Post by annie on Aug 19, 2008 13:05:59 GMT 3
Chapter 34
Monte Carlo, Monaco November 25, 2005 2:00pm
Dina and Rauza were havin a late lunch in a restaurant when someone approached them with some ‘news’ about Marat.
“What do you think is going on with Marat and Gelya?” Rauza asked her, “I haven’t talked to him, his phone is always off.”
“You know how he doesn’t really like using it.” Dina replied.
A couple of women came in the restaurant. They had a magazine with them, a tabloid really, and when they saw Dina and Rauza they
approached them regarding Marat.
“Hello, you are Safin’s sister right?” One of them asked.
“Yes.” Dina said simply.
“I hope your brother comes back on the tour soon. He must be bored that’s why he’s partying everywhere!” The woman said.
“And with different women all the time, it seems.” Interject the other.
“What?” Rauza exclaimed. She looked at Dina with a puzzled look.
“No, you must be mistaken.” Dina said. Careful not to let anything about his brother’s private life slip out she just said.
“He hasn’t told us anything about the women he’s dating.”
“Oh, but he’s here in the magazine.” The other woman opened the pages, “See…four women, four events, in one month.”
Dina could not believe her eyes. She looked at Rauza and she had almost the same expression only more worried. “No. It must be
a mistake. Those women must be guests in the events as well and they approached him.”
“Well, I guess that’s more than likely…” the first woman said. “Well, tell him his fans said good luck,”
“We will. Thank you.” Rauza said. “Dina, I don’t like how this is looking like.” She said when the women were out of earshot.
“Let’s get out of here, I’ll call Marat.” Dina said, “I’m really starting to worry about him and Angela.”
Meanwhile in Moscow, Marat and Dmitry were talking on the phone. They started out discussing about the coming Davis Cup finals,
when Dmitry asked about the pictures in the magazines. Marat was reluctant to tell him anything at first, but he let it out after a while.
“Did Shamil say who’s playing the singles?” Marat asked.
“No, not yet. You know him, he likes to take his time in deciding. But, I’m ready.”
“You should, coz I’m not there!” Marat laughed, “No one’s gonna save your asses!”
“Right…” Dmitry said, “Hmm…can I ask you something?”
“What? You gonna ask me to marry you now?” Marat joked.
“No. C’mon, man, I’m serious.”
“Okay. What is it?”
“There’s been a lot about you in the tabloids lately. You’re seen with different women everywhere…”
“You want cell phone number of one of them?” Marat said, “I don’t really know them so I can’t really give it to you.”
“That’s not what I was going to ask.”
“What then?”
“Your girlfriend, Angela...” Dima finally said.
“I don’t really want to talk about it.” Marat finally said. “And it’s not really any of your business.”
“Okay, man…I’m just…concerned…” Dima said. And he was concerned. Marat and him have been quite close. Marat, on the other hand,
recognized the genuineness of Dima’s concern considered telling him.
“If you want to talk about it…I’m just here.” Dima said. There was silence from Marat’s end for a while.
“She left me.” Marat finally said, after a while.
“What?” Dima didn’t catch it at first. Or perhaps it was so farfetched an idea that he could not believe it.
“She left me.” Marat repeated, “For another man.”
“Are you sure?” Dima still couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “I mean, she doesn’t strike me as the type who would…”
“Neither did I. But she did it.” Marat said. “I was gonna ask her to marry me! I’m so stupid.”
“Do you know who the guy is?” Dima asked him.
“No. Just some guy named…Mark Dane…And I don’t care…I’m glad she’s gone.”
“Really?” Dima said, “You’re glad?”
“What are you trying to say?”
“I don’t know…coz, man, when I saw you with her…I got the feeling that that was it for you. You love her. She’s the one.”
“It wasn’t my fault…”
“I know that man. But, won’t you even put up a fight to get her back?” Dima said, “You’re just gonna let her go without a fight?”
“What do you want me to do, man?” Marat said, “You want me to throw everything away and fly to New York to try to win back a woman
who betrayed me? Even I am not that stupid.”
“No, you’re not. But if you’re smart enough, you’d at least have some doubt about all of this. I mean, you told me she disappeared
on you eight years ago and yet she came back for you. What was that for? If she didn’t love you would she have done that?
