Chapter 119

“I have already made arrangements to spend Christmas in Moscow with you, as you suggested; but I owe a really big debt to my parents and I will have to be here for New Year’s. Now, all I need is a tourist visa and my vaccinations. I hope to have the passport in time.”

“You will have it. I’ll talk to Rex to pull some strings.”

There was no point telling him he didn’t need it; he knew he was going to do it anyway. I had to prepare myself for spending my Christmas holidays in another country, and the idea already made me very excited.

I relaxed, finally, because it really seemed like things were going well.

***

The roast venison was spectacular, modesty aside.

I have always loved cooking, although there were particularly bleak times in my life when I lacked the creativity to do so. We accompanied the meal with wine, but I noticed that he preferred water. I had noticed this behavior before, for the first time in London, when he took me out of that pub