Svetlana in Olive Drab

Natalia sighed smiling as she pressed her head back into the pillows.

Pete held onto her hips and she placed her hands over his as she felt the beginnings of what he could do.

Only one partner.

Over thirty years.

Maggie must not have been shy in her wants of him, Natalia thought, to have trained him this well.

She groaned and reached for his head as she began to writhe. It was all that she could do. It was either wriggle and moan or buck, and it was far too soon to buck and by the saints, Natalia thought, if this was what he'd learned from Maggie, she'd be sure to have a mass read in her memory.

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She wasn't really certain afterwards as she ran the conversations though her mind. How had it come in that he was worried about being impotent?

She thought about it for a little while and then she gave up and threw the thoughts away. Natalia wrapped her legs around him as she smiled up and hung onto him while she rocked him.

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On the Saturday, Pete found Natalia already up way before him and making drip coffee. She sat at the kitchen table with his laptop open, checking the weather site.

"So far, it does not look bad," she said as she stepped over to set a mug in front of him and gave the top of his head a kiss, "But it says very changeable."

"It has to say changeable," he grunted, "It's a government site. It gives them the best chance to avoid looking stupid to their political masters when they get it wrong. That's why it almost always says 'sunny with a chance of cloudiness' or 'partly sunny with a chance of increasing darkness later on tonight'.

I want a job like that. I can throw darts as good as they can any day."

Natalia laughed as she looked down at her hands on his shoulders, "When do you want to go?"

He looked over at her there with her housecoat untied and he grinned, "I dunno. The way that you look right here, I'm not sure that I want to go at all."

She reached to close it and tie it up, but he stopped her. "Just wait a second, Natalia. I have an idea."

He took his hand away from the hot mug and then he placed the flat of his palm against her lower belly and she moaned for a second like a cat just about to get into a fight.

"That was so nice," she smiled down at him, "Can we do that later? A lot?"

"Sure," he grinned, "I'd love to do that for you."

Natalia smirked, "I was not thinking of only you doing that. We would have to be a little careful, but I want to do that for you too.

I know just where," she smiled, "I will make hot chocolate and wait until it is only very warm. Then I will dip --"

She caught herself as though she'd been discovered having a rather naughty little thought, "So? When can we go?"

He told her to have another coffee so that he'd at least have a little time to wake up. "Would you really do that?" he asked.

Natalia smiled a little enigmatically, "I think that we should go and come back before I forget my little plan." She looked out of the window and she sighed, "I love hot chocolate."

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They drove down the road in her Cavalier and he looked over at her. "I've got the bank draft in my pocket and there are some accessories that I asked to have put on. I'll be paying for those with my bank card. But I need to tell you that at the very least, we're buying you a helmet today and likely a bit of cold-weather gear too."

Natalia looked at him for a moment and he waited for her mouth to open, knowing that she'd have objections.

"Think about something for a second," he said, "I know that I wouldn't have to look very far at all to find Maggie's helmet. But I don't think you'd want to be wearing that even if it fit you. So I intend to buy you one. Are you still in for a ride to get coffee with me later?"

She nodded, "Yes, of course, but -- "

"Then you'll need something. Your coat might keep you warm today if you stand still. But we're not going to be doing much of that -- unless the bike breaks down or something."

"But you are spending money," she said.

Pete nodded, "And I've found somebody that I want to spend a little money on today -- if it keeps her from getting pneumonia. Ok, we've had a lot of fun these last few nights and we can talk about being friends all we want to, but Natalia, it's getting serious between us."

She smirked, "It is? How could I have missed the beginning of something nice like that when it happened to me?"

"I dunno," he laughed, "I think it started sometime while we were screwing like a couple of kids when the parents of one have left her alone while they went on a week's vacation without her."

"Awww!" she exclaimed as her palm hit the rim of the steering wheel, "That never happened to me! Now I wish that it had. I feel like I had a bad teenage time now. I would always sneak out and meet my friends and we would go to some dark corner and talk while they fucked. I think there must have been something wrong with them now that I have had you so much.

