Russian Doll

Chapter 3

I open my eyes and it takes a few moments to realize that I'm in my car. I'm safe and I'm alone. My back hurt a lot, however, the pain in my head disappeared. I'm starving but first I need to stretch. I look like I have the spine of an eighty-year-old woman. The universe owes me, at the very least, a better family in the next life. One without a crazy father or an absent mother. I text my brother and my boyfriend just to let them know I'm alive. No one called me, as expected, it must be hell at home.

I drove to my favorite hotel, "Radisson Royal Hotel Moscow". From the first day I set foot in this hotel, I knew I would never find a better hotel in the capital. The entrance hall is charming, with harmonic colors that vary between shades of white and beige. The columns are reminiscent of a Roman temple and the reception area is extremely luxurious, as is the entire hotel. It was in the bar of this magnificent place that Yuri and I kissed for the first time. The rooms are large, with good sun exposure and the meeting rooms are not far away. It is possible to find pianos in special rooms and this is often the type of room I stay in, but today I don't care about that detail. I just want food and wrap myself in blankets.

I send a message to Nik and he answers within seconds.

Nik: Are you okay? Do you need something?

Me: I'm fine. I came to a hotel. From zero to a hundred, how angry is he?

Nik: Five hundred!

Me: Should I immigrate? :(

Nik: The rational answer would be yes, but we both know that's not going to happen. He didn't set your room on fire. You survive.

Me: My food has arrived, can I call you tomorrow morning?

Nik: Yes, of course, feed yourself well.

Me: Love you.

Nik: Love you too.

I turn off my cell phone, open the door, grab my food, and tip the waiter, who gives me a strange look. I close the door, getting ready to indulge in greasy and unhealthy food, when I suddenly understand why the strange faces of the employee, the receptionist, and the teenager who passed by me in the hallway. I'm dressed in riding uniform and with a riding helmet, I must smell like animal feces, and I probably have dirt somewhere on my body. I'm sanded. I don't even have clothes to change.

I find myself in a dilemma: bath or eat. If I shower first the food will be cold, but if I eat it first it will be disgusting as I have come to realize that I look like a pig.I choose to shower first and then heat the food in the microwave in the room. I wrap myself in the bathrobe the hotel provides, but I'm still cold, so I turn on the heat. Why do I subject myself to these kinds of things? I have so MUCH money, but still, I'm here almost naked. Fuck my parent's anger issues. 

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In the morning the first call I make is to my private driver, asking him to bring me clothes and the second is to Yuri to ask him to provide it, including underwear. I wait about forty minutes and voilà, my wishes are orders. At least my fiancé-to-be has good taste in matching clothes and has considered the snow that is falling. Finally, I leave the hotel. I'm sure the old man isn't in the house at this time.

As soon as I arrive, I go to the stables to check that everything is in order, then I go to the mini kennel that I built, alone, in a part of the front garden. I whistle and three black and brown-spotted Dobermanns come running towards me. My babies: Regis, Hades and Drogo. On my twentieth birthday, the Russian ambassador in Germany gave me a Chihuahua. Clearly, I was not a Chihuahua girl, so, on the same day I gave that dog to one of my maids and brought home three Dobermann puppies. They were raised with a lot of love and affection but were also taught to defend me.