The first thing I saw when I regained consciousness was Dimitri leaning over me. I closed my eyes and sighed. "I'm in the hospital, aren't I?" When I heard him snort, I opened them again. He was squatting over me and shaking his head.
"And I thought you had a concussion." He stood up. "You were out for ten seconds. Get up."
I sat up and stretched out my hand. "Some help please? And how do you know I don't have a concussion? For all you know, my ears are ringing and I'm seeing stars right now."
"If you're capable of sarcasm, you don't have a concussion," he retorted. Instead of gripping my palm and pulling me up, he held onto my arm. In one swift movement, he tugged his duster off it. I had to quickly pull back my other arm so that it didn't get tangled in the sleeve. He held up the damn thing and examined it. "And thanks for ruining my duster. And dropping the vegetables." He stared down at me. "Pick them up and get back to the car. Quickly." He walked away without a backward glance.
I glared at his retreating figure and pushed myself off the ground. I wasn't that upset about this though. He'd established the boundaries, and I was supposed to follow them without question.
Right. We'd see how well that would work out.
Back in the car, I asked Dimitri if there were any exceptions to his stupid diet. It went something like this.
"No Nutella - no Oreos - absolutely no yogurt, dairy is fattening - I don't care how hormonal you are, you're not getting ice cream – no, you can't have sausages either-bacon is absolutely off limits, why are you even asking me that?– ice cream does have diary in it. Yes, I'm sure -"and so on.
I threw my hands up in frustration. "What about low fat yogurt? You have to give me that at least."
"Fine. Only once a week." When I groaned, he turned to look at me. "I hope you're doing this just to piss me off, Rose. Because if these questions were serious, I'm going to be disappointed in you." When I didn't say anything, he continued. "You know this role is a big deal. You need to be in perfect shape for this and you're going to have to make some sacrifices unless you want to humiliate yourself on an international platform."
"Look, I know it's a lot of work okay, bust just cut me some slack, will you?" I started straight out the window as my eyes prickled with tears. What was wrong with me? Two words from this man I barely know had the ability to make me cry. "I'm just so overwhelmed. It's been exactly two hours since I even got to know about this whole thing. I've had absolutely no time to prepare myself mentally for this. So I'm sorry if I'm being such a brat about this whole thing." I blinked back my tears. There is no way I would cry in front of him.
Dimitri didn't say anything for a few moments. "I'll try to make this as easy as possible for you," he said finally.
"Thank you," I said sincerely. I locked up my raging emotions with a deep breath and turned to face him. "So. Farmer's market is where you take your dates, huh? Boy, you sure are a hell of a catch."
Dimitri rolled his eyes. "I bring all my clients there. And I tend to work with males."
"So you're a lot more romantic than a date in the cabbage patch?"
"Wouldn't you like to know.
Yes, yes I would.
"So who was the last female client you worked with?"
He frowned at me. "I don't remember her name. It was a long time back." It was so obvious that he was lying -his jaw was clenched, his eyes were tight and his voice a bit too casual- but I let that slide. "Why are you so interested in this anyway?" he asked.
"Stan piqued my curiousity," I replied cheerily. He simply muttered under his breath in what I assumed was Russian. "Hey, if you sic your Russian mafia on Stan, I'll retaliate with my own."
"You think I'm a part of the Russian mafia? And more importantly, you're a part of a mafia?"
"You look the part, okay?"
"That's midly offensive."
I rolled my eyes. "Deal with it, you big baby." I ignored the look he shot me and continued. "And it's not my mafia. It's my dad's."
"You're father is a mobster?" He looked mildly surprised. "No wonder you turned out this way."
"Watch it," I said playfully. "You cross me and you'll be ambushed in your bed tonight."
"Trembling with fear, Rose," he said, pulling into the driveway. "I'm just trembling with fear."
When we walked into the dining room, my heart dropped at the sight of the table. Literally every piece of heavenly food was either on it, or piled onto the chairs and even the entire kitchen counter. All my chips, cookies, candy, ice cream, and alcohol, as well as Viktor's fancy food stuff. Lissa sat at one end of the table, munching on what was supposed to be my french toast. I eyed it sadly.
I turned to Dimitri. "Don't you think this is all a little too drastic? What happened to the whole easing in process?"
"You'll be fine without these. Trust me."
Viktor strolled in from the kitchen doors, heading straight for Dimitri. He'd even changed his clothes, into what he called his 'get lucky' shirt. It was the same shirt he'd worn when he met his boyfriend, Spiridon, at his favourite gay bar, and he swore by it's 'magical powers of attraction and seduction'.
