The Bear’s Mail Order Menage

So off she went, down a paved road that quickly turned to gravel. On the one hand it was slightly disconcerting, but in another it was strangely intoxicating. For the first time in what felt like her whole life, she was in almost complete silence. Around her was greenery and the remnant of a snow that could have fallen yesterday or a week ago. It was hard to tell with the way the air felt. Somewhere in the distance she could hear the distant whisper of wind meeting with water, a sound so beautiful she was suddenly struck by the urge to cry. She hadn’t had any idea how badly the noises around her were reverberating inside of her head until they were no longer there to accost her.

She still had no real idea of what she was getting herself into, she was by no means fooling herself into thinking she did, but this felt like a good omen. At least she wasn’t in Russia anymore. Even though she was now essentially owned by men she had never met and did not know in any way, she felt freer than she had in a long time. Having even the faintest breath of freedom was all she needed to keep her walking down the strange gravel road.

*   *   *

“Watch your step, ok? I don’t want you to trip, to hurt yourself or anything. That would be a pretty sh*tty start to things, wouldn’t it?”

Alina only smiled, not trusting her voice to speak. She hadn’t expected to feel this nervous! She was more nervous now that she was finally with the person she had been corresponding with than she had been around all of the wretched men she had encountered thus far. She supposed some of it was because this was supposed to be the place where she would settle down.

She had never in her life considered settling down anywhere. As far as she was concerned the safest road to self-preservation was to keep moving. She had never stayed in one place for more than a couple of months. She was filled with a compulsion to move, always to move on towards something she had yet to determine.

Now, she found herself with a man that must epitomize what an American man was supposed to look like. She was not easily impressed by men, in general, but this man had managed to get a second look out of her. For starters, he was massive. He towered over her, and she was not a short woman. It was more than that, though.

Alina was a deeply devoted student of people. She had entire notebooks dedicated to nothing but her observations. In all of her watching, she had never seen a man like this Andrew. He looked like he was made of bronze or some other type of warm metal equally as enticing. He moved differently than most men as well. She wasn’t able to put her finger on what exactly it was, but it was intriguing.

“Alina?”

She looked up with a start, making eye contact with him and feeling like her skin was alight. She had only been with him for roughly an hour and she had already stopped listening when he spoke. She supposed she would just have to hope that he wasn’t the angry, vengeful kind of man or this kind of behavior would earn her a punishment. But he didn’t seem to be angry, so perhaps he was more of the patient disposition.

“I’m sorry, yes. I didn’t mean to go away from my mind. Sometimes I move into my own thoughts and get lost there. I know I must seem rude.”

“No!” he said with an easy laugh that almost made her smile, “I don’t think that at all. You seem really sweet, actually, if I was going to give you my first impression. I was just asking if this place would work for you, if it looks ok.”

Alina looked around her at the studio apartment Andrew had walked her into. It was without a doubt the most beautiful place she had ever stayed.  It was clean and simple, pretty in an understated kind of a way. She felt like she might cry if she were alone to experience the place. It would have been so much worse. After her rocky introduction to the U S of A and American men, this was a welcome reprieve.

“It’s very beautiful, I must confess. But won’t you mind having me in your space? I fear that I will be in your way.”

“But how could you be?”

“Well because this is your home. Even without many things, a person’s body takes up space. I guess I mean I don’t want to take up too much of your space. That’s all.”

“Oh! No, you don’t need to worry about that. This isn’t my home.”

“It’s not?” she said, suddenly feeling afraid, “Then who does it belong to?”

“You. For as long as you want it, at least.”

“I don’t think I understand.”

“I guess you wouldn’t,” he said, laughing again in a way that helped her to feel at least a little bit more at ease, “and why would you? Josh’s family owns these buildings. Sometimes they rent the studios out and sometimes they don’t. He gets to use them as he sees fit. He saw fit to give this one to you.”

Well that was a first. Alina had never heard of a thing like that happening. What kind of place had she wandered into? It was so unlike anything she had ever considered living in. She looked around her like she was in some kind of a dream. She could only hope that the dream would be a good one because if there was one thing she knew, it was that even things that seemed to begin well could turn into nightmares very quickly. She wasn’t sure she could stomach another nightmare. She had already had so many in her lifetime, enough to haunt her until the end of her days.