Soul Mate, Leah Huffine, Emily Neu [read me like a book .txt] 📗

teddy bear pants.”

“Thanks.” I said. “I guess I really wasn’t counting on seeing anyone.”

We stared at each other for a minute before Henry stepped in. “Hi, I’m Henry.” He said stepping up to Luka. “She forgot to introduce me.” He motioned toward me.

“Sorry. Henry helped me get here. He’s a millionaire runaway.”

“Yup, that’s me!” Henry said proudly.

Luka laughed. “Well, won’t you both come in?”

“Don’t mind if I do.” Henry said and walked right in.

“Thanks.” I said following him in.

“Mama, Papa!” Luka shouted. A small, chubby woman with thin red hair wandered into the room followed by an older gentleman with black hair and a goatee. Luka was taller than both parents and looked nothing like either of them. “This is the girl I told you about, Thalia.” He said gesturing to me. “And this is her friend, Henry.”

Henry shook both of their hands. “It’s a pleasure to meet you both. I’m Henry Johnson.”

“Hello Henry,” The mother said with a heavy Russian accent. “And hello Thalia, I’ve heard so much about you, I feel as though I already know you.” She smiled. “My name is Bela and this is my husband, Jovan. Luka, why don’t you take them up to the guest rooms and make them comfortable?”

“Thank you, but you don’t have to do anything like that. We have a-”

“Nonsense, we have plenty of room!” She said with a flick of the wrist.

“Come on.” Luka took my bag and led me up the shining new stairs. Once we got to the top, he pointed me to a vast white room. “This is your room.” He said.

The bed was piled with pillows all different shapes and sizes. On the far side of the room was a giant window that looked out onto the city. A delicate chandelier hung from the ceiling, illuminating the room. A beautiful tiled bathroom was attached and filled with all the necessities.

I stared, my mouth gaping wide open. Luka saw me and laughed. “You like it?” He asked setting my suitcase on the bed.

Henry spoke up from behind me. “Luka, my room better be this bloody nice.”

“Of course it is Henry!” Luka turned and winked at me. “Thalia, why don’t you make yourself comfortable? This way Henry!” He pointed across the hall.  

I set my backpack on the tiny nightstand and sat on the bed. The sheets were soft and silky and the pillows were so unbelievably comfy. I sat there for a while staring out the window, watching as the sun slipped below the sky leaving trails of color behind.

I heard a soft knock on the door. “Thalia, may I come in?” Luka asked.

“Of course.” I replied.

He came and sat next to me on the bed. “See, I told you I would find you.”

“I found you!” I looked up at him dumbfounded.

“But I gave you the coordinates.”

I pushed him on the bed, making him laugh. “But I’m the one who traveled thousands of miles to find you.”

“Oh that’s right. By the way, what took you so long?” He asked playfully.

“What do you mean? First, I had to figure out what your numbers meant, and then get on a boat and a train to finally get to Russia. Then, there had to be four different Lukas in this city and you were the last one we visited.”

“Why didn’t you just fly? It would have been a lot easier.”

“My family isn’t as wealthy as yours or Henry’s.” I said looking back out at the sky.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to cause you trouble.” He said sitting up.

“Its fine, it was worth it.”

“Well, I hate to break up the romantic scene,” Henry said walking into the room. “But, dinner is ready.”

“Come on,” Luka said helping me off the bed. “Mama is an amazing cook.”

 

At dinner, Luka’s mother asked me about myself and my family. She asked how I got to Russia, since I didn’t have all the money in the world, and I told her my whole story. She told me about Moscow and all the things I just had to see. Then she switched to telling stories about a baby Luka, making him turn beat red.

Luka’s dad was silent for most of the time, speaking up only once or twice to correct his wife. He was a very calm and collected throughout the whole thing.

Henry was stuffing his face full, marveling over how good the food was. In between mouthfuls he spoke about his past and his father’s company. He talked about London and all the movies from London.

Once dinner was finished and everyone had eaten their fill, I went upstairs to shower since I hadn’t in about a week. The bathroom was very fancy. The glass shower didn’t spray bugs and the toilet was sparkly clean. All the products stacked in the cabinets were in Russian, so I just used the tiny bottles I stole from the tourist motel.

The shower was nice and warm and I could have stayed in there forever. There was a soft knock on the door and before I could respond, Luka walked in.

“Thalia, I brought you more towels and all the shampoos and stuff-” He looked up and stopped dead.

“Get out!” I screeched, falling to the floor. Luka dropped everything and scrambled as fast as he could out of the bathroom. “Get out!” I yelled again.

The door slammed shut behind me and I reached to turn off the shower. I sat there for a minute before grabbing my towel and getting out. I quickly put clothes on and stormed into the hallway.

“Thalia, I am so sorry.” Luka was waiting for me outside my room.

“What were you doing anyway?” I demanded.

“Well, I knew you said you wanted to shower, and I figured you didn’t know what the shampoo was, so I was going to shower. Plus, I brought you more towels.” He said rubbing the back of his neck and looking anywhere but at me.

“What’s going on out here?” Henry said coming out of his room dressed in ducky pajamas and holding a pillow under his arm.

“Nothing.” Luka said.

“Luka walked in on my in the shower!” I yelled. Luka’s face turned redder than a tomato.

Henry calmly turned toward Luka and said, “Man that is just wrong.” He turned on his heels and went back into his room.

“Look, I’ll make it up to you. Tomorrow, I’m going to take you out and show you all of Moscow.” Luka said finally looking me in the eye.

We stared at each other for what seemed like ages before I finally gave in. I sighed. “Fine, we can go see Moscow.”

He smiled awkwardly. “Thanks Thalia. Sorry.”

“It’s fine, I guess.” I studied my feet.

“Ok, well, I’m going to go to bed now. My room is just down the hall.”

“Ok.” I waved as he walked away. As soon as he was out of site, I ran in my room and slammed the door shut.  

 

           

Imprint

Text: Leah Huffine and Emily Neu.
Publication Date: 06-25-2013

All Rights Reserved

Dedication:
To one of my greatest friends, Emily who came up with the idea.