I hated the nervous sounding quality of my own voice, as I tried to deflect her question.
Her smile was full of promise and her voice deepened as she said, "Oh you know I can honey! I have a few of my own as well, but I want to hear yours first. Now start spilling the beans Nikolai and don't leave anything out!"
It was easy to sleep in this house. It was always so quiet in the shelter of the caldera. There were no traffic sounds or freight trains; in fact there was little chance of running into another person at all. Peaceful and quiet, but I had already started saying goodbye to my first real home.
I wasn't going to keep someone like Anna all boxed up and isolated away from the world in this lonely little volcano in the middle of nowhere. She needed interaction with others and I could tolerate it, so I didn't mind sacrificing my cherished peace to make her happy.
Truth be told since I had met her I had noticed a marked willingness on my part to partake, so to speak, in the daily goings-on around me in the world. I suppose they would say she was pulling me out of my shell. If she was I had to admit that I was going altogether willingly.
I looked around the rumpled bed with its sheets tossed everywhere and smiled. Last night had been wild! I didn't do wild, but last night I had. I did it all the time now actually.
I smiled kind of sappily to myself with the realization of how much I had already changed because of Anna's influence in my life. I threw some clothes on and ambled down the hall into the kitchen area.
Anna was industriously hard at work with breakfast, but she looked up and gave me a quick smile followed by a wink. I smiled in return and looked around for Kevin. I found him as usual sitting at the kitchen table with the chessboard all laid out and ready to go.
I sighed audibly. It was time for my morning beat down as usual.
Anna's arms came around my middle from behind and her voice was all laughter as she chortled into my ear, "You'll always be a winner in my book honey!" And then she shoved me lightly towards the table and Kevin.
I sat down and gazed up from the chessboard to meet Kevin's implacable gaze. One day I swore to myself I'd beat this kid, but today wasn't likely going to be the day. Give me about a thousand years and I might manage it.