Jessica's Fate

Chapter 42

Two Weeks later...

I looked up when North slammed into the kitchen at the diner and gave me a dark look. "He's here."

"Who?" I was puzzled.

"The Russian tutor you asked for. You handle your schedule with him now, I'm done." He rolled his eyes at me and left through the back door, leaving me to wash my hands and go out front to see who he'd hooked me up with.

"Prom Princess."

My eyes widened and I looked up to see my limo driver standing there. "You're going to teach me Russian?"

"Da. How is boyfriend?" He asked.

I shrugged. "We broke up."

He grunted and scowled, lip ring wiggling as though he was playing with it as he thought dark thoughts about Zack. "I need to go put ass in slink. We wait for this." He crossed his arms.

"No..." I shook my head. "No, no. Don't hurt him. Please. We're young, he's young. I'm okay, really."

He eyed me for a long moment.

"It wouldn't be love without some hurt." I shrugged. "Love hurts sometimes. You can't have it without all sides. They're like two sides of the same coin."

"What mean?"

"Like, Love and hate. Sunshine and Rain..." I searched his eyes for understanding. "Joy and sadness...? Heads and tails?"

"Oh, like Patrick and SpongeBob."

I pursed my lips. "More like SpongeBob and Squidward. Opposite sides, not always in agreement."

His face brightened. "Ah. Okay. I understand now."

"Jessica Lee." I said, offering my hand to him as we'd never been officially, formally introduced.

"Raven." He said, shaking my hand.

"Just Raven? Surely there's more to it than just that." I raised an eyebrow at him. "I mean, you just offered to go put my ex's ass in a sling. Surely we're better friends than that by now."

He considered my words and the corners of his lips turned up, making the lip ring move again. "Evgeni Ravenstahl." He said. "Professional Russian."

I grinned and repeated his name. "It's a lovely name." I commented, earning a shrug in return and his eyes darkened with something I could only name as dangerous in look. "But Raven it will be. Shall we sit down and figure out how we're going to work on this?"

"Sure."

"Would you like something to eat or drink?"

"Coffee." He suggested.

"Be right back with something then and we'll talk." I said, going back into the kitchen and getting Luke to start an order of fried pickles. I put away what I was working on and made up a tray for us with a couple desserts, coffee with fixings in case he needed cream and sugar. Luke gave me the pickles and I headed out to settle at the booth Raven was in with our snacks.

We ate and talked to work out what I wanted to learn. Raven suggested a cookbook to start with and I could learn to translate the recipes to cook them for him.

"Oh, I see how you are." I teased.

He grinned at me. "Da." He nodded. "Is good. Win win, no?"

I rolled my eyes at him. "I'm sure it will have its merit."

"cobpwhhbin" He nodded.

"What's that?"

"Perfect." He said.

I made him say it again while I repeated it back to him enough times that he nodded.

"Xopownn ypok" He took a sip of coffee.

I frowned and huffed a sigh. "What?"

"Good job. Xopownn ypok"

We repeated the process of me repeating it until he was satisfied.

"Cookbook next time. Notebook to write down." He pointed a thick finger at me. "No forgetting."

"I won't."

"Still no put ex ass in slink?"

I shook my head. "Sorry to disappoint you." I said. "There wouldn't be so many songs about how love hurts if there wasn't a little pain involved with the happiness."

Raven grunted and shrugged after he thought about what I said for a moment. He reached over and tapped his finger lightly on the tip of my nose. "Okay but just promise me that you won't ever take a aepebbr kybok..."

"A what?" I blinked.

He said it again. "Wait... I ... how you say... fruit cup?"

I suspected he was playing dumb with not knowing what he was saying. "oh."

"Don't take a fruit cup from anyone you can't see forever with."

His voice was laced with warning and it made me wonder about his fruit cup experiences. "What does that even mean? Did they make it or buy it? What happens If I share or give someone a fruit cup?"

He put a finger over my lips to shush me. "No matter now. Just don't do it." He raised an eyebrow at me and I was distracted, watching the piercing that went through his eyebrow move as he raised it.

"I'm not at all sure about what that means." I said with a shrug. "But I'm sure that someday you'll explain the meaning of what you just said properly to me."

He grinned. "Da. When you need reason. For now, no reason, just say no. Not just do it. Say no."

I huffed a sigh at him. "Okay." I said as I walked him to the door because our first session was over and I was looking forward to seeing him next week as we continued the sessions.