Chapter One: The Offer

My head throbbed painfully as the baby continued to wail and my cell phone rang in my ears. Not even the smell of Lissa's breakfast could relieve me of the irritation that was quickly building in my system. I'd wanted nothing more than to just lay back and sleep, but clearly my wish was not going to come true.

I sat up and grabbed my phone, but the ringing stopped. The only thing that showed was that I had a missing call from an unfamiliar number. I sighed and the baby's cries began to get louder. Apparently it was going to be up to me. Again.

I got out of bed, a feeling of deja vu sweeping over me as I had done this many mornings and nights before. I'd lost a lot of sleep because of this baby, but damn, I loved him. I walked to the room adjacent to mine, a little slow from just waking up. Inside, it was a typical baby boy's room. The walls were painted a sky blue color, thanks to Lissa, and different baby toys lay scattered around. We were going to have to pick up. In the corner was a white crib with a light blue blanket that had stars stamped on it inside. I approached it and glanced down, glad that the baby was okay. The knot of worry in my stomach that I hadn't even know had formed loosened.

"It's okay, Scott," I whispered, picking up the baby and rocking him in my arms. He looked just like me, a seven-month-old male version of me, without even a hint of his father in him. I could only hope that his father's habits had stayed away, too. "Mom's here. What's up, baby?"

Scott stared up at me with big, dark brown eyes. His cries had lessened the moment I held him in my arms, but I knew that he was hungry. I sighed again and started to walk out of the room, but I nearly ran into Scott's father.

"What, Adrian?" I growled, his green eyes raising my level of irritability. Sure, I loved Scott, but since having him my stress level had risen. Adrian hadn't really been helping things.

Surprise shone on his face, but he quickly composed himself. "Just wanted to check up on you, little angel. And Scott."

The anger and frustration subsided momentarily, as it always did at the mention of Scott. The fact that Adrian cared helped, too. "Thanks, Adrian." I was about to add a few sweet words, when I remembered Scott's wailing and the fact that it was clear that Adrian hadn't just gotten up. The anger returned. "Why didn't you get up and get him? The only thing I wanted to do today was sleep in. You couldn't have helped me just a little and taken care of your son for a change?" My voice got louder and angrier with each word until I was pretty sure I was spitting in his face.

Something a little stronger than surprise flashed across his face. He averted his gaze for a minute and then met mine again with a sincere look. "I'm sorry, little angel. I was just discussing some things with Lissa. I was thinking we could maybe go on a date tonight, just us. We haven't had much alone time since Scott arrived."

"Don't you care about him at all?" I exploded, seeing red in my vision. Didn't Adrian care about his son? He didn't show it. Scott's beloved teddy bear was the only thing Adrian had ever given him and I wasn't sure when the last time they'd had any father and son bonding time.

"Of course!" Adrian exclaimed. "Of course I care about our son. I just thought - "

"Why don't you spend some time with your son and maybe I'll think about it," I snapped, all but shoving Scott into Adrian's arms and ignoring his cries that wrenched my heart. "He's hungry."

I stormed out of the room and entered the large kitchen, adorned with tile flooring, wooden cabinets, marble countertops, and an island in the middle of it all. I sat on one of the stools at the island and stared at Lissa as she cooked breakfast. She was like a housemaid, except she didn't get paid, did it voluntarily, and actually enjoyed it. Good thing, because me and Adrian couldn't cook for anything.

"Hey Rose," Lissa greeted me without turning around. She could probably sense the angry aura that surrounded me and just knew who it was. Or maybe she just...knew. She was my best friend, after all, and had been for twelve years.

"Hey," I mumbled, resting my cheek on my hand. I couldn't hear Scott's familiar cries and hoped Adrian was feeding him right. In the seven months of Scott's life, this was Adrian's fourth time feeding him, and the first time without my supervision.

"Where's Scott?" my best friend suddenly asked, also noticing his absence.

"With Adrian. Thought they should spend some quality bonding time together," I replied, leaning forward to catch a whiff of the food. Eggs were frying over the stove next to a pan of bacon slices. Our normal routine breakfast.

Lissa nodded, flipping the slices of meat over. A few moments of silence passed as I watched Lissa cook before I heard small cries that only Scott could make. I glanced over to see Adrian coming down the hallway with Scott in his arms, patting his back with a look of frustration. He approached me and sighed.

"He keeps crying," Adrian informed me, handing Scott over to me. "I thought he'd stop if I gave him to you."

I glared and pat Scott's back while rocking him in my arms like the protective mother Lissa always said I was. "Did you at least feed him."

Adrian nodded before disappearing back into his room. I sat back down and idly wondered why I was still with Adrian. I mean, it wasn't like he ever did anything useful. I was the one who made most of the money, while Adrian worked as a local bartender and made most of the drinks for himself. It didn't help that he blew his money on cigarettes, too. He didn't spend enough time with Scott, either.

Then I looked at my son - with his big dark eyes and tuft of messy dark hair on his head - and realized why I couldn't leave Adrian. Not only were we engaged to be married as soon as Scott was old enough to participate in the wedding, but I didn't want him to grow up like me. I didn't want Scott to grow up without a father.

And no matter how difficult Adrian could be, he really wasn't all that bad of a person. He gave me warm feelings, sure, but I wasn't exactly sure if it was love. How could I know? I've never felt it. Whatever it was, though, it was something, and that was what mattered.

"Maybe you should take up his offer," Lissa suggested, pulling me out of my thoughts.

"What?"

"You know. His little date night proposal." She gave me a sidelong look before returning to her cooking. "He's right. You guys haven't had much time together since Scott, or even before, and you've been really stressed."

"What about Scott?" I asked.

