59

Near and far at the same time

“I would never make you separate from a part of yourself, Margaret," I assured her, moving my hand gently across her face, as being like this was calming me down. “What I want from you is very uncertain; I have no idea what I want, to be honest, but I can assure you that what I want most is for us to be parents, both together, and even though our parenting ideas may differ, we'll figure something out, I'm sure," I said, and she closed her eyes with relief.

“I know you probably don't want to answer the next question," she murmured, holding my hand, “but Nikolay, I have to ask. I need to know," she stared at me intently. “Who is Margot? What happened to her?”

“She's not someone important enough to even mention, Margaret," I told her seriously, so much so that she recoiled from my touch on her cheek.

I withdrew it, feeling heaps of sad memories clouding my mind.

Damn it, this was bad, I had to get Margaret out of the office and out of my sight right now.

“W