Tini's Fan Fic (Title TBD)

[Annaya]

Chapter 1

[tini]

Chapter 1


“I’m sorry Sir…”, the older woman spoke.

“Marat.” – will she ever learn that? He thought to himself, and he smiled lightly. The word “sir” made him feel old even he must have been one of the youngest guests here; on the other side, to be honest he wasn’t that young anymore.

“I’m sorry, but there is no way you can go to the train station or anywhere today. All streets are closed because of the snow and ice outside. We also expect an even bigger storm tonight.”

“So any idea when the situation will be better again?” The white outside really annoyed him. But what was he expecting when he chose that place? Maybe it was a stupid idea to come here but now he has to make the best out of it.

“No, I’m sorry but don’t worry we have enough food, water and enough firewood”, Karin smiled. She enjoyed to have such a nice guest in her house, not many came here. Most people go the bigger cities or spent their winters in skiing areas, but here there was nothing to do, but to enjoy the nature and the fresh air.

Not that Marat hadn’t enjoyed his vacation so far, he really did, but he started to get bored. Funny enough, that was the reason why he left Miami earlier this week. The same old parties, same weather, always sunny and warm. He also met a few old friends there, but somehow all the party stuff did not satisfy him anymore.

But he also didn’t want to go back to Moscow yet, so he decided to go somewhere alone, to a place where (hopefully) no one would know and where he could just relax and make some plans about the future. He just finished his career in November and still at the beginning of the New Year, he was still restless, wondering if it had been the right decision and what he was going to do in the future.

Somehow Marat ended up in Norway, in a small village close to Bergen. He couldn’t really remember how he got there but it just took some time on the internet, phone calls and the next day he was on the plane to Oslo.

He was just on his way back to his room, wondering what to do with the rest of the day, when someone opened the door and some icy wind filled the room.

“It is like hell outside, Karin. Luckily I don’t have to leave soon. Only idiots would try that today”, she spoke loudly until she realised Karin wasn’t alone.

“Oh hello, I didn’t know that we still have some guests here. Thought they already left because of the storm. Where is Karin?”

She didn’t wait for his answer instead she headed to the kitchen where she expected her to be.
Realising he was still staring into the direction she left, Marat shook his head “That was one of the reasons you left Miami – girls.” He said to himself. But maybe parts of him will never change.

Back in his room, he realised that his phone wasn’t working anymore. He doubt he would miss anything important and so at least he wouldn’t get some annoying calls by his friends about missing the best parties ever, or some of his worried mum because he didn’t tell anyone where he went.
He gripped a book and started to read
…………………………………………………………………………………………….

Down in the kitchen

“Who is that guy, Karin?”

“Which one?” She asked back, not really thinking about the question because she was too busy preparing dinner even when there were only four people that night. But she wanted to make something special for her “adopted” daughter.

“The one who was just standing in the hallway! Tall, athletic, brown hair. Must admit he is kind of good looking!”, staring on the floor so Karin couldn’t see her blush a little.

“Oh, he is a guest. Came a few days ago!” She left the room to search for something in the pantry but she kept talking. “Told him about the weather, but he said he didn’t mind. He wanted to be alone as he said, well now he might have changed his opinion!”

Meanwhile Hannah sat down at the kitchen table with a cup of hot tea. She really enjoyed to come here for a few days each winter and to enjoy the solitude and even more because she had no other place to go.

“Could you go to him and tell him dinner will be ready in an hour?”

“Why I have to go?” She didn’t really want to do anything right now.

“Why not? He is our guest, the only one who stayed and I thought, because he must be in your age!”

Now she was really annoyed but stood up to avoid a further discussion. But he had something that made her still think about him, and somehow she felt she knew him. But she shook her head. No guys this year, she promised herself. She still had enough of the last one and also he could never be in her age! And if he was that stupid to come here even though he knew about the storm, or not to leave yesterday like the other guest, it is his own fault he is bored now.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

He heard a knock, he must have fallen asleep reading the book, which is kind of a boring one. He realised it was already dark outside. He sat up straight and took his watch. It was 5pm now, so he must have been asleep for a while now, telling from the few pages he had read.

Another knock.

“I’m coming”, he screamed while walking to the door. Opening it he saw the same girl from the hallway standing in front of him.

“Hi!” he said with a big grin on his face. Normally it always works, but today seemed be another story!

“I wanted to let you know that dinner will be ready in an hour! See you downstairs.” She was just about the turn around and to go downstairs again when he spoke

“Are you always that friendly? Can’t imagine that you work here. You would have been fired already if you are always talking to guests that way!”

She turned around, was he thinking who he was, “First, I do not work here! Second, why do I always have to be friendly? It’s not like people are always nice to me either!”

“I haven’t done anything! You haven’t even been talking to me. I don’t even know your name! And to be a little bit friendlier would help to brighten up your mood too. I guess we will have to spend some time here together!”

“The house is big enough and it’s Hannah by the way!” with those words she turned around and left him standing in the doorway.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

She still had an hour before dinner, maybe more. Peter still wasn’t back, and hopefully everything was alright with him. Driving during that snow could be extremely difficult but then she heard the front door open and it only could be him, no one else would have gone here during that weather.

The guesthouse was located at the end of the small village, or rather, the address said it belonged to the village but it was still some way to go. It was beautiful in summer, the lake was clear and the water so refreshing. She could still feel it after all those years she visited that place during summer. It was only once but changed her life forever.

Wanting to ignore those thoughts, she stood up and decided to take a bath— which would be a good idea, as long as there will be some warm water. Who knew how bad the storm would get!

………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Marat decided to go downstairs. Maybe there was something to do or he could help with. Staying in his room and lying on the bed again would have put him into sleep again within minutes. As he walked down he heard some water running but didn’t pay more attention to it. She wouldn’t talk to him in a normal way, so why thinking was he even thinking about her? He would leave the place in a few days anyway and never see her again. Would she have been another way, maybe he would have liked the thought of being snowed in with a girl.

He reached the kitchen just as Peter returned. He was out to see what damage the snow caused already and it seemed like they all would have to stay in the house at least the next day, maybe more.

“Can I help with something?” Marat asked as he entered the kitchen.

“No way you’re going to do something! You are the guest but if you want to stay downstairs I could make you a cup of tea.”

“I really would like to have one, thank you.”

“Can I ask you something?” Karin asked him handling the cup

“Sure”

“What is a guy like you doing here?” Normally she didn’t ask any of her guests out, and he had every right to say nothing, but still she wanted to know more.

“Why shouldn’t I be here?” He said with one of his famous grins. “Okay, to be honest, I don’t know. I just wanted to go somewhere, be alone, have some time for myself. So I just looked up some places in the internet and I ended up here. Even though the weather isn’t great right now, it is still a beautiful place.” But so boring. But he didn’t say that out loud. They were friendly enough to let him stay while all other guests left before the storm, and he thought it couldn’t get too bad. Even he started to get bored, where else should he have gone to? Moscow- weather is as bad as here, Monaco- too many people who know him, Valencia – too much tennis…

………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Meanwhile in one of the bathrooms in the guest part of the house, Hannah was lying in the bathtub, trying to relax and get some old memories out of her head. Normally she is really easy going, friendly and in a good mood but somehow this year, visiting Karin and Peter isn’t too much fun. She wondered why this year, after so many ones, she had those memories taking over her in a way she never expected it. She couldn’t make any sense out of it. But before she could think more about it she realised that the water was starting to get colder and it was time to go downstairs to have dinner.

………………………………………………………………………………………………….

“So you are a tennis player?” Peter asked, he wasn’t much into sports at all. Sure he followed winter sports a little but only because that are the only sports where Norwegians are good in at least most of the time.

“I was. I decided to end my career last November”

“Why?” Peter was a little bit curious now, “You are still young”.

“Well, sure I could have played a few more years, and some people would have liked to see that, but I was getting tired of tennis. Maybe not even of tennis but of all the things coming with it, the training, travelling, press and always being at different places without seeing them. I just wanted to do something different, now I’m still young enough for that.”

“I understand, must be difficult to make that decision. But you seem to be intelligent enough to know what you want to do. Any plans yet?” Peter couldn’t stop himself from asking a few questions, he enjoyed having some time for his guests, normally he just explained some routes and the way to Bergen for a day trip and Marat did not seem to mind it.

“Not really. I will work for the Russian Olympic Committee. Of course, I’ll try to stay involved with tennis, but other than that, I don’t have any ideas yet. Maybe I just try to do nothing for a few weeks.”

“Don’t you have a wife or girlfriend who would like to have some company?”

But before Marat could answer that question, Hannah walked into the room and sat down at the table not saying anything.

“Hannah, could you please help me bring the food to the dining room?” Karin asked, already holding a plate with food on her own.

“Why don’t we eat here? We are just four tonight and you don’t really have to make too much work!” Marat said. He really liked it there. It was cosy and not too formal like a family dinner. And he didn’t like the thought they had all the work just for him.

“If you really don’t mind...” Karin was unsure what to do, normally guests didn’t eat in the kitchen, but the storm changed everything a little bit.

“I really don’t mind.” Marat stated and he stood up to help the others to set the table, even though he couldn’t help much because he had no idea where to find anything in that kitchen. But he really wants to help, and with Peter and Karin, he really didn’t mind at all.

………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Later that night, Marat was lying awake in his bed. He couldn’t sleep at all. The wind which was getting even heavier was keeping him awake as much as he tried to find some sleep. He was easily getting annoyed by everyone. He really enjoyed the dinner, Karin and Peter were talking about their life here in Norway and how they got the place. Of course they asked him questions too, but he didn’t care, he liked to talk to them and he wasn’t feeling uncomfortable to say something. The conversation was easy going and he didn’t realise that the time was flying by till Karin stood up to clean up the table. It was past 10pm. Not too late, but he felt tired and he decided to go to bed after saying goodnight to Karin and Peter.

Just now he realised that Hannah hadn’t said much all night. She somehow seemed to be far away with her thoughts. He couldn’t say why but she looked sad as something was bothering her. “Stop thinking about her Safin!!!” he said to himself. If she doesn’t want to speak he wouldn’t make her. Till now she has given him no reason to think she would like to talk to him at all. She also refused to go upstairs with him. No, he had no intention to do more than bring her back to her room, but she said she could go on her own.

………………………………………………………………………………………………….


After a couple of minutes of turning from one side to the other without any success to get some sleep, he decided to stand up and get some water. He looked out of the window and even it was dark one could see the big snow flakes falling down and the wind was playing with the trees as if they were small sticks. “It could take some time before I can leave this place. We must be really snowed in by now,” he thought.

It didn’t took much time to find a glass and a bottle of water, so he would be back in his warm bed soon, the temperatures outside must be far under zero degrees, Marat thought. On his way back he realised light coming out of one of the rooms, the library to be exact, but he couldn’t remember one being in it all day, so he decided to have a look.

He saw her sitting on the couch, only a candle lit the room and she didn’t seem to mind the cold. “Why didn’t she turn the heater on? Crazy girl!” he thought but also realised that she was beautiful more than he realised earlier. She was sitting there all lost in her thought. Whatever they might have been about, he decided to not interrupt her. It was her decision to stay here and if she would catch a cold it was her problem, he thought. He was just about to turn around as he realised that she was crying. Tears were streaming down her face.

“Everything alright?” he asked.
She didn’t hear him coming a before turning her head around she wiped off the tears with her hands, sure she wasn’t going to fool him anyway.

“What are you doing here? I thought everyone was sleeping by now.” She did not want to answer his question but she really wanted to talk to someone, being sure he couldn’t be the right one to talk to, after ignoring him all day.

Marat laughed a little, “You don’t want to answer the question, it’s your choice. But I couldn’t sleep either, and probably the storm will keep me awake anyway, so if you want to talk…”

“What makes you think I would like to talk to YOU?” She stared at him, afraid what his answer might be.

“Okay, if you don’t want to talk I will go now. But you should really put the heater on or you’ll catch a cold and without a doctor near it might be no fun at all. Good Night.”

“I don’t know what I want…” he heard her saying with a small voice, insecure about saying anything, “everything is so complicated. I feel like drowning but can’t help myself and everyone is just standing there and watching, thinking everything is alright without having a closer look.”

As she said this, Marat walked into the room and sat down beside her, listening to her words he took the blanket and put it around her, not sure if she was shaking because of the cold or because of something she is afraid of.

