XIII. KAZBEK ROMANCE
Emi, Sophie, and Fleya were in the dirty, abandoned lower floor that once belonged to Vakhtang.
— Do you need help? — Sophie called from the kitchen, carefully scrubbing a plate with a wet sponge.
— No, thanks! — Emi replied from the living room while clearing the walls.
— It feels so empty in this house, — Sophie said sharply. — And it’s so unusual that we’re here alone now.
— Yeah, — Emi answered. — Though I didn’t really like them at all, being alone somehow feels worse… I guess.
— My life also feels kind of empty right now. Everything old has slowly gone: family, friends, the shop, the home. Only Mariam is left. Something new has appeared: you and Fleya, the band. But the foundation of this new life, where I’m now a vocalist, feels so shaky and fragile. I’m afraid everything will fall apart again… I like everything right now, but maybe I just struggle with change.
— I understand you very well… And most importantly, we’re together on this path.
— Yes, I know you understand me very well, Emi. Sometimes I feel like we’re real soulmates.
By midday Mariam and Elvin appeared at the doorstep. Elvin rolled in a whole suitcase.
— So many things? — Sophie was surprised. — It’s only four days… although yeah, we do need warm clothes there.
— These are mine too. Yeah, a lot of warm clothes. Georgiy from the travel agency will come at six, right? — Mariam asked. — Have you decided what you’re taking?
— Yeah, at six. We still need a bit of time to get ready, — Emi replied.
— By the way, how did you sleep? Weren’t you tired? We need to really gather strength… the mountains don’t forgive weakness, haha!
— We slept well, Sophie and I at least slept from midnight till ten. Fleya woke up a few times during the night, but I still don’t understand her sleep rhythm. Mariam, I had such a strange dream… — Emi said. — We somehow invited Vazha over for a sleepover and were casually talking to him like friends, and then he got extremely drunk, brought his bus, and drove us into these mountains. Probably where we’re going today. He drove horribly, almost fell into a cliff, kept making vulgar jokes and disgusting remarks, he was touching you and openly hitting on you, and then flirting with me. God, I try to think well of him, not to judge him, but in my subconscious he still feels like that…
— Good thing we’re going without him! But I don’t think he’d actually be the type to harass someone. He’s not that kind of person.
Sophie looked from Emi to Mariam with a worried expression.
— You know, — she said, — I don’t want to scare you, but I have a bad feeling about this trip. Yes, I organized everything myself, but I was really careless. I picked the first tour I found because it was the cheapest, some basement travel agency, who even knows what they’re selling there. I asked Georgiy: “The road is closed from October to May, how are we going to climb the mountain?” He said: “Don’t worry, I have a permit.” And I’m scared… how can this be in the middle of winter, when climbing is forbidden for tourists? I’ve always loved mountains, loved extreme things, but this past year I’ve become more fearful. Maybe it’s because my parents died in a terrible crash?
— Maybe, — Mariam replied. — Definitely because of that. It’s like in our song… Pain breaks a person, unfortunately you can’t get rid of it completely, but I think over time it becomes a little easier.
— I admit, sometimes they come to me in dreams. Like we’re back in our old house, sitting at the table, laughing and drinking tea. And in those dreams you often appear too, Mariam.
— My heart sanks every time I think about your family…
Emi and Fleya packed their things, and then went downstairs with loaded bags.
— This day is dragging so slowly, — Sophie noticed. — Maybe we should do something before leaving, go somewhere?
— How about karaoke? — Mariam suggested. — I haven’t sung in so long and I miss it so much… okay that sounds absurd, I mean karaoke with friends. I used to really like it. Let’s go?
— The karaoke at Timur’s, the one on Rustaveli?
— Yeah, that one is nice and cheap.
They arrived. It was a dusty old basement room. From the ceiling’s panel lights came a flickering warm glow; the walls were tiled in different colors: red, blue, yellow… There was a TV, and on a table lay an old worn leaflet: “Catalog of Musical Works”, a creaky burgundy sofa stood there, and the guests held surprisingly good microphones.
Emi and Sophie, holding hands, had already been singing for five minutes a slow, enveloping song. There were barely any lyrics—just the same phrase repeated over and over: “Love you…” like a mantra; a melodic guitar line pierced the skin, seeping inside.
Mariam and Elvin were browsing the catalog:
— Maybe something danceable? — Elvin suggested.
— Sorry, not in the mood, — Mariam replied. — I want something melancholic.
