by Ruff, K. S.
I extended my hand. “Eto bol'shaya chest's vami poznakomitca, ser… It’s an honor to meet you, sir.”
The prime minister’s brown eyes glinted with amusement as he shook my hand. “Maxim tells me you will be teaching peacekeeping at the Tavrida National Vernadsky University this week.”
I nodded, relieved that he had switched to English. “Yes, sir. I’m grateful for the opportunity to teach at your universities. You have a beautiful country, and I’ve found the people here very kind.”
He stroked his jaw as he studied me. “Tell me, Ms. Stone, what do you think of President Medvedev’s refusal to back sanctions against Iran?”
I swallowed nervously as Maxim tightened his hold on me. I met the prime minister’s gaze head on. “I respect the need for all political leaders to do what they feel is in the best interest of their people.”
Maxim relaxed as the prime minister gave me an appraising look. “Spoken like a true diplomat. What do you think of the Ukraine’s application to join NATO?”
I smiled. Sammi had thoroughly briefed our team on this issue. “I think the Ukraine’s acceptance into NATO would prove beneficial to all NATO countries. Our countries share a love of peace and human security. NATO membership would also strengthen the Ukraine’s economy as it is sure to increase trade with European partners, especially if you proceed with plans to extend the Odessa-Brody pipeline to Plock.”
The prime minister stepped back in surprise. He looked at Maxim, who was now beaming at me. “She is beautiful and smart. You must keep this one, Maxim. Find her a permanent position at the university.”
My breath caught as the prime minister reached for my hand. “It was truly a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Stone.” He kissed my hand, then walked away.
Maxim pulled me into his arms. He looked utterly besotted as he rested his forehead against mine. “Thank you,” he breathed.
I stared at him a bit dazedly. “For what?”
He smiled. “For being you.” He lifted my chin, then gently kissed me on the lips. “Dance with me, Kristine. I want to feel you in my arms.”
I studied his handsome face. Something had changed for Maxim, but I couldn’t quite tell what it was. Slowly I nodded.
He settled his hand on the small of my back as he steered me toward the center of the dance floor. A string quartet was playing a soft, romantic tune. He placed my left hand on his shoulder and held my right hand against his chest as he began to sway. “You fit in so effortlessly,” he murmured in my ear. “Would you consider it?”
I glanced up at him, confused. “Consider what?”
His eyes softened. “Stay here with me. Teach permanently at the university.”
My mouth opened, but I couldn’t respond. I slowly shook my head. “I’m sorry, Maxim, but I don’t think I would be happy here. I feel safer in the United States, and I would miss my family and friends terribly.”
His face fell, but he nodded in understanding. He gazed at me as he pulled me more firmly against his chest.
I sighed as I rested my head against his chest. “I’m flattered that you would ask me, Maxim. I’m going to miss you when I leave.”
Maxim caressed my back as we continued dancing. “Your skin feels so soft,” he murmured into my hair.
I looked up at him and smiled. “Nika and Oksana were amazing. The bath, the massage, everything was such a treat, Maxim. Thank you.”
He backed away from me as he spun me under his arm. “I’m glad you enjoyed it. You seem considerably more relaxed.”
I smiled sheepishly. “I hope we didn’t get any lotion on your bed.”
His eyes heated as he held my gaze. “I really wanted you in my bed. I just wish I had been there too.” He looked thoughtful as his eyes surveyed the room. “At least my bed will smell like you.”
I wrinkled my nose. “You should smell the bed at the hotel. It’s awful.”
He shook his head as he spun me around again. “Sadly, that is considered our finest hotel.”
I shrugged. “I’ve slept in worse places.”
He studied me with renewed interest. “Like where?”
A number of images flashed through my mind, then flitted away. “I used to sleep on the bathroom floor. A lot.”
He stilled. “Why?”
I tried to meet his piercing gaze but found I had to look away. “My ex-husband used to beat me. The bathroom door was the only door in the house that locked, so I felt safest sleeping in there.”
His eyes darkened. “You were beat?”
I nodded, then wondered whether it would make him think less of me. “For nine years.”
Maxim’s jaw clenched as he released me. “I assume this man is dead?”
I glanced up at him in surprise. “No. He’s still alive.”
“He should be dead,” he responded through gritted teeth.
I moved closer to Maxim. My hand caressed his shoulder as I tried to entice him into dancing again. “Let’s talk about something else. I don’t want to think about him anymore.”
Maxim tucked me back into his arms as we resumed dancing. “I know how I can take your mind off of him.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “How?”
He held my gaze as he lowered his lips to mine. “Like this…” he breathed. His lips hovered over mine until my eyes fell closed. Then, like a thief, he stole every last thought from my mind.
* * * * * *
I chatted excitedly about the ball while Shae and I got ready to leave for the university. “Maxim gave a sizeable donation to the children’s hospital. They brought some of the kids down from the cancer floor so they could speak at the fundraiser. Some of them stopped by our table and gave me a hug. They remembered the flowers!”
Shae sighed. “That sounds wonderful. I really wish Konstantin and I could have joined you.”