“What happened?” he didn’t want to risk saying too much and he really wondered what happened to her that she was into such kind of state.

“Nothing” she simply stated.

“Nothing?” he asked, knowing it couldn’t be true.

“At least nothing big...no one died, no one got hurt - it’s just me and my stupid life.”

This can be a long night, Marat thought. But he wouldn’t leave her alone, not before he wasn’t sure she was okay…hopefully she hadn’t some stupid ideas. And as if she could hear him thinking she added “Don’t worry, I do not plan to kill myself or do anything stupid like this. I love my life; really I do, but just not the way it is right now.”

…………………………………………………………………………………………………..

On the other side of the house, someone couldn’t sleep either. Karin was wondering about Hannah. She was different this winter, normally she was always nice to every guest and open about what was going on in her life but this year, something was wrong. But Karin couldn’t make it out, not yet at least. Maybe she was just seeing too much. Hannah was growing up, lived her own life and so changes were normal. Karin really hope that was the only reason, but she also knew that Hannah normally would have been back to university by now, she was visiting every year for Christmas and New Year and left afterwards, but this year she said she didn’t have to go back immediately, and Karin believed her. With those thoughts she felt asleep hoping that everything will be alright.

[tini]

Chapter 2


When Peter woke up the next morning, Karin was still asleep. He decided to let her sleep in as she hadn’t the chance to do that often. There wasn’t a reason to stand up anyway.

He decided to have some coffee first, and then he would go out and check on the house and streets. He expected some damage since the storm seemed to be as worse as expected, but he couldn’t really tell from inside.

As he passed the library on his way out, he saw Marat and Hannah lying on the couch asleep. He wondered what happened last night, and why suddenly they spent at least some hours together.

Peter noticed that they haven’t felt comfortable around each other last night, and so he was surprised to see them together there.
Maybe they both couldn’t sleep last night because of the storm and talked a little, he thought to himself, and was about to walk out as Marat woke up.

He first wondered why he slept on the couch and not in his bed but then he remembered last night and the talk with Hannah, or at least the few things she said.

“Good Morning!” Marat said keeping his voice down not wanting to wake Hannah. He needed a few moments to get used to the sunshine and the light reflect by the snow. It seemed to be a sunny morning.

“Are you going out?” He asked after standing up and heading to the door.

“I want to check the house and have a look at the street! Do you want to come with me? Some fresh air would be nice. Looks like the storm left a beautiful morning.”
He really would like to have some company this morning. Normally he was alone on his morning walks, Karin was busy preparing breakfast for the guests and most of them were still asleep at this time of the day.

But Marat wanted to join him, just asking for a few minutes to get ready.

As he came down again, Peter was already outside taking some deep breaths, the air was so clear after the storm and he really enjoyed the beautiful morning.

“Is the house okay?” Marat asked as he reached Peter.

“It is, but we still need have a look at the street. I bet it is full of snow and we won’t be able to use it today, but let’s go and see it.”

And indeed the street was full of snow, or to be more exact, it was hard to tell where the street has been. Everything was just white as far as they could see, and though they have to admit it looked really beautiful, there was no way they could go anywhere today.

“We should go back. I bet they are already awake now and wondering where we are.” Peter said, turning around and slowly walking through the snow.

Marat followed slowly behind him, enjoying the peaceful scenery and the short walk this morning; the snow made it difficult for them to walk but he was used to from Russia though he didn’t spent much time there during the winter.

They both walked for a while, not saying anything,

Then Peter suddenly spoke: “What happened last night? I mean, why were you both asleep on the couch? Not that have any right to ask you personal things, I just wondered if everything is okay.”

Nothing is okay, Marat thought and his thoughts wandered back to last night.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………...


Moscow same day


“Who are you trying to call?” Mikhail asked as he went into the kitchen for lunch.
He kind of knew the answer but asked anyway as his wife tried to call someone a few times this morning. He could see that she was getting annoyed but didn’t want to make it worse, so he took the newspaper and sat down at the kitchen table.

“Your son!” she stated as she put down the phone and tried to stay calm.

“Marat?”

“Do you have another one?” Rauza asked rolling her eyes.

“He is old enough; he knows what he is doing! Sure everything is alright, just give him some time. Marat will call back as soon as he can!”

“I know he is all grown up and can do whatever he wants to do but that doesn’t stop me from worrying! I’m his mother and he could be 100 years old, I still like to know where my children are! We don’t even know where is right now. That’s not him and maybe not everything is alright. He could have at least told us where he was heading to after leaving Miami!"

“Calm down, if something happens we get to know…” he stopped there as he realised those words wouldn’t help at all, “No need to worry, he will be alright” he added fast and smiled.

Mikhail would never admit it on front of his wife, but is wasn’t typical for Marat to leave a message on the answering machine saying he isn’t in Miami anymore for the case they want to reach him, without giving any further information but he knew his son needed some time to relax and to focus again after retiring from tennis last fall.

“If you say so. But maybe I should call Dinara and ask her if she knows more. But on the other hand she wouldn’t give us more information if Marat asked her to keep it for her…”

“Let us enjoy the lunch first. It looks delicious and maybe he will call later. You worry too much!”
Maybe he was right, Rauza thought to herself, but still it was bothering her; maybe she should really give Dina a call. She hadn’t much hope for getting answers but she had to try.


.…………………………………………………………………………………………………..


Norway

Last night Marat walked downstairs to get some water. The storm had kept him awake and as much as he tried to get some sleep, he couldn’t find some. On his way back he noticed her sitting in the library and ended up sitting close to her.

She began to talk but didn’t say much and nothing which would explain her reserved attitude earlier or why she was crying now.

He decided to make some tea; maybe it would help her to calm down and to tell him more.

But as he returned she was already asleep on the couch, and looked so peaceful he didn’t dare to wake her up even if he wanted to talk to her—to let her talk more, and maybe being able to help her. Instead he took the blanket and put it over her. Then he just sat down and enjoyed his tea.

After a while Marat realised that she must have been really exhausted because one of the shutters was broken and slamming against the window and it’s impossible to sleep that way.

He didn’t know why he wasn’t going back to his room, instead he was just sitting beside her and he couldn’t stop thinking of the reasons she acted the way she did.
Eventually he fell asleep too.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………


“Marat?”

That moment Marat realised he wasn’t paying attention to Peter’s questions, but thankfully, they arrived at the house, and so he simply answered that they both couldn’t sleep because of the storm and must have fallen asleep.

He really hoped Peter was buying this. Not that he could have told him much more but he was sure Hannah wouldn’t want them to worry about her.

As they reached the kitchen Marat could already smell the coffee. He really needed one now; walking outside, he realised he hadn’t much sleep last night and sleeping on the couch was far away from being comfortable.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………


Same time in the house

Hannah sat on the floor of the shower. Her eyes closed, leaning against the tiled wall holding the toothbrush in her hand. The water was getting cold but she didn’t seem to care. All that she wanted was that the water would wash away her pain and thoughts. Tears were running down her face.

She couldn’t stop them from coming, hating herself for being such a mess right now but not knowing a way back to her normal self either.

Hannah knew the others were waiting for her downstairs. She didn’t want to face them right now, still there was no way to avoid them today. So she stood up, turned off the water and put a towel around her body.

Standing in front of the mirror after drying her hair she realised that her eyes were red from crying and she looked tired. Hannah didn’t like what she was seeing; she just wasn’t herself in the last time. Even though she couldn’t remember where and how it started, she knew she had to change something but for now it had to be enough splash some cold water on her face to reduce the red eyes.

Leaving the bathroom to put on some clothes to join the others for breakfast she hoped that at least Karin and Peter wouldn’t notice that she was crying. For Marat, he was already worried as she could see yesterday, on the other hand, in a few days they would be leaving this place anyway and never seeing each other again.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………


“I’m making breakfast! Sure you are hungry after your walk!” Karin said with a smile on her face as her husband entered the kitchen.

She was used to have some guests here in the morning, being busy with preparing dinning room and having a little chat with guests from time to time. Now with only one there she tried the best to keep herself busy; she just wasn’t the person to do nothing all day.

“It looks like a winter wonderland outside!” he stated and gave his wife a kiss. “However it could take some time before we can use the road again!”

Peter didn’t seem to mind that, he enjoyed having guests but he liked to enjoy the peaceful house, knowing that spring and summer would bring more guests and now with all the snow he could enjoy a few of his hobbies.

“We should get used to it. It will be stormy again this night; I just heard it on the radio!” Karin said while setting the table for breakfast.

Peter sat down and took the newspaper from the day before again; he liked to read the news in the morning and though there wasn’t a new one today, he paid closer attention to the parts he only over read before.

“Good morning. How are you today?” Marat asked entering the kitchen after changing into some more comfortable clothes after the walk.

“I’m doing great, thank you!” she answered handing him a cup of fresh coffee. “How are you? I hope the storm didn’t keep you awake all night!”

Marat looked at her, again not knowing if he should say something. But like before with Peter he decided that it wasn’t his business to speak about Hannah with them and more he didn’t want to cause any trouble between them.

“It sounded pretty bad and kept me awake for a while, but it was okay. Got some sleep.”

“Glad to hear that! Well, let us enjoy breakfast. Just sit down, it will be done soon. Hope Hannah will be down soon again. Seems like the storm also didn’t let her sleep; she slept in the library as I came down this morning,” she said not knowing that Marat also slept there and talked to her last night.

When Hannah arrived at the kitchen a few minutes later; she heard the three others talking about last night and panicked a little and stopped at the door.
What do they know about last night? What did he say?

Sure she hadn’t said much to Marat last night, but she could see that he was worried and maybe he talked to Karin and Peter that morning.

Hannah was nervous; didn’t want them to worry about her and to ask her questions she didn’t want to hear. They would not be able to help her anyway.

“Good Morning” she stated sitting down at the table across of Marat, who gave her a look that she didn’t have to worry and so she calmed down.

Marat smiled at her, hoping it would continue break the ice between them, but instead of getting the reaction he was hoping for.

She looked down and played with the cup of hot chocolate in front of her.

“Oh, haven’t heard to coming Hannah! We just talked about last night! The storm was pretty bad but no damage done,” Karin stated and took the last pancakes out of the pan und put the plate on the table.

She didn’t look up as she said, “that’s good.”

They enjoyed a delicious breakfast, talked a little and laughed as Peter shared some memories of a stormy night a few years back. Only Hannah was quiet, not saying a word but not eating much either.

“Are you okay?” Marat whispered so that the others, who cleared the table, couldn’t hear. She seemed to be far away with her thoughts.

“What? Yes, I’m fine, just tired…could hardly sleep last night.”

“Okay.” He stated realising she didn’t want to say more.

Still Marat hoped to talk to her later again.

[tini]

Chapter 3


Australia


Dinara was already fast asleep in her hotel bed as she was woken up by a call. Her eyes still closed she searched for her mobile phone on the night stand which kept ringing. Its better be important, she thought to herself looking at the display.

“Mum, do you know how late it is?”

“It’s not that late!” Rauza stated calculating the time difference in her head.

“Okay, it’s my fault I go to bed early but I have training the morning! So why are you calling?”

“Do you know where your brother is?”

Dinara lay back on the pillow; she couldn’t believe her mum was calling only to ask about Marat.

“Considering the fact that he retired, I guess: not in Australia!” she answered, just wanting to go back to sleep again.

“I know that too. I’m just worried, he left Miami and now we have no idea where he could be.”

“Mum, I have no idea where he is. I just want to go back to sleep. Marat will be alright, he always is. You worry too much!”

“I’m your mother! It comes with my job description to worry! And for you, I hope you take it slow after the back injury last year! I do not want you to see one of my children injured again, and I’m not saying this because of your tennis.”

Now she was really annoyed “Yes mum, I take it slow!” Maybe not as slow as I should, Dinara thought to herself but she was sure to do the right thing.

“I hope it’s the truth!”

“Yes mum, I promise…Can we just talk another time, I’m really tired.”

“Okay, but promise me to call if you hear something from your brother! And think of your back!”

“Yes, mum. Just give my love to dad and we talk again. Bye.”

“I will. Sleep well.”