If she didn’t love you do you think she’d have come back at all after eight years? She should’ve just forgotten about you
and moved on with her life.”
Marat wasn’t able to say anything. What Dima’s saying was making sense but he was too stubborn to admit it to himself.
“Marat, it’s not that I’m telling you what to do here. I’m just saying, if I’m reading this right, and in my gut I feel that I am, you
shouldn’t take this as you see it. I think there’s something else going on here. If I were you…if I were you, I’d investigate.”
“I’ll think about it.” Marat said. He didn’t mean it. He just said it so Dima would let it go.
“Okay man. Well, I got to go…”
“Yeah, bye.” Marat put the phone down before Dima could say another word.
He was about to get off the couch when the phone rang again.
“I said, I’ll think about it Tursunov!”
“I am not Dmitry!” Dinara said on the other end. “And what are you screaming at him for?”
“Nothing…”
“Fine. Mom wants to talk to you.” Dina told him.
“No, Dinara, I am not in the mood!” Marat said. But Dina had already handed Rauza the phone.
“Marat, what is going with you?” Rauza asked him, “Why are you going out with those women? Your pictures are all over the tabloids, and
over the Internet!”
“Mom, I am not in the mood for this.” Marat said. “I am twenty five years old, I don’t need to get this from you.”
“You will listen to me whether you are in the mood or not because I am still your mother and that’s not going to change whether your fifteen
or forty-five years old!”
“Mom, let me talk to him…” Dina said in the background.
Rauza gave her the phone, “Here. Try talking some sense into him.”
Dina took the phone and moved away from Rauza a little bit. “Marat, where is Angela? Is she okay? What did she say about the pictures?”
“I don’t give a f*$k how she is, and I don’t give a f*$k what she has to say about the pictures. I don’t care where she is and stop asking
me about her because I am not her keeper!” Marat said, and abruptly cut the call.
“Hello? Hello, Marat?”
“What happened?” Rauza asked.
“He put the phone down.” Dina said, “Mama, I think something’s wrong. I’m really worried about those two. Specially, Marat.”
“Me, too. Well, we’ll know soon enough.” Rauza “We’d be back in Moscow in two days.”
Dina was left wondering why Marat was acting that way. He was supposed to be more concerned about Angela especially since Angela must have
told him everything already.
Back in New York…
Angela’s new friend, John, has been keeping her company for the most part when her mom was out at work. She didn’t like to go out of her room
so John was always the one visiting her, and he always brought his laptop to her room when he does. He updates her on the
recent news and gossips about everything, but mostly about Marat because he thought she’d like that. And she did…except that
day. He had found a website with news about Marat and didn’t really want to show her, but she insisted.
“Oh, here’s a Russian website.” John said, “let’s see, any news about Marat Safin…” As the page loaded, his reaction changed from being excited
to worried.
“Hasn’t it loaded yet?” Angela asked, “Let me see it.”
“Ummm…I don’t know if you’d really like to see this…”
“Why? What happened to him?” Angela said, worried. “C’mon, Johnny, let me see.”
John reluctantly handed her the laptop. There were several pictures of Marat, in different events, with different girls…and then, she saw it.
At the bottom of the page, was a picture of Marat kissing a girl in public. She felt like she was splashed in a tub of ice-
cold water. She couldn’t speak. She was shocked and hurt. In her mind she was asking: How could he do that? I’m dying
here, and he’s out partying and kissing other girls? But she knew the answer. He doesn’t know. She didn’t tell him the
truth. She told him a lie, which most probably hurt him,and this was how he was retaliating. She tried forcing herself to
accept it. But in her heart, she couldn’t. She knew it was going to happen. But she didn’t expect it to happen this soon.
She sure didn’t expect that it would hurt her this much.
John felt her vibe, and took the laptop from her. “I knew I shouldn’t have shown that to you.” He said, “Your mom said you and Safin were very
close…I assumed you have some kind of relationship with him…” He continued. “But I guess it’s best this way. He’s just
gonna hurt you…”
“Get out, John.” Angela said, “Please, just get out and leave me alone for a while.”
“Okay.”