Then Fleya picked Emi up and chose a song. There were cosmic motifs, the silence of a boundless universe, a silent scream into the sky that no one would hear… A quiet voice howled, lifting everything higher and higher, sinking everything deeper and deeper.
— “It’s so similar to the place where I lived,” — Fleya said emptily when the song ended. She imagined her home slope of Mtatsminda: how in winter it was buried in snowstorms; how in spring she and the beings once close to her, as a child, gathered fragrant flowers; how in summer the sun melted both the city and the meadow and the abyss; how in autumn the ground was covered with orange and yellow leaves. This piece of quiet, endless nature gave birth to her. Maybe Fleya is just like nature itself—a lonely tree torn from a grove, or a fast-flowing narrow stream that moves forever?
Exactly at six, an old black foreign car from the 80s pulled up to the house, with a fairly large dent on the bumper. The driver honked, and the five of them got into the car.
— Hello, — Sophie was the first to greet him. — You do remember we have one more… how to put it… “persona”? There are five of us. Here are your eleven hundred, and the two hundred eighty extra payment.
— Oh, that’s wonderful, but where is your lovely friend? Will she get in from here or from another place? — Georgiy asked in a hoarse, elderly voice.
— Well… she needs to touch you. I told you, she’s not quite ordinary.
At that moment the engine roared, and the car was already rolling down the road.
— Oh my God… — a hot hand was felt on the travel agent’s shoulder.
— Her name is Fleya. Don’t be afraid, she’s good. She’s almost like a human.
— Fleya… who are you? Could it be… are you a fairy?
They were rolling through the side streets, swaying from side to side at more than twenty kilometers per hour over the speed limit, and then spilled out onto the avenue, where the movement became smoother.
— I’ll say this right away, don’t be afraid of sharp turns, — Georgiy said, clicking his tongue. — We’ll be going through many steep sections. But we’re going to the mountains! Cheer up! Let’s turn on the radio!
Immediately a loud, crackling sound of some Georgian folk song filled the car.
— And now I can make an announcement. My name is Georgiy, I am a travel professional with many years of experience. You are traveling with the tourism company “Five-Pointed Star”. We have been on the market since 2001, and during this time we have developed many luxury tours: waterfalls, sea, mountains, gorges, foreign resorts—everything you can imagine—contact us. Our destination is Stepantsminda, or Kazbegi. I am pleased to welcome you aboard my tiger; this car is very powerful, it looks small from the outside, but inside it is a true off-roader with the soul of a jet engine! Our travel time is three hours. Have a pleasant trip! If you have any questions—ask. If you feel unwell or need help—after all, the mountains are unforgiving—tell me.
After passing a short stretch in the city, the car quickly got onto the Georgian Military Highway. The road was a serpentine; there were no streetlights, it was already completely dark, and visibility was almost zero—the only guide was the faint red glow of the headlights. The beautiful landscapes along the way remained almost unnoticed: the only thing that could be made out was a black stripe stretching into the distance, the sky a bluish-black slightly lighter shade, and the mountains appearing as patches of colorless voids.
— Somewhere over there is our village, and over there, probably a mountain, — Sophie whispered during another turn and pointed into the distance. — This will be our home for four days now. I can’t wait! And you?
— My legs are a bit numb, — Emi replied in the same whisper, — and I feel a little nauseous after the road.
— It’s fine, we’ll sleep and rest!
— Since everyone’s whispering, — Mariam joined in, — I will too. I spent the whole trip in headphones, even though the connection was barely working, I managed to catch it somehow! I can’t stop rewatching what we filmed. Vazha bought targeted ads for the video, and it already has a hundred thousand views, tons of comments, and followers are pouring in! Everyone’s writing something… crazy. But I’m happy!
— What are they writing? — Sophie asked.
At nine o’clock, lights appeared from the windows, the car turned onto a street and stopped on a dusty gravel road near the guesthouse. “We’re here!” the tour guide shouted. Everyone got out of the car.
— Damn cold! — Elvin exclaimed.
A sharp frost immediately hit their skin: it had dropped to minus nineteen. It was very spacious around: damp, unfinished buildings stood among empty lots on the street where the guesthouse was located—a fairly large two-story gray building with carved balconies. On the other side, mountains stretched out, though barely visible in the dark night. Georgiy led the tourists inside and assigned rooms: one for Mariam and Elvin, another for Emi, Sophie, and Fleya, and asked:
— What time do we start tomorrow? You probably want to sleep in?
