but—"

"Ah, ah—no buts." Quentin cut her off. He sank back in the chair and his tone changed. "Come on, Sara, don't cut yourself off from something good before it even starts."

"Okay, okay." She smiled. "You're right."

"Good, so when do you see him again?"

"Tonight at six."

"Great." Quentin nodded. "I'll make sure you're there."

x-x-x-x

"So, which one is she?" Drew asked, scanning the light after-work crowd at the memorial.

"You no have to come," Anatoli said.

Drew shrugged. "The team would get mad if you got mugged or something. Consider me your bodyguard."

Anatoli shook his head with a smile. What could he do? Drew had been a good friend ever since Anatoli had come to America, and having the company distracted him from the apprehension he felt while waiting. He paced a little keeping an eye on the building across the street, then saw Sara exit the Archives and walk to the light. Drew followed his gaze and whistled appreciatively.

"Nice," he said. Then, "Ouch!" as Anatoli gave him a sharp elbow to the ribs. "What? I was just saying...never mind." If Anatoli hit him like that again, he'd be on IR. The media and the public tended to think of Anatoli Strelkov as a quiet, sneaky hockey player. He was, Drew thought as he rubbed his side, but he also packed a punch.

Anatoli had a moment of panic when he saw a tall, dark-haired man walking with Sara. She obviously knew him, as they were chatting and smiling. A heavy weight sat in his stomach and he prayed that she wasn't going to introduce this man as the one who'd broken up with her. They couldn't possibly have gotten back together so quickly, could they? She hadn't been lying last night...had she?

x-x-x-x

"I'll introduce you then you go home," Sara instructed.

"Yes, ma'am." Quentin nodded absently, while his eyes wandered over the people crossing the memorial, some going into the Metro, some exiting, all of them in a hurry. He saw two men standing and talking near the statue of the sailor. Two tall, athletic-looking men. He nudged Sara. "Which one is it?"

She followed his gaze and drew in a sharp breath when her stomach unexpectedly filled with butterflies. "He's the one with the dark blond hair," she said, pleased when her voice was steady. "I don't know who the other one is."

"Let's find out." Suddenly Quentin was nearly dragging her across the map that was the floor of the memorial.

"Hi," he said, holding out a hand to Anatoli. "I'm Quentin Malli, a friend of Sara's. You must be Anatoli."

"Yes," Anatoli said slowly, taking the hand. "I'm Anatoli Strelkov." He glanced over at Sara who was blushing furiously. "This my friend, Drew Stamenski."

"Hi," said Drew, shaking Quentin's hand and then Sara's in turn.

"Nice to meet you. I'm just here to drop Sara off," Quentin said, ignoring her glare. "We work together, so I figured I might as well say hi."

"Thanks, Quentin," Sara said. "You can go now." She stepped on his foot to give him more incentive.

"Okay, bye." Quentin gave her a kiss on the cheek and took advantage to whisper, "Don't screw this up," before leaving. He waved and headed over to the Metro entrance.

"I'll head off, too," said Drew. He nodded at Sara. "Sorry, I couldn't help myself when Tolya said he'd met someone at the museum. It's nice to meet you."

"Thanks." Sara relaxed a bit now that she was with Anatoli. The anticipation had, as usual, been more draining than the event. "It's nice to meet you, too."

"Good-bye, Drew," Anatoli said pointedly.

"See you tomorrow," his teammate said, and strode away with an easy, lanky gait.

Anatoli and Sara were quiet for a moment. "I'm sorry—" they both said at the same time, then laughed as the tension broke. Anatoli reached for Sara's hand and they began walking up Seventh Street.

x-x-x-x

"This..." Anatoli looked around the bustling interior of Tony Cheng's Mongolian Barbeque. He couldn't find the word he wanted. "I not here before."

"It's fun," Sara said. "My co-workers and I like to come here. It's a good way to loosen up for the weekend."

Sara was relieved that he liked the restaurant. It had been a spur of the moment decision as they walked up from the Navy Memorial. So many of the other eateries seemed like carbon copies of each other with a slight variation in wall decorations. Tony Cheng's was fun and different.

They'd gone up to the bar in the center of the room to pick the ingredients for their dinner. Anatoli had piled on almost everything, making Sara laugh and shake her head, and he'd watched with a grin as they cooked the meal on the large heated drum. When they'd taken the plates back to the table, she'd wondered how he would eat it all. She'd probably taken less than half of what he had, and he'd finished long before she did.