As soon as John left the room, she began sobbing uncontrollably. Outside, John saw Maria coming and told her what happened. She rushed to her room,
and saw Angela crying on her bed. She held her tightly. She felt like dying seeing her daughter like this. She knew she
played a part in all of this and she was regretful. If she had only known how much it was going to hurt Angela, she wished
she had never pressured her into leaving Marat.
November 28, 2005 12:30 pm, New York
Dr. Dane summoned Maria to his office to let her know about their observations regarding Angela’s condition. She has had a fever for two days already,
and they’ve been monitoring her. He was in front of his computer when she came in.
“Hey, the nurse said you wanted to see me?” Maria said, as she entered Dr. Dane’s office.
“Maria, hi.” He said, standing up. “Take a seat. I have something important to tell you…”
“About Angela?”
“Yes.” He walked to the chair on the other side of his table so he can be closer to Maria. He thought she might need the support when she hears what
he has to say. “Maria…I don’t know how to tell you this, but…” He looked at her. She looked calm, but a closer look in her
eyes says that she isn’t. But he has to do what he has to do and it was his duty to tell her what they’ve observed. “Her
hear beat has been gradually declining. It’s not because of the fever because it has started long before that.” He reached
for the charts on his table and opened it to the page showing a graph of her heart beat from when she was admitted to the
last two days.
“What does this mean?” Maria asked, but knowing the inevitable she started to shake. “Oh, God…is she gonna die soon?”
“I don’t know how to explain this, and I actually thought these things only happen in novels but…” He paused, he
thought being a doctor what he was about to say was unsuitable.
“What?” Maria asked.
“Some people say when a person in her condition is experiencing loss or in her case, heartbreak…that sometimes, subconsciously…the brain tells the
heart to…slow down..and eventually…”
“To stop?”
“Yes.” Dr. Dane said, “I never thought I’d say this but…I think she’s dying of a broken heart more than of her cancer.”
“Oh, my God…” Maria said, stammering. “Oh my God…this is my fault.”
“No, Maria…”
“It is my fault!” She said, crying. “I never should have pressured her to come home!”
“Maria, don’t blame yourself…”
“But it is my fault she’s feeling this way…If I only knew this was gonna happen…I never would’ve asked her to leave Marat…”
“Then I guess you know what you have to do…” Dr. Dane said. She looked at him. She knows what he was saying. She has to try to tell Marat of
Angela’s real condition. And she has to do it quickly.
8:30 pm Moscow, Russia Marat’s Apartment.
Marat was sitting on the floor in a corner of his room in his apartment. There was no party to go to, no events to attend. There was just him
and the darkness of his room. It’s these times that his loneliness catches up to him. When no one’s around and he is all by
himself, he still misses Angela. He longs for her. But, thinking that she’ll never be his, his heart still breaks every time.
Everywhere he looks, every corner of the room, he sees her. He remembers the time they spent there together, how much love
he gave her, and how much he thought she gave him back. He didn’t understand how this could all have happened. Silently he
cried, as the moon shines on him through the window. He can even still remember how that same moonlight shone on her the
first time they spent the night together in that room. When is he really gonna be able to forget her? When is he going to
move on? This he asks himself.
Suddenly, he heard the door outside clicked open. He wiped his tears off, and stood up to see who it was. It was Dina.
“What are you doing here?” He asked, surprised.
“I should be the one to ask you that.” Dina said, “What are you doing here? Why aren’t you with Angela?”
“Why should I be with her? Didn’t you get the memo?” Marat said, “She left me! She packed all her things and left me! And I don’t know why you’re
taking her side…I’m your brother you’re supposed to take my side!”
Dina has had enough. He’s raised her voice at her one too many times already. She was tired, and her patience was running low.
“Will you shut up and let me talk?!” Dina said. She didn’t expect she would be screaming at her brother either. But she continued nevertheless.
“Look, I don’t know what she told you, but if she had told you the truth this is not the way I expected you to act!” She told him.
“So why don’t you tell me the truth?” Marat said, “Tell me why she f*#$ing left me!”
“I can’t.” Dina said. She made a promise she wouldn’t.
“Why the hell not?” Marat said, pacing around the room. “You wanna know why this world suck? It’s because nobody ever say the f*#$ing truth!”
“Marat…” Dinara started saying but Marat cut her off.
“You know what? I don’t care…! I won’t believe whatever you say anyway. The truth is she left me and that’s it.”
