Lera, Part 3

LERA
PART 3

Instinctively, Mrs. Maewsky had a feeling that her daughter had changed. She
suspected it from some occasional phrases she rememembered from telephone
talks with her mother-in-law and Lera. And intuition was telling Mrs. Maewsky
that she would not like these changes at all. Finally she decided to find out
herself what was going on and to do it without warning. So, two weeks before
the entrance exams Mrs. Maewsky went to St. Paulsburg. 

One week before her Mom came, Lera had taken a one-month leave to prepare for
the exams. This summer evening was hot, so when Lera was coming back home from
a public library she only had on a low-cut T-shirt and tight denim shorts. She
lit up at a subway station exit and was smoking on her way home.  Lera made a
last good-sized drag and exhaled smoke from her lungs near the entrance.  She
opened a door with her own keys and saw her Granny speaking with her Mom.  She
had likely arrived a few minutes before Lera came.

Mrs. Maewsky came up to Lera, but instead of embraces and kisses she said in
an angry voice: "Well, well, and you're going to tell me that you've been
studying at the library - almost naked and with a painted face?! And what does
this smell mean, you reek of a smoke like an ashtray! Are you a smoker??"

It was impossible to deny, in addition to fresh smoke on her breath Lera had
cigarettes and a lighter in a back pocket of her shorts. So, she sighed and
said: "Yes, I'm smoker. Please, don't blame Granny, she didn't know anything-"

However, Mrs. Maewsky became mad: "Look at yourself! You are as a dirty
bitch, a prostitute! How many clients do you have?!" Mrs. Maewsky expected her
daughter would cry and ask for forgiveness, but Lera had changed inwardly as
well. Lera did not loose her temper even though it was very hard, and answered
her mother very politely: "Yes, I have some. But they are not clients. I make
a love with them for free - sorry, Mom, I better go."

Lera went back out to the street. She badly needed a cigarette and lit up
immediately. She was smoking rapidly, with cheekhollowing drags, double pumps
and nostril exhales. She finished the first cig and lit up another one. Lera
always chained when she was nervous. Nicotine calmed her down a little bit,
but she didn't want to go back home. She went along the street and came back
to the square near the subway station. It was a noisy place with a lot of
shops and restaurants. Lera left her purse at home, but fortunately found a
few small notes in a pocket of her shorts.

That was enough for some coffee and when Lera came to a coffee shop she 
sat at an outside tabled.  She asked a waiter to bring her a big cup of
Nescafe and an ashtray. Lera needed to put her mind in order and the first
thing she required for that was a cigarette, of course. She was smoking her
cigarettes and thinking. Gradually, little by little, her feelings and emotions
began to change. The offence and irritation had disappeared. After all, Lera
was a kind girl and she began to feel sorry for her Mom. "She always wished
me only well." At the same time it was clear to Lera that she would never
change her lifestyle, even if her mother disapproved of it. She was not a
little girl anymore. She had become a young, self-sufficient woman who had her
own private life.  Lera was sitting at the coffee shop already for more than
two hours and it had become dark. She had two cups of coffee and had lost a
count of how many cigarettes she smoked - maybe seven or eight. While she
was sitting, two different males - an adult and a boy - asked her
if she was waiting for somebody.  They just could not walk by a young sexy
woman, sitting alone at the coffee shop.  But Lera told both of them with a
smile: "I'm waiting, but not for you." 

Once again she opened a cigarette box and saw that there was only one cig
left.  She counted her money - it was enough to pay for coffee, but she could
not buy a new pack. Lera lit up, took a drag and thought: "Cigarettes
finished- it's a high time to go home in any case". She could not stay without
cigarettes for very long...

When Lera returned home to her great surprise she saw her Mom and Granny
peacefully drinking coffee and talking. Mom looked at her, smiled a bit sadly
and shyly and said: "Come here, Mrs. Independence, don't be scared. I'm not
going to eat you."

"Yes, Mom."  Lera went up to her mother. 

She didn't know what was going to happen, but this was something new. She
never had seen her mother looking at her as she was now.

"Lera," said mother, " I tried to raise you with strict rules and I don't like
the lifestyle you have chosen. But I have to admit that you are an adult
woman and you are free to do whatever you feel is right".

"Oh, Mom, I do appreciate your opinion-"

"There is no need for any explanations, honey," breathed Mrs. Maewsky, "You
are my baby, and I'll always love you, even if I do not like you having
sex with guys before marriage or your smoking habit very much."

"Thank you, Mom-"

"Don't thank me." Mrs. Maewsky was trying not to cry. "I only want to tell
you, that I always wished you only well".

"I know that," answered Lera and kissed her Mom and then went to her bedroom.
She sat at the window and lit up her last, before bed cigarette. She was not
going to make any great conclusions but she clearly realized that this day was
not an ordinary one - tonight "officially" the old Lera, an awkward bookworm
teenager had gone and a new sophisticated young woman with the same name
appeared.

