Serenity (Inevitable #5)(24)

She took a leisurely shower, ate a bowl of Greek yogurt, fresh berries, and granola, then brewed a cup of tea before finally  – reluctantly - returning her mother's call. As she carried her steaming cup of herbal tea out to the small but sunny backyard of the house, Sasha hoped she wouldn't feel the need to drink something a whole lot stronger than tea after the phone call with Katya. She seldom indulged in alcohol, but there had certainly been occasions after a conversation with her fiery mother that she'd wished for a glass of wine - followed by several shots of pure Russian vodka.

Sasha usually had a pretty good idea of what her mother's current mood was depending on the language she began the conversation with. If Katya was in good spirits, more or less content with the way her day was going, then she'd speak in English. But if she was upset about something - which she frequently was - then the conversation would begin in rapid, agitated Russian. Sasha kept her fingers crossed as her mother answered the call that it would be the former rather than the latter.



       
         
       
        

"Aleksandra. What took you so long to call your mother back?"

Sasha sighed. Not only was Katya speaking Russian but she was also calling Sasha by her full name, a sure sign that she was upset about something.

"I'm sorry, Mama," replied Sasha with a long-practiced calm. "I stayed at the studio after class to work on my own practice. And you know I hate calling you from the bus. Is everything all right?"

"Yes, yes," assured Katya impatiently. Then, with a little sniff, she added, "All this time you spend doing the yoga you could be dancing instead. If you practiced your dance even a little, Aleksandra, you could be on the show with me. You're so much better than all of these silly little American girls, or the one from Australia who is nowhere near as good as she thinks she is. I mentioned the idea to the producer once, and he thought it would be wonderful to have a mother and daughter both on the show. Though if that happened everyone would know how old I am so perhaps not."

"Mama, you know that's not going to happen anyway," Sasha pointed out gently, her Russian every bit as fluent as her mother's. "My competitive dancing days are long over. That's not the sort of life I want for myself."

"Hmmpf." Katya made a small sound of disgust. "None of these other girls would ever be able to compete in an actual ballroom competition. You could dance circles around them even now. But I know better than to convince you to resume your training. You choose the yoga and living like a hippie over the kind of life you could have down here."

Katya had been living full time in Los Angeles for nearly ten years now, and had taken to the glitzy lifestyle like a duck to water. Sasha paid her mother a very reluctant visit twice a year, and couldn't wait to return back to San Francisco each time, the crowds and traffic in L.A. more than a little claustrophobic.

"How are things going at the studio, Mama?" asked Sasha, smoothly changing the subject.

In addition to appearing on Beyond Ballroom, Katya owned a popular dance studio in Los Angeles. The studio specialized in ballroom, of course, but also offered classes in ballet, jazz, hip hop, and theater dance. The place had been bankrolled a few years back by one of Katya's celebrity partners on the show - an older restaurant magnate who'd been more than a little enamored of his fiery Russian partner. When Sasha had quizzed her mother about whether she'd actually had a fling with the man, Katya had coyly changed the subject, but the implication had been rather glaring.

"Good, good. A little slow right now since it's the summer, but once the show starts up again next month the students will come back from their vacations. I hired a new teacher - a nice Russian boy, one who trained with one of my old teachers. Next time you come to visit I'll introduce you to him, Aleksandra. You'll be thirty soon, and it's time you started thinking about settling down. And Pasha is a very handsome young man, a fantastic dancer. The two of you would make a beautiful couple." 

Sasha rolled her eyes. This was far from the first time her mother had tried to fix her up with someone, or hinted about her "advanced" age. Sasha resisted the impulse to remind Katya that she had never married, as that particular topic typically sent her off on a rant of some sort about Enzo.

"His name is Pasha?" she asked instead. "Wouldn't that be adorable - Pasha and Sasha. But I'll pass on meeting your newest protégé, Mama, thanks all the same."

"Yes, I'm sure you're dating some hippie who also teaches the yoga. Or does the massaging. How does he expect to support a wife and children doing those things?" asked Katya scathingly.