"I can watch him," she said, giving a small smile. "I am Aunt Lissa after all. I should get some bonding time with my little nephew."

I bit my lip and thought over it. I'd never really left Scott since having him, not with Lissa or Adrian. I hadn't had as many photo shoots, but when I did, I always brought Scott with me. Sometimes he even appeared in them, because everybody knew how much people loved babies. I didn't really want to leave him alone, it made me feel nervous, but I trusted Lissa.

"Fine," I finally said. "I'll talk to him about it."

As any sane person would do, I quickly ate my breakfast and left to avoid the tension at the table, which had built up between me and Adrian that morning. In my room, listening to the silence that engulfed me, and rocking Scott to sleep in my arms, I was finally able to think.

Sure, Adrian should've gotten up and fed Scott, but he was also right that we had barely spent any time together, and we were engaged! Adrian wasn't trying to piss me off on purpose, he was just trying to help me, and better our relationship.

I glanced down at Scott. I was right too, though. Adrian never spent any time with his son. It was like he didn't even care. If we were going to spend some time together, then I was going to make him spend some time with Scott, too.

As I was about to stand up, the door opened, revealing a solemn looking Adrian. He shut the door behind him and looked at the ground.

"Hey," I said.

"Sorry about earlier," he apologized. "I just thought...you know, you were always better at taking care of Scott. And, well, I..."

"It's fine," I intervened. "I've thought about it for a while and decided that maybe you're right. I'll go along with whatever you're planning." We shared big smiles, but before he could say anything, I added, "But only if you spend some quality time with Scott tomorrow. They're reading books at the library tomorrow and I want you to take him."

If I wasn't imagining things, his smile faltered, but he quickly stamped it back on. "I'd love to," he told me. It wasn't overly sincere, but I didn't doubt him. "You're going to leave Scott with Lissa, right?"

I nodded.

"Good. Then I'll go talk some things over with her."

There was silence again as Adrian left, but only for a few moments. The sound of my phone ringing split the air and successfully awakened Scott. He wailed loudly as the ringing continued.

I cursed a long line of swear words as I grabbed my phone and answered it, not checking who it was, and trying to calm Scott at the same time. "Hello? This is Rose Hathaway."

"Hello," a smooth, deep voice replied. "My name is Dimitri Belikov. Do you have time to talk right now?"

"Not really. Can I put you on hold for just a second?" I asked. I didn't even wait for his reply before I set my phone down and rocked Scott, quietly murmuring a few words to him. When he began to quiet down, I went to his room and lay him down in his crib. I returned to my room and picked up the phone. "You still there."

"Yes."

He's apparetly a man of few words, I noted. I also could detect a faint accent. Russian, I thought. "Okay, what do you want? I don't have a lot of time." Lie. I just didn't particularly feel like talking.

"I want to make you an offer, Rose," he said.

My eyes narrowed in suspicion. "What kind of offer?"

"I'm the photographer for the magazine Krasota," he explained, saying the last word in perfect Russian. It didn't matter. Everybody knew what Krasota was.

"You work for Krasota?" I blurted out, my eyes widening on their own accord. Krasota was probably the most famous magazine in America, founded here by a Russian man. They had the most beautiful models and it was my dream to appear on the cover of their magazine.

"I do," he answered. Was that a smile I could hear? "My friend is the owner. Unfortunately, some...things have come in the way and he can't run it anymore."

"What are you saying?"

"I want your friend, Vasilisa, correct?"

Damn. "That's correct."

"I want Vasilisa to take over as owner. I've seen what she can do and both Ivan and I believe she'd be the best choice. We'd also like for you to start working for us."

My jaw dropped and I couldn't speak. Was this real or was I just imagining things? Did the owner of Krasota really want me and Lissa? Two seventeen-year-old girls? I really hoped this wasn't some horrible hallucination or something.

"I, uh, I'll talk it over with Lissa," I stammered, still surprised at the offer and thinking he'll take it back any minute.

"Okay. Just call me back at this number."

"Alright."

I was still in shock when I hung up with him. The owner of the most famous magazine wanted me and Lissa. It was insane. Sure, I was pretty damn famous for looking so sexy and for doing amazing photo shoots, and Lissa was known for being my amazing manager and makeup artist, but still...we were only seventeen. Yeah, we were rich, beautiful, and we'd already graduated, but still. Only seventeen.

Once I got over the shock, I sprinted as fast as I could out into the kitchen, where Lissa was humming while washing the dishes. "Lissa! Lissa!"

She nearly dropped one of the plates and turned around to see me. "What, Rose?"

"We just got the most amazing offer ever."

"What?"

I could barely keep the huge grin off of my face. "Krasota wants you to be the new owner."

This time, the plate fell to the floor and shattered as Lissa went stone still. The shock on her face and in her pale green eyes was evident. When she finally got over the shock, she said, "Why?"

"I don't know. I just got a call from the photographer. I told him I'd talk to you about it." I eyed her. "You do want to take up this offer, right?"

She blinked. "I-I guess. But...Rose?"

"What?"

"The headquarters for Krasota is in Missoula, Montana. Wouldn't we have to move?" asked Lissa, grabbing a broom and sweeping up the pieces of broken plate.

I frowned. I hadn't thought about that, but she was right. We'd have to move to Montana. We'd lived and gone to school here in Portland. Scott was born here. Did I really want to move?

The answer was no, I didn't, but would we ever get this kind of opportunity again? An uber-famous magazine wants us to be the new owners. I glanced at Lissa, silently asking her for her opinion.

"It's your call, Rose," was all she said.

Hope you guys enjoyed my first story! Can't wait until Dimitri comes in :D Please review and give your feedback!

~Raine, out :)