Chapter 4

Bill awoke refreshed and smiling as if from some forgotten erotic dream. He used to think it strange that he could vaguely remember dreams but could not recall them once he awoke, but after research found that it was not an unusual phenomenon. Bill then remembered Kristel snuggling next to him in the night, but couldn't find her next to him. He then rolled over and discovered that he was alone in his bed. At that moment he heard the toilet flush down the hall and voices in the hallway.

As it was now light out, Bill moved to the edge of the bed and looked for his pajama top. He vaguely remembered laying it out on the chest at the foot of the bed the night before. Fumbling around in the strange room he found the top, now lying on the floor beside the chest. Dressing he made his way into the hallway to find a fully dressed Sergei talking with Kristel who was wearing both a robe and slippers. The conversation stopped when he entered the hallway and he had a feeling that he might have been the subject of their discussion.

Both Sergei and Kristel smiled warmly as Bill approached and Sergei quietly said, "I hope you slept well Bill. I was just telling Kristel that she should not disturb you this morning as you must still be tired from your flight."

Bill wasn't sure whether Sergei knew Kristel had slept with him the night before and wanted to talk with Kristel before he said anything so he smiled back and replied, "I slept fine and feel well rested this morning."

Sergei then said, "Well I have to go into the office. Kaisa also has to go to work later today. She is still resting. Kristel has taken the rest of the week off so she will be able to show you around. I think she has planned to cook you breakfast. I will get out of the way now and let you two enjoy each other." With that Sergei gave Kristel a kiss on the cheek and made his way down the stairs and out of the house.

Kristel turned to Bill and frowned as he said, "You don't have to make me breakfast. I usually don't eat much in the morning anyway. Something hot to drink would be nice though but before that I must get to the bathroom." Saying that he kissed her and went down the hallway to the bathroom where he quickly finished his business and took a few moments to shave and wash his face. Bill had intended to shower but decided to put it off hoping he could lure Kristel back to bed, however when he finished Kristel wasn't upstairs so he decided to take his shower and dress for the day.

The tub was an antique claw-foot design and there was no shower curtain. The only shower was a flexible hand-held tube with a spray-head that fed off of the main tub faucet and so taking a shower took longer than normal. At least the water was plentiful and hot. He dressed quickly and made his way down the stairs to the kitchen.

Kristel was cooking away at what almost looked to be a commercial stove. She looked very serious about what she was doing, so Bill sat down at the small wooden table in a corner of the kitchen. He was hoping that all the food he saw cooked wasn't for him. He exercised regularly but had found the best way to fight the middle-age spread was to limit his foods intake. Seeing her frown when he mentioned not eating he figured the best course of action would be to eat whatever she put before him and complement her highly on her culinary skills.

Bill found out later that Kristel had not only cooked breakfast but had spent time in the kitchen of the restaurant attached to the hotel where she worked to find out what Americans might like. She had cooked him at least five or six large eggs, a half-slab of thick cut bacon, something that looked like oatmeal but he later learned was made from barley, and toast made from the same delicious black bread that he had had with the evening meal. To go with all that there was margarine and some type of dark-brown apple butter.

If her entire family had been here, it would have been plenty, but it was way too much for just Bill and Kristel. He ate all that he could and then looked up at her standing over him like his mom used to do. He told her how wonderful it all was and she practically beamed.

Bill had been thinking while she cooked about the tremendous effort she had undertaken for such a simple task. Not only had she done an excellent job of cooking the food, but she had gone to considerable effort to find out what he would most likely enjoy. She then bought the items like bacon and cream of barley (who told her Americans eat that?) and then she learned to prepare them correctly. All this done for him, to make sure he felt at home in her country and in her home. Bill felt overwhelmed by her love and consideration.

Afterwards Bill insisted that he at least help her clean up the kitchen. He had also noted that she had not eaten and tried to get her to eat some of the food. She told him no, that the food was too greasy and heavy for her. When he asked her what she had eaten, she opened the cupboard and showed him a box of cereal, what looked to be Cheerios, his normal breakfast at home. That was more than he could take and he started laughing and he couldn't stop until he was practically rolling on the floor. She seemed hurt at first, as she thought he was laughing at her until he finally managed to explained that Cheerios were his normal breakfast at home.