— Let’s say twelve, — Mariam suggested.
Elvin dropped his suitcase and lay down.
— Let’s go to them! — Mariam said. — Come on, let’s just lie around some more!
— Yeah… let’s go, — Elvin agreed reluctantly.
They knocked on the next door.
— Oh, everything here is so decrepit, — Mariam noticed. The parquet was worn, the wallpaper burned at the edges. Ours is much cleaner and newer. Maybe you should ask to change rooms?
— Strange, the rooms cost the same, — Emi said.
— Same cheap. I guess we just got lucky. But anyway, you can try.
— You can still live here, there’s no dirt. I don’t know, we’re only here for this night, tomorrow in a tent, then two more nights and that’s it, I think we can manage, — Sophie replied. — By the way, we were talking in the car and didn’t finish. So how’s the video doing? I haven’t seen anything at all, I don’t have access to the “ANGELIC KISS” account.
— People are saying we’re cool, they admire how beautiful it is and how we feel… In one day we got four hundred new followers. I feel so strange… like random people on the internet, maybe not even from our city, now know about us.
— Yay! — Sophie shouted. — I knew it would work! Well done, your Vazha, by the way, you can pass him my thanks. Come here everyone, let’s hug! Fleya, you too!
Fleya became so emotional that she even cried.
— Sometimes I feel like we’re the best, — Sophie continued, tightly pressed against the others. — The coolest people who randomly met and came together. There is no band in Tbilisi cooler than us.
— Absolutely true! — Mariam replied. By the way, I’m really hungry. Is there any civilization here? Shops, cafes?
— Of course, it’s a village. Georgiy said food is included, you just show vouchers in some restaurant and they’ll cook for us for free.
— I wonder what quality the restaurant is. Probably the cheapest dump with bugs and flies in the food, — Mariam laughed.
— I hope the restaurant is better than the room. Anyway, the bugs probably died in this cold. Wait, I’ll call the guide and check.
— Emi will be best in this cold, she lived in Siberia. And me too, I don’t feel cold, — Fleya added.
— It’s not Siberia, it’s Moscow, — Emi replied. — And I’m actually very sensitive to cold, Fleya.
Sophie went into the hallway to call, since the signal was weak in the room.
— I found out: the restaurant is fine, Georgian cuisine, but it’s on the outskirts, about a twenty-minute walk. And we have three vouchers per person per day, ten lari each. Fleya, don’t worry, you too.
— Well, well, — Mariam replied, — they’re offering us food for ten lari?
— I brought another thousand, we’ll top up.
— That’s good. Are we going now?
— Yeah, just need to pick up the vouchers. Georgiy is in the next hotel.
They went to Georgiy and headed toward the restaurant.
— This place feels so strange… — Emi said. — It’s like everything here is dead. Is there even anyone here besides us?
A lone man in a knitted balaclava passed by them.
— Maybe it’s a nerdy thing, — Emi continued, — but I often scroll through Google Street View of different cities in different countries, villages, and godforsaken little towns, studying streets and routes, looking at their shops, bus stops, or ordinary houses, and imagining that I live somewhere there. I used to be able to spend an entire day doing that.
— Yes! — Sophie’s eyes lit up. — I used to do the same thing. We’re definitely made for each other. I never thought I’d find someone with such similar interests.
— That’s amazing! For me, I guess it’s just music and talking to people, — Mariam replied. — But in my opinion, intelligent people, especially those interested in geography or history, are insanely sexy… and honestly, anyone who has at least more than two interests.
They entered a small wooden building with several wooden tables covered in tablecloths. Music was playing there—similar to what had been playing in the guide’s car.
Everyone was looking through the menu and choosing dishes, except Elvin. He was scrolling through social media.
— Are we getting alcohol? — Mariam asked.
— Right away? — Sophie replied.
— Why not? Let’s drink to the fact that we’re together. Vodka, wine, chacha?
— Oh, let’s skip vodka and chacha, that’s too much. I’ll go with wine.
— Elvin, what will you have? Come on, get off your phone, please!
— I… — he looked at the menu — I want mulled wine.
— They have mulled wine here? Then I’ll take it too!
They ate well and started drinking wine.
— Emi, you’re going to be the drunkest again! — Sophie joked. — Actually, drunk Emi is kind of adorable! I might drink more just for that.
