I blew on the box as a cloud of dust engulfed me. Coughing due to the dust I dropped the box in utter frustration. The lid of the box burst open and the contents spilt out. I was amazed to see a sheaf of letters of various shapes and sizes, beautiful envelopes and some little gift items. Taking off my housekeeping apron, I sat down cross-legged on the wooden floor of my attic and drew the big wooden box towards me.

I was packing my articles as we were supposed to move to Moscow. I got a job there with a renowned private hospital as the manager. My parents were excited about seeing a new life and a new city. But well I had a feeling that something was not right. I was forgetting something which I should have remembered about Russia, about Moscow...

It was a time when you feel at loss. It's like you want to recall something but you just can't, like a particular memory is lost forever from your mind. When I think of Russia the thing that my mind's eye shows is a pair of dark, chocolate brown eyes, a silhouette of a thin, tall man against the sun, the smell of lavender perfume, and then the touch of a rough hand with long fingers interlaced through mine...and then there's darkness...it's like someone is blocking my mind from bringing forth anything beyond that, but why?

Well, I had no answer to that and my head starts aching when I try. I had consulted many doctors and therapists, psychologists and even psychiatrists but none could tell me the cause. There was definitely some connection. Now I was moving to Russia and wanted to find the missing connection.

Flicking through beautiful envelopes I smiled occasionally seeing a word here and a word there...

'Rosella, I love you'...

'Rose, You are my heart'...

'I am ready to die for you my love'...

'I am your John and you are my Ro,
Always forever, wherever we go.'...

True, I was the most popular girl in high school. Rosella Lytton was the name everybody was ready to die for. Well I never tried to attract attention but somehow boys came to me like bees to a flower. Be it my grades or my singing, I was the star. But there was just too much false attention. I was craving for that one touch of true love. The one person who would love me more than all the flirtatious young men and their stupid declarations of love. One person who was ready to devote his everything for me.

Then suddenly my eyes fell on a beautiful envelope in glossy black and ornately designed in gold. It looked so beautiful. Who was it from? I didn't remember...

I picked up the piece of art and turned it over in my hand. I was opened but surprisingly it brought forth no memories. My mind withdrew itself completely into its shell. I carefully took out the letter enclosed, expensive ivory paper embossed in gold with beautiful letters in glossy black ink.

I didn't recognise the writing. It was beautiful calligraphy and then my eyes got caught in a single line...Я люблю тебя...
'I love you'? This was written in Russian. But why would somebody write to me in Russian? Again Russia? Why is my life so attached to Russia? I honestly don't remember.

Suddenly the throbbing pain was back in my head and along with it the flood of memories...

It was just four years ago but it seemed like decades... I am remembering my friends... I am sitting at a table, always being surrounded by guys trying to catch my attention. I sit and read a novel completely ignoring their stupid babbles...then I look at my watch and I get up intending to meet someone. My heart yearns to meet that one person, his towering figure under our favourite maple tree. He has his back to the tree trunk and I move fast wanting to touch him and to hold those hands, feel the warm touch. I reach out for him and then... it's all black again and my head is reeling...

Clutching my head in my hands I try desperately to stop the pain but to no avail. A tear unnoticed by all leaks from the corner of my eye. I tried my best to hold on to myself but soon I started weeping. I drew my knees to my chest and curled into a ball. No one noticed one lonely girl crying in the attic...

No, I couldn't accept defeat. I had to try. I focused more on that particular incident I had to see him. I was fighting against an invisible wall in my mind which threatened to overpower me. I picked up the envelope once more and my eye immediately caught the name of the sender...Yours Dmitriy...
A pair of beautiful warm lips, a rush of passion, a feeling of being complete once and forever, a pair of beautiful eyes as deep as the ocean, beautiful dark hair reaching up to his neck, which shone brown in the sun, and then he comes near me And holds my hands gently. I lose myself in his eyes, there's nothing except those liquid eyes which could see into my soul, I tried to see his face. But it was all a blur, a soft pair of lips touched mine as gentle as a feather but it created a rush of electricity in my body. I wanted to own every bit of him... then again my head was spinning...I lost my balance, I fell down and my head hit the floor. The whole world spun and I found my sight dimming. My head hurt and yet I tried to push through the curtain of darkness, His face...I had to see his face...and yes I could see a pair of eyebrows, a perfect smile and then the outline of his face was forming....I was sweating from the exertion and then the world plunged into darkness. And I lost myself in the endless abyss of unconsciousness.

A/N I hope are enjoying this. Don't forget to vote and comment please....Wait for the next part and honestly, I am waiting for it too. This story is writing itself and I am getting lost in its labyrinth. So I don't know what turn it will take next....With Love from Masquerade ❤❤