"Excellent work, my loves," you yelled out happily to the young dancers slowly moving up from their final poses, stretching out their tired limbs. You had been teaching dance for years in the city, but this group of 12 year olds was your all-time favorite. While they all came from affluent families, they were all smart, driven and extremely sweet– almost like little nieces to you.
You moved to put on some Jack Johnson for their cool down stretches when you suddenly noticed how quiet the room had gotten, save only for a few mutterings and giggles. "Uh, miss Y/N," one of your students called out. "Someone's here." You turned around to the door confusedly only to see your boyfriend Vladimir leaning against the doorframe in a fitted blue dress shirt, black jeans and black combat boots. Even leaning there awkwardly, purposefully ignoring the 20 something pairs of eyes fixed on him curiously, you were amazed by how effortlessly sexy he looked.
You smiled at him confusedly before your heartbeat sped up – had something bad happened at the warehouse? Was Toly hurt? "Start stretching, guys. I'll be back in a minute." You crossed the room quickly as you slid across the floor in your Nike calf socks but stopped as a chorus of excited voices yelled out, "Is that your boyfriend?! Can we meet him?" You smiled quickly at them while Vladimir looked at the ground, the corner of his mouth turning up slightly. "Yes it is, but give me a minute ok?" Rolling your eyes at the shrieks and ooohs coming from your young students, you grabbed Vladimir's hand and shut the door, moving into the hallway.
"What are you doing here, Vlad?" You said, your eyes filled with concern. "Is something wrong?" He chuckled and shook his head. "No, love." You sighed out with relief. "Thank god, I think you just gave me a heart attack, I thought something happened at the warehouse! So why are you here?" You asked curiously, rubbing your hands on his toned shoulders.
His scarred face lit up with a grin as he reached in his pocket. "I wanted to surprise for you. I know you've been upset at how much time I've been at work and wanted to make it up to you." You felt butterflies as he smiled crookedly at you with his gaze as intense as ever – he always looked at you like you were a goddess and you loved it. "I know how much you love the Rangers, and I figured since they made the playoffs -"You didn't," you breathed out, your eyes widening as you looked at the ticket he handed. "You got tickets to a Rangers game?! But wait - THE SEMI FINAL PLAYOFF GAME TONIGHT?! Vlad, I've been dreaming of this since I was about 12," you yelled out laughing. "And you're going with me?! " He smiled, wrapping his arms around your waist. "Da. You're very cute when you watch them," he chuckled. "So excited over men chasing a puck with a stick." You rolled your eyes and shoved him playfully. "Shut up, you're just bitter because underdog America kicked Russia's ass in the '80 Olympics."
You softened, gazing at him tenderly. "Seriously, this is amazing, Vlad. Thank you. You're the best." You kissed him and he returned it eagerly, bringing a hand to frame your face. You broke apart and you felt your heart race as his blue eyes fixed on yours. "Anything to make you happy, my queen," he murmured in his accented English, kissing your forehead.
Suddenly, the door of your studio room burst open and out popped three blonde heads. "We're done stretching, Miss Y/N," the tallest one said quickly. "Can we meet your boyfriend now?!" You looked at Vladimir nervously. "Do you mind?" you whispered. He looked skeptically at the bright faces in front of him but looked back at you adoringly, smoothing a stray hair from your face. "Alright." The girls clapped their hands and raced back in, you could hear the other girls cheering.
You laughed and turned back to him. "I'm so sorry," you said pulling a face. "They're going to be merciless." A look of concern crossed the Russian crime lord's face and you couldn't help but giggle. "What do you mean?" He said apprehensively as you pulled him into the studio.
"Hello, beautifuls. This is my boyfriend, Vladimir. He came by to tell me he's taking me to see the Rangers play tonight." You had to stifle a laugh as the collective "awwws" had Vladimir blushing as he ran a hand at the nape of his spiky blond hair.
"How did you two meet?," the tiny auburn-haired girl in the front piped up. You smiled. "We met at my other job, the one I don't work at anymore." "You mean the bar?" A bespectacled girl with pretty golden ringlets asked as many of them giggled at the alien place. You stuck out your tongue and they laughed. "Yes, the bar," you said. You looked at him slyly. "I thought he was very handsome and very nice and at the end of the night, he asked me out." Again, the collective "awwww."
"How did you ask her out, Vladimir?"
He hesitated before answering and shot you a quick side glance. With you smiling encouragingly he responded, still blushing. "I told her I really liked talking to her and thought she was beautiful. I wanted to know if I could see her when she wasn't working." "That is sooo cute!" one of them cried out.
"Vladimir, where are you from? Your accent is different," another girl in the front fired off. He smiled slightly at the dark girl who asked. "Russia. I came here a few years ago with my brother."
"Where do you work?" A Hispanic girl in the back asked innocently. You felt him tense beside you but he answered nonchalantly enough. "Hell's Kitchen." Most of the girls grimaced, but you cut them off before they could ask any further questions.
"Alright kids, enough grilling about my love life, your parents/chauffeurs/nannies are waiting and I have to go get ready for the game! Say bye to Vladimir." "Bye, Vladimir," 20 something high pitched voices yelled out in unison as you laughed.
As they filed out the door, you turned back to him, beaming. "Thank you for humoring them," you said, kissing his cheek. He smiled. "They were fine, I was expecting a lot more shrieking." You made a face. "You caught them on a down day, I swear to god those nannies mix amphetamines in their cereal sometimes."
Vladimir smiled and kissed you hard, trailing his lips to your ear as he murmured in Russian. You had been together for almost a year now and you still felt your heart skip whenever he spoke to you in his native language. You pulled away and looked up at him contentedly before kissing him back. "I love you too, Vlad." You grabbed his hand and grinned excitedly. "Now let's get ready for some hockayyyyy!" You yelled out, doing a quick cartwheel on your way out the door as he followed you, shaking his head and smiling, knowing that you were the first –and only – woman he ever would love.