She relaxed as they spent more time together, chiding herself for her earlier nerves. They talked about a lot of things, ranging from hockey to Zach to how they'd grown up and then to movies and music. They had enough in common to make conversation easy, and enough differences to intrigue her. Anatoli's English was halting but clear, and he had told Sara that he understood the language better than he could speak it.

Now that the meal was over, Sara had the butterflies back. What am I supposed to do? she wondered. She could hear Quentin in her head: Don't ask stupid questions. Enjoy yourself, enjoy being with him. It was good advice.

"Ready to leave?" Anatoli's voice brought her out of her thoughts.

"Yes, thanks, if you are." He had caught her off guard and she hoped she hadn't stumbled over her words when she'd met his eyes. Okay, she thought, just who's younger than who here?

She reached for her purse and pulled out her wallet, but he placed a hand over hers and shook his head. "Please, I pay."

"You really don't have to," she said. First his eyes, now his hand. It wasn't fair how the parts of his body did things to hers. Not fair at all. She hoped he'd do it again.

"I know. I want to."

"All right."

Anatoli paid and took her hand again as they left. Outside, the crowds had thinned a bit as people had gone home after dinner. Sara loved when the city was like this. Busy but not quite bustling, giving a person the excitement of the surroundings while not making them feel like they needed to rush through it.

They walked back down Seventh towards Pennsylvania Avenue.

"So, where you go in museum?" Anatoli asked.

"Hmmm?" Sara had been so lost in enjoying the feel of his hand on hers that she hadn't heard him. Anatoli repeated his question. It took her a moment but then she understood.

"I like to go up to see the ancient civilizations exhibits," she said. "It's not usually crowded, and it's interesting to see things from such a long time ago." She laughed. "I tried to take Zach back there, and he was nice about it, but he was so bored. I guess kids don't care much for cave men these days."

"Zach liked dinosaurs more," Anatoli agreed. "More fun than people."

"I guess they are." By this time they'd wandered back down towards the Navy Memorial. Sara felt a bit apprehensive again, not sure what to say. It wasn't that late, but she didn't know what kind of schedule he had to keep. "I told Zach I'd take him to the Air and Space museum next time." She sat on one of the benches and covered up her nervousness by talking. "He loves planes and things like that."

"All boys like planes." Anatoli grinned and sat beside her. "My brother like planes."

"Is it difficult, being so far from your family?" Sara asked. Anatoli stopped and stared at her, and she wondered if she'd said something wrong. "I'm sorry if I shouldn't have asked. I'd just...like to get to know you."

Anatoli stared for a moment, then surprised her by kissing her cheek.

Will I ever get used to him touching me? she wondered as the spot continued to burn after he'd pulled away. Her stomach twisted as she realized she wanted the chance to get used to it.

"I was thinking," he said, "no one ask that." He paused to find the words and was once again grateful when Sara let him think. "People think money makes easy everything. Not easy."

"No, I'm sure it's not." She squeezed his hand. "You miss your family, don't you?"

He nodded. "Da. We talk phone, we use computer, but is not same." He gave her that slightly sly smile that made her heart flip over. "Is better when I with you."

Sara blushed. "I'm glad." Between the things he says and the way it feels when he touches me, she thought, it's a wonder I can form complete sentences.

Anatoli tugged on her hand and they stood. Sara led them east on Pennsylvania Avenue, towards the Capitol Building.

"It's pretty, isn't it?" she asked, nodding at the dome. "I always think it looks so impressive."

He looked down at her. "You more pretty."

"I...thank you." Sara had been on the verge of protesting, but switched tracks. It did wonders for a girl's ego to have someone tell her she was pretty. Especially a handsome young man like Anatoli. Sara shook her head at herself; she had to stop adding "young" every time she thought of him. Quentin was right; it wasn't like he was a teenager.

"So," she asked, "what's it like to grow up playing hockey?"

x-x-x-x

Anatoli grinned. "Wonderful. I held stick first time, I know I must play hockey." It was a lot of work, he explained, for both him and his parents. However, as Russia looked to rebuild its prestige after the fall of Communism, the state had stepped in. The Soviet Union had been a sports powerhouse, and Russia meant to maintain that.

Where older players like Federov and Konstantinov had played for the Red Army team, Anatoli and other young up-and-comers were also guided by the state. It meant long stretches of living away from home, but he'd encountered a lot of North American players who'd been through the same thing.

"I was nervous to play in America," he said, "but is best. I stay in Russia, I never know what happen."

Sara nodded. "Do you like Washington? And your teammates?"

He nodded. "Very much. They are fun guys. Very helpful."

Sara laughed. "I hope you didn't mind my friend. Quentin decided he would make sure I showed up. I think he thought I might change my mind."

Anatoli stopped, frowning. "You not want to see me?"