Dinara put her phone back on the night stand and closed her eyes. I hope he has a good time in Norway, she thought. She hated to lie, but technically it wasn’t a lie saying that he isn’t in Australia. She didn’t know why he didn’t tell their parents about his plans but she promised not to say anything. She only knew he wanted to go there to relax and not be bothered by others.
Sometimes her brother was hard to understand, she was thinking before drifting off to sleep again.


.....................................................................................................................................................


Norway, later that day


“Do you think it is a good idea to walk through the snow alone? Where do you want to go to anyway?”

“It is none of your business! It’s not the first storm I’ve ever witnessed!”

The only thing she wanted was to be alone, and staring at her, there was no way he would let her take a walk alone, so she continued “if you like you can come with me…as long as you keep your mouth shut!”

Not the invitation Marat wanted, but better than nothing and he thought it would be better not to leave her alone. He walked beside her for the next minutes, staring at her from time to time.

“Would you please stop it?” Hannah asked turning around to face him.

“Stop what?” he asked surprised.

“Stop staring at me. I’m okay, only because I felt a little bit down yesterday doesn’t mean you have to babysit me now...but thanks for not telling them.” she added quietly.

“You didn’t tell me much either. What should I have told them? And by the way it is not my business to tell your...what are they anyway? Well, I should not tell them anything but you should! They seem to love you and care about you.”

“What do you know?” Hannah stated. She knew she couldn’t fool him anymore. “They were friends with my parents a long time ago…” Hannah added and continued to walk.

She was driving him insane, but somehow he couldn’t leave her walk alone or just ignore her. There was something about her, something totally different from all the girls he met so far, that kept him close to her. So he continued to walk close behind her, not saying a word till they reached a small lake. He hadn’t noticed it before in all of his walks.

The few he took, always led him down to the sea which he loved no matter to which place he went. There was something about the ocean which calmed him down. The fresh salty air, the wind, the waves, the ocean fascinated him. It was a place where he was alone with his thoughts and where he felt complete just standing there looking at the horizon.

After a few more minutes in total silence he tried to speak to her again, all that she could do was to ignore him like she did it before or to yell at him again. So he tried his luck again.

“I really don’t want to annoy you or something like that, but there is something wrong with the way you acted last night… even if you play cool in front of Peter and Karin, you aren’t alright and if you want to talk I’m here. Not that there is anyone else right now. So if you need someone, I can listen. But in the meantime, I’m walking back to the house. It’s getting cold.”

She looked him straight into the eyes and nodded and then she smiled a little insecure, but she smiled for the first time he has seen her.

“Do you want to come back with me?” he asked, not wanting to push things to far.

“No, I think I like to stay here for a while…” she said and she could see that he was unsure about leaving her alone out there, so Hannah added fast, “don’t worry I know the way back!”

He wasn’t sure about leaving her alone, but what could he do? She wasn’t a little girl anymore and there was still some time left before it would get dark and the way wasn’t to long, so everything he could do was to walk back alone.


………………………………………………………………………………………………….


Same time in the house


“You are worried about her too, right?” Peter asked his wife as he brought her another cup of tea and sat down beside her.

“I just have the feeling that something is wrong, totally wrong, but she just won’t say anything.”

“Did you ask her?”

“No, I didn’t. Every time I ask her about something personal, she ignores it or changes the topic. It’s like she can’t or won’t speak about it, whatever it is.” Karin said, drinking her tea.

“If it is something important she will tell us, like she always did. Maybe we are just too worried without any reason! Its winter, some people are moody and the storm isn’t a reason to feel better either.”

“Maybe you are right.” But Karin still couldn’t help herself; Hannah was like a daughter for her and she only wanted the best for her.

In that moment the phone rang and Peter went into the living room to get it. Olav, an old friend, who also lived outside the village, called. He needed some help to repair some damage on his house, so Peter promised he would try to reach his place if he would make it through the snow. It wasn’t a long way, and normally they could easily visit each other. But today it looked like it could take some time.

“It was Olav; he needs some help to repair some damage on the house.” He shouted putting some warmer clothes on.

“Hope it isn’t too bad. Do you think you will make it through the snow? Maybe I should come with you.” Karin stated reaching the lobby.

“It could take some time, but sure I will reach his house but think I will stay there tonight. And you don’t really need to come with me, if you prefer to stay here.”

“Are you sure?”

“Of course, it’s just snow and it wouldn’t be nice to leave Marat and Hannah alone.”

“You are right but I’m still coming with you. I haven’t seen Olav for a while and think they wouldn’t mind to be alone here for one night.”

“Guess I can’t change your mind anyway” Peter smiled knowing his wife.

“I will just change my clothes. Could you write Hannah a note?”


Shortly afterwards, Marat reached the house. He saw that Karin and Peter were about to leave the house.

“Oh Marat, didn’t expect you back so fast. Is Hannah back too? I just wrote a note that we are going to see Olav. He is an old friend and needs some help with the house. I’m sure we won’t be back before tomorrow. Hope you don’t mind to be alone.”

Karin really hope it would be okay, normally she wouldn’t leave guests alone in the house but she wouldn’t let her husband go alone either and Hannah was still there.

“Hannah decided to stay at the lake for a few more minutes. Sure she will be back soon too! Don’t worry. It’s alright; I’m good on my own.”

Marat really didn’t mind. He came here to be alone and maybe that way an opportunity to talk to Hannah again without the others being around.

“I will try to call when we reach Olav’s house! Make yourself a home. Oh and before I forget could you please tell Hannah to give Greta her food? She knows where to find it in the kitchen, thanks.”

And with those words they went out.


………………………………………………………………………………………………..


What I’m going to do now? Marat thought. There wasn’t much he could do now, so he decided to make some coffee first. Hannah would be back soon too. So he went into the kitchen but couldn’t find the coffee so he decided to make some tea instead.

Afterwards, he headed into the library. Maybe he could find an interesting book. After a while he found a biography about Roald Amundsen, the first man to reach the South Pole, and sat down.
He enjoyed reading, mostly Russian literature but also interesting biographies; he admired people who lived for their dreams and gave up a lot to make them come true. There weren’t many adventures like this left; tourism even bought people with no knowledge on top of the Mount Everest, money makes it possible.

This weren’t the adventures Marat was looking forward too. He wanted to go to some mountain trips again, like a few years ago when he went to the Himalaya. But he would take it slowly, knowing his limits and not wanting to kill himself. He didn’t want to prove what he able to do for others, Marat just wanted to enjoy some good times with friends and seeing new places.

Maybe the poles would be great too, he thought while reading about Amundsen…

He was so focused on the book that didn’t realise it was already dark outside till Greta, the family dog, came to him. Greta looked at him with her big brown eyes. She must have gotten hungry, and wondered why Hannah hasn’t given her something.

It seemed like she really loved the dog that was always around her. Maybe because she didn’t ask any questions, Marat smiled lightly thinking that.

Anyway, he had enough of the book, at least for now. It was a great one for sure, but reading just made him more tired. So he went to the kitchen again. In the hallway he noticed that only his shoes and jacket were there, still no sign of Hannah’s. Maybe she took them with her to her room, he thought. But then he remembered that he hadn’t heard her going into the house either.

Or maybe he was just too fascinated by the book? He would go to her room after giving Greta some food and check.

A few moments later, he knocked on her door but no one answered. She couldn’t be in another room, and everything was quiet and dark. He slowly opened the door, expecting her to be asleep or just listening to music but she wasn’t there. Marat wondered where she could be, she wasn’t downstairs, and he was sure about that, he would have heard her at least. He didn’t really know what do to but he felt like he had to make sure she was okay.

“Hannah!!!” he screamed running down the stairs again and still no answer.

“Hannah, are you here?” Marat yelled while opening one room after another.

The phone started to ring, but it was just Peter saying the arrived at Olav’s house and would stay there for the night.
He didn’t say anything about Hannah, he wasn’t sure if she was really not back or just in another part of the house. Also, it wasn’t really dark outside yet and he didn’t want them to worry.

He kept searching in the house but she wasn’t there. He really started to worry even more as he realised that it started to snow again.

“She can’t be still outside, can she?” He wondered. There was no reason why a person would be so insane to stay outside in that kind of weather.

The lake wasn’t too far away and sure she would have no problem to find the way back as she said. But he couldn’t do anything. He had to do something.
What if something happened to her, or if she got injured or walk further and now couldn’t find the way back?

He decided to take Greta with him and he found a torch too, which would help.
As soon as he opened the door, he realised that it was really cold and the icy wind made it even worse. If something really happened to her he would need to find her soon!

“Hannah!!” He screamed as he was busy keeping Greta by his side. He could hardly see anything in front of him. Turning around he could still see the lights in the house, and he started to wonder how far he could go before he would be in some trouble too!

“Hannah!!!” But there still was no answer. She was out for a few hours now and he was sure there was something wrong. Even though she wasn’t in the mood to talk to him earlier she didn’t seem careless either.

He reached the lake, but still couldn’t see anything and the only thing he can hear is himself screaming her name and Greta’s barking. He was getting colder and he couldn’t stay out so much longer; else he only would be putting himself in danger. And this wasn’t going to help Hannah.

Marat screamed her name a few times. He didn’t know what do to, he felt so helpless, and he couldn’t leave her outside. The thought of her lying somewhere in pain made him feel sick.

But what could he do? He decided to go back to the house and call Peter, hoping he would find Olav’s number!

……………………………………………………………………………………………….


Hannah enjoyed the few moments alone before she would have to go back. After Marat left, she continued to walk a little bit by the lake. It always bought back some nice memories but each time also left her sadder than she already was. She was lost in her thoughts.

When she was younger she spent some summers here with her family and she always enjoyed swimming in the clear and refreshing water. Her father would jump with her into the water and she would laugh till she couldn’t breathe anymore. At a sunny place her mum would prepare a picnic and getting out of the water, she always made sure Hannah would change into some dry clothes before catching a cold. She loved those moments. Everything seemed to be perfect till…

A cold wind brought her back to the present. It was different now. The sun was gone and the lake was covered with snow and it was frozen.
She thought about to walk on it but she wouldn’t risk it not knowing for sure if it would be strong enough to walk on it.

The wind and the snow got worse and she realised she had to go back. It wouldn’t take long before it would get dark. She started to walk back thinking of a big cup of hot chocolate and taking a warm bath later.

Maybe it wasn’t so bad to talk to him at all, she thought. He seemed nice and he hadn’t said anything to Karin and Peter in the morning, so he wouldn’t do that the second time either, she was sure now.


…………………………………………………………………………………………………


Marat was already halfway back to the house when Greta started to bark again, even louder than before. Normally she was totally relaxed and not loud, but now he couldn’t calm her down at all. He even struggled to hold her by his side.

Something was bothering her but he couldn’t see what. There was nothing in the dark, except for the snow and the wind. He could see the lights of the house, it wouldn’t take long to reach it but Greta wouldn’t move one centimetre in his direction and kept barking.

He was annoyed of himself, not being able to find her and the cold, and all he wanted to do was to go inside and call for some help, but he couldn’t leave her out in the cold. Before he could finish that thought she was running, and without thinking Marat was running after her. Suddenly she stopped. After reaching her, he could see what she found.

[tini]

Chapter 4


Peter and Olav finished the work on the latter’s house. It wasn’t a big damage, but he couldn’t have done it alone, so he was thankful his friends came by in such weather. Now, in the late afternoon, they enjoyed some coffee together and talked about the things going on lately.

“Did you close the guesthouse through the storm?” Olav wanted to know.

“We had to, there is no way someone could reach it with the closed street anyway and most guests left before the storm.” Karin replied.

“Just one guest stayed. No idea why, but he didn’t seem to mind the storm and to possibly get snowed in for a few days. Looks like he wanted to be alone and he is such a nice guy, so we just let him stay.” she smiled.

“So he and Hannah are alone in the house tonight?” he asked with a mischievous smile.

He didn’t know the guest at all, and Hannah wasn’t the kind of girl who would just hit on a stranger; but who knew what some storm could do. At least he was glad that Hannah wasn’t alone in the big house this night.

“They are, but doubt they will communicate much. Hannah wasn’t really herself during the last days and it seems that she doesn’t like him!” Karin stated, the same time she wondered how Hannah couldn’t like him a little bit. If she was 20 years younger, she thought to herself.

“As much as you keep thinking about it, there is no way you will be younger again, Karin!” Peter laughed, knowing that his wife really liked Marat.

