I smiled like an idiot when I woke up. Alexander was already up and I noticed him sitting on the couch, sipping a cup of tea.
"Good morning," I said as I stood up and stretched.
"Good morning. Get dressed, we have to go meet Jordan and his family. Don't forget, we will be in Venice and then we will fly out from there, so pack up all our stuff together, since we won't be coming back here." Alexander said, and I noticed his suitcase already at the door.
I nodded and quickly went off to get an outfit together. I put on a sleeveless cafe colored top, and a skirt with wedges along its length in a beautiful cafe-gold metallic color, and some matching stilettos. I grabbed a tan purse and some gold sunglasses.
Then I hurriedly packed my suitcase; thankfully, I didn't bring a whole lot of things and it took me only a few minutes to pack my belongings.
I walked out to Alexander. I was ready to conquer a new day.
We walked a couple of blocks until we stopped at another very presentable and luxurious hotel. We entered and sat down in the lobby.
Almost immediately, Jordan appeared with his wife and a little baby girl. Well, she was closer to two or one, but she was so tiny, I couldn't help but call her a baby.
Our husbands shook hands, and then Jordan proceeded to introduce his family.
"This is my dear wife, Lexi, and our adorable little daughter, Amelia. Alright, us men will go now, you have fun. We'll see you soon!"
Jordan gave Lexi a soft kiss on the lips, and Amelia a kiss on the top of her head and headed off. Alexander simply gave my hand a squeeze, but his eyes met mine with a look that said a lot more than his actions. That was plenty enough for me.
"Maria, it is definitely good to finally meet you. Carol told us she met a sweet and kind Russian lady."
I laughed. "Yes, Alexander and I are both from Russia."
"I can hear it, your English is quite perfect, but there is definitely an accent."
"Oh, thank you."
"Now, we have the entire day to tour the city of Venice. It will be a little hard on a gondola with a little one, but we will make do. Where would you like to go first?"
Lexi was a very beautiful woman with large hazel eyes, dark long eyelashes and a sweet smile. She had brown hair tied back in a neat bun, probably to make life easier. Long messy hair did not go well with little children.
She has on a beige sleeveless dress, with large dark red and blue shapes, and blue stilettos. She had on a pair of gold studs and carried a blue purse in one hand, and her little girl in the other.
"Let's go eat. Alexander and I had to travel from Florence down to here, and we did not have a chance to eat some breakfast."
"Oh, okay well I know a little place here that will be perfect. I had a friend who visited here a few years ago and just wouldn't stop talking about a little bakery she found in Venice."
She reminded me of Carol Johnathon, very sweet and friendly with a chattery attitude.
We headed off to the little bakery and it was truly a very sweet little bakery. I loved the aroma in the air that I could smell a block away. The interior was decorated with pastel flowers painted on the walls and little circular tables scattered. The place reminded me of a Disney princess movie.
"How old is Amelia?" I asked Lexi as the child laughed at something she saw.
I had been watching the little girl, and thoughts about being a mother filled my mind. Darn Mrs. Vasilievna and her talk about having kids; that was the only thing on my mind these days. Amelia was a very pretty girl who would laugh at just about everything and smile widely at the strangers passing by who, in turn, would also grin at the little angel.
Lexi seemed to be handling her very well, and she laughed with her daughter, ruffled her hair constantly and it was quite clear how much she loved little Amelia.
"She's almost 1 year. She's a little small for her age and she still hasn't learned to walk, so many people think she's around seven or eight months." Lexi replied, and reached out her hand to once more ruffle Amelia's brown curls.
"She's a very pretty girl. And so happy, she hasn't stopped smiling."
"Yes, she is. I love her dearly, she's the best thing that has happened to me." After leaning and kissing her daughter on top of her head, she asked, "Do you have any children?"
"Oh, no."
She raised her eyebrows. "Alexander doesn't want children?"
"No, it's not that. Right now just isn't the time yet. We want to wait a little more."
"Ah, I see. How long have you been married?"
"We've been married for two years now."
"Ah, okay. How much longer do you two want to wait?"
