teacher. But I’d love to learn Russian with you, Vika. Could you teach me Russian?
– Of course, Ronny. We can start right now. But I’m a very strict teacher, – I joked.
– I love strict teachers. I’ll be a diligent student, I promise. – Serious-looking Ronny tried to assure me of this.
Next moment he wanted to tidy his long hair and some beer poured out from his big glass. He got embarrassed and started to bang his big belly. I pretended that I didn’t see anything and pronounced some simple phrases in Russian especially for him.
– “Pri-“vet!” for “Hello!” “Kak di-la?” for “How are you?” “Kak ti-bya za-vut?” for “What is your name?”
To my surprise, Ronny knew those expressions and repeated them one by one without difficulty.
– Victoria, you forgot the most important Russian words such as “vot-ka” (aka vodka), “pi-va” (aka beer), “ik-ra” (aka caviar), Putin, Kremlin and “Moskva”, – He laughed.
– A very good student! Well done! – I praised big fat Ronny.
While I was talking to Ronny, a very charming, sporty, sexy, tall and absolutely bald Johnny was listening to us with great attention and big curiosity. He eyed me with interest and exclaimed:
– What a light sexy accent you have. I love your voice so much. And you are amazing.
– Thank you, Johnny. – I couldn’t help but smile. – I know this!
He didn’t expect to hear such a reply from me, but definitely liked it.
– You are not shy and you are funny, Vika. It gives you charm. – He asked me for a dance.
Hardly could I answer him, I heard Daniel’s mocking voice behind my back.
– Who asked my wife for a dance? Is it you John? As I remember, you never could dance. So?
– I took dance lessons, so now I can, – replied John, and his face turned red.
– Ah, but it would be better for you to cool down a little bit, my friend. – Dan was very excited and pulled an upset John along to the swimming-pool.
Later on, I danced with John, and then with Ron and Nick, and with other guests. I’ve got a lot of positive energy from guests at Diane’s party and really had fun with all of them.
My husband was happy, too, and made a time of it.
At midnight Dan was keen on karaoke and was ready to continue singing till the very morning. But when Slava came up to him and whispered that Nick and Stacy were waiting for us inside the house, Daniel hurried up to them.
Nick and Stacy suggested joining them for a movie at Diane’s home theatre; but when I looked at Diane’s exhausted face I understood that she had no time for her guests any longer, so I managed to persuade my husband to refuse from Nick’s invitation and go back home as soon as possible.
– Thank you! Thank you so much for your great party today, Diane, – Dan thanked politely. – I opened out at your party. Really! But it’s time for us to go home.
– Thank you for coming, guys. – Diane replied. – Tomorrow we’ll be waiting for you here at lunch time. Everyone is cordially invited. No other guests any more, just our family and you. Early in the morning my lovely grand-daughters are arriving from Las Vegas. You’ll meet them too. Is it OK?
– Okay, Diane. We’ll join you at the lunch time tomorrow. Thank you so much again and bye-bye. See you tomorrow. – Dan answered.
– God give you joy! See you! Love you. – Diane looked at us and smiled.
We hugged and kissed her good-bye, got into the car and drove away.
7. Former Classmates
When we came back home from Diane’s party, Dan fell asleep immediately.
He snored so funny and loudly, that I recorded his artistic snore in order he would be able to listen to himself later on. He was snoring constantly, and sometimes I couldn’t sleep because of this. But he didn’t believe me that he did it so super loudly and wildly, so next morning he had a chance to listen to the recording. Dan was so much surprised when I gave it to him. He listened to his recorded snore several times, laughed, shook his head and then he asked me, jokingly:
– Are you sure Vika, that it was I – your awful hubby? Or maybe it was just a Californian bear, who snored so funny near the bedroom?
– Yes, dear. I’m sure. It was you, clumsy bear, in the bedroom. Who else could it be?
– Was I so drunk, honey? I drank a lot of beer with Nick, as I remember. Did I mix beer with anything else? And who was driving back home?
– You.
– I? You let me do that?!
– You didn’t ask for my permission, Dan.
– I’m sorry, dear. Did I hurt you?
– No, do not worry.
Dan took a quick shower and walked around the house doing nothing.
He drank a lot of ice water and talked to himself: “Weird, I can drink the sea dry… And I can’t remember anything…”
But there was something that he did remember pretty well.
– Vika, did you like my former classmates?
– Yes, I liked them. They were funny and tried to impress me.
– We grew up together. We were neighbors. We went to the same high school and played different instruments at the school orchestra. We spent together a lot of time out of school as well. Do you remember the picture of five handsome skinny boys by the campfire? Nick, Ronny, his brother, Johnny and I.
– Oh yea. Funny boys!
Dan went to his computer desk and brought me the picture.
– Look again. It’s I, Nick, Ronny, his brother, and the skinniest one is Johnny.
– Great picture.
– John always was skinny and sporty. He was a shy, modest boy, a very smart and talented one, though. He was fond of music since his childhood. One day his dream came true, and he became a professional musician after graduating California State University. John is a very good arranger. He is constantly going on tours with different popular American rock-bands.
– And his family?
– He is a great father of three wonderful sons-teenagers.