“Don’t be stupid! He is a nice guest, no more.” she rolled her eyes; sometimes her husband could be really silly but she and Olav had to laugh to about his comments.

“Sure, if you say so. And I guess even you would be in his age, he wouldn’t be interested anymore.”

“What do you mean?” Karin asked wondering what her husband could know what she didn’t.

“Oh, nothing…” he stated remembering that she didn’t know that Marat and Hannah slept on the sofa last night, “just that maybe they need some time to break the ice.”

“Yeah right, first you say something and then it isn’t important anymore. Typical!” but she couldn’t be mad at him instead she just had to laugh again.

“It’s so nice to have you both here tonight! So I might have to be thankful for the storm, without it I wouldn’t have seen you!”

“True and it’s always nice to have the company of good friends!” Karin agreed.

The evening turned into the night, the coffee into wine and the three of them enjoyed the time together playing cards. They shared the latest news not knowing what was going on outside during the storm…

………………………………………………………………………………………………..


Marat fell on his knees beside Hannah. She wasn’t conscious but she was breathing slowly, as he checked. He had no idea how long she had been lying there or what happened, but it must have been quite a while because her lips were blue and her body already covered with some snow.

“Hannah!” but there was no reaction from her side.

She also didn’t move as he picked her up. All he could do now was to bring her back to the house as soon as possible, and hope that nothing worse would happen out there.

It was difficult for Marat to walk through the snow, and to find his way back without the light of the torch showing him the way.

Marat was relieved as he reached the house. He had no idea how long it took to go back but it felt like an eternity even he gave his best to walk as fast as possible, which was quite hard with the icy wind blowing in his face and caring Hannah. He had no idea how long he had been out there, he lost his sense of time completely.

But being back in the house, he brought Hannah up to her room. He laid her down on the bed; she still hadn’t woken up yet.
Marat’s head was racing, trying to figure out what to do. It was hard for him to think straight at all. Trying to focus, he searched for a blanket and put the heater on, hoping it would help.

Then he ran down to the kitchen, hoping to find a warm-water bag or something which would help to get her warm again. She still hadn’t woken up as he reached her room again with the bag, he found downstairs. In that moment he realised that it was completely stupid to put the blanket over her because all of her clothes have been wet and it must have been extremely cold by now.

Not thinking much about the whole situation and just hoping she would wake up soon, he took off her shoes, jacket, pants and pullover and put the another blanket back over her.

After this, he went to his room, taking the duvet from the bed and going back.
Everything was followed by Greta who seemed to be as nervous and worried as he was.

He had no idea what he could do to make it better or to help her, he never had been in such a situation before and nothing would have come into his mind which made sense to him.

Back in Hannah’s room, he saw her lying peacefully in the big bed and her breathing was regular. Also her lips had a normal colour now which calmed him down a little.

He sat down on her bed and as he put the duvet over the other blanket and she stirred a little. Marat wasn’t sure if he should wake her up, but it appeared to be the only way to check if she was really alright.

“Hannah…” he spoke calmly. After a few seconds she opened her eyes and stared at him.

She was confused. Why he is in her room, sitting on her bed calling her name, and why it was so cold. She couldn’t remember what happened.

“What…” she didn’t know what to say and looked totally lost in that situation.

“It’s okay, don’t worry everything is okay now.”

He wasn’t sure if everything was really okay because he has no idea what happened, but he didn’t want her to worry more.

“We took a walk to the lake, do you remember?”

But she just stared at with teary eyes, and she just wanted to cry without knowing why. She felt so helpless. He tried to calm her down stroking her hair.
However, she flinched as he touched her head and Marat could feel a small bump on the left side of her head so he stopped and whipped a tear away from her face.

“Do you really can’t remember what happened? Seemed like you fell and hit your head but if you can’t remember, we won’t know that for sure. Does something else hurt?” he asked concerned.

“No, nothing hurts. I’m just tired and it’s so cold…” she replied and he could see that she had trouble to keep her eyes open.

“Maybe I should just give you something warmer to wear and let you sleep” Marat said smiling at her.

He stood up to search for something she could wear, and he found some pyjamas and helped her to put it on. Hannah realised she was only in her underwear, but also was too tired to care in that moment, so she just let him help her and laid back again.

“Good Night. If you need anything you know where you can find me, or just yell.” He smiled and stood up; she already was asleep.

He reached the door. Turning back he waited for Greta to leave the room too and to come with him. But she seemed to prefer the floor in front of the bed, maybe to take care of Hannah not wanting to leave her alone.


………………………………………………………………………………………………..


Miami, few days before

Marat sat on the floor of his living room close to the big windows which allowed him to look down at the sea and beach. He loved this view, the ocean and just being for himself right now.

He was fiddling with his mobile phone in his hands; he wasn’t sure whom to call or if he should tell someone about his plans to leave Miami earlier at all.

His thoughts went back to last night…

Marat went to a club which a good friend of him owned. He really liked that place, enjoying a few drinks, meeting friends.

Usually he ended up flirting with some girls or more they were flirting with him, trying to get his attention. Marat couldn’t deny that he liked that and most of the time he would have bought one of them a drink, talk to her and maybe dance a little at the end. Sometimes, not as many times as the media wanted the world to believe, he would have even got home with her and having some more fun.

But last night there has been no dancing, no talks, not even some casual flirting. Of course some girls tried to talk to him again, but none of them got his attention. He was annoyed, this kind of life didn’t seem to be right anymore; it didn’t make sense anymore. He left the party early.

Back in his apartment he lay on the bed and didn’t know what to do. He liked Miami, the weather, the people, the parties, just enjoying the life. On the other side he hated it; it was all about money, beauty and being seen, the things he couldn’t care less about.

Marat didn’t know how it happened but he ended up searching the internet for places to go. He wanted to leave but didn’t know where to go. Somehow after searching for a while he found a guesthouse in Norway. He hadn’t been to this place of the world yet, mostly because there wasn’t a tournament to attend there but of course he had seen pictures and heard about the beautiful landscape.

Two calls later he had a room and a flight for the next day.

He still hadn’t decided to call someone and tell about unplanned trip to a small village at the other side of the ocean. He guessed that he friends in Miami would think he would have lost his mind to go there when he had so much fun here. And everyone in Moscow wouldn’t understand why he wouldn’t go home when he had enough of the States. But still he thought it would be better to inform someone, just in case.

He knew whom to call now.

………………………………………………………………………………………………


Back in his room Marat felt on the bed. He was exhausted, exhausted walking through the snow, the search, worrying about her. He needed some time to realise what happened in the last hours and he needed a few deep breaths to calm down. Marat just wanted to sleep but he couldn’t stop thinking about the events.

He hardly knew her and it wasn’t like they were anywhere close to become friends but there was something about her which he couldn’t picture, something which made her special. Marat had to admit that he really liked her and that he couldn’t leave her alone now. He was too deep into it.
It wasn’t his new year’s resolution to change someone else’s life but if he could help her and if she would ask, he would be there; at least for the few days before he would leave.

He started to get tired and would fall asleep soon, but before he would go to bed, he decided to check on Hannah again.


………………………………………………………………………………………………


As Marat opened the door to her room, the lamp on her bedside table was still lightening the room; she seemed so small in the big bed, so vulnerable like a small child. He walked over to her bed and sat down, she looked okay now, with all the blankets and duvets over her, she couldn’t freeze anymore and also Greta had decided to exchange the place on the floor for one on the bed and already asleep by her side.

Looking around he realised that the room was a mess. Clothes and books were lying everywhere. But he couldn’t complain, he thought smiling, he was just the same. Marat just wanted to leave; not interrupting her sleep as she slowly woke up.

He didn’t see it till she gripped his hand.

“Sorry, I did not want to wake you up. I should go now and let you sleep. Sure you need it after the last hours”, he said.

“No, don’t…” but she couldn’t finish the sentence instead tears started to run down her face, she couldn’t hold it together anymore and she couldn’t be the strong one anymore.

“Hey, it’s okay, you are safe now, everything is okay”, Marat stated stroking her hair like he did before, maybe it would help to calm her down, he thought.

“I’m sorry…” she stated but could hardly say anything at all.

“There is nothing you need to be sorry for, everything is alright, okay? Maybe you should just get back to sleep and tomorrow we can talk… if you want.”

“Where are Karin and Peter?” she suddenly asked, wondering why Marat was there with her and not them.

“They went to see Olav, he needed some help. They called earlier and said they will be back tomorrow. Don’t worry.”

“Could you stay here? I mean for a few more minutes…” Hannah hardly dared to ask but she really didn’t want to be alone right now.
Everything was just too much and she needed someone, not to talk, just to be there…

“Sure I can do that.” he smiled lightly as he said that and he said down at the other side of the bed and laid his head back on one of the big pillows behind him.

She was falling asleep soon but he didn’t want to go, he simply wanted to stay with her and watched her sleep for some time before he couldn’t keep his eyes open anymore too and felt asleep by her side.

[tini]

Chapter 5


Argentina, early morning


It was still dark outside when Noah went down to the beach. He was an early riser, always has been and so he had no problem to leave the house at this time of the day. Moreover he loved this time when everything was still quiet and the city seemed to be still asleep.

Only a few people were out to go to work already but there weren’t many cars on the streets yet, which normally filled them. Though this was a small city in the south it was hard to go anywhere when the workers went to the local factories outside the city.

He decided to walk down to the beach today. Normally he would wait for his friends to wake up too and to come over. They would go together but he was sure he would meet them later anyway, so he decided to go ahead.

With a bottle of water in one hand and his surfboard under the other arm he walked down the street till he reached the little way which lead to the beach.

Walking trough the sand going to his usual place to surf, he didn’t see many other people down there, just a few joggers or people taking a walk with their dogs. He knew that in a few hours the beach would be full with people and so he tried to enjoy the silence. Noah put the bottle the board down and took some deep breaths of the cool morning air.

The sun was just starting rise at the horizon and put the whole scenery in front of him into an amazing light. He knew he was lucky to be there and to witness these special moments which only lasts for a few minutes every day.

Noah took his board and went to the water. He enjoyed the cool breeze and the cool water walking in. As the water was deep enough he went on the surfboard and paddled further away from the beach.

The waves weren’t really big this morning but still good enough to go for some easy surfing.
He turned the board around and waited for the wave to come. A few moments later he started to paddle and stood up.

The wind in his air, the sun on his face and the water on his skin, it was incredible and he enjoyed every second of it.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………


Norway


“We are back!” Karin screamed while entering the house together with Peter. They took of their jackets and shoes and went straight to the kitchen, thinking they would find the two there.

“Hannah! Marat!”

But still no one replied and Karin wondered where they could be. Not paying much attention to the missing answer, she and her husband went to their part of the house to change the clothes and to get something to eat.

“Guess they haven’t heard you in their rooms. We will see them later.” Peter said to her.


In one of the rooms on the second floor someone heard them arriving.
Hannah was lying in her bed looking at the window. Since she woke up a few hours ago, she hadn’t changed her position much. Still in her pyjamas she could see the minutes flying by on her clock, but she didn’t care. It was like so many times before, life was going on outside – without her.

She didn’t want to face them right now and decided to listen to some songs on her iPod instead. Hannah knew that Karin would come up to say hello and to ask about the time they haven’t been there anyway. She also knew that she had to speak to Marat. She hadn’t seen him yet, he was already gone when she woke up.

Hannah was thinking about last night, she couldn’t really remember what happened the night before. She had taken a walk with Marat to the lake and she decided to stay there a little bit longer while he left, going back to the house. Hannah also remembered that she felt better, happier somehow. That feeling was gone now and as much as she tried it didn’t come back to her.

Unlike Hannah, Marat decided to go down after hearing Karin and Peter arriving back home. When he reached the lobby he couldn’t see anyone so he went to the kitchen which seemed to be the meeting place for everyone.

He was just making himself another cup of tea when Peter came into the kitchen.

“Hello, I didn’t know that you are here.”

“Hey, heard you coming back and so I went downstairs. Do you also want some tea?”

“That would be nice.” Peter answered him with a smile on his face. “But actually I should make the tea, you are a guest here and now we are home you don’t have to do it.”

“No problem, there is enough water and making some tea isn’t a big business. I won’t take over the kitchen, I promise!” he said laughing.

