She kept repeating that she was so sorry and every time he assured her that he forgave her. Finally, after some time she was able to calm herself. She pulled away so she could dry her eyes and blow her nose. When she eventually looked up at him she saw that his eyes were red, as if he had been crying and then she noticed the smell of alcohol on his breath.
She gently touched his face. “You were crying?”
He looked away not wishing to relive the feeling. “I thought you didn’t love me.”
She started to cry again, thinking of what she put him through. “I’m so sorry, Viktor. I’m so sorry.” She wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him tight. “I love you so much. I’m so sorry.”
He buried his face in her neck as he wrapped his arms firmly around her back. They were the words he was longing to hear and he was so relieved to know that she still loved him. There was only one thing left that he needed from her.
“Do you forgive me?” he asked.
She held his face and looked in his eyes. “I want to.”
“What can I do?”
“Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”
“I was so scared, Amanda. I was so scared of losing you. It was no secret how you felt about people with money … I hoped that if you got to know me, you might be able to overlook it … that you wouldn’t judge me by how much I make. My money is not who I am.”
“I’ve been a fool,” Amanda admitted. “I called Kim because I wanted someone to … take my side,” she began to explain. “But instead, Kim basically said I was being a jerk. And so I called my mother, thinking she would agree with me. She told me I was being cruel. And when I thought about it, I realized they were right. You are the most decent, kind, generous, compassionate, patient and loving man I’ve ever met ... And I was going to throw it all away because of my own stupid prejudice.”
He reached up and gently caressed her face.
“I’m so sorry, Viktor.”
“My love, let’s put this behind us,” he said. “I don’t want you to feel sad.”
“You can’t stop me,” she half-joked.
He couldn’t help but chuckle. “It will be my mission to cheer you up.”
“I don’t deserve it.”
“Do you remember when I told you that relationships are messy? That we will disappoint each other?”
“Yeah.”
“Well this is what I was talking about. Stuff is going to happen. We are going to get angry with each other. We will hurt each other. But this … what we’re doing right now. Talking, forgiving. This is how we’ll make it.”
“I love you, Viktor.”
“I love you too, Amanda.”
Chapter 24
Amanda made significant improvement over the next 24 hours. She was eating and drinking again with the help of the anti-nausea medicine. The blood test was normal aside from severe dehydration. The doctor concluded she had contracted a stomach virus which was a surprise to no one. But at least they knew that she would recover in a few days to a week.
Tuesday evening she was well enough to sit in the dining room and have dinner with Viktor. He made borsch for her because she said she had never had it before. He opened one of the bottles of Cabernet they took from the vineyard and they had a quiet dinner together.
“This is delicious,” she complimented him. “You’re smart, handsome and you can cook. I’ve hit the trifecta,” she teased.
He grinned. “I didn’t do too bad myself.”
“Oh, I don’t know. I think you got the short end of the stick,” she joked.
He kissed her hand. “I don’t think so.”
She smiled softly, feeling happy that they had been able to restore their relationship. She was grateful for Kim and her mother knocking some sense into her.
“Would you like to watch a movie?” he asked.
“That would be a nice change of scenery,” she agreed, feeling tired of being in the bedroom. “I’d really like to take a shower before we snuggle though. I feel grody.”
“No objection here,” he laughed.
She giggled and refocused on her meal.
After dinner Viktor gave Amanda a brief tutorial on how to operate the shower and then left her with the bell in case she needed him. It was the neatest shower she had ever been in. It was almost double the size of a standard shower, tiled with stone on the floor and on 3 sides with a bench built in. The 4th side with the door was all glass. It had a rain showerhead that covered nearly half the shower with a gentle rain. Two people could easily shower together and have room to move even.
The hot water felt so good and she loved the sensation of being in the rain so much that she ended up taking a 45 minute shower. Viktor started to worry and knocked on the door. She shut the water off and told him she was fine. She wrapped her hair in a towel, got dressed and met him in the living room.
It was a massive room with a large, plush, white, leather sectional sofa with a chaise lounge at one end. It had a modern look with glass coffee and end tables, surround sound and a mammoth sized flatscreen TV mounted on the wall. It was the central hub of the entire house. One side of the room led to the front foyer and a small half bath. Directly opposite was a set of glass doors that lead to the pool and patio in the backyard. Hallways coming off the room led to the kitchen, dining room and bedrooms and a staircase led to the upper level where there were more rooms that Amanda hadn’t even seen yet.
“Feel better?” he asked
“That shower is amazing.”
He grinned. “I’m glad you like it.”
“You know you’re going to spoil me, right?”
He walked up to her