"Just two or three more years. I'm not exactly sure, but I definitely know that right now just isn't the time. Both of us are still busy getting our own lives figured out and if we also had to figure out the life of our child... it would very hard. We need a little more time to firmly stand by ourselves." I explained to her as we finished eating those delicious morsels of heavenly desserts and began to head out to simply look around the city.
"Yes, that's understandable. Jordan and I also waited a few years. I'm not going to lie to you, Amelia is definitely a lot of work and the weight of becoming a mother is a lot but it is already rewarding. She's the cutest girl and I love her dearly. Any hard work that I have to do with her isn't even that hard because I want to do it. I want to give up my life for her, and I think after having her, I learned how to stand on my feet."
I nodded with a smile. Every woman desperately wanted children and here I was, thinking that I didn't want any, but now I couldn't help but wish and dream of having my own kids...
"May I hold her?"
Lexi grinned at me, "Of course!"
I took Amelia in my arms and smiled at her. I had been around many children before, and so I wasn't nervous when holding her. It actually felt the opposite; I felt like this was natural, almost as if I was already a mother.
Amelia wrapped her little chubby hands around my neck and I smiled. I smiled so hard, from the inside out.
Oh how much I wanted this to be my own child, wrapping their arms around me.
I smiled as I looked out at the city of Venice, a little angel in my arms, and the breeze blowing through my golden locks. I wish that I could do this every single day...
I smiled sadly when reality kicked back in. This wasn't my life. I was Maria Vasilievna, the wife of Mr. Alexander Vasiliev, and I was to act like it. I didn't get to decide what my life would be from now on, I had to simply obey my husband and support him, love him, and respect him.
It was already evening. I didn't even notice how it began to get cooler, and Amelia was fast asleep in my arms, her head resting very comfortably on my neck, with her mouth opened just enough for drool to escape.
Lexi and I had spent the entire ride through the city talking about... I don't even remember. We had just talked and talked and gazed out onto the beautiful city before us.
All I knew was that these were very good, kind-hearted people. The multi-billionaire community was full of stuck-up women who spent money like crazy and only cared about their appearance. Lexi was the complete opposite. She was so fun to talk with and would constantly smile and brighten the atmosphere. She was a very good friend who had a heart big enough for the entire world.
We stopped at some little restaurant. Alexander said he would meet me there. I stepped out of the boat, along with little Amelia still clinging to me like a koala, and Lexi.
"It was truly a very great pleasure to spend the day with you, Lexi. I hope we meet again. And thank you for trusting me with your precious daughter."
Lexi carefully plied Amelia off of me, and then gave me a long hug. "Oh, the same to you, Maria. We should definitely meet sometime soon. We'll be in touch."
She stepped back into the gondola as I headed into the restaurant to find my husband. Thankfully, he was waiting right at the entrance so I didn't need to search much. He took my hand and led me to a table outside.
I hesitated a moment when I noticed that it was full of people already. I opened my mouth to ask, but Alexander cut me off.
"I would like to introduce my wife, Mrs. Maria Vasilievna."
All heads turned to face me. I noticed that everyone was wearing a suit, and looked very important. A few of the men had beautiful women sitting next to them, who also looked important. Everyone gave a smile and a nod.
When everyone went back to their food, Alexander led me to two seats that faced the windows. He pulled the chair out and waited for me to sit. Then he circled around to his chair.
I tried to catch his eyes, to see what he might be feeling or thinking, but his eyes were blank. He made no attempt to reach over and hold my hand or kiss my cheek, and so I silently began to eat the food that had been brought over.
'He hasn't changed, Maria. All this romance in Italy hasn't changed anything. He's still your cold, emotionless husband.'
I looked over at him. He was chatting away with one of the men, keeping a light smile on his perfect pink lips, but he remained extremely composed and collected, unlike a few of the men who were getting loud and very energetic.
I loved him. I couldn't help myself. He was so controlled and he was also very attractive. He treated me with respect, and he never did anything to hurt me. He treated me like a gentleman... but not like a husband.
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I simply stared out the window at the gorgeous view. I whispered a quick prayer... I'm not sure why. It just felt right.
The sunset gleamed against the water and bounced from the buildings. This would also be a very, very treasured memory.
Oh, I couldn't wait until we got back.