Blurred Lines

Chapter 24

They were married two days later in a civil ceremony at the Cook County clerk's office, with the officiant declaring them husband and wife before handing Ruslan the marriage licence.

Abigail wore the dress Ruslan bought her.  It fit as though it had been made to measure, and despite covering every inch of skin from neck to toe, it was the most elegant thing she'd ever worn. Had the occasion been one of greater celebration, she may have even appreciated and acknowledged its elegant dignity, but her irritation which begun with its arrival, and continued thereafter, made Ruslan the target of her resentment.

Anna had added to the debacle of the ceremony, undeterred by Abigail's foul mood, when she'd insisted on styling her hair. Proving herself to be a surprisingly skilled stylist. She paid homage to Russian tradition by transforming Abigail's wavy thick hair into an upswept chunky side braid that she completed with a bright yellow ribbon.  Abigail had thought the ribbon an odd choice for a bride and had wanted to remove it, when Anna had bulldozed her with an onslaught of angry Russian words.

"Ukh ty," Nikolay whispered, when he caught sight of her walking toward the living room. 

"Ukh ty?" She repeated.

"Wow," Nikolay explained. "You look wow."

He and Anna would be the only people present at the ceremony.

Ruslan who was speaking on the phone, turned on hearing Nikolay's unashamed appreciation of his bride. When he turned to the sound of the commotion, his eyes appeared transfixed, travelling the length of her dress before coming back up to rest on her face. Abigail heard him apologising to Danil a minute later who he'd forgotten he was still on the line.

"Nikolay, what's with the ribbon?" Abigail asked, afraid to remove it in Anna's presence. 

"I get the braid is a Russian tradition, but a yellow ribbon... I think I'm a little too old for  ribbons in my hair. I wanted to take it out but Anna started sounding really angry, and wouldn't let me touch it."

"Krasivaya, this is a very old tradition. Your braid is like a man's beard," he said, running his hand through his own  beard. "It is your honour and your modesty. Many years ago all Russian women wore their hair up in public. If you wore your hair loose it would be like wearing your underwear in the streets," he laughed. "Anna has given you a single braid because you are a single woman now. Ponimat?"

Abigail nodded her acknowledgement. She hadn't learned a lot of Russian, but was beginning to grasp the basics.

"The ribbon is important because it tells other men that you are promised to someone else."

He pointed to Ruslan standing behind him, who was still talking on the phone.

"On the night of your wedding, it is tradition for your husband to unbraid your hair before you become his."

Abigail felt her face colour.

Niko continued unperturbed.

"Once married you cannot wear a single braid anymore. You must wear two braids. That tells everyone you are a married woman," he said, looking reminiscent.

"These traditions are a beautiful thing Abigail, not like you Americans, everyone having sex with everyone like bunnies... here it is different. There is no tradition in America." Nikolay said, shaking his head with a look of disappointment.

"Ponimat?"

Abigail wanted to tell him yes she'd understood, but there was something called the sexual revolution and women's liberation that happened through the 60s and 70s and maybe he and his buddy Lionman over there, ought to look it up some time, but she couldn't get the image of hundreds of bunnies fucking everywhere out of her mind and began to laugh instead.