“You better don’t! It’s still my place and now sit down and I will make the tea.” Karin demanded entering the kitchen, it was still her guesthouse and guests shouldn’t do anything here, she thought even though she knew he didn’t mind. “Are you hungry?”

“No. I’m not, thanks. I only would like some tea. I think I will go upstairs again anyway. I’m still tired, didn’t get much sleep last night.” Marat stated without thinking

“Oh, the storm was really bad, wasn’t it? We hardly got some sleep too and the snow…I know it’s just January and the winter will be long but that’s far too much.” she replied giving him a cup of tea. “Thanks!” he wondered if he should say something about last night but decided to leave that to Hannah.

“Is everything alright? Did something happen?” Karin asked, she could see that he was thinking hard about something.

Marat looked up, not sure what to say. “Everything is alright.” He simply answered and was about to leave the room.

“Okay.” Maybe he was just tired or wasn’t in the mood for a talk, Karin thought to herself.

Marat stopped at the door. He couldn’t just leave and say nothing. They had to know. So he was turning around.

“Nothing is okay. But it’s not up to me to say something!”

“It’s about Hannah, right?”

Marat didn’t say anything wondering what they knew.

“We know she wasn’t herself the last days and something is bothering her. Did she say something?”

“No. She didn’t.”

“So what is it?” Peter wanted to know.

“Yesterday when you left, she didn’t come back. I didn’t realize that till it was dark and I went out to search for her. I found her lying in the snow, unconscious. I bought her home as fast as I could and after she got into the warm house and woke up, she seemed to be okay.”

“Oh my god” Karin didn’t know what to say. She had to see her; she went to her room as fast as she could not waiting for more information.

“Thanks for taking care of her!” Peter said to him.

“You are welcome.” Marat answered leaving the room, wondering if he did the right thing.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………...


“You are thinking about her again, right?” one of his friends asked him while they packed their belongings; more and more people came to the beach and so decided to leave for now. Maybe they would come back in the evening after work as they sometimes did.

“How couldn’t I? I haven’t spoken to her in a while.” he really missed Hannah. Since he left Basel a few weeks ago he hadn’t seen her and hardly spoken to her on phone or emailed.

“Call her or stop worrying about her. She is all grown up; she knows what she is doing!” Paolo didn’t knew her, but from all he could tell his friend could have so much more fun if he would get her out of his head, at least for a few days.

“It’s not that easy! She hardly has someone around her and I care. I have to.”

“But I guess she wouldn’t want to spoil your fun here either. And if something happens she will call you, from what you said, I can tell that you are really close.”

Paolo was right, they are very close, Noah thought but he was also right on the second part, Hannah wouldn’t want him to worry about her too much. She never wanted someone to do that not even the closest person.

“You are right, I can’t change anything from here anyway and she is in Norway, so they will take good care of her.”

“See, she isn’t alone! And for now, move your feet! We have to do our job!”

During the car ride to another city and looking at the wonderful scenery in front of him, his thoughts were still at her though.

They always had a special bond. They could talk about everything, even without words, they knew what was going on with the other. Noah missed that. He had to spend some time abroad lately, so they couldn’t spend so much time with each other like they wanted.
But they tried their best to stay in contact as much as possible.

It was there latest talk which was bothering so much. Hannah said that everything was alright and she had a good time in Norway with Peter and Karin. But he could tell from her voice that wasn’t telling him everything. Also the call was rather short, which was unusual for her, normally she would tell him every single detail, laugh a lot and ask him about everything what he did during the day.

When he told Hannah about the trip to Argentina, she hated him for leaving her behind. She would have given everything to go there too, she loved to travel. Unfortunately because of university it was impossible to go there for a few weeks, she would miss too much.

This time she didn’t ask him at all, not for postcards she loved the collect and not for new places he had seen or people he had met. Something was wrong, he just couldn’t figure out what. However he needed to figure it out as soon as possible even he was thousands of miles away. She was too important for him to not to care.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………...


Hannah stood in front of the door of Marat’s room for a few moments now. She didn’t know what to do. He hadn’t seen him yet, as she woke up he was already gone and she didn’t went downstairs to have dinner with the others.

It took a lot of strength to knock on the door.

“Come in.”

She opened the door slowly but didn’t walk too far into the room. Hannah just stood there, wanting to speak to him but not finding the words to say something to him.

Marat was sitting on his bed reading a book as he heard the knock on the door. He didn’t stand up; instead he just closed the book and looked at the door. Hannah stood there looking everywhere but not at him. Her hair put behind the ears and he could tell that she was nervous. She looked like a lost puppy.

“Hey!”

“Hi.” she looked up as she answered him.

“How are you?” he really wanted to know but he wasn’t sure if he would get an honest answer.

“I’m okay….” hating herself to act like a fool she slowly added “Can I talk to you?”

“Sure, I told you, you could talk to me if you want. Sit down.”

Hannah walked over to the bed and sat down at the left side looking at the window. Marat still leaned at the headboard waiting for her to speak.

“Thank you for last night” she slowly started to speak “…I’m sorry!” she sobbed, saying the same as last night.

“Hey…There is nothing to be sorry for. I told you so last night and I still mean it.”
Marat sat up straight and leaned over so his head was closer to hers. “I’m glad I found you and nothing worse happened.”

Hannah turned her head around and faced him. Her green eyes teary, after playing the strong one in front of Karin who came to her room earlier, she couldn’t do it anymore.

“What is going on? I don’t want to put pressure on you and you don’t have say anything to me at all. You don’t own me any explanation. But I can see that something is wrong, you were the same the night in the library. Even yesterday during the walk you seemed to feel better, you don’t look better now. To be honest it looks only worse. I want to help; I really do, because I like you. I don’t know you really well, but I know too much to walk out of your life without trying to make you feel better.”

“Thank you.” she smiled at him. Just a little smile but it’s a progress Marat thought. “I think I really need to talk to someone. Still I have no idea where to start and what to tell.”

“Start where you want. Say what you want to say. I have time!” he said with a big grin on his face knowing there wasn’t much both of them could do anyway. “Do you want some tea? Karin gave me a bottle the last time I went down, she thought it was crazy walking up and down every hour just because of some tea.” Hannah nodded and he handed her a cup of it.

“You expect something big now, right?”

“To be honest, I have no idea what to expect at all but I’m here to listen.”

“Like I said in the library no one died or got injured, no crime happened…” Hannah didn’t know how to continue, feeling stupid because really nothing big happened which made her feel like she felt. “Do you ever felt like everyone around you is moving forward and you are still at the same place? Feeling completely alone while being surrounded by so many people?”

“No, actually I don’t. I mean there have been times when I was alone and lonely, but never for a long time.”

“It’s like I can’t help myself. I don’t want to feel so miserable but every time I wake up…”

“What?” he didn’t know what else he could say to her.

“It’s stupid, I know. I mean I’m 24 years old. Have friends, my family, and my studies. It’s not like I have the most horrible life on earth. Million people have worse, so I shouldn’t complain about it. I should be old enough to deal with my life and get it into the right direction.”

“I think it doesn’t matter how old you are… Sure, many people have so much less and a worse life. But that doesn’t mean that you have to ignore your feelings. You don’t have to hide your feelings in front of people who care. Lying at yourself won’t help, it only makes it worse and one day you can’t play the strong one anymore and break down. I’m not saying that can make it better or that I have a master plan. But I’m here if you need someone to listen or just to be there. To be honest, right now I hardly have an idea what to do. I want you to know that you aren’t alone. One talk maybe isn’t the solution but it’s a start. I’m sure others in your life would do the same if they would see you right now. Everyone needs someone to care.”

“No one cares.” She replied quietly. Marat knew that wasn’t right, she had Karin and Peter who cared about her a lot and she also mentioned family and friends but maybe that wasn’t enough or maybe not what she needed. Still he had no idea how to help her.

“I care.”

…………………………………………………………………………………………………...


Before going to bed Karin made another attempt to speak to Hannah.

She went to her room earlier after Marat told them about the incident the day before. She had knocked on Hannah’s door but got no reply. She went into her room and saw her lying on her bed looking like she would sleep.

Hannah seemed to be okay. It calmed her down to see her like that; though she wasn’t replying as Karin tried to speak to her. With headphones in her ears she showed no reaction to Karin’s words. She couldn’t figure out if she was really sleeping, listening to music or just ignoring her. Even Karin wanted to speak to her so badly, she also knew it didn’t made sense to talk to her if she wouldn’t want it. Putting pressure on her to open up would not be a good idea. So without speaking to her she had to leave the room.

“I’m not sure if you can hear me, but I want you to know that we are always here for you Hannah!”

Again she got no reply. Karin opened the door slowly, but the room was dark and Hannah wasn’t there. Karin was just about the go downstairs again as she heard someone talking in Marat’s room.
She didn’t want to go closer to listen, because it wasn’t her business to do so. And she didn’t do it. She was glad that Hannah found someone to talk to. She had no idea about what they talked and maybe it was completely meaningless, still it put a small smile on her face as she walked down the stairs.

[tini]

Chapter 6


“Good Morning.”

“Morning” Hannah replied more asleep than awake. Her eyes were still closed as she turned on her back and stretched herself before opening her eyes slowly.

“Did I sleep her all night?” she asked though she knew the answer considering the fact that this wasn’t her room and she was still in the same clothes as yesterday.

“You did. We had a long talk yesterday and guess we fell asleep at some time lying on the bed.”

“Yeah, I remember… Thanks for listening.” She said smiling pushing herself up.

“You are welcome.” Marat was standing close to the window looking at her. Before she could ask why he was staring at her, he quickly added “We should go down for breakfast before they are going to miss us.”

“Sure. See you downstairs.” Hannah stated while heading to the door.

Marat went to the bathroom, taking a shower and shaving afterwards. He was in a good mood today, seeing Hannah looking better and more relaxed today made him happy. Maybe too happy but he didn’t care.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………...


“The street is free again. Ole just finished one part of the street and is going to do the second one now.” Peter said entering the kitchen where the others already enjoyed the breakfast.

“Oh that are good news, maybe we should go to the village today to buy some groceries.”

“We can do that after breakfast. Knowing you it will take some time, all the people we will meet will talk to you and I’m standing beside you like your trained dog.” Pater stated with a grin on his face.

He knew that everyone liked his wife; she always got along with everyone and helped where she could. But that was one of the many things he loved about her.

“That’s not true! They really like you too. It’s just that you aren’t that communicative!”

“Hmm, maybe. I will come with you anyway. Not letting you drive alone.”

“It’s not the first snow we ever had! I just thought about driving to Bergen but guess you wouldn’t be too happy about more shopping.”

“You read my mind.” Peter said smiling, turning to Hannah he said “But maybe you and Marat could go. Have you ever been there Marat?”

“No, I’ve never been there. I haven’t been to Norway before either.”

“Then you should really go while you are here! It’s a lovely city and it must be even better with all the snow right now. Maybe Hannah could go with you and show you the city.”

“Only if she wants to.” Marat said looking at Hannah.

“Sure, I think some day out would be nice.”

She really didn’t mind to go with Marat to Bergen, it could be a nice day she thought, but moreover she was glad to go out, so Peter and Karin wouldn’t get the opportunity to talk to her again.

“Good.”

…………………………………………………………………………………………………...


Karin and Peter already left the house and Marat was waiting downstairs for Hannah to get ready, who decided to change into other clothes.

After a few more minutes she came down the stairs and Marat couldn’t take his eyes of her.
Hannah wore a grey skirt, black jacket and she looked lovely with a hat in lavender with matching a scarf and gloves, which suited her brown hair and green eyes perfectly.

“What?” she asked Marat confused.

“Nothing, you just look different.”

He didn’t know what to say still wondering what a different outfit and a little make up could do. Not that she wasn’t beautiful before, but she always looked more like a girl he had to take care of, like a little sister.
Now he started to see the woman in her too.

“Different!? I’m not sure how it works with girls in Russia but that actually doesn’t sound like a compliment to me.”

“I didn’t mean it that way. You look good… more than good actually.”

Why it was so difficult for him to say something nice to her? He did it a million times before even when he didn’t mean it, but today he really did!

“Never mind it. We should go now anyway. Could you drive?”

“Why?” he wondered.

“I don’t like it. Makes me nervous and don’t do it when I don’t have to.”

“Okay, you just have to give me the keys and tell me the way.” Marat told her while they were heading to the car.

