He raised his hands, as if to defend himself. “That wasn’t my choice. I called the wedding off three days ago. But my family… they thought I might change my mind. They told my assistant not to make any of the cancellations, just in case. And then, today, when I’d finally decided that I needed…” He cleared his throat, and looked down for a moment before continuing. His hands slid back into his pockets. “I thought the helicopter was going to Hastings-On-Hudson.”
The words couldn’t mean that. The words couldn’t possibly mean what it sounded like they meant.
“You mean they tried to trick you?”
Just the hint of a smile graced his lips at the lifting of her accusing glance. “They thought if they got me there, with all the people, and all the plans, and with my family’s reputation on the line, I’d change my mind.”
Nadya stepped forward, involuntarily. “But it didn’t work?”
His smile grew wider, now. “Honestly, it might have. Before I met you. When I thought that there was nothing more noble than obeying my family. But no, it didn’t.” He looked down again, this time shifting his weight on his feet, as thought to downplay his giant grin. “Why did you think I was sitting outside, when everyone else was inside?”
Nadya’s heart, that she’d tried so hard to keep from hoping throughout the entire exchange, leaped in her chest. But a stray thought sent it crashing back down to earth again.
“Wait,” she said, her accusing tone back with a vengeance. “You knew who I was? This whole time?”
Again he raised his hands, but this time he also stepped forward. “I did, and I’m sorry I didn’t say anything. I wanted to tell you. I tried to tell you, so many times. But I didn’t have the words. I wanted to get to know you. More than anything. And while we were both under that illusion…”
Nadya tried to piece it all together. None of it felt like it was making much sense. “But we weren’t both in that illusion. No one was under any illusions…” She felt the guilt lift, first, before she could begin to let the joy in. “How did you find out?” she asked. “When did you find out?”
He was talking quickly now, as though he’d been holding the words in all this time.
“Right after we met, actually. When you went to the bathroom to freshen up, I got the message that my betrothed had been delayed, and wouldn’t get in until the next day. And it was like… it was like when you need to make a decision. And you flip a coin for it – not because you want to let chance decide, but because you’ll know, when you flip it, what side you’re hoping it lands on.”
He raised his hand, and gestured, as if illustrating a point. “And with you, the moment I saw you… ‘Thank God,’ I thought. ‘Thank God this is her. A woman that I feel an instant connection with. I couldn’t marry her if she wasn’t.’ So when I found out you weren’t actually my betrothed, I knew in that moment that I couldn’t go through with it. I sent a message to her family saying there would be no wedding.”
She stepped closer to him. He’d been speaking loudly, to cross the distance between them, but now she was close enough that he could lower his voice. “And I also knew I wanted to get to know you. Whatever I needed to pretend so that I could get to do it.”
She took another step towards him. “You knew who I was?”
He nodded. “I figured it out. I figured it all had to have started with an honest mistake. By the second day, I already knew that much about you. And there was only one Nadya A. that flew into LaGuardia that day, around that time.”
He leaned into her, conspiratorially. They were close, now. Closer than two strangers would ever stand. “Don’t ask me how my family has access to that information. Best you don’t know,” he said, as an exaggerated whisper.
Nadya laughed, the sound echoing through the large, empty room.
“So you forgive me?” he asked.
“I do. But do you forgive me?”
His smile could have split his head in half. “Of course.” Nadya felt his hands reach out to hers. “So what do you want to do now? New York’s our oyster… Well, the world is, really. We’ve got a jet…”
She leaned in, slipping her hands out of his, and bringing them up to his shoulders, draping them around his neck. “You know,” she said, “I think I’d really love to go bowling.”
“So,” he voice was so quiet, now, filling only the tiny space between them, “a night at home it is?”
She nodded, smiling. “That sounds wonderful.”
A thrill ran through her entire body, starting at her lips, when she felt the soft electricity of his kiss. She felt his arms wrap around her, holding her tight, never to let her go, and she could have sworn, somehow, from somewhere, she could smell just a hint of honeysuckle.
***