I could have a conversation with either one -- both even, and they just went on and on, like I was not even there -- well except that they were talking with me. I might have to wait for a moment or two as they finished, one or the other, but then we would be talking like nothing happened at all.

I cannot do that with you, Pete. I might have a thought or two, but I cannot discuss politics then."

"Yes you can," he smiled, "It's not all that different when you're talking about politics, 'Fuck me, ... oh, ... fuck me'."

He looked over, "See what I mean?"

Natalia smirked and slapped his arm. "When do we turn?"

"Just keep going," he laughed, "It's still a ways from here."

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He'd walked all the way from the doors to the counter at the back to shake the dealer's hand when he noticed that Natalia was missing. He spun around and saw her looking at a model designed to reflect the bygone era of what was at that time, the day of the big BMW roadbikes of the 1930s. The rig that she was ogling, and not at all covertly, was finished in pure, glossy black with white pinstripes as accents. It had a sidecar which carried on that theme perfectly. With its old style accents and pre-war styling, it had a lot of class.

"Well that's a good sign, I'd say," the man smiled.

"That's my girlfriend, Natalia," Pete smiled, "She knows Urals from back home and she's seen a lot of them."

Natalia looked up with a grin, "But I have never seen one like this! I saw one like it on the website, but this -- here, oh, this is SO nice."

She tore herself away and walked the rest of the way over to hold out her hand. "Very pretty, that one. Where is the one that Pete is buying?"

"It's in the shop after getting the last of the things that he wanted bolted on."

That reminded Pete and he reached into his pocket to withdraw the bank draft. He handed it over and then he asked for the total for what he'd wanted.

He was prepared for the sum and he held out his card.

"How are you going to be getting it home?" the man asked.

"I'll ride it," Pete said, "I've even brought a 'slow moving vehicle' triangle for the trip home I'm a little worried about that long stretch down the mountain. Not from the roadways but from some speedball transport driver. I'm hoping that if he sees a slow moving vehicle sign from WAAAAY back, I might have a chance. Natalia will follow me, but she'll give me a lot of room down that mountain."

"Then we are going for coffee," Natalia laughed, "I think that it is a ritual or something here."

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Natalia walked through the service shop doors with Pete and she walked right over to the only Ural in sight which looked to be ready to drive, and she walked around it twice, holding up her cellphone to take a few pictures.

"Hey!" she laughed and pointed to the small lettering on the sidecar, "CCCP! They do not put this on their Urals."

"What does that mean, anyway?" Pete asked.

"It means 'Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik'," Natalia said in flawless Russian, "In Cyrillic text the first letters are CCCP. Probably better to say SSSR, but nobody here would know what it was then. In English, it means 'Union of Soviet Socialist Republics'."

"It doesn't matter," Pete said, "it's gone anyway. I just don't know why anybody would put it on there. It doesn't come like that from the factory."

"The IMZ-Ural factory hasn't made one for the government since the late 1950s," the dealer said, "Military production was turned over to the KMZ plant in the Ukraine at that time. That's where the Dneprs were made. They were essentially the same as the Ural military models," he said indicating the one in front of them.

"Can I sit in it?" she asked and both men nodded.

"This is nice," she smiled a moment later, "Very comfortable and a lot of room. I think that I might be able to read a novel like this."

"I'll try to put in a little book rack," Pete laughed, "You can keep a copy of War and Peace there for when you want to sleep."

She made a face at that, "I liked Anna Karenina much better."

"Really?" Pete asked, "I thought it was shit, but then I'm probably just an uncultured slob."

"Probably," Natalia nodded, "Do they give a name to things like this here? I knew boys who gave their cars names such as Felix, always a boy's name."

"For some reason," Pete said, "the usual custom here -- if you wanted to do that - would be to use a girl's name, though I don't know why. I think it comes from speaking about ships as though they were women.

Hey, go on and give it a name. You just can't call it Bob. I already have a bike named Bob."

"Why did you name it that?" she asked.

"I didn't. That's the model name -- Fat Bob."

Natalia shook her head, "Well if we are going to be silly and give this a name, then it should be a girl's name. This is quite obviously a female Ural, ... whatever it is and because of her birth nationality, it should be a Russian name."

