“What did you say?” She whispered in Russian. The older man was beneath her as she sat up on her knees.

“She left me because I always think of you.” He said, still catching his breath. She felt sick. It was her fault. The happy family and the children’s lives w ere ruined because of her. She began to think of the outfits she wore. If anything was too tight or too revealing. She thought the Yevgenia would tell her if it was.

“I should go.” She mumbled, feeling guilty as ever.


“No. No. Anna please. I-I want you.” He said standing and following her after she put her clothes back on in record time. He grabbed her arm and turned her so she was facing him, still naked and all.


“No Ilya. You have a family!” She said shocked and bewildered. “You have children who need their dad. A wife who needs her husband, and you spend your time thinking about ME?” she questioned, ripping out of his grasp. She stared at the uncooked food on the counter and walked out the door.

Once in her car she took a deep breath. The cold Philly rain pounded on the hood of her car. She just wanted to get away. She called her best friend Jen nearly sobbing..

“Babe, what’s up?” Jen asked hearing the pain in the silence on the phone. Anna always greeted her with a huge smiling “hello” or “OMG”.

“Jen…I just….I just slept with Bryz. His wife left him. He told me it was because of me, the way he looked at me. Talked about me. All of it. They have two kids! It’s my fault. I fucked up their family.” Anna cried into the unforgiving leather of her steering wheel.

“Anna, Anna….I’m so sorry. It’s not your fault if he couldn’t control himself.”

“I just want to get the hell out of here. If I go anywhere I’ll see fucking Flyers Orange all over town and think of him. I just feel sick.”

“Come visit. Tell some of your families to get their shit together and make their own meals and come out here.”

“Jen, I don’t know.”

“Look, you’re still new it town, who do you have to talk to, to get you out of this funk? I’m your girl, come on!”

Anna didn’t need much more encouragement. She drove home and packed her suitcase. She wasn’t sure how long she was going to stay, but like usual she probably over packed. She closed her coach umbrella as she sat in the car. She set her GPS to Jen’s address and headed to Pittsburgh.