And with that, he left. He took his car and drove around without any destination.
Monte Carlo, Monaco November 25, 2005 2:00pm
Dina and Rauza were havin a late lunch in a restaurant when someone approached them with some ‘news’ about Marat.
“What do you think is going on with Marat and Gelya?” Rauza asked her, “I haven’t talked to him, his phone is always off.”
“You know how he doesn’t really like using it.” Dina replied.
A couple of women came in the restaurant. They had a magazine with them, a tabloid really, and when they saw Dina and Rauza they
approached them regarding Marat.
“Hello, you are Safin’s sister right?” One of them asked.
“Yes.” Dina said simply.
“I hope your brother comes back on the tour soon. He must be bored that’s why he’s partying everywhere!” The woman said.
“And with different women all the time, it seems.” Interject the other.
“What?” Rauza exclaimed. She looked at Dina with a puzzled look.
“No, you must be mistaken.” Dina said. Careful not to let anything about his brother’s private life slip out she just said.
“He hasn’t told us anything about the women he’s dating.”
“Oh, but he’s here in the magazine.” The other woman opened the pages, “See…four women, four events, in one month.”
Dina could not believe her eyes. She looked at Rauza and she had almost the same expression only more worried. “No. It must be
a mistake. Those women must be guests in the events as well and they approached him.”
“Well, I guess that’s more than likely…” the first woman said. “Well, tell him his fans said good luck,”
“We will. Thank you.” Rauza said. “Dina, I don’t like how this is looking like.” She said when the women were out of earshot.
“Let’s get out of here, I’ll call Marat.” Dina said, “I’m really starting to worry about him and Angela.”
Meanwhile in Moscow, Marat and Dmitry were talking on the phone. They started out discussing about the coming Davis Cup finals,
when Dmitry asked about the pictures in the magazines. Marat was reluctant to tell him anything at first, but he let it out after a while.
“Did Shamil say who’s playing the singles?” Marat asked.
“No, not yet. You know him, he likes to take his time in deciding. But, I’m ready.”
“You should, coz I’m not there!” Marat laughed, “No one’s gonna save your asses!”
“Right…” Dmitry said, “Hmm…can I ask you something?”
“What? You gonna ask me to marry you now?” Marat joked.
“No. C’mon, man, I’m serious.”
“Okay. What is it?”
“There’s been a lot about you in the tabloids lately. You’re seen with different women everywhere…”
“You want cell phone number of one of them?” Marat said, “I don’t really know them so I can’t really give it to you.”
“That’s not what I was going to ask.”
“What then?”
“Your girlfriend, Angela...” Dima finally said.
“I don’t really want to talk about it.” Marat finally said. “And it’s not really any of your business.”
“Okay, man…I’m just…concerned…” Dima said. And he was concerned. Marat and him have been quite close. Marat, on the other hand,
recognized the genuineness of Dima’s concern considered telling him.
“If you want to talk about it…I’m just here.” Dima said. There was silence from Marat’s end for a while.
“She left me.” Marat finally said, after a while.
“What?” Dima didn’t catch it at first. Or perhaps it was so farfetched an idea that he could not believe it.
“She left me.” Marat repeated, “For another man.”
“Are you sure?” Dima still couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “I mean, she doesn’t strike me as the type who would…”
“Neither did I. But she did it.” Marat said. “I was gonna ask her to marry me! I’m so stupid.”
“Do you know who the guy is?” Dima asked him.
“No. Just some guy named…Mark Dane…And I don’t care…I’m glad she’s gone.”
“Really?” Dima said, “You’re glad?”
“What are you trying to say?”
“I don’t know…coz, man, when I saw you with her…I got the feeling that that was it for you. You love her. She’s the one.”
“It wasn’t my fault…”
“I know that man. But, won’t you even put up a fight to get her back?” Dima said, “You’re just gonna let her go without a fight?”
“What do you want me to do, man?” Marat said, “You want me to throw everything away and fly to New York to try to win back a woman
who betrayed me? Even I am not that stupid.”
“No, you’re not. But if you’re smart enough, you’d at least have some doubt about all of this. I mean, you told me she disappeared
on you eight years ago and yet she came back for you. What was that for? If she didn’t love you would she have done that?