Few minutes later they were on their way to Bergen.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………


The last two hours they had been walking through the little streets of Bergen and enjoyed the typical architecture of the buildings. Marat had seen a lot of cities during his career but he enjoyed the walk and had to admit that it was one of the most beautiful places he had ever seen.

The two reached Bryggen, the famous part of Bergen with small streets, the old-style wooden houses close to the sea.

“I’m hungry!”

Hannah had to laugh, “You are always hungry!”

“That’s not true!” Marat stated, but Hannah gave him a look and so he had to add “Okay, maybe…sometimes.” He smirked.

“Maybe we should really get something to eat soon. It’s already past one and I could eat something too and before you are starving…”

“Where do you want to eat?”

“Not sure… maybe we can go in one of the restaurants here. They might be a little bit too much for tourists but heard they serve good food but have never been in one.”

“Then let’s go.”



“When are you going back to Moscow?”

“In two days.”

“Oh…that’s soon.” Hannah looked up from her food surprised. She knew she sounded disappointed but didn’t care in that moment because that was how she felt. On the other side she also knew that she had to go back home soon to because her holidays would end in a few days. Hannah just didn’t want to leave Norway – not yet.

“Hey… cheer up! Not the time to say goodbye yet! We should enjoy the food and our time here.” He said smiling at her.

“The food is great! Can’t remember having eaten such a delicious fish ever but don’t tell my mum that.” Marat laughed as he wanted to change the topic.

“Oh yes.” Her mouth was still full and she had to laugh too “I thought it would be more like the typical tourist stuff – too expensive and really bad!”

They had decided for a small restaurant at the end of the street which wasn’t too crowded now as it was already past lunchtime.

“Do you want some dessert?” Marat asked her.

“Do you?”

“I asked you and I never eat dessert!” he stated finishing his meal.

“Never!?”

“Is it so shocking? You look like I said I killed someone! I just don’t like it. So no sweet, cakes or ice-cream.”

“You are weird. I mean I thought I have problems but that is worse! We should really change that.”

“So you are ordering some now?”

“No.” Hannah said.

“No?” I thought you wanted to show me what I missed.”

“I do but not here. I have a better idea.” She smiled and Marat wondered what she had in her mind.

Soon afterwards they paid the bill and continued their sightseeing trip.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………


“Do you want to do it? Think it could be fun.” Marat asked her.

He could see that, while they were standing in front of the old building, she looked at the ice-skating ring at the place behind them.

“I never did it!”

“You live in Switzerland and come here every year and you never went ice skating?”

“I don’t know how it happened but never wanted to do it as a child and so missed the chance to learn it, I guess.” She answered shrugging her shoulders.

“I can teach you!” he took her hand and went to the ice.

“You?”

“I might be not Plushenko or Yagudin but I know how to ice skate. Come on let’s have some fun.”

Hannah said down on a bench while Marat got the skates from the men who took care of the ring.

Thank god you aren’t Plushenko, Hannah thought looking in Marat’s direction, you look so much better. Hannah didn’t know where this thought came from but there was no doubt that he was more handsome than every other guy she ever met.

She still had a light smile on her face when Marat came back to her. He couldn’t make out why, though he didn’t ask, he just enjoyed spending the day with her.

“Thanks.” Hannah said when Marat handed her the skates.

They said beside each other and put their skates on and others would think the both of them would make beautiful couple looking at them.

“Ready?” Marat skated her taking her hand. He stood on the ice and could see that she a little nervous about it.

Hannah took her first steps on the ice still holding his hand. First she couldn’t enjoy it; she was too focused on the skating and was having a hard time to keep her balance.
But after a few more minutes it got easier and it actually looked like they would ice skate and not like they would walk on a minefield.

Marat felt that she got more comfortable on the ice and let her hand go so she could skate alone. But as soon as Hannah realised that she was skating on her own she didn’t want to do anymore and when another girl passed her she couldn’t stop nor keep her balance and before Marat, who watched the scene a few meters in front of him could catch her, she felt on the ice.

“Are you okay?” Marat asked concerned as he reached her.

“Yeah, I’m okay. Nothing broken but my great teacher forgot to tell me how to stop with these things on my feet.”

“I’m sorry. Do you want to stop and go somewhere else instead?”

“Actually I would like to give it another try. I can’t go like this. Not with bad memories!” she stated. “Can you help me?” He took her hand helped her up.

For the next half hour they were skating over the ice. This time Marat didn’t let her hand go.

“I think I really deserve my piece of cake now!” Hannah said as they reached the bench to put on their shoes.

“For the first time you did really well!”

“Sure, Plushenko! You have to know.” Hannah laughed.


Walking down some small streets again Marat was quiet while Hannah gave him more infos about the city and told him about the things to do here even he would have no time to do it this time.

Where does all the teasing come from today? All the smiles she had on her face? Marat couldn’t figure out why she seemed so happy today. It wasn’t like he was complaining about it but somehow it was too fast. He wondered what was going on.
Maybe their talk last night really helped her or was she just a good actress?

“We are here.” Hannah stopped in front of a small building. “Hopefully it’s open, haven’t been here in a long time.”

“Hopefully I don’t like the idea of walking here for nothing.” Marat stated looking a little bit annoyed.

“I can’t believe you have been a pro tennis player and now you are complaining about a short walk!”

Hannah opened the door and they both walked in. It was a small bakery and café. It looked unremarkable from outside but cosy and really lovely inside, like someone paid a lot of attention to small details to make costumers feel welcome and the smell of all the fresh things did the rest.

“Hannah!” a middle-aged woman said walking into the room after she heard the door open. “We haven’t seen you in ages! How are you?”

“I’m fine, thanks. It’s great to see you again and you have to do me a favour.”

“Okay.” She wondered what Hannah could want.

“This guy here…” Hannah said pointed at Marat though it was obvious that it was him because there was no other person around. “Well, he doesn’t like sweets, nothing! And I thought if something could help him than your wonderful cakes.”

Ann laughed “That’s really weird. I think we can help him here. Just sit down and I will bring you something. Do you want tea, coffee or a hot chocolate?”

“I take a hot chocolate. And you?” Hannah stated heading to one of the tables at the window.

“A coffee would be nice, thanks.” He said sitting down at the other side the table.

Hannah looked at the card with the cakes. She seemed so focused that Marat had to smile.

“What?”

“Oh, nothing… It’s just that everyone acts like there is something wrong with me! I mean I just don’t like sweet things. Guess my sister got all the genes, she would go crazy here.” he had to laugh.

Ann came back and put their drinks on the table, “Have you decided yet?”

“Sure, we will take one piece of your great apple pie, something easy to start with. A big piece of the chocolate cake and one of the cheesecake, thanks.”

“Three? We are just two!”

“I had a hard time to reduce it to two and they are all great so I couldn’t decide but I bet there won’t be anything left.”

Shortly afterwards Ann came back with the three really big pieces of cake. Hannah looked like a kid in a candy shop.

Hannah was right; they had eaten everything and even Marat still wasn’t the biggest fan, he enjoyed the cake and the time in the little café.

After saying goodbye to Ann and promising her to greet Peter and Karin, they walked back to the car. It started to get dark outside but they didn’t have to walk that long as Marat thought because like he realised they walked in a circle.


…………………………………………………………………………………………………...


“It was a really nice day. Thanks for showing me Bergen and though I doubt I will eat much dessert in the future, I have to admit that the cakes were wonderful!”

“You are welcome! I enjoyed the day too.” Hannah smiled at him. She really enjoyed the day in the city although it went over to fast.

They were standing at the door to Hannah’s room; they didn’t know what else to say so they were just looking at each other waiting for the other to say something.

Hannah didn’t know how but one second later she could feel his lips on hers and he slowly started to kiss her.
She wanted to pull away first but then she let him and she kissed him back.

Slowly letting go, they looked at each other again.

“Sorry.” Marat said not knowing what came over him. But he knew one thing – he didn’t want to let go.

“I think I should go now.” Hannah whispered and opened the door to her room.

"Don't..."

[tini]

Chapter 7


Argentina


Noah and his friend Paolo were sitting at the bar in a small pub and enjoyed a few drinks and cigarettes. He liked the light atmosphere there and it was so easy to get in contact with someone; having a nice talk or a nice time for a few hours.

“I’m not going with you to Punta Arenas.” Noah stated looking down at the glass of scotch in his hands.

“Why? You were looking forward to it!” Paolo knew that Noah couldn’t wait to get there and to take the pictures for the new book, so he didn’t understand his friend at all.

“There are more important things to do right now. I already talked to Jorge and he is looking for someone else to go with you.”

“I don’t want to go with someone else, they suck!!! What could be more important?”

“I have to go home!” but Noah knew that Paolo wouldn’t understand him, no matter how much he would explained it.

“Is it about Hannah?”

“I have to talk to her!”

“And you can’t do that on phone? Seriously you can’t let the chance go!”

“I know you won’t understand but I have to see her. I have to know that she is okay and I can’t do that on phone while I am being thousands of kilometres away!”

“Okay, okay…do you know when you will be back?”

“I’m not sure yet. I will fly to Basel in tomorrow; I can’t say how much time it will take. Maybe a few days, weeks… I don’t know.”

“I thought she is in Norway?”

“She is, but she has to go back soon because her studies will start again…I just have to check on her.” Noah looked at his friend with sad eyes.

“You really miss her, don’t you?”

“I haven’t seen her for a while and it’s not like we haven’t been apart before, actually we have been more apart than together in the last months. It’s just hard to know that she isn’t alright and I’m not there.”

“You can’t be there all the time!”

“I have to try… I promised!”

“Okay to bring this to a better mood again: we should enjoy our evening here today. Guess it will be the last one for a while! Cheers!” Paolo stated already looking at some girls who just entered the bar.


…………………………………………………………………………………………………...


Slowly letting go, they looked at each other again.

“Sorry.” Marat said not knowing what came over him. But he knew one thing – he didn’t want to let go.

“I think I should go now.” Hannah whispered and opened the door to her room.

"Don't..."


“I can’t. Sorry… I just need to go.” Hannah stated confused. A part of her didn’t want to go but the other thought she was crazy and wrong doing what she just did.

Hannah didn’t look at him; she just turned around and went into her room. Marat kept standing there for a few more minutes before he went to his own room.

Not even bothering to change into other clothes he just lay on his bed and kept staring at the ceiling.

What did he do? Since she came down the stairs this morning he could hardly take his eyes off her. All day he gave his best so she wouldn’t notice it. Maybe it was just wrong to kiss her but standing so close to her he couldn’t hold back anymore.
Blaming himself for ruining everything… he remembered it. She kissed him back, not immediately but she did.

In her room Hannah couldn’t sleep either, her mind was racing and she couldn’t make sense of it. How much she tried she didn’t understand. After some time she stood up again.

“Why did you do that?” She didn’t knock on his door before entering nor did she wait for his reply, she could see that he was still awake. “Because there wasn’t someone else around? Because you had the chance to do it?”

She was standing in front of his bed; waiting for an answer but Marat didn’t say anything.

Hannah was just about to turn around and to leave the room as he replied.

“Because I wanted to kiss you. You might not understand but it’s all I wanted.”

“Why?” she was still standing there, not moving one centimetre.

“Why? It is so absurd?”

“I don’t know… it’s just… you never… I didn’t think…” she stumbled not finding the word she was searching for finally she spoke “Why me?”

“I don’t know what you mean?” Marat wondered why she had to make it so complicated.

“I guess there are millions of girls out there who want to be with you and who are so much better than me…” While she was saying this Marat stood up and went to her. Standing in front of her he put a finger on her mouth.

“That’s the point.” He slowly spoke.

“Maybe they want to be with me but I don’t want to be with them. They aren’t better than you. They mean nothing to me… Remember that I told you that I care, that I will be there for you?”

She nodded and he continued to speak “I was a stranger knowing nothing trying to help you. Maybe we are friends now, I don’t know…All I know that there is more, I probably care more than I should, like you more than I should ever do but I don’t care. I really like you and I’m not going to ignore these feelings for you.”

Hannah was staring at him “I don’t know what to say.”

“You don’t have to say anything. You don’t have to feel the same. I just wanted you to know.”

“No, it’s not…I just haven’t seen that coming. The last days, everything was so much…”

“It’s okay. Maybe you should just go back into your room and we will see each other in the morning.”