Oh, I was going to enjoy this.
I walked over to Lissa and plopped down beside her. "Any chance you're open to sharing? I'm starving."
"Nice try Rose," she laughed. "But I value my life. Viktor has been going on non stop about this new dude and your new diet." She took another bite and closed her eyes. "God, this is so good."
"Thanks for letting me know," I grumbled.
"Is he gay?" Lissa asked, pointing at Dimitri. "Because it would be such a shame. He is hot."
"Nah. He's just flatterring Viktor into listening to him. Although I think that's going to come back to bite him in the ass right about now."
While we were talking, Viktor had moved uncomfortably close to Dimitri. He spoke in low tones and occassionally brushed his hand against Dimitri's arm. Viktor wasn't showing him any mercy as he used every single flirting tactic in his arsenal. Dimitri began to lose his cool, and Lissa and I began to snigger at his uneasy expression. He abrubtly moved away from Viktor and stormed towards me.
"Rose, can I talk to you?" He looked at Lissa, who stared at her toast innocently. "In private, please?"
I laughed openly and pulled him out of the dining room. I leaned against the doorway with my arms crossed as Dimitri ran a hand through his hair, agitated. I idly wondered what it would feel like to run my own fingers through the strands. They looked so soft and silky-
"Can you please do something about that?" Dimitri began pacing. "Your chef is physically harassing me."
"Hey, don't look at me," I said, grinning widely. "You brought this upon yourself."
"I didn't think he'd be this...direct."
"Well, you can't really say anything to him, or you'll lose his co-operation. And I can't fire him either, so you can't escape him." I looked at him with mock sympathy and patted his arm. "You're just going to have to deal with this."
"You're enjoying this way too much," he muttered, stalking back to the dining room. I followed him after an impromptu happy dance. Hathaway 1, Bellykov 0. I made a mental note to ask Mia his spelling before I embarassed myself while writing his check.
Dimitri and Viktor weren't in the dining room when I rejoined Lissa at the table. Even without make up, she looked stunning. Her platinum blond hair was absolutely perfect and her skin was flawless, except for the hint of dark circles under her jade eyes. Like the rest of her family, she tall and slender, and belonged on a runway, walking down the ramp, not doing hair and make up for others.
"Mia filled me in while you were gone. Congratulations on the role, Rose," Lissa smiled. "And on scoring one hot trainer."
"Thanks," I yawned. "And he's such an ass sometimes."
"That can be overlooked by you, can't it?"
"Shut up," I muttered, shoving her with my shoulder. "Did Mia tell you that Jesse's in the movie too?"
She nodded. "How do you feel about that?" Playing therapist was one of Lissa's favourite hobbies, and I was her star patient.
"Honestly, I don't know," I sighed. "I mean, I'm still as pissed as hell about what he said. Insensitive asshole."
"Well. Seeing you with Dimitri is going to make him green with envy. That's a huge plus, isn't it?"
I shrugged and watched a waiter come in and set down a glass of brown liquid in front of me. "Protein shake from the trainer," he mumbled and scuttled away before I could say anything.
"That, looks...um," Lissa paused, searching for the right word. "Interesting."
I sniffed the liquid and sighed. It didn't smell rotten, but it wasn't patricularly mouthwatering either. Steeling myself, I took a big sip. Vaguely chocolatey. Shrugging, I took another gulp. "Where's Avery?"
Lissa took a sip of her orange juice. "She left early. Modelling shoot."
That didn't surprise me. Avery Lazar was one of the top models in the industry. It was a surprise that she was actually able to swing by yesterday. She was always busy, flying off to some exotic location or the other. I used to envy her a lot before, but now, I just felt bad for her. Her work was tiring and really hard, but she said she loved it and it suited her perfectly. She was the one who set me and Jesse up, but we'd been at each other's throats for over a year before we finally admitted that we liked each other. Definitely one of the most dysfunctional relationships ever, one that attracted a lot of media attention.
"Where'd she go this time?
"Paris, I think."
I nodded, taking another sip. I'd almost finished the whole thing. "What about Christian?"
When Lissa's cheeks turned bright pink, I felt a smile creep onto my face. Lissa always blushed at the mere mention of her boyfriend's name. It had been so long since Lissa was this excited about a guy. She'd broken up with her old boyfriend, Aaron around a year ago and was just a moping mess. They were close to reconciliation so many times, and I'd talked her out of it every single time. Aaron was nice, but he wasn't what Lissa needed. She had been at her lowest around a month ago, when she met the new barista at our favourite café, Loui's. It was instant attraction. Lissa and Christian were so perfect for each other that it made me sick, if not a little envious of their relationship. I constantly found myself comparing my relationship with Jesse's with theirs, and had to forcefully remind myself that we were different people and behaved with people differently.
