"Who gives this woman away to be married to this man?" asked the minister, shaking Christina out of her admiration of Richard.

"I do," Alek answered. He looked at Christina who returned his gaze. He knew that his niece was a modern woman, and she didn't look upon the ceremony the same way that he did. For Christina, this was an opportunity to wear a pretty dress in front of the whole town and live out the fantasy wedding that she'd been dreaming of. For Alek, the traditional implication of the ceremony was all too clear. He was giving his precious child away to the care of another man, and he knew that things would never be the same again.

"Hey Andrei," Steph said with a poorly veiled sense of trepidation. "I got a major 411. Ollie heard through the grapevine that the cops found Christina's car last night. They had it towed to the lot at public services."

"They found her?" he said in disbelief. Andrei did not notice that the rest of the family, including the large German Shepherd that was lurking behind the couch, took notice.

"No," Steph answered. "They just found the car. No Christina."

"I can't believe you," Christina said as she shook her head. "You're so disgusted that you went through all this just to make sure no one in Oak Grove found out about me."

"Is that what you really think?" Richard said with a mix of hurt and anger.

"Why else, then?"

"If I was so ashamed, do you really think I would have told all of my business partners?" he shot back. "Why do you think I cashed in every last favor I had with them to convince them to keep up this charade against their best instincts?"

Christina shook her head. She didn't want to listen to a word he was saying. She eventually asked, "Why?"
 

On the way back to Nina's room, Christina felt a mechanical rumble from the back pocket of her jeans. She took out her cell phone and saw that Richard was calling. She immediately froze, feeling a slight tightness in her chest. She was transfixed by the name on the tiny screen and was unable to move her fingers on the device before the call went to voice mail. Christina waited for the notification that indicated there was a new voice message, but it never came. Instead, there was a second rumble indicating that she'd just received a text message. She felt her stomach sink and it was though she'd temporarily lost her ability to differentiate up from down. She forced herself to read the message.

It read simply, "We should talk."
 

Alek walked alongside his wife as they passed various vendors offering hot dogs, cotton candy, and all the other delights of summer found at the county fair. While everyone around him was having fun, he was in a particularly foul mood. Not only had Christina left Boris with him, soon after, the girl and her boyfriend had disappeared. Keeping a sharp eye on his daughter and her ginger haired boyfriend who were walking several paces ahead of them, he vowed not to lose another one of his girls.

Looking over her shoulder, Christina saw the man she loved, though she'd never seen him in such a state. It was clear that he hadn't shaved, and judging by the way his hair stuck up at the part on the left side of his head, it was evident that he'd either not showered or hadn't spent any time on his hair that morning. Christina had never seen the man with so much of as a thread out of place. Seeing him, she picked up her pace, which was promptly matched by her cousin and Steph.

"Wait," he begged.

Turning around, Andrei stopped and threatened, "Stay away from her."

        As the sun crept up over the horizon, Steph and Lisa stood in front of the still-closed salon. Lisa, who had lost eleven pounds since February, was dressed in a pair of green and while cotton sweatpants that hadn't fit her since high school. She had steadily been losing around five pounds per month until May, when she'd gained five of them back. That fact was making her anxious and irritable, which was not lost on Steph, who was also wearing her old school colors.

Realizing that she had been laying on Richard, unconscious, she nervously sat up and checked herself. Her mind panicked. Did he feel her fake breasts? What about her jeans? Did he go exploring there? How could she let this happen, she shouted in her brain as her heart raced.
Feeling rough fingers on her chin, her face was directed back towards Richard's and the man pulled her into a long kiss. Closing her eyes, Christina parted her lips and relaxed.
"It's okay," Richard assured her. I don't mind that you fell asleep. It was rather nice holding you."

     Looking up into Richard's eyes, Christina did not think about whether or not what she was about to do was a good idea. In fact she didn't think it all. She wrapped her arms around Richard's shoulders, and her right hand found the back of his head. Guiding him down, Christina parted her lips and drew Richard into the most passionate kiss they had ever shared.

        Christina Chase went up and down the row of fresh produce, spritzing the vegetables with fresh water from a bottle. Though she'd only been working in the grocery a few days, she had already fallen into a comfortable routine. Every morning, she woke up early to help Misha with breakfast. Afterwards, she sat with her aunt and uncle enjoyed the meal long before Nina woke up.

Alek stood up and pointed around the room, "Tina, you will pack up all of these things right now, and you WILL come home, and that is FINAL."

Christina screamed, "No way! This is MY life, and I say I'm staying RIGHT THE FUCK HERE!"
 

"David," Christina said, "I'm glad that you and I got a chance to talk tonight. See, I'm on to your little scheme. Nina isn't going anywhere with you tonight."

David sneered, "Why don't you let Nina make up her own mind?"