She looked at Pete's expression, "What? Is it wrong?"

"No," he shook his head, "Not at all. You go on ahead and call, uh, her whatever you want to. I'll live with your choice."

"Fine," she nodded with a little smile, "Then she is Svetlana. I have always liked that name."

"Ok," Pete chuckled, "Svetlana she is." He laughed a little, "I even like that, but don't ask me to explain it."

Natalia almost made it out the door by keeping still on the topic, but Pete said, "Oh, and Natalia will need a helmet. She's the bravest girl I know and I'd like to get her something so that she doesn't freeze."

She stuck her tongue out at him, but when they left, she had a few articles to put into the Cavalier.

"I think I have read somewhere that they have stores here where they will sell you old army clothes. We could have just gone there and saved a lot of money."

"Sure," Pete smiled, "But there aren't any around here and you'd have looked like a green garbage bag at the side of the road -- unless we bought camo stuff and then we'd have some expensive used clothes for you. I like this a lot better. Natalia, just trust me."

"But this looks like a snowmobile suit for a mechanic," she almost whined.

"So does mine," he sighed, "I know a place where you can get something a lot nicer and we can go there soon. I only bought that because I know that it'll be warm for you and you were gonna kill me if I bought the one that would have looked a lot nicer on you."

"Well I do like my helmet," she smiled, holding it up, "This is cool."

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He had a little trouble getting it started, since it had been years since he'd had a bike with a choke. But it came back to him and then they prepared to go.

Natalia walked back to him and did her best horrible Russian accent for him then, "Give to me kiss, darlink."

He kissed her and she smirked, but that was gone in an instant and replaced by a look of concern. "Please be careful, Pyotr. Go slow if you wish to. I love you, so be careful."

Pete was just a little shocked, though he knew that he shouldn't have been. It was just the first time that he'd heard her say it. "I love you, Natalia. I'll be careful. We have a date for coffee, right?"

She nodded and then she let him go as she walked back to her car, but she stopped abruptly and came back to him.

"I want to see it go backwards."

Pete grinned as he engaged reverse and she laughed as she watched him back up about ten feet.

She walked over then and kissed him -- really kissed him, and for once, not giving a damn, either.

"Now you can go," she smiled, "Put on your helmet and be careful. I need more like that last one. Anytime, Pete. Whenever you get this idea in your mind, I want my kisses that way."

The trip was uneventful but slow, and that was for a couple of reasons. They stopped at a self-serve to get gas and Pete filled the five gallon tank as well at the two gallon red plastic spare that he's brought along just in case. That took a little time.

What took a lot longer was answering the questions of the people who saw the rig and came over to ask about it. But they were off after a while.

The only worry then - besides getting run down by people who seemed to think that the speed limit was just a suggestion - was that it began to snow. It wasn't much and Pete doubted that there would be any accumulation, but his concern was that the road surface might get slick. He also didn't think that would give him any trouble, but the people who blasted along over the speed limit probably wouldn't think to take their feet off the gas pedals just because it was a little slick ...

But they made it to his place and he waited until Natalia stepped out in her blue insulated coveralls. It was obvious that she still didn't like it.

"Well I like it on you," he grinned, "You'll be warm and I just love that bum. Even that suit can't hide the gentle curves."

She stepped into his arms and kissed him very softly, happy that they'd made it this far. "I want to say that I will murder you in your sleep tonight for this," she chuckled, "But I just can't. You make me laugh so much when I still want to cry."

"Then I'll always want to make you laugh," he nodded.

He unscrewed the fuel tank cap a minute later and looked inside, "Not great, but it used less than I thought it would, and it's winter."

She looked a little apprehensive when he started it again, but she remembered what he'd said, so she pulled on her helmet and he fastened it for her, since she was unfamiliar with it. By then, the snow had really picked up, but neither of them cared much. It seemed to be a little bit of a symbolic gesture to them that they putter off for a coffee at the store.