I nodded. “Me too. I still can’t believe I met the prime minister. I was so thankful that Sammi had briefed us on the NATO issue. He seemed pleased with my response. He told Maxim to find me a permanent position at the university!”
Shae’s eyes widened as we wheeled the training manuals out of our room. “You wouldn’t move to the Ukraine, would you?”
I smiled at Ethan. “Is Brady still sleeping?”
He pushed off from the wall. “Yes. We’re switching off at ten. He’ll take my place at the university so I can come back and get some rest.”
I nodded. “Good. Thanks for coming last night. Maxim was much better behaved with the two of you around.”
He reached for my suitcase and carried it down the stairs. “Did you call Rafael when you got in?”
I nodded. “Yes. He’s still threatening to come.”
He glanced at me as he opened the door to the lobby. “You do realize that he could care less about Prince Harry. The only reason he isn’t here is because he’s trying to respect your wishes.”
I shook my head. “The guy has to work sometime. He can’t turn down important assignments just so he can babysit me. Clients would stop coming to him, and I think he really enjoys that line of work.”
Nonna was standing in the lobby. “Dobroe utro.”
“Dobryy den',” Shae and I both responded.
Sammi and Cory joined us in the lobby a few minutes later. Shae and I decided to ride with Ethan, since there wasn’t enough room in Nonna’s car for all of us.
Within minutes, we were pulling into a parking lot next to a very contemporary looking building. We wheeled our training manuals across a red and white brick sidewalk before entering the school. Ethan rammed into me when I froze just inside the door. There were a number of young women openly primping in front of a rather large mirror. Nonna had joined them.
Shae and I exchanged glances. Ethan nudged me forward. “That’s interesting,” he commented with a hint of amusement in his voice. “You sure you don’t want to join them?”
I shook my head. “No thanks.” I studied the women clustered around the mirror. They were all wearing short skirts, tight s
hirts, and five inch stiletto heels. Some of them were wearing fishnet stockings. Nonna greeted a number of people before returning to our group.
Shae nudged me. “I can’t tell the difference between the female faculty and the students… they’re all dressed so provocatively.”
I nodded.
Nonna eyed us curiously. “Don’t you want to freshen up?”
Sammi gave her an odd look. “For what? We just came from the hotel.”
Nonna shrugged. “Okay. Follow me.”
Cory reached for my suitcase as Ethan began lugging it up the stairs. “Here, let me carry that. It’s the least I can do, considering those are our training manuals.”
I wrote our names and the agenda on half of the chalkboard while the rest of the team set chocolates and the training materials on top of the students’ desks. Sammi set up a large Post-it board and easel, so we could take notes and stick them around the room during the simulations.
Nonna ushered us out of the classroom as soon as we finished setting up. She introduced us to a number of other faculty members and took us to see Dean Bykov before walking us back to our classroom.
The room was filled with students when we returned. The students immediately stopped talking and rose from their seats when we entered the room.
Shae, Sammi, and I exchanged glances.
Nonna made introductions in Russian, then repeated them in English. “This is the perfect opportunity for you to practice your English, so I’d like everyone to speak English during this seminar. Please treat our guests with the utmost respect.” She nodded at us before turning toward the door. Her heels clicked across the floor as she walked out of the room.
I stared at her in shock. I couldn’t believe she wasn’t staying to observe.
The entire classroom remained standing.
Cory addressed the class first. “Please make yourselves comfortable.”
No one moved.
Sammi looked at Cory and shrugged.
I looked at Oni, who was standing next to a desk in the front row. “Why is everyone still standing?”
“Because you are,” she responded with a curious smile.
My eyes widened. “You won’t sit unless we do?”
She shook her head. “It is considered disrespectful to sit when your professor is standing.”
Shae edged toward Oni. “Do all of your professors sit during their lectures?”
She nodded.
Shae, Cory, Sammi and I perched on the front edge of the teacher’s desk.
The students exchanged curious glances, but they all sat.
Sammi smiled. “We would like to get to know you before we review the materials. I’d like everyone to introduce himself. State your name, identify your area of study, and share something we might find surprising to know about you. I’ll begin. I’m Samantha Roberts. You can call me Sammi. I have a master’s degree in international peacekeeping. I have worked for Seeds for Peace for three years. You might find it surprising to know that I once competed in figure skating.” Sammi looked at me and smiled.
I cleared my throat. “I’m Kristine Stone.” There was a smattering of noise around the classroom, so I glanced nervously at Oni.
She bit her bottom lip as she nudged a newspaper across her desk. I got the distinct impression that she was trying not to laugh.
I reached over and picked up the newspaper. The front page sported a large photograph of Maxim kissing me at the ball.
Heat flooded my cheeks as I handed the paper to Shae. I tried to pull myself together as I finished my introduction. “I’m currently in graduate school working on a degree in conflict analysis and resolution. I’ve been working for Seeds for Peace for six weeks.” I pulled the paper from Shae’s hand and waved it in the air. “I can see you won’t be surprised to hear that I’m dating Maxim Markov, but you might be surprised to know that I used to host my own television show.”
A number of students chuckled.
Shae began her introduction. “I’m Shae Garlington. I’m attending graduate school with Kristine. I just started working with Seeds for Peace two months ago. You might be surprised to learn that I’m terrified to speak in front of people.”
