Kelsey fled to the coffee shop to get out of the cold Russian rain. The icy drops had soaked her clear through to her skin and her teeth rattled as she pointed desperately at a cup of tea and chattered a brief thank you, "spaceba, spaceba." She was lost in the great city of St. Petersburg; the group of friends she was supposed to meet up with might as well have been non-existent because she could not find them, creating the possibility that she wouldn't soon find her hotel either.
A tear of frustration fell quietly down her cheek as she warmed her hands on the seething cup of tea she cradled in her hands like a priceless artifact. She sipped carefully but the boiling hot tea burnt her tongue anyway causing her to jump and then spill the entire contents down her already soaked shirt. Now a brown stain corrupted her damp white blouse, making it transparent, revealing the white lace bra and round breasts so well hidden before. A splash of red began to form where the hot liquid had burned a plot of white skin on her chest. "God damn it!" she shrieked.
She shook her hands and body as if to shake the wetness completely away, she stamped across the Formica floor in great heaving gasps and then fell to the floor in a sobbing heap. She didn't care what she looked like to the sensible Russian customers who watched her as they would watch a play, she didn't care that she had laid her hand in some sort of food spill or that her hair also sat in the same spill. "Priviet...." A deep voice said behind her.
"Go away! I'm fine, I...I ....jjjjust...dropped m..mm..my napkin." She said through her sobs, trying to catch her breath and then going through with the faΓ§ade of looking for her napkin.
"Niet, Niet, Niet....shhh shh shh." He cooed and comforted as he tried to pick her up off the floor.
"Please...I mean spaceba... I'm ok." Kelsey tried to smile through her tears and snot and melting mascara. As she stood she looked at her rescuer, a handsome older Russian man with great bushy eyebrows and sad eyes. His cheek bones looked like they had been chiseled out of hard wood and he had a strong dimpled chin. He took a napkin and tried to clean the food out of her hair and tried to wipe the mascara off her face laughing all the while. Then he took the napkin and held it at her nose to blow it. She stood dumbly for a few seconds and then blew her nose into his waiting napkin like a child.
"Ocheen graceva eh?" he said as he admired her face and then her chest and looked around the coffee shop, a few people smiled and laughed, nodding their heads.
"Um....spaceba...I think." She smiled through her tears. She suddenly felt embarrassed and tried to leave. "Um...das ve danya!" She threw out at the shop in general, waving her hand "spaceba" She said to the man with a gentle nod of her head. She turned her feet and took two steps towards the door. She stopped and watched the rain lazily sliding down the glass windows. It looked cold and dark and she had no idea what she would do to get out the mess she had gotten herself into. If she got out of this she would never again be so obstinate about spending the day by herself, making every alley and building an adventure. There was something to be said for safety in numbers, for one, someone better than her might have a better sense of direction and a better grasp for the Russian language. She dropped her head, closed her exhausted eyes and cried again.
The man was instantly at her side again with his arm around her. "Um..do you know where to find...um..." she searched his face and knew he didn't know what she was saying.
"Shto?" He asked in a fatherly way.
"Oh...never mind." Kelsey cried, completely exasperated and tried once again to exit this uncomfortable stage. This time he grabbed her arm and drew her to him. He walked her stiffly over to a table and sat her on top of his own lap.