“I don’t want to go…”

“Then don’t” Marat spoke fast before she could add more.

“I don’t know if it is a good idea.”

“When you think about it; we spent the last three nights together so one more won’t hurt.”

“It’s not what I meant.”

“We don’t have to do anything. Stay here.”

It felt like an eternity to Marat before she spoke again.

“Okay.”

She quietly said, so quiet she thought, she hadn’t said it out loud but she could see him smile at her.


…………………………………………………………………………………………………..


“You look like you could use some company.”

Noah looked up and saw one of the girls, who entered the bar earlier, standing beside him. Paolo left a while ago, probably he already went out with one of them.

“What makes you think so?” All he wanted is to be left alone but he could hardly tell her that.

She sat down beside him and started to talk. “You sit alone for a while already, since your friend left to be exact and you haven’t finished one bottle of beer in an hour.”

He just looked at it and drank the rest out of the bottle.

“Drinking alone sucks.”

“Do you want another one?” she asked but not waiting for an answer and giving the bartender the sign to brink another two.

“Cheers!” She looked him into the eyes and he couldn’t stop looking at her.

She was beautiful in every way, long brown hair, nice tan and big brown eyes and she smiled at him like they have known each other forever. She made him feel comfortable though he didn’t knew her at all. Maybe that was the reason.

“What’s your name?” he wanted to know.

“Carolina. And yours?”

“Noah. Nice to meet you!”

“Nice to meet you too. You aren’t from here, are you?”

“No, I’m from Europe; worked here for a while. Going back tomorrow but maybe I will come back. It’s a great place.”

“Sure it is but you can’t spend your last night here sitting alone at a bar. Come one let’s go.”

“Where are we going?” Noah asked not sure what she had planned.

“You will see.” She smiled at him again, taking a bottle of Tequila from the bar with her and was on her way out. Noah could barely think straight so he just followed her outside.

Walking down the street he realised that they were on the way down to the beach. He knew that at night hardly someone was there but he also knew that is was a place for couples who wanted to be alone.


“So tell me, what is in Europe what isn’t here?” They were sitting at the beach beside each other, looking at the ocean in front of them.

“Do you really want to know?” he asked back taking another sip out of the bottle. He could feel that he was getting drunk but he didn’t care right now. It was good not to worry though he knew he would regret it in the morning.

“It’s because of a girl, right?”

“Something like that. Don’t want to talk about it now.”

“What do you want to do?” she asked with a mischievous smile on her lips.

“Can’t you guess?” Noah asked with the same sort of smile on his face.

“Here?”

“Too many questions! But no, let’s go to my place.”

With those words he stood up, took her hand and they walked back to his apartment.


…………………………………………………………………………………………………...


“I don’t want to go.” Hannah stated lying on her back and staring at the ceiling.

They hadn’t said anything for some time; both struggled to find the right words. Marat didn’t reply instantly. He was lying on his side beside Hannah, looking down at her.

Hearing her speak he lay down, “Me neither.” He whispered into her ear.

Hannah turned her head to face him and he began to kiss her again.

“That won’t solve the problem.” Hannah said as she couldn’t get the fact out of her head that he would leave in three days and everything would just be more complicated. It was wrong to be there.

“I know.” Marat stated knowing what she knew but he didn’t want to think about that now. The moment to say goodbye would come soon enough.

“So…” Hannah sat up and looked at him with a serious expression on her face.

“So… I don’t have master plan but we will find a way if we want to. We will see where it will lead us to. Don’t let us discuss it know; it’s late and we shouldn’t destroy the beautiful day.”

“You are right. I’m tired anyway”

“Of course I am.” Marat smirked. “But let’s get some sleep.”

“Guess I should change into some other clothes.”

“You could have some of mine.” Marat suggested leaving to the bathroom.

“I doubt that it would be a good idea to change into other clothes here. I will be right back.”

“Promise!” Marat pleaded, leaning against the doorframe of the bathroom.

“Promise. I will be back in 5 minutes.” Hannah stated leaving the room.

Marat didn’t want her to leave, afraid that she could change her mind about staying with him for the night. But there wasn’t anything he could do except to believe in her words and to hope she would be back soon.

When Hannah came back a few minutes later, the room was dark except for the light of the moon outside. Marat was already in bed, lying on his back with his eyes closed. So she simply climbed into the bed and got under the cover beside him.

“Good night.” Hannah simply stated knowing that she would fall asleep as soon.

“Good night.” Marat murmured half asleep but happy that she came back. He put his arms around her to hold her closer and drifted off to sleep.

For the first in three nights, sleep came easily for both of them.

[tini]

Chapter 8


Argentina

When Carolina woke up the next morning, a pounding head reminded her immediately of last night. Noah was still sleeping loudly beside her. Why did she do that? Waking up in a stranger’s bed, hardly remembering last night? She swore to herself she would never drink alcohol again. It’s not like she didn’t enjoy the time with Noah, at least the part she could remember. It was just she never thought she would be the girl doing this.

Before it could even get more awkward she decided to leave. He would leave today anyway so there was a good chance she would never see him again. Carolina hoped she could just forget it.

"Do you always sneak out in the morning?“

Damn…

“Actually…” he could see that she felt uncomfortable and he didn’t want to make it worse, but he also didn’t want her to leave that way.

“Okay, we don’t have to do this, the morning talk the next day. If you want to leave…but you don’t have to sneak out.” He smiled at her.

“It’s not that I wanted to leave easily…I just thought it would be easier for both of us.”

“Why?” He had to admit she was cute when she was nervous, last night she had been totally different.

“Oh come on, we met last night, both really drunk, slept with each other and today your are leaving to Europe for a girl. So why should we make it more complicated!” Carolina stated still holding her shoes in her hands.

“You are still here. Want some coffee?” Noah asked as if it would be the most normal thing to do and she raised her eyebrows. “What? I’m just trying to be a good host and like to have some company. You think too much.”

Noah stood up and put some clothes on.

“Last night you weren’t so shy.” Noah laughed as he realised that Carolina tried her best to look away.

“Last night I was drunk!”

A few minutes later she was sitting at the kitchen table and feeling a little bit more relaxed.

“So how come that you flirt with someone and have sex with him, only to find yourself nervous and uncomfortable the next morning?” Noah wanted to know.

“I never did that! I mean I flirted with guys in bars before, but I never went home with someone, neither was I the one to start it. Alcohol makes it possible as it seems.”

“So I was only the one because you were drunk?” he asked with a mischievous smile on his lips. “Hope you don’t regret your decision in the morning.”

“Like I said, I was drunk. People do weird things when they are drunk.”

The smile on his face disappeared “Don’t tell me you didn’t want this. I didn’t…”

“No, no…I said I was drunk but wasn’t that drunk. I still knew what was going on. Trust me, I could still make my own decisions, so no need to worry.”

“Good to know. I’m sorry I don’t want to throw you out after I suggested the coffee but need to do some packing before heading to the airport.”

“I'll find my way out.” She smiled lightly.

“Was nice to meet you. Maybe not the perfect first meeting but maybe we will se each other again.”

“Maybe, but guess the girl waiting for you won’t be happy to hear that.”

“It’s not like what you think it is…” Noah tried to explain but she didn’t let him.

“Listen, it doesn’t matter what I think. We both had our fun. Can’t say I’m proud of what I did knowing that there is someone else, but it happened. But I can’t change it anymore, and even if I could I wouldn’t do it because you are a nice guy. Have a safe trip.”

Carolina took her shoes and her bag and left the house; leaving Noah behind, looking after her till he couldn’t see her anymore. His flight would go in a few hours and he still had some things to do.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………

Norway, earlier that day

“So what do you want to do today?” Hannah asked sitting on the bed while Marat was still lying on his back.

“Staying in bed.” Marat smirked though his eyes were still closed.

“That’s not an option.”

“Why not?” He didn’t want to stay up yet, not after he slept so well for the first time in weeks. But seeing Hannah sitting on the bed facing him, he knew she wouldn’t let him stay there.

“Because…”

He raised his eyebrow waiting for her answer; he could see that she was thinking hard for one but he didn’t want her to feel uncomfortable either.

“Maybe we should go down and get some breakfast first before we decide what to do today.”

Downstairs they could see that new visitors arrived and had now breakfast in the dinning room. Marat and Hannah instead decided to have some simple breakfast in the kitchen, like they had in the last few days.

“Do you need some help?” Hannah asked seeing that Karen was busy with making coffee and keeping an eye on the eggs in the pan.

“No, thanks. You are not here to work and I’m used to this. It’s not even that bad this morning but it would be nice if you could make your own breakfast so I can go to the dinning room.” Karen stated.

“Sure, just go.” Hannah said, though it make

“Oh and before I forget it, we won’t be here today, Peter and I go with the group and show them some trails to go skiing the next days. Sure you won’t mind being alone.” She added and winked in Hannah’s direction, who just decided to ignore it.

“So what do you want?” she asked Marat as she turned around to face him.

“Are you playing the housewife now?” Marat laughed.

“No offence, but you don’t look like a guy who can actually cook!”

“That was mean… but kind of true.” He had to admit.

A few minutes later, and he really wondered how she did that, they were sitting at the table with coffee, cornflakes, toast, scrambled eggs and bacon in front of them.

“Have you thought about today? What would you like to do? Skiing?” Marat asked.

“Definitely no skiing, last time I did it I ended up sitting crying in the snow.” Marat looked like he wanted to know more about that but she fast continued “Either we stay here and enjoy the silence when this freak group of tourists is gone or we could go to one of the fjords.”

“Fjord sounds good, haven’t seen much because of the storm and Karen said they will go skiing the next days, so we will have some time alone here too…if we want.” He added quietly still not sure how far he could go.

……………………………………………………………………………………………….


“Is everything alright?” Marat asked driving into the direction Hannah had showed him earlier on the map. She hadn’t said anything since they went to the car. He was sure he could drive in a completely wrong direction and she wouldn’t notice it. She was just staring out of the window, looking like she is far away in her thoughts.

“Hannah?” he asked again.

“What?”

“I just wanted to know if everything is okay. You haven’t said anything for a while.”

“Sorry. I was just thinking about something.”

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“No, I don’t. It wasn’t important anyway.” She said with a small smile on her face which just didn’t seem to be real to Marat.

“Okay.” He simply replied knowing it made no sense to put pressure on her to open up and while driving he couldn’t do much anyway.


Reaching their destination, they parked the car and walked the rest of the way to the place from where they had a nice view over the fjord.

“What’s going on?” Marat asked. He was standing next to Hannah who was staring at the horizon and hadn’t said a world since he asked her in the car.

“Nothing.” She simply stated.

“That’s not true and you know it. It’s like we are back on the first day. I’m not forcing you to tell me more but I guess you left the important things out when we talked.”

Hannah turned around to face him. She had tears in her eyes and was shivering. Marat couldn’t tell if it was because of the cold wind up there or because of something she was thinking about.

The last thing he wanted was to make her cry. Seeing her like this he had a strong wish to hug her and keep her save from all the bad things in the world, so Marat closed the gap between the two of them and took her in his arms to keep her warm.

“You know I’m here for you, right? I won’t leave” he whispered in her ear.

Instead of replying to him, Hannah just closed her eyes and leaned against him, trying to forget everything around them.

“I don’t want to go.”

“Me neither. But as much as I like to think it is because of me, I have the feeling there is another reason for not wanting to go back home.”

Hannah opened her eyes and stared at the scenery in front of her. Should she really tell him more. Open up; letting him in. They would leave in two days anyway, so what difference would it make.

Hannah left his embrace and was looking at him.

“Do you really want to know?” she asked insecure.

“I want to know. And if you want to tell me I’m listening.”

“Maybe it’s nothing. I mean maybe I’m making a big deal out of it and you will think I’m crazy.”

“It can’t be nothing when it makes you feel the way you do. Everyone can see that something is wrong.”

“Is it so obvious?” she asked.

“Think you gave your best to act in a normal way, but I spent the last days close to you. I do not know how you are every day but I could see the difference between the first day and our day in Bergen. Today it feels like the happy moments never existed.”

Hannah wasn’t saying anything.

“Talk to me.” Marat was pleading.

“Okay.” Hannah spoke quietly after some time, which felt like an eternity for Marat.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………...