A few of the students looked surprised. I gave her an incredulous look. “I never would have guessed that about you.”
Cory stood, then froze when the entire class jumped to their feet.
He sighed as he sat back on the desk.
The students slowly dropped into their seats.
Cory cleared his throat. “I’m Cory Davis. I have a degree in International Relations. I have worked for Seeds for Peace for five years now. You might be surprised to learn that I’m madly in love with this woman.” He nudged Sammi in the shoulder.
Sammi gasped. “That’s a little personal don’t you think?”
Cory grinned as Shae and I laughed. “Everyone might as well get used to it, because we’re all going to share something personal over the next few days.”
Sammi turned toward the students. “Okay, who wants to go next?”
No one said a word.
“No one?” she asked.
I glanced at Oni again.
She shook her head. “Students are not allowed to speak in class.”
My mouth fell open. “You don’t speak at all, not even to ask questions?”
She shook her head again. “If we ask a question or voice an opinion, we will be kicked out of class and quite possibly expelled from the program.”
My eyes raked over the students. Quite a few of them nodded their heads. I leaned toward Cory. “We need to get rid of the desks, or we’ll never get past these rules.”
Cory nodded. All four of us stood.
The entire class rose to their feet.
Cory glanced at Sammi. “Will you track down Nonna and see if she can line up some more comfortable chairs? Maybe some recliners from the student and teacher lounges?”
Sammi nodded. “Sure.” She disappeared into the hallway.
“Okay,” Cory warned, “I’d like all of the desks moved against the back wall.”
The students’ jaws fell open. They just stood there gaping at us, so Shae, Cory, and I began pushing desks against the wall. A couple of students eventually helped move the desks.
Oni looked somewhat distraught as she approached me. “You can’t do this.”
I glanced at her as I shoved another desk against the wall. “Why not?”
“We will get into trouble.”
I shook my head. “We can’t teach like this. We need to make sure people feel comfortable enough to talk, to join in the dialogue, and to participate in the simulations. The standard rules don’t apply to our classes.”
Nonna burst into the room. “What is going on?”
Cory approached Nonna. “The training and the simulations will not work if the students are sitting at their desks. We need comfortable chairs. If you don’t have any, then we’ll just sit in a circle on the floor.”
Nonna’s eyes widened. “You don’t want them in desks?”
I shook my head. “No. We can help pull in chairs if you’d like.”
She shook her head. “This is not how we run our classrooms.”
Cory folded his arms across his chest as our entire team fell silent.
“Fine,” Nonna huffed. “I’ll have maintenance bring chairs from the lounges.”
Within twenty minutes we had everyone seated in tattered recliners and other comfortably worn chairs, which we positioned in a circle around the room.
I leaned forward in my chair as I addressed the students. “Look, we want you to speak up. We want you to voice your opinion, and we want you to participate in a dialogue with us. We are going to practice a number of communication and conflict resolution strategies over the next five days, and we can’t do that unless you participate. No one is going to get into trouble for speaking up or for disagreeing with something we say. We will be discussing some conflicts that you know better than we do. We will gai
n a better understanding of these conflicts if everyone shares what they know. We are all teachers here.”
A few of the students nodded in understanding. Some appeared excited about the changes. Others looked extremely uncomfortable.
Sammi smiled. “Let’s begin with introductions. Igor, will you please get us started?”
* * * * * *
Shae, Sammi, Cory and I remained in the classroom after the students went home. Cory was scribbling notes on his note pad. “I think that went really well.”
I nodded. “I agree. It was exciting to see the students open up. They seemed comfortable debating each other at the end.”
Shae looked thoughtful as she tapped a pen against her chin. “I think they had a good grasp of the theories and the conflict resolution models. Do you think they’ll be ready to participate in simulations tomorrow?”
Sammi perched on the arm of Cory’s chair. “If the four of us run through a simulation first thing in the morning and model some of the strategies for them, I think they’ll be ready to break into small groups and manage their own simulations by noon.”
I stood. “Let’s arrange the room like a fish bowl.” Shae joined me as I pulled four chairs to the center of the room. Sammi and Cory adjusted the chairs in the outer circle so the gaps were closed.
Cory eyed the room. “This is perfect. Are you guys ready to grab some dinner?”
I nodded as I reached for my purse. “I’m starving.” I followed Shae into the hallway but stopped short when I saw Maxim talking to Brady. “I’m sorry, Maxim. I didn’t realize you were waiting on me.”
He smiled as he strode toward me. “I came to negotiate with the dean for your new teaching position.”
My jaw fell open.
He laughed as he pulled me into his arms. “I’m joking.” He kissed the top of my head before turning his attention to Shae. “Konstantin is outside. We’d like to take you and Kristine out for dinner.”
Shae smiled. “Do you mind if Cory and Sammi tag along?”
Cory wrapped his arm around Sammi. “I appreciate the invitation, Shae, but I’d like some time alone with Sammi.”
Brady stood next to me. “Ethan will be here any minute. I’m sorry, Cory, but we’re assigned to Kristine. We have orders to stick with her when you guys are separated.”