The old Lera was a virgin, convinced that sex is normal only with a husband
and only after the wedding ceremony. The new Lera had already had sex with
five boyfriends and was quite experienced in having sex with different types
of guys. The old Lera didn't know how to present herself, what kind of dress
and cosmetics to use, how to underline her own personality. The new Lera was a
stylish sexy brunette, and had gotten used to noticing how males stared at
her. And, of course, the old Lera did not smoke, could not take a single puff
whereas the new Lera became one of the "cigarette sisters" - a nickname their
group had among them.

Lera took a last drag and went to bed but she could not fall asleep. She
replayed again and again in her memory what had happened last evening. The
most remarkable thing was her Mom's new tone when speaking with her last
night.  She tossed and turned in bed for an hour or so but sleep did not want
to come. 

Finally, Lera got up, took cigarettes, a lighter and an ashtray and went to a
balcony. The only way for her to fight this insomnia was to chain
two or three cigs in a row - it had helped her before. She lit up, took
two or three good deep drags and felt how her lungs and her body was filling
with a smoke. She smoked slowly, trying to extend the enjoinment. Lera smoked a
cigarette down to the butt and lit up a new one. That hot summer night she
had gone to bed without her night dress, just topless in her panties, and that
was how she was dressed as she smoked.

Nobody could see her that night, but suddenly Lera almost explode in a fit
of giggles: "It might be cool if Jan or other guys who adore smoking
girls could see me now. They would be turned on completely". Lera was smoking
her second cigarette powerfully, with double pumps and nostrils.  She felt how
nicotine penetrated her body. Lera crushed the butt and came to bed. She had a
good deep sleep this night.

A few days later Lera started to pass tests and exams at the university of
economics. This time she was a full success. She became a part-time first year
student. All her family, and her Mom in particular, were happy. Mrs.  Maewsky
became much more tolerant of her daughter's lifestyle, including cigarette
smoking. That is almost the end of the story. What happened with Lera later?
Nothing very special. However-

SIX YEARS LATER (Instead of an epilogue) 

Peter Selchuk noticed this young woman at the airport when he was standing in
a line at a check-in counter. She was a brunette of about 25. Her height was
average, maybe even slightly lower. It was a bit difficult to see her face,
but he noticed soft, thick hair, a slightly turned up nose and wide black
eyebrows. Peter got a strange feeling, that he already knew this lovely face
from his past. But the most terrific thing was the body this brunette had. It
was a doll-like one - long legs, thin waist, sexy hips and busts. "She is made
for love," came to Peter's mind. 

After five or ten minutes the brunette beauty checked in, kissed a guy who
accompanied her (and looked like her boyfriend or husband), and left.  Another
five or ten minutes passed and Peter also checked in and went to a waiting
area. He lit up and looked around - the brunette was also there. She was
speaking on a mobile phone and smoking. That did not surprise Peter very much,
because she looked like a smoker. But remarkably her smoking was making
her even more sexy. The pale skin along with the bones and angles on her face
only added a specific elegance to this woman, her low smoker's voice sounded
seductive.  Definitely she was the kind of woman who turned him on. 

The brunette beauty finished one cigarette, took another, but did not light
it up. She was just holding it in her mouth, while dialing a new number on
her mobile. Peter was staring at the young woman, trying to figure out when
and where he had seen her before. He wanted to ask her about it and, trying to
find a reason to chat with her, asked the first thing which came to mind:

"Excuse me, may I bum a cigarette from you?  My pack is empty, but I need
more before my flight."

She glimpsed at him and answered quickly:
"Sure, help yourself. I'm also smoking as much as possible before my flight.
Maybe it will help enduring those three stupid non-smoking hours."

She passed him a pack of "West-100" regulars, lit up herself and called
again, probably to a hotel: "May I leave a message foor Ms. Tanya, please. Tell
her that Lera Maewsky called from the airport before departure."

He remembered that name of his schoolmate. When they were at school, she was a
quiet, shy girl, a typical bookworm. He remembered also how somebody told him
once that Lera was secretly in love with him. No, it's unbelievable, this
glamorous sexy lady and his old classmate are absolutely different types of
women.

"Excuse me, your name is Lera? Didn't we go to high school together?"

She looked at him attentively and said:

"Is your name Peter- Peter Selchuk?"

They both were happy to see each other. It turned out that they had both lived
in St. Paulsburg all these years. Lera told him that she had a degree in
Economics and was recently promoted to assistant operational manager at a
leasing company. She was going to spend ten days at the sea resort with other
three girls who were already there.

"My boyfriend is not very happy about it. But these girls are my best friends,
we are like sisters and he can't break our traditions."

She finished a cigarette, looked at her watch and said: "It was great to meet
you after so many years. Have a nice flight."

Peter felt as if somebody had cheated him. He was in the same class with
this sexy, stylish woman and did not notice her. Now he was going to miss her
again:

"Lera- when can I see you again?"

She looked at him with interest, slightly smiled and answered:

"Well, if you want," Lera took a piece of paper and wrote down her mobile
number, "Call me in two weeks".

She took her bag and rushed to board. A couple of seconds after she, Peter
still could smell a wonderful mixture of her perfume and cigarettes.

THE END 

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