Christmas in Moscow was more than beautiful.
Alexander didn’t want us to go to Bratsk; he insisted that he wanted to show me the capital and the most important tourist sites, but to me it was more like an “I’m not ready yet for the rest of my family to meet you.” I understood. I also had to explain to my mother that I had started seeing someone, and after meeting Alexander on my birthday (it had already been two years), it was very obvious to her who I was talking about. She had the good sense not to ask me too much about it; I promised her that when it was safer I would tell her everything. At that point, I seriously doubted that my relationship with Alexander was not “safe,” but I didn’t want to take any false step until we settled things either way.
At times it seemed to me that it wa
