After kissing Elena goodbye for five minutes, I head for Raisa's.
She answers the door still dressed for court, in her favorite black skirt and jacket. "Come in, Chance."
No "darling" this time. And her entire demeanor, from her facial expression to her posture, is somber.
We go into the living room. She sits in the armchair, while I take the sofa.
Raisa stares down at her hands, wringing them like she has something stuck on her skin and can't get it off. "You and Elena must hate me. I've been horrible to you both. I'm sorry."
I can't speak. Raisa Volkov never apologizes. When I open my mouth, about to try to speak, she holds up a hand to silence me.
"Let me talk first," she says, with no trace of her usual haughtiness. "Ever since you filed for divorce, I've convinced myself you would come back to me eventually, that the separation was a phase you needed to go through. When the final decree came through, it was like a sucker punch. I still refused to accept you didn't want me anymore."
"I know."
She rubs her neck, wincing. "When I introduced you to Elena, I knew you were attracted to her. How could you not be? She's very pretty and very intelligent. Still, I didn't think you would actually get involved with her. I've been in denial for weeks, until I couldn't ignore the truth anymore. Paying the hotel desk clerk to spy on you was unforgivable."
"What are you getting at, Raisa? I know all of this already."
She squeezes her eyes shut, sucks in a breath, and looks at me. "You can both have your jobs back, if you want them. I haven't blacklisted Elena, and I never will. In fact, I'll give her a glowing recommendation if she'd rather find a position at another firm."
I watch her for several seconds, unsure whether to trust her change in attitude. "Are you saying you've accepted that I don't love you anymore?"
"Yes. I know it's over between us, and I hope Elena will make you happy. I know I failed at that."
"The problem was that you never really wanted me back. You hate to lose, and for a divorce lawyer to get divorced was too big a loss for you to stand for."
She nods. "I have an appointment with a therapist. Maybe she can help me work out why I could never be satisfied even when I had a good man in my life."
"Your change in attitude is awfully sudden." I probably sound suspicious, and I am.
"I know it seems that way, but this has been coming for a while." She clasps her hands on her lap, swallows visibly, and says, "Everyone at the office heard our argument this morning. Now they look at me like I'm insane, and they've been literally tiptoeing around me. I took a good, hard look at myself today, and I didn't like what I saw."
A clock on a nearby table ticks softly, but the silence between us is deep, the distance vast. We don't really know each other anymore. After more than a year of denial, I believe Raisa has finally accepted the truth.
"I'm glad you've come to your senses," I tell her, "but I won't be coming back to work with you. Neither will Elena. We talked about it earlier and realized we want something else."
A sigh rushes out of Raisa, deflating her posture. "I understand. And I wish you well, Chance. Elena too. She really was the best paralegal I ever hired."
We say goodbye, for the last time, and I rush back to Elena's apartment.
She hugs me so hard I can't breathe, but I don't care. I bury my face in her hair and lift her off the ground. We kiss, then I drag her down onto the sofa and show her exactly how much she means to me, making her come three times right there in the living room. Watching her climaxes roll through her again and again is the most beautiful thing I've ever seen.
When Kyle comes home that evening, we tell him the news.
He grins, slaps me on the arm, and hugs Elena. "That's awesome, Ellie."
She eyes him like she isn't convinced he means that. "Are you sure you're okay with this? I'm moving to another state."
"New Hampshire isn't that far away. I can live in the dorms next semester. It might be fun."
"But you'll be all alone."
He laughs. "Come on, Elena, I'm an adult now. You don't have to take care of me all the time. Besides, I have a girlfriend and bros I'm real tight with. I won't be a poor little orphan boy all alone in the big city."
"Yeah, I know," she says, her eyes tearing up. "But I'll miss you."
"I'll visit you guys, don't worry." He hugs her again. "Go be happy."
Kyle lets go of Elena and pulls me into a quick, rough hug. "You better take care of my sister. If you make her unhappy, I'll have to do something about it."
"Understood."
He slaps my arm again. "Relax, that's the standard brother thing to say. You're cool, and I've never seen Elena smile as much as she does since you showed up."
I've been smiling a lot more too, since the night I first laid eyes on Elena and she recited German numbers to me. Our future is about to unfold, and I don't mind not knowing exactly what might happen. Whatever comes, we'll handle it together.
Once Kyle goes into his bedroom, I pull Elena into my arms. "Count to twelve in German for me."
She smiles and shakes her head. "Oh please, you couldn't have been serious when you said that was cute."
"I didn't say it was cute." I nibble on her earlobe. "I said I loved the way you pronounce the number twelve. Say it again, and I'll give you the sort of kiss that will make you come for me so hard you'll scream."
"A kiss can't do that."
"Sure it can." I flip her onto her back on the sofa, strip off her sweatpants and knickers, and squeeze between her thighs. I admire the rosy flesh in front of me, groaning with hunger when I see how wet she already is for me. "The lips I want to kiss aren't on your mouth."
"Oh, that kind of kiss." She links her hands above her head, shimmying her hips. "Zwölf."
And I kiss her in the most intimate way imaginable.
I can do this every night for the rest of our lives. I can hold her, kiss her, shag her, love her, and so much more. None of this would've happened if I hadn't seen her drop her head onto the hotel bar, looking miserable and adorable at the same time.
When Elena comes, that light she always has inside her explodes like a star going supernova. I want to watch her do that over and over, all night, every night, forever.
"Let's go to bed," I say. "And you can tell me what sort of house you want us to live in."
Epilogue
Elena
Three months later
I lounge on a cushy chaise, on the patio of the beautiful house owned by Chance's family, and watch my brother playing football with three Brits. Chance and his brothers got a kick out of teasing Kyle when they asked if he'd like to join them for a football match. Being American, Kyle assumed they meant the game in which large men wear huge shoulder pads and helmets and they carry an oval ball.