Noah was looking at the window, staring at the white clouds. In a few hours he would be home. Now sitting in the plane he wasn’t sure anymore if it had been a good idea. He hadn’t spoken to Hannah or left her a message that he would be in Basel when she returned from Norway. He knew she wouldn’t be happy that he gave up Puntas Arenas for her neither she would want him to worry about her.

“Do you need anything.” A flight attendant asked with an overfriendly smile on her face.

“No, thanks.” He didn’t need anything, he just wanted be alone and think but that was nearly impossible in a plane with so much people around.

“I know they are just doing there job but they can also can be really annoying!” The man in the seat at the aisle stated.

“Sure.” Noah looked at him and saw the older man putting his book on the free seat between them and standing up.

Not thinking about him anymore, he searched for his iPod in his bag. For the next few hours he would just listening to music, trying to get some sleep and ignoring the world around him.

And hoping he would do the right thing.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………


“Does someone else know about it?” Marat asked curious after letting her talk in the last few minutes after they returned from their trip.

“Not really.”

“Why wouldn’t you talk with someone else about it?”

“What I should tell them? It’s not like something bad happened.”

“Nothing bad happened? Yeah, he just follows you, sends you stuff, need I go on? You should go to the police!”

“They couldn’t do anything. It’s not forbidden to send letters and I haven’t seen him around for a while. Maybe he stopped.”

“Or maybe he didn’t. If you would really have the feeling that it was just a stupid nightmare or that everything is over now; why would you not want to go back home?”

Hannah couldn’t give him an answer on this. Instead she was looking down and playing with the end of her pullover something she always did when she was nervous.

“Who is he?” Marat could feel she was uncomfortable to speak about it but after starting with it, he couldn’t let go on that topic.

“I don’t really know. He’s from France I think. Don’t even remember his name. Martin, Mathieu or Maxime. Something French with an “M”.”

Marat raised an eyebrow hearing her speak “Something with “M” doesn’t help. He has no right to treat you like this! Sounds like he is a psycho or something like this.”

“You don’t need to worry! Like I said he never came close to me and he didn’t look like a psycho.” Hannah stated without believing in her own words.

“Sure and mass murderers always have a big sign with a warning around their heads!” Marat answered, getting annoyed with the fact that she downplayed the whole situation.

“Don’t be ridiculous! Maybe I should not have told you about it.” Hannah snapped back.

Marat was angry now, not sure if on the guy who was obviously stalking her or on Hannah for being so stupid to keep it all to herself, but instead of yelling and telling her how stupid she was not going to the police or at least telling her family and friends about it, he forced himself to calm down.

“I just don’t want that something bad to happen to you. I don’t want you to be in danger. Knowing that you go back in two days and he might be still around drives me crazy. How could I forgive myself when something happens and I knew about it?”

“I don’t want you to worry.” Hannah said with a small voice.

“That’s your problem; you don’t want anyone to worry. But you can’t stop other people from doing so. I was worried before and I’m even more now! Let others help you; you don’t have to deal with it alone.”

“How should I tell them now? Everyone will just blame me for not saying something earlier!”

“They might do that but only because they care about you. How could they be angry at you for a long time when they know about the freak out there. Promise me you'll talk to someone, to anyone but please don’t keep it for yourself till it’s too late.”

Hannah could see that he was clearly worried and his eyes were pleading at her.

“Promise.”

[tini]

Chapter 9


„What are you doing when you are home?” Hannah wanted to know; she was laying on the couch in the library her head on Marat’s leg and staring at the table in front of her.

Last night they talked long about the guy who seemed to follow her but couldn’t figure out what to do. Marat just hoped she would really speak to her family and friends. He was worried about her.The thought about her being alone in the situation and him following again her or doing something worse, made him feel sick in his stomach.

Today they spent most of the evening in the library. Not talking much, just enjoying each others company and the few hours they still had together.

The group of tourists had been out all day with Peter again and Karin understood that they rather wanted to be alone.

“Hmm?” Marat looked up from the book he was reading and at Hannah who preferred to lie cuddled up next to him and who maintained in that position though she spoke to him.

“Don’t know, have a few plans. But first I think I have to pay my parents a visit. As I know my mum she went crazy and wants to kill me for not hearing from me for some days. If I should survive the visit, I will see.” Marat laughed, imagining the situation at his parent’s home.

Hannah smiled lightly wondering how it will be when she would come home.

“What about you?” Marat asked putting the book on the table next to him.

“Not much. Have to go to university again. I’m going to finish my studies this year so will be quite busy.”

“What are you studying?” Marat wanted to know, realising that he never asked her.

There were still a lot of things they didn’t know about each other, actually more than they knew.

Hannah sat up next to him, leaning on the couch as it seemed that he wanted to talk. She didn’t really want to but let him anyway.

“Art history, with a focus on Italian Art now. Wonder what I thought starting it.”

“Why? Sounds interesting and Italy is amazing when it comes to art. Rome looks like a museum!”

“It is interesting, but not really something one can make money with or find a job easily.”

“You could come to Russia. We have art too.” Marat grinned.

“I know that.” Hannah had to laugh, “But Russia isn’t Italy.”

“Do you want to go to Italy one day?” Marat asked.

“Not really.” Hannah shrugged her shoulders.

“So, why Italian art?”

“Only because I like their art, doesn’t mean I want to live there even it’s beautiful there. But guess they don’t need someone from abroad telling them about their history in art.”

“You could tell people in Russia about it.” Marat smirked. “Think our museums have Italian artists too.”

“I could…seriously I don’t have a plan yet, need to finish my studies first.”

“Makes sense, I guess.”

Marat wondered if he should mention the second topic which they both had been avoiding all day.

It was their last day in Norway, both would leave tomorrow but they haven’t spoken about what will happen afterwards. If they would see each other again and how they would manage to do that. Also the topic of the stalker, which Marat couldn’t stop to think about, left unspoken.

He looked Hannah into the eyes and he could see that she got his thoughts.

She opened her mouth and was about to speak but the right words wouldn’t come.

Instead she left the room, leaving Marat behind.

……………………………………………………………………………………………


“What are you doing here?” Lara asked after opening the door and seeing him standing in front of her.

“It’s always nice to see you too.” Noah said.

“What do you want?” She didn’t even try to hide the fact that she wasn’t happy to see him.

“You can come down. I’m not here for you. I just wanted to see my sister. So can I come in?”

“She isn’t here.”

“Where did she go to? Can I wait?”

“Then you would have to wait till tomorrow. She is still in Norway.”

“What? I thought she wanted to come back yesterday?” Noah wondered why Hannah was still in Norway.

“She wanted to but she called and said she would stay a little bit longer.” Lara simply stated.

“Did she day why?”

“Listen.” Lara said and it was obvious that she didn’t want to talk to him. “I don’t know anything. She just called to say she would stay longer without giving a reason. I only know she will be back tomorrow in the afternoon. Have the details somewhere if you want to have them.”

“That would be really nice.”

“No need to be sarcastic.” Lara snapped back before she walked into the apartment to look for the notes.

Noah didn’t keep standing at the door though he knew it would make her even madder if he would enter without being invited to do so. But he loved to play that game with her knowing that she always was the one who could give all the words he threw at her back easily.

He couldn’t deny the fact that though they had some kind of history, he still liked her somehow.

“Here.” Lara was handing him the paper. “Think you know the way out!” and with those words she left him standing there heading to back to her room.

After being asked to leave so nicely Noah left and headed back to his own apartment a few streets away.

On his way back he wondered if he should get her from the airport. He was really looking forward to see her again after all the time but also knew that she might be not that happy to see him there out of the blue.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………


“I’m really looking forward to spring!” Hannah stated as she entered the library again with a cup of tea for Marat and one with hot chocolate for herself.

“It’s just January! So spring won’t come for quite some time.”

Marat wanted to speak about earlier but kept his thoughts for himself; he didn't want ruin their last day and maybe there would be a chance later.

“I know but have the feeling I haven’t seen anything else than snow for weeks now. It started in November!”

“Aww…how bad.” He put on a sad face but couldn't hold it long before he had to laugh out loud.

“If I would be you I would stop those till I set the cups down. Drinks are really hot!” And the look on her face made clear she wasn’t joking.

Marat waited till she set them down to pull her on his lap and starting to tickle her.

“Stop!” Hannah, who could hardly breathe anymore, pleaded.

“Ask nicely.” Marat said still tickling and holding her close so she couldn’t get free.

“Please.” Hannah.

“What did you say?” Marat asked ignoring her words.

“Please Marat! Stop, please.”

He stopped slowly and put his hands up.

Hannah needed a few moments to breathe normally again.

“That was not nice!”

“Who said something of being nice?”

“Do it again and I’m not responsible for the things happening to you!”

“Oh, I’m afraid now!” Marat answered pretending to be shocked. He loved the easy mood between them and he loved to see her laugh.

“You should!” Hannah answered in a serious tone though she had some trouble not to laugh again.

“And what does Ms. I’m-so-dangerous suggests to do instead?” Marat asked knowing what he wanted to do and the fact that she was still sitting on his lap made it easy for him to get it.

“I don’t know.” She answered getting closer to him. She knew exactly what his plans were.

“You don’t know?” Marat asked looking straight into her eyes; his face just a few centimeters away from hers, “I could show you.” He suggested afterwards.

“You could.”

Needing no further invitation; Marat closed the small gap between them and started to kiss her. His left hand played with her hair as he continued to explore her mouth with his tongue.
He loved that sweet taste of her and couldn’t get enough. Kissing her was one thing he could all day long not caring about the world surrounding them.


The front door being slammed and voices filling the hall brought them back to reality.

“Seems like we aren’t alone anymore.” Hannah murmured between the kisses.

“I don’t care.” Marat simply answered.

He had no intention to stop what he was doing only because some old tourists came back.

“Maybe we should stop.”

“Or maybe we should continue. I think they don’t care either and pretty sure they would do the same if they were some years younger!” Marat grinned.

He was just about to kiss her again as the door was opened by an old woman who looked a little bit shocked to see Hannah sitting on Marat’s lap and she closed the door as fast as she opened it.

“She didn’t look like she didn’t care. We should go before we are in trouble.” Hannah said looking at Marat who just grinned at her.

“Okay, maybe we should stop here but that doesn’t mean we stop in general.” And with those words Marat stood up from the couch.

“If you say so.”

“I do.” With other grin on his face he took Hannah’s hand and pulled her up.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………


Marat and Hannah were heading upstairs when walked into Karin who was about to set the tables for dinner.

“Do you need help?” Hannah asked her and Marat beside her was praying for the answer being ‘no’.

“No, thank you. I have everything under control but it would be nice if we could have dinner together later if you don’t mind.”

“Oh, sure.” Hannah answered for both of them.

Karin could see that Marat didn’t look too happy but before she could say something, Marat spoke. “It would be really nice. I had a great time here and that would be a nice way to spend some time together before we leave.”

The way Marat spoke left no doubt that he really meant what he said and Karin was relieved.

“Though it might be late today, I have to prepare the one for the guests now.”

“Or maybe we could do it while you are there for the guests.” Hannah suggested.

“Thanks a lot. But you really don’t have to do it, just enjoy your last hours here.” Karin answered.

“It’s not a problem. Really, it’s the least thing I can do after all you did for me and we will have some time left later.”

Standing beside her not saying anything Marat wondered what she had been up to.

“Thanks a lot. All you need is in the kitchen and maybe Peter can help you.” Karin said smiling and left for the dining room.

Hannah looked in Marat’s direction who didn’t look happy and tried his puppy eyes to get what he wanted.

“Don’t look at me with those eyes, it won’t help.” She stated

Marat pouted.

“Don’t be ridiculous! And if you are nice we continue later.” Hannah said already heading to the kitchen.

Marat followed her slowly hoping it wouldn’t be too bad but at least he could still spend time with her though it was different from the way he planned it.

“I can’t believe you prefer preparing dinner to spending time with me!”

“I’m not. But that way we have the evening for ourselves after dinner and helping me means we eat earlier.” Hannah smiled.

“I like the way you are thinking.” Marat grinned back.

“I bet you do.” Hannah smiled.

“So what can I do to help?”

“Maybe you could set the table. Guess there you can do the least damage.”

“Very funny.”

Marat had to smile about the fact that he was setting the table without any further complaining, only because Hannah asked him to do it.