If she didn’t love you do you think she’d have come back at all after eight years? She should’ve just forgotten about you
and moved on with her life.”
Marat wasn’t able to say anything. What Dima’s saying was making sense but he was too stubborn to admit it to himself.
“Marat, it’s not that I’m telling you what to do here. I’m just saying, if I’m reading this right, and in my gut I feel that I am, you
shouldn’t take this as you see it. I think there’s something else going on here. If I were you…if I were you, I’d investigate.”
“I’ll think about it.” Marat said. He didn’t mean it. He just said it so Dima would let it go.
“Okay man. Well, I got to go…”
“Yeah, bye.” Marat put the phone down before Dima could say another word.
He was about to get off the couch when the phone rang again.
“I said, I’ll think about it Tursunov!”
“I am not Dmitry!” Dinara said on the other end. “And what are you screaming at him for?”
“Nothing…”
“Fine. Mom wants to talk to you.” Dina told him.
“No, Dinara, I am not in the mood!” Marat said. But Dina had already handed Rauza the phone.
“Marat, what is going with you?” Rauza asked him, “Why are you going out with those women? Your pictures are all over the tabloids, and
over the Internet!”
“Mom, I am not in the mood for this.” Marat said. “I am twenty five years old, I don’t need to get this from you.”
“You will listen to me whether you are in the mood or not because I am still your mother and that’s not going to change whether your fifteen
or forty-five years old!”
“Mom, let me talk to him…” Dina said in the background.
Rauza gave her the phone, “Here. Try talking some sense into him.”
Dina took the phone and moved away from Rauza a little bit. “Marat, where is Angela? Is she okay? What did she say about the pictures?”
“I don’t give a f*$k how she is, and I don’t give a f*$k what she has to say about the pictures. I don’t care where she is and stop asking
me about her because I am not her keeper!” Marat said, and abruptly cut the call.
“Hello? Hello, Marat?”
“What happened?” Rauza asked.
“He put the phone down.” Dina said, “Mama, I think something’s wrong. I’m really worried about those two. Specially, Marat.”
“Me, too. Well, we’ll know soon enough.” Rauza “We’d be back in Moscow in two days.”
Dina was left wondering why Marat was acting that way. He was supposed to be more concerned about Angela especially since Angela must have
told him everything already.
Back in New York…
Angela’s new friend, John, has been keeping her company for the most part when her mom was out at work. She didn’t like to go out of her room
so John was always the one visiting her, and he always brought his laptop to her room when he does. He updates her on the
recent news and gossips about everything, but mostly about Marat because he thought she’d like that. And she did…except that
day. He had found a website with news about Marat and didn’t really want to show her, but she insisted.
“Oh, here’s a Russian website.” John said, “let’s see, any news about Marat Safin…” As the page loaded, his reaction changed from being excited
to worried.
“Hasn’t it loaded yet?” Angela asked, “Let me see it.”
“Ummm…I don’t know if you’d really like to see this…”
“Why? What happened to him?” Angela said, worried. “C’mon, Johnny, let me see.”
John reluctantly handed her the laptop. There were several pictures of Marat, in different events, with different girls…and then, she saw it.
At the bottom of the page, was a picture of Marat kissing a girl in public. She felt like she was splashed in a tub of ice-
cold water. She couldn’t speak. She was shocked and hurt. In her mind she was asking: How could he do that? I’m dying
here, and he’s out partying and kissing other girls? But she knew the answer. He doesn’t know. She didn’t tell him the
truth. She told him a lie, which most probably hurt him,and this was how he was retaliating. She tried forcing herself to
accept it. But in her heart, she couldn’t. She knew it was going to happen. But she didn’t expect it to happen this soon.
She sure didn’t expect that it would hurt her this much.
John felt her vibe, and took the laptop from her. “I knew I shouldn’t have shown that to you.” He said, “Your mom said you and Safin were very
close…I assumed you have some kind of relationship with him…” He continued. “But I guess it’s best this way. He’s just
gonna hurt you…”
“Get out, John.” Angela said, “Please, just get out and leave me alone for a while.”
“Okay.”
As soon as John left the room, she began sobbing uncontrollably. Outside, John saw Maria coming and told her what happened. She rushed to her room,
and saw Angela crying on her bed. She held her tightly. She felt like dying seeing her daughter like this. She knew she
played a part in all of this and she was regretful. If she had only known how much it was going to hurt Angela, she wished
she had never pressured her into leaving Marat.