It only took them the few seconds to get to the end of the driveway before they realized the shortcomings of them both wearing full-face helmets. Pete lifted his visor and motioned for Natalia to do the same. "I'm going to get us an intercom for this so we can talk without feeling like you're yelling inside a pot."

"Oh thank God," she smiled, "This talking is terrible, but I like the ride so far."

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"Hi," Natalia said to the store clerk as she walked in. Pete was still outside, buttoning down the sidecar tonneau cover so that no snow would accumulate on Natalia's seat while they were inside, "Do you have any coffee on? Pete and I have come a long way just to have some. If you don't, would you please make some? I will pay for a whole pot."

"Coming right up," Pat smiled, "So Pete was able to help you the other night?"

Natalia nodded," He helps me with everything. I almost cannot get him to stop, but I like it. We have become friends and I have never known anyone like him."

"Well it looks to me just from here that he's a lot happier. I haven't seen him like looking like that for a long time now," the clerk said.

"He has a new toy from today," Natalia said helpfully.

"Oh, I think it's more than just that."

"Just what?" Pete said as he stomped in, "Hey Pat. What were you saying?"

"I just said that you're not such a miserable old shit by the look of you."

"Yeah well, I guess I've got you fooled then," he said, "And you always said that nobody can fool an old broad."

"Nobody can," Pat laughed, "but I do like what I see today. So just what the hell is that thing you bought?"

"It is a very expensive coffee-getting machine," Natalia laughed.

Pete nodded, "Military-grade, too. Now I can take Natalia for coffee any time in any weather."

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"Well I like our friend Svetlana," Natalia smiled across the table at him after gazing at the rig through the window with him, "She's fun and she has a little class. At first, I thought that I liked the black one that they had better, but I think Svetlana has something to go better in bad weather, right?"

He nodded as he sipped his coffee, liking it all the more because of Natalia, "This one is just like the ones that you saw in Romania. I can engage the sidecar wheel so that it pulls too, if things get slippery."

"Can we do this again tomorrow?"

"Sure, Natalia," he grinned, "We can get a cup here when we get up and then later if you want, we can go into town for groceries and then coffee and a bit of lunch."

She looked a little nervous at that, and it concerned the twenty-odd kilometer ride each way, though she looked forward to it now, knowing that it was just a matter of getting used to it.

"Pete? I see that Svetlana seems to have everything. I have seen places to hang extra fuel cans and medical kits, and I saw that she even comes with a small shovel in case we need to dig her out, but, ...

Well, does she have a place where I can pee after so much coffee?"

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Natalia's eyebrows rose after she got into the sidecar Pete was handing her a cardboard canister of hot chocolate. She held it up with a dubious expression. "You were not out," she said.

I think you've been drinking too much coffee," he smiled, "Besides, you told me that you love hot chocolate."

"What will we do if this works for us?" She shook the can at him, "And I do not mean the hot chocolate.

What if we decide to go on like this?"

He looked slightly surprised, "We haven't decided that? I thought we had. You don't like living at your house and while you love my place, you keep seeing little reminders in it constantly about the patron of the shrine, right?

I'm a man, but I'm not stupid. It's past time to put a lot of memories away."

They were reversing, and Pete was looking over his shoulder while Natalia sat in shock.

"We get married whenever it makes sense to you, and then we sell my house first, find and buy the home that we'll live in and then sell yours after."

Are you sure?" Natalia asked, needing to push the words over the clatter of Svetlana's motor.

He looked at her as he took it out of reverse, "No, of course I'm not sure."

He smiled, "But I'm happy."

She put the container down and rested her hand on Pete's knee, "I am very happy, Pete.

But you will waste money that way. We sell my house so that I can say goodbye to my ghost. Allow me to remodel some parts of your house. I will save every picture of your Maggie, but I do not wish to see them everywhere. I think that is what you mean.

I want to save as much as I can, but I will pay for this and as long as you offer marriage to me, then I say yes and I will use some for a honeymoon to somewhere where there is no snow.

I never had one. I also never had a ring when I said yes before. Jerczy cared enough then, but we were too poor. I do not think I care too much about the kind of ring, Pete, but I would like one now."