"Oh, Rose, I need to tell you something-"
"Rose," Dimitri interrupted. Both of us jumped. How the hell did he move so quietly?
"We need to get started," he said firmly. I was about to protest when Lissa stood up.
"I'll get going," she said quickly. She turned to smile at me. "We'll talk later, okay?" she assured and walked away before I could reply.
I stared at her back for a moment before downing the rest of my shake.
"Lets do this"
There was a small, unused building away from the main house. The building had three rooms - one was a gym with state of the art equipment, the other was an old ballet studio and the third was for storage. I've never been here at all, which was a shame because every room had huge windows and an amazing view of the property. Mia had the place dusted down, so it was pretty clean. I followed Dimitri into the gym, which definitely had the best view of them all.
"I'm not going to start off with a lot initially," Dimitri said. "But you're still going to be really sore. You'll develop resistance quickly, though, so the pain will wear off soon."
"What are we going to do today?" I asked, eyeing one particularly terrifying machine.
"I need to see how fit you are so that I can hash out a schedule to follow. Rose. Look at me."
I turned around, surprised to find him just a few steps away from me. My breathing quickened. His beautiful eyes stared right into mine, and as much as I wanted to, I couldn't look away. His gaze was smouldering, and all I wanted to do was melt into him.
You have a boyfriend. A very hot, occassionally-a-dick boyfriend.
"Rose, I need to know that you're serious about this," he said softly, gesturing vaguely around him. "This fitness thing." When I didn't reply, he continued. "You need to be dedicated, disciplined. I'm not going to be there every single minute of every day to tell you what not to eat or to work out. You cannot slip up, not even once. You have only one shot at this, and you have to remain focused."
I stayed silent. This whole thing honestly terrified me. In less than two months, we'd start filming. My body would be lown up on a giant screen for the whole world to see and criticise. "I'll do my best," I said. I couldn't promise more than that. Dimitri seemed to accept that, and stepped away after a moment.
We were quiet after that, speaking only when necessary. He showed me how to do a few basic warm up stretches. When I was done, he asked me to do five push ups. When I said I couldn't do one, he did a double take.
"You can't do a push up?" He asked, incredulous. I frowned.
"Hey, don't look at me like I'm a freak," I said uncomfortably. "And why is that so hard to believe."
He opened his mouth and then promptly shut it. "Because it's a push up," he said simply. "Didn't you pass high school? Because you need PE to pass high school."
"Of course I did!" I snapped. "And I was home schooled. So no, I didn't learn how to do a push up."
Thankfully, he chose to shut his mouth instead of express his disbelief again. He got down on the ground immediately and showed me how to do one. "Use your fists, not your palms, or you'll hurt your hand. Your arms should be stiff, elbows and knees locked, back straight." He lowered himself, his chest almost grazing the floor. I stopped ogling and mimicked his position. Dimitri turned to the side and nodded. "Okay, great. Now push yourself up," he said, rising up. When I didn't move, he stood up. "What are you waiting for?"
"I can't do it."
"Rose, you're not even trying."
"Uh, yes I am," I said, gritting my teeth. I tried to push myself up, but my upper arms didn't seem to work. I gave up and let my arms buckle under me. I looked up and saw Dimitri frown.
"You really are weak."
I rolled my eyes and sat up. He tried get me to do 'girl push ups' which were on my knees. I barely managed to do one. I could see that Dimitri was a little anxious, and I didn't blame him. Maybe he'd bitten off more than he could chew. A part of me yearned for him to keep going, to try and help, but most of me just wanted him to go away because I was so ashamed of myself. If I couldn't do a simple push up, how the heck was I going to do even the simplest of stunts in the movie? I can't have a double do everything for me!
Dimitri didn't give up on me though. He led me to the ballet room and told me do a push up off the bar across the mirror. Since he didn't look like he was joking, I obliged. It was surprisingly easy, and I was stunned at the wave of pride that flooded through me.
"Oh my god," I whispered. "I did it. I did it." I looked at Dimitri and grinned. "I did it, I did it, I did it!" I squealed, jumping up and down.
"Stop it," Dimitri laughed warmly. "You sound like a frog."
"But I still did it."
He face softened. "Yeah, you did." My obnoxious grin faded into a slight smile. I gazed into his eyes, certain that I'd seen a hint of pride in them. And suddenly, his eyes hardened and he shut me out again.
"You do realize that you didn't do an actual push up, right?"
I scowled. "Thanks for taking that away from me."
