It was just one of the many parts of Aurora I found … intoxicating.

Chapter Two

Aurora

There had to be some kind of survival in never seeing your husband. There had to be. The days turned into weeks, then months, and it wasn’t long before I’d been married for a grand total of three months and four days. Yay. I was still alive.

Still alive.

Still ignored.

But it was moments like now that I actually lived for.

On rare occasions, Slavik would demand my presence at parties, social gatherings, and the necessary dinner at a restaurant.

The latter was always the hardest. They tended to be the two of us. He’d look the part but spend the entire time either talking on his cell phone or to a guard. I’d sit and have to listen to his tones of Russian.

I’d thought about starting to learn, but so far, I hadn’t pushed my luck. Now these occasions, where we sat for dinner with a group of people, I could get through them. Slavik sat beside me, ordered my dinner, and complimented me. Played the role, saying all the right things. For a short time, I could pretend this was normal.

At least at this dinner party, there were other women. Three of whom I sat close to. They were talking about their latest designer gowns. I had no idea who I wore but they seemed to.

I nodded and smiled, laughed at the right points, and even told a few jokes. Sofia, Irina, and Amanda were all beautiful women. They were destined to be married to three of the other brigadiers under Ivan Volkov’s rule. I wasn’t sure who they were going to marry, but by the rocks on their fingers, it was a pretty big deal.

“You know, I was thinking we could all do lunch,” I said.

In the last four months, other than being with Slavik, I spent most of my time indoors, unless he ordered me to shop.

It would be nice to make some friends in his world.

No one called me from mine. No distant friends or cousins. Even my sister didn’t have time for me.

I smiled as the women agreed.

Feeling the need to use the bathroom, I excused myself, feeling happier than I had in a long time. This dinner could be the turning point, where I finally found some people. The bathroom was divided into two sections. One was lit, and the other was in darkness. For some odd reason, I decided to go to the opposite side, shrouded in darkness. I used the toilet, flushed, and was washing my hands when I heard the giggling.

“Can you believe her?”

I recognized Amanda’s voice. I stepped back into the toilet stall. Who were they talking about?

“My face hurts from smiling so much,” Sofia said.

“Tell me about it. If Slavik wasn’t here, I would have been able to ignore her. Do you know what they call her?” Irina asked.