Emi kept drinking more and more. She sat to the right of Sophie and to the left of Mariam, overwhelmed with tenderness.
— Sophie, do you know why I love you the most? — Emi said, pausing after another sip. — Because you have the purest and brightest soul. How the hell can someone be so kind? Everything you do… it’s all so sincere, you’re always helping everyone, you always love everyone—not because someone forces you, but just because! You have a loving heart, that’s what you have!
— Thank you, — Sophie melted. — I love you so much too!
Emi turned left and continued:
— Mariam… I’m sorry, I still haven’t been able to forget you. I still think about you every night before I fall asleep, I think about what if you were lying there with me, and everything was like before. I miss what we had before so much…
Sophie’s expression suddenly changed sharply and she said:
— Enough. Please stop. If you want to talk about this, do it alone, not here and not while you’re sober.
— The restaurant is closing! — the waiter announced, approaching their table.
They left. Emi was stumbling, and Sophie and Fleya supported her on each side.
— Come on, just a little more!
Fleya pulled Emi out of a large snowdrift she had fallen into. As soon as they got back to the room, Emi fell into a dead sleep. In the morning she woke up around nine from the cold.
The rooms were flooded with bright sunlight, reflections flashing in the windows. The sky at dawn was yellow, and the rocky mountains standing near the house were still covered in shadow. Mariam and Elvin went out onto the balcony in light clothes to smoke.
— It’s so beautiful in the morning… — Mariam said, squinting into the sun. — It was worth coming here after all.
— You’re the most beautiful thing here, — Elvin said after finishing his cigarette and hugged her.
Mariam smiled and kissed him.
— I could stay like this my whole life… Here, with you, in this cheap hotel. You, me, the mountains, cigarettes, the sunrise—what else do you need for happiness?
— That’s true… By the way, aren’t you cold? I can bring jackets, I’m already freezing.
— It is cold, but don’t. It’s a special pleasure—standing in twenty-degree frost without clothes. The air is quiet and light, the sun is shining right on us, freshness cuts through the body… let me enjoy it a little longer.
— Alright, I’ll do the same then.
— Honestly, I don’t even want to go anywhere today. I’d just sit on the balcony, eat at the restaurant, lie in bed, and leave back for Tbilisi in four days. I just want to rest from all this rushing… All these climbs are for Sophie, I don’t like this at all, just between us, so she won’t get offended.
— Honestly, me neither. So maybe we just won’t go anywhere and rest like you suggested? We’re separate anyway.
— No, — Mariam whispered, — what are you saying? Sophie paid for all of us, brought us here, wanted to make us happy. We’d just ruin everything! It’s fine, the tent will be fun too!
At that moment Emi, Sophie, and Fleya came out onto the balcony from the next door.
— Hi, did you just wake up? — Mariam asked.
— Yeah, — Emi replied.
— I’m already a bit hungry. Should we go to the restaurant and then get ready?
— Are we leaving soon?
— Pretty soon.
— There’s not really any breakfast food at the restaurant, it’s heavy meals, — Sophie said. — Maybe we should go to a supermarket? We’ll save money, and unused vouchers can be used later. Also, after yesterday I’d feel a bit awkward.
— What happened yesterday? — Emi asked nervously.
— You were shouting really loudly about personal things… everyone was looking at us…
— About what? — Emi trembled.
— About me and Mariam. It’s okay, don’t worry.
— I’m sorry… please.
They went to a supermarket and bought instant porridge with berries, cookies, and water for the road. Sophie’s phone rang.
— Hello, is this Georgiy? — she asked.
— Hello. Unfortunately, the hike is postponed until tomorrow.
— Tomorrow? You said it would definitely be today!
— Well, man proposes and God disposes. We didn’t manage to get the permit in time. Sorry.
— And tomorrow for sure?.. You said the tour included some activities?
— Yes, of course. There’s just one change: we’ll be staying in a tourist center instead of a tent because the weather isn’t very favorable. Today you can ride bikes on the glacier, but that’s mainly for experienced tourists, or reach the Gergeti church, which is the first stop of tomorrow’s route anyway, or play billiards with me.
— Not much… anything else?
— No, sorry.
The disappointed tourists returned to the guesthouse and lazily spent the day in warm beds. Toward sunset they went to the restaurant again, then walked despite the cold and explored the entire village.
— Well… — Mariam said, — there’s nothing else to do here, I guess we’ll have to play billiards out of desperation. With Georgiy.