November 28, 2005 12:30 pm, New York
Dr. Dane summoned Maria to his office to let her know about their observations regarding Angela’s condition. She has had a fever for two days already,
and they’ve been monitoring her. He was in front of his computer when she came in.
“Hey, the nurse said you wanted to see me?” Maria said, as she entered Dr. Dane’s office.
“Maria, hi.” He said, standing up. “Take a seat. I have something important to tell you…”
“About Angela?”
“Yes.” He walked to the chair on the other side of his table so he can be closer to Maria. He thought she might need the support when she hears what
he has to say. “Maria…I don’t know how to tell you this, but…” He looked at her. She looked calm, but a closer look in her
eyes says that she isn’t. But he has to do what he has to do and it was his duty to tell her what they’ve observed. “Her
hear beat has been gradually declining. It’s not because of the fever because it has started long before that.” He reached
for the charts on his table and opened it to the page showing a graph of her heart beat from when she was admitted to the
last two days.
“What does this mean?” Maria asked, but knowing the inevitable she started to shake. “Oh, God…is she gonna die soon?”
“I don’t know how to explain this, and I actually thought these things only happen in novels but…” He paused, he
thought being a doctor what he was about to say was unsuitable.
“What?” Maria asked.
“Some people say when a person in her condition is experiencing loss or in her case, heartbreak…that sometimes, subconsciously…the brain tells the
heart to…slow down..and eventually…”
“To stop?”
“Yes.” Dr. Dane said, “I never thought I’d say this but…I think she’s dying of a broken heart more than of her cancer.”
“Oh, my God…” Maria said, stammering. “Oh my God…this is my fault.”
“No, Maria…”
“It is my fault!” She said, crying. “I never should have pressured her to come home!”
“Maria, don’t blame yourself…”
“But it is my fault she’s feeling this way…If I only knew this was gonna happen…I never would’ve asked her to leave Marat…”
“Then I guess you know what you have to do…” Dr. Dane said. She looked at him. She knows what he was saying. She has to try to tell Marat of
Angela’s real condition. And she has to do it quickly.
8:30 pm Moscow, Russia Marat’s Apartment.
Marat was sitting on the floor in a corner of his room in his apartment. There was no party to go to, no events to attend. There was just him
and the darkness of his room. It’s these times that his loneliness catches up to him. When no one’s around and he is all by
himself, he still misses Angela. He longs for her. But, thinking that she’ll never be his, his heart still breaks every time.
Everywhere he looks, every corner of the room, he sees her. He remembers the time they spent there together, how much love
he gave her, and how much he thought she gave him back. He didn’t understand how this could all have happened. Silently he
cried, as the moon shines on him through the window. He can even still remember how that same moonlight shone on her the
first time they spent the night together in that room. When is he really gonna be able to forget her? When is he going to
move on? This he asks himself.
Suddenly, he heard the door outside clicked open. He wiped his tears off, and stood up to see who it was. It was Dina.
“What are you doing here?” He asked, surprised.
“I should be the one to ask you that.” Dina said, “What are you doing here? Why aren’t you with Angela?”
“Why should I be with her? Didn’t you get the memo?” Marat said, “She left me! She packed all her things and left me! And I don’t know why you’re
taking her side…I’m your brother you’re supposed to take my side!”
Dina has had enough. He’s raised her voice at her one too many times already. She was tired, and her patience was running low.
“Will you shut up and let me talk?!” Dina said. She didn’t expect she would be screaming at her brother either. But she continued nevertheless.
“Look, I don’t know what she told you, but if she had told you the truth this is not the way I expected you to act!” She told him.
“So why don’t you tell me the truth?” Marat said, “Tell me why she f*#$ing left me!”
“I can’t.” Dina said. She made a promise she wouldn’t.
“Why the hell not?” Marat said, pacing around the room. “You wanna know why this world suck? It’s because nobody ever say the f*#$ing truth!”
“Marat…” Dinara started saying but Marat cut her off.
“You know what? I don’t care…! I won’t believe whatever you say anyway. The truth is she left me and that’s it.”
And with that, he left. He took his car and drove around without any destination.