"Yes, I did," she assured him. She reached up and ran a hand through his hair, something he found he liked quite a bit. "I was just...nervous." Sara led them to the Capitol reflecting pool and they sat on a bench nearby.

"Why nervous?" He hoped he didn't make her nervous.

She shrugged. "Different things, I guess. I wasn't sure if last night was...I wasn't sure what it meant, if it meant anything." She gave a shy laugh. "I guess I wasn't sure if you'd still like me in the light of day."

"It mean something to me." He made her look at him. "I like you very much. I know my English is...not so good. But I know I want to see you."

"I'd like that, too."

"Da?"

"Yes." She put her hands over his again; he studied them for a moment, hers were so much smaller than his. "I know I'm nervous about relationships, since my last one ended badly. I won't let that stop me from having another."

"I not like him." It was a promise as much as a statement. "I never do that."

"I know."

They stayed a few minutes longer, staring at the water. Anatoli shifted to put his arm around her and settle her against him. Sara leaned her head on his shoulder.

"I should take you home now." Anatoli wondered how he could prolong the evening.

"I guess." Sara gave him a rueful smile. "I wish we could stay longer. I've had a nice time."

"Me, too." He grinned. "I like it when you said wanted see me again. Is good. If no, I may be...distracted."

"Distracted how?"

Anatoli stood and held out a hand. "I think about you when I need think about hockey."

She took his hand and he surprised her by pulling her straight into a kiss, wrapping his arms around her. The surprise didn't last long; Sara slid her arms around his neck and responded ardently, parting her lips and sighing in pleasure when his tongue met hers.

"I wish," he said as he stopped for a moment, "we be inside. We have time for more." He captured her lips again and let his hands move down her body in slow circles. She trembled against him and he liked it; he continued with his hands until she grabbed his wrists.

"We, ah, we wouldn't want to be arrested for indecent behavior," she said. "It wouldn't be good publicity for you."

He laughed. "Papers say all publicity good." She squeaked when he slid his hands further down and squeezed her bottom.

"They're lying!" she said, giggling as she tried to get away. He wouldn't let go, grinning widely. "Anatoli, you have to stop." She pushed him away, still laughing, and he let her go reluctantly.

"Okay," he said. "This time I take you home. Then I know to find you." Instead of holding her hand, he kept his arm around her shoulder as they walked.

They decided to take a cab back over the river into Virginia. Anatoli couldn't help but laugh when they pulled up in front of Sara's apartment building in the Ballston section of Arlington.

"What's so funny?" she asked after she'd paid the cab driver. Anatoli had offered to pay, but she had gently refused.

"I live three blocks there." He pointed to his left. "I no like to drive here at first. I want to live near practice."

"A friend of mine moved out of here and I picked up her lease a couple of years ago." Sara bit her lip. "Would you like to come up?"

He nodded, tracing a finger along her jaw. "You still not want to be alone."

She shook her head.

"Then we go."

x-x-x-x

Sara felt like she was on a first date as she led him up the two flights of stairs to her apartment. She couldn't remember the last time she'd been so nervous. She didn't know if anything would happen, or if she wanted it to. Moving too far, too fast was something she wanted to avoid. There was something between her and Anatoli, she was sure, and she didn't want to ruin it before it started.

She unlocked the door and flicked on the light, stepping in and to the side so Anatoli could come in. When she closed the door and turned around she nearly jumped at seeing him in front of her.

"I scare you?" he asked, eyes glinting.

"No, I just thought...thought you'd gone into the living room." Sara swallowed and wondered how he could set her heart racing so quickly.

"Why? You are here."

She didn't get a chance to answer as he kissed her.

No language barrier here, she thought as she kissed him back. She was glad the wall was behind her, since it kept her up when her knees threatened to buckle again as his body pressed up against hers.

"I think I need to sit down," she murmured against his lips.

Anatoli rested his forehead against hers, catching his breath before nodding. He'd surprised himself with that kiss, but Sara had looked so tempting that he couldn't help himself. "Where?"

"Living room," she managed. Bedroom had been another thought, but Sara thought the other room was safer. Anatoli nodded and let her take a few steps towards the open area he'd glimpsed when he'd first come in. Then he tugged her back to him, keeping her body close and her lips closer as he settled himself over her on the couch.

"You feel good." He brushed his lips over her forehead, then her cheeks. She closed her eyes and took shallow breaths. "Taste good." His tongue dove into her mouth again, demanding more this time. Sara let him take it.

She couldn't remember the last time she'd felt like this, been wanted like this. Suddenly the living room didn't seem so safe after all.

x-x-x-x