Saving Anna Karenina
Part 36
Start with Part 1, and read a short synopsis of the original book.
Anna woke up in the dark; how much later, she couldn’t tell. Patti was no longer there, and a new woman lay on the neighboring bed, staring up at the ceiling. Anna could hear her breathing a clumsy, rasping breath. The light from the moon was coming into the room, enough to read by.
Princess Adriana had never been to Asia before this trip. She had spent her whole life in France, Italy, and Switzerland, attending boarding school while her father traveled. Her mother died when Adriana was born. Adriana kept a picture of her in a heart-shaped gold locket around her neck. She had high cheekbones and luscious, pink lips. Her stunning looks were the reason her father was forgiven for marrying a Scandinavian. Brigitta was working as a supermodel in Stockholm and the prince was at loose ends when he accepted an invitation to a fashion show at the last minute. The designer, a friend from university, invited Prince Gabriel to a VIP party in a restaurant afterward. It was in a booth there that he ended up seated next to Adriana’s mother.
Adriana had inherited both of her parents’ most striking features — her father’s olive skin and black hair, and her mother’s blue eyes and high cheekbones. The Indonesians stroked her hair and children touched her face; she had only been in the country for two days and this had become routine. Her father was opening a factory outside of Jakarta, and after the opening ceremony he would be free to go on with his life — to cruise the islands with his only daughter. Adriana had just finished her studies in Geneva and the Prince would finally show her the world beyond sheltered Western Europe.
“Are you afraid of pirates?” said a voice from behind.
She and her father were in the Indonesian state house having their documents prepared for the voyage — stamps and letters of introduction from the government to neighboring governments. Adriana turned to see the owner of the mysterious voice. An American, she thought. He was tanned, and his shorts were embarrassingly out of place for the setting. His plaid shirt was buttoned halfway down his chest and Adriana could see sweat on the exposed skin. Sunglasses were propped atop his head and oh, what a head. Black eyelashes, twinkling green eyes, rosy cheeks and dimples. He looked mischievously at Adriana, as if waiting for her to remember him.
“I..I…I’m sorry, do we know one another?” Her English was always hesitant, she spoke so little of it out of the classroom. Her father, hearing her, turned around.
“Mitch!” said the prince with unusual cool. His gold-buttoned, navy blue sport coat was his least formal attire, marking his vacationing status. He held out his hand and the sturdy stranger pumped it in the way that made Adriana’s friends giggle in university when they encountered the odd American. Adriana had never given an American man a second thought. But she wanted to give Mitch as much thought as possible. And she would have plenty of chances — Mitch would be the captain of their yacht.
Anna was jarred out of her focus by coughing from the roommate. Then she realized she had been focused. It felt so unusual, refreshing. How long had it been since she had not been mentally agitated? Had there actually been a time when she could read three paragraphs uninterrupted by agony or longing, guilt and regret about the way she’d handled things at so many moments with Vronsky? The last time she could remember was Before, when she had been her aunt’s niece, and Alexei Alexandrovich’s wife. In her youth and early adulthood, she read all the time — dramas, romance, stories of monarchs and dynasties. She suddenly felt very hungry. But before she could search out nourishment, she took a moment to revel in the story. Who was this woman, Danielle Stone? Anna would have to find her.
She took breakfast before any of the others, with only the servant in the restaurant. The woman wasn’t as harsh as she had been the last few days, and Anna was relieved that she didn’t have to start the day with confrontations. She wolfed down eggs, bread and butter. Then she sat in a leather chair facing the window that looked out onto the river and bridge. It was a soft rainy day outside. A day to enjoy reading.
This is part 36 of a serialized novella being published each Thursday. It is a speculative sequel to Leo Tolstoy’s novel, Anna Karenina.
Part 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35
I’m the author of Oh, the Places Where You’ll Have a Nervous Breakdown.
