"I can assure you otherwise," I reply.
"I am trying to marry him off," Petr's father continues calmly. "If you want him, you can have him. In exchange, I want three grandchildren."
Petr snorts and drinks his coffee, apparently accustomed to his father's attempts to play matchmaker.
I stifle a laugh, not expecting the solemn offer from the newcomer. "Only if he comes with a twelve foot chocolate turkey," I retort with a smile.
"Why was it twelve feet, Petr?" The man turns on his son. "How are you going to get it out of the center?"
"I don't know yet, Baba," Petr responds.
This time, I do laugh and move away before his father can make a second offer of marrying off his son. Petr bears through it with a shrug, and I start to understand why nothing seems to faze him. It wasn't just the military that taught him how to take things in stride but a father, and the sister he mentioned, who seem to have personalities the opposite of his.
I went to the center yesterday hoping for a glimpse into his life. It was too crowded to determine anything except that money was definitely not an issue for the Khavalov family. Anyone who can feed and entertain a town, even if for a day, has an unimaginable size of wealth.
It's with unusual eagerness that I glance over at the two more than once as I make my rounds. I wanted to see something more about Petr, and his father shows up. Excitement makes the Petr-butterflies in my stomach do cartwheels.
I take his father a menu in case he wants something other than pie. He's halfway finished with his slice and pushes it away. "No, thank you," he says. "Your name is …"
"Claudia," Petr answers.
"Claudia, I will throw in the chocolate turkey if you will take this turkey off my hands." Petr's father cracks a smile.
His dry wit is entertaining. While burning with curiosity about the family, I'm also trying hard to avoid the topic of Petr entirely. Petr is calm and relaxed, a small smile on his face, unaffected by his father trying to barter him off.
"Baba's been at this since I was sixteen," Petr explains. "Can you imagine how embarrassing it was to have him meet my first girlfriend?"
"In my time, in Russia, the parents helped their children find good spouses," his father replies.
"Telling a sixteen year old girl you expect three grandchildren is the opposite approach most parents take," Petr points out. "You had her parents on the phone screaming at you three hours later."