“Maybe we could make it an annual trip.”
That gave me hope that she might be in love with me, too. Even though we had made our relationship official, I often had my doubts. Her carefree attitude was both a blessing and a curse. I couldn’t help but wonder if that was one of the reasons she kept me at bay because her life motto was to go with the flow. She could easily wake up any morning and decide that she didn’t want to be with me.
Whereas I, on the other hand, was a bit more rooted.
“Maybe I can get Mr. Truman to purchase some properties here, and then you can tag along on business trips.”
“That would be fun. The Truman's sure have expanded their empire all over the world, haven’t they?”
I couldn’t even remember all of the countries where they owned properties. “They sure have, and a lot of that is because of Richard and Jake. Jake is the one who pushed his father to go outside his comfort level. For years Mr. Truman focused on acquiring properties in every state, but when Jake showed him the possibilities of expanding internationally, that became his main focus.”
“I bet you’ve had food from a bunch of other countries, too.”
My first thought was how I wanted to take her to India and have her train with a professional yogi. “Yes, I have. I’m very fortunate and blessed. I think you’d love Indian cuisine just as much as Italian. Maybe we’ll visit India together, too. We still have to come back here someday. Let’s not forget that.”
Crystal gazed out the window, admiring the city and the nighttime lights. “Well, if it weren’t for my Uncle Michael, we wouldn’t have gotten to experience this country. I just wish that I had more memories of him. I guess there’s no use regretting the past. I’m just grateful he thought of me. I still don’t know why and probably never will.”
Both of us held up our glasses and toasted to Moldova.
After we finished our meal, we made our way back to our apartment at the President Hotel. Room service had left chocolates on our pillows, and Crystal quickly snatched them up. “This goes against everything that I stand for, but as Annie and I always say, calories don’t count when you’re out of town.”
There was never a day where Crystal didn’t do or say something that I found extremely adorable. “I like that motto! Alright, I’m going to take a shower. Care to join me?”
She seductively unbuttoned her blouse and then casually tossed it onto the chair. “It’s tempting, but I’ll have to pass. I’m exhausted.”
Crystal and I had been quite busy ever since we arrived in Moldova, so I understood why she was so tired. I wished we could have spent more time relaxing. Now that Annie was pregnant, Crystal was working even longer hours at the yoga studio and burning the candle at both ends. Despite her holistic approach to life, I could see how her long hours had been wearing her out, along with the stress about her uncle’s unusual surprise.
After I got out of the shower, I walked back into the bedroom and noticed Crystal was passed out on the bed, sound asleep. She wasn't even under the covers. My shower hadn’t been more than five minutes, just enough to rinse off, so she must have been exhausted.
I carefully covered her with a blanket and gently kissed her on the cheek. Our short trip to Moldova had been magical. As I crawled under the sheet, watching her sleep, I silently prayed the magic would continue once we made it back to River Valley.
19
Crystal
While taking a break after teaching my morning yoga class, I signed onto the student loan portal. It was the first time that I didn’t feel like fainting. The dollar amount on the screen no longer scared me. In just a few days, my bank account would have more than enough money to erase all of my debt and plenty of cash leftover for my life to move forward.
After the trip to Moldova with Gavin, with whom I was in love but had yet to say so, my life would soon be stress-free. Not only was I sleeping better, but eating in my cramped apartment no longer freaked me out. My goals seemed closer than they had ever been before.
In addition to my financial woes being a thing of the past, the other yoga instructors were able to take on the classes that I had picked up for Annie. Hormonal fluctuations had caused her to become extremely fatigued. So she was only teaching the pregnancy yoga classes and taking care of the business end of her studio.
Annie assumed the extra work hadn’t taken an emotional toll on me, too. Since we both practiced holistic health, we should have known how to find the balance between work and our personal lives, right? The truth, however, was much bleaker.
On more than one occasion, I had almost fallen asleep while teaching a few of her classes. I had even taken naps on our office couch, and instead of bottles of water and juices, I was pumping my body full of coffee and energy shots. My body couldn’t continue to burn the candle at both ends and neither could hers.
Now that I was getting the ten million dollars, I had no problem having the other instructors take on more work.
I wrote down the payoff amount on a piece of paper to stick up on my refrigerator. As I patiently waited for the funds to appear in my account, I would use it as a daily reminder that life was about to get much better.
As soon as I put it away in my purse, I looked up to see Annie walking into our office. She looked as though she had been run over by a truck. Her face was as white as a ghost, and Annie grabbed the desk for support. What had me worried, however, was how loud she was moaning.
Annie plopped down on her chair and threw her purse on the desk. “If I ever say that I want another baby, Crystal, kindly smack me across the face.”
I handed her a bottle of water from our mini-fridge. “You poor thing, are you sure you’re alright? Not to be mean, but this is the worst I’ve seen you ever since you got pregnant!”
Annie took a long sip from the water bottle. “Crystal, there are no words to describe the aches and pains that go along with being pregnant. Every joint in my body feels like it’s on fire right now. Everything that I eat either makes me want to puke or gets the job done, and don’t even get me started on my feet.” She slid her shoes off.
“Oh my God, Annie! Your feet are huge!”