"I'm not going to coddle you, Rose," he said quietly. "This is progress, but not enough to celebrate."
I knew his niceness wouldn't last.
"You're going to be doing eight sets of twelve on these-" he gestured to the bar-"every day. You'll also stay in the plank position for as long as you can. This'll build your upper body strength, so hopefully, you'll be able to do a real one next week."
I bit back a groan, knowing that it would sound really whiny. I just nodded and told him to continue.
We did a variety of other tortures after that. Sit ups, crunches, squats, jumping jacks and jump rope. He even showed me this horrendous thing called a burpee and told me that I'd start doing those two weeks later. He laugh when I told him I would look like a beached whale. He thought I was joking.
When Dimitri finally said we were done, I literally collapsed in relief. He just shook his head and walked out, leaving to to hug the cold floor. I went back inside ten minutes later, groaning with each step.
Mia was waiting for me on the steps. "Oh, there you are." She muffled her giggles with a cough.
I rolled my eyes. "Feel free to laugh," I muttered. When she did, I glared at her. "I didn't mean that."
"You look like hell," she said helpfully, matching my turtle-slow pace.
"I feel like hell," I grumbled, rolling my shoulder. "My whole body is numb and achy at the same time."
"Well," she said. "I don't know if this'll help, but something came for you this morning." I couldn't care less. All I wanted was food, ice cold water and a warm bed-
I groaned.
Right there, in the middle of my hall, was a gigantic bouquet of crimson roses. And I mean gigantic. It was taller than me, and nearly double my width. I didn't even need to read the card to know who sent it.
"'I'm sorry,'" Mia read. "'I want to say a lot more, but the card's too small. Please call me. Love, Jesse.'" She handed the card. I held it in front of my face with both my index fingers and thumbs and then slowly ripped it down the middle. Screw him. Did he honestly think that sending me flowers that I hated was the way to win my heart back? I shook my head at his blatant idiocy. Tossing the pieces aside, I shuffled into the dining room.
"I think it was a sweet gesture."
"I hate roses," I grumbled, dropping into a chair. "I don't know why everyone thinks it's insanely comical to give me rose things. Lissa and Avery do it. Even you do it."
"Because it is funny," Mia shrugged. "Anyway, I just wanted to see how you were doing. Jesse even tried calling me, by the way."
"Don't care," I said, my eyes on the kitchen door. "Viktor! Come on, I'm hungry!"
Viktor and Dimitri walked in a minute later, both carrying plates in their hands. Viktor laid one down in front of me with a flourish of his hand. "Voila! Scrambled egg whites with veggies."
Nothing had looked so good in my entire life.
All of us were exhausted. Mia had been running around the whole morning, issuing statements and clearing up stupid rumours. Viktor had cleaned out the entire kitchen in less than two hours and cooked up a fantastic meal for us all. Even Dimitri looked weary. The general atmosphere in the room was tired, but relaxed and happy. It's been so long since I've actually sat down at the table with people I cared about dined together. I caught Dimitri's gaze and smiled. He gave me a tired smile of his own, but didn't look away. As Mia and Viktor chattered on, we just stared at each other. I expected a spark or something, like in the movies, but his gaze just made me feel all warm and tingly, something Jesse hadn't been able to do for quite some time now. I lifted my hands and held my ears. 'Sorry' I mouthed. For being such a pain. For all the whining and complaining.
He seemed to understand what I meant, and his lips twitched. Never a smile for me.
"Dimitri, what about the yoga thing for Rose?" Mia asked. I looked away, annoyed that she'd interrupted our moment.
Dimitri looked confused for a second. "Oh. Right, I'd forgotten about that."
"What yoga thing?" I wondered out loud.
"Mia gave me a great idea. Yoga would really help with flexibility and toning, and so would Pilates." Yay. More work. "Luckily," Dimitri continued," I know the perfect instru-"
One of my security walked in that moment, cutting Dimitri off."Miss Hathaway," he said. "Someone's here to see you." I looked up at him questioningly.
"I'm not just someone, you know," said an all too familiar voice. No no no-
He strolled in like he owned the place.
"Dimitri," I said, standing up. My voice was ice cold. "Meet my boyfriend, Jesse Zeklos."
Two chapters in one day? *happy dance*
Anyway. I was just procrastinating. And, as usual, please forgive any idiotic mistakes. I will go through this chapter again later to find anything, but I'm too tired right now. :P
Also, I love you guys. I love the guests who reviewed, xtheseventhcharm, Spainbooks and AngelKissesAndLoveBites. Thank you guys so much for reviewing this story. :)
