It's Christmas Eve! Happy X'mas Eve, guys! I, for one, did not enjoy the day :/ I was stuck in my new house the entire day unloading my stuff and stuffing them into my wardrobes. What a way to spend the eve of Christmas! And I still have work tomorrow morning to afternoon :( Oh well... Hope you guys had a meaningful eve anyway!
Oh yeah, regarding a review about changing the rating from T to M, I've really considered it. But seriously, this is nowhere near the 'M' rating that I have in mind. So a little bit of spoilers here, there is going to be some... steamy hot sex scenes. I'm not kidding. But these parts will be put into a different story with a M rating. I haven't reached that part of this story yet, so this will only be in the near future. When the time comes, I will post a chapter in this story, with a link to the other story for people that are interested (and within the age limit) to read.
Ironically, I don't fall into the age limit. -cough-
ANYWAY, moving on to the story...
Concerning another point brought up in a review, I'm sorry for the short chapters, but I really can't summon enough patience to sit on my bed and type anything longer than 2k words in one chapter. I know, I know, I'm lazy. But hey, I'll make up for it with a long-ass chapter... one day. (don't hold your breath!)
Enjoy this chapter for now!
And don't forget to review! :)
Dimitri felt like sighing in exasperation at the sight that met his eyes when he started back towards the crowd, the phone call to Adrian for help settled. Christian was hunched over, leaning towards a defiant-looking Lissa with a devilish grin on his face while the rest of the recruits listened curiously, some casting each other amused, knowing looks at their conversation.
Could he not leave Christian alone for a moment without him flirting with a girl?
And why the hell is he flirting with the girl that had bruised his ego so badly? Jesus, does he ever learn?
Clearing his throat loudly, Dimitri said, "Sorry to break the party, guys, but we have a tight schedule to adhere to. Christian, get the fuck back here."
Christian lifted his head in astonishment at his voice, gave his surroundings a quick scan before discovering Dimitri, then shot him a sheepish grin. "I was telling them their groupings." Lissa, partially obscured by Christian's body, tilted her head out to cast him a glance.
"You did a pretty good job, I see." Dimitri replied dryly, noting the slight flush of Lissa's cheeks with surprise.
"No need for the compliment! I was just doing my job." Christian said modestly, deliberately ignoring his sarcasm tinted words as he waltzed over.
Paying the moron that was Christian no attention, Dimitri snatched the piece of paper with the groupings over from him and continued reading from where Christian had left off. "Frank, Nate, Elton" – A short pause as Dimitri peeped over the piece of paper to where Rose stood with her arms crossed, her lips compressed with anger – "Troy, Rose and. . . Lissa. You are all in group 3."
"Wait! I object – " Rose shouted immediately, then frowned as Dimitri's words sank in slowly. Surely she had heard wrongly? "Did you just say that Lissa and I are in the same group?" She gave Nate, the wiry guy in her group a death stare when he snickered and he blanched, miming zipping his lips shut and throwing away the imaginary key.
She thought she saw Dimitri's gorgeous dark eyes light up briefly with amusement when she turned to face him again, but it was doused out so quickly that she must have imagined it. "Yes, I think you did."
"But Christian said. . ." Rose muttered, pointing a finger at the other instructor, then pursed her lips when she realized she was only succeeding in making a bigger fool of herself.
"We all know Christian is an idiot." Dimitri shrugged, remaining perfectly emotionless despite the gesture. "He probably read it wrong."
Rose saw Christian give his friend a glance – not a venomous one at the insult, but more of an. . . evaluating glance, as if he was seeing him in a new light. Was it true, then? Rose found herself thinking. Did Christian misread the groupings, or had Dimitri done some 'last-minute' modifications to perhaps. . . appease her?
No. The answer provided by herself was spontaneous and firm; Dimitri, cold and heartless as he had proven himself to be, will not give a damn about her feelings – or Lissa's, for that matter. In fact, he probably would draw pleasure from tormenting her. But didn't Christian mention that Dimitri was in charge of doing up the groupings? Then why would he put Lissa and her together in the same group in the first place? Why –
Ergh! Hating how much Dimitri baffled and disoriented her in the most confounding ways, Rose nodded. "I have nothing against the groupings then."
Once again, Rose thought she saw his lips twitch at her remark, but it was gone a split second later. "That's what I thought."
Gritting her teeth at the patronizing air of his answer, Rose pulled the rein in on her temper. It won't do her any good to shout at Dimitri right now, after he had put Lissa and her together in the same group.
No, he just might change his mind.
But of course, she had to find an outlet for all the anger building inside her from the encounters with the frustratingly distant Dimitri…
Even then, a plan hatched in Rose's mind. A grin threatening to break out across her face, she turned and tapped Lissa on her shoulder. "Hey, Liss?"
Lissa, still looking a little skeptical about being in the same group with her, cocked her head at her. "Yeah?" Rose was dimly aware of Dimitri calling out the names of the recruits in the fourth and final group, too caught up was she in the brilliant plan she had just forged.
"Let's make another bet…"
"What's that?" Lissa, wary of the gleam in Rose's eyes, asked.
Rose smiled. "I'm going to give making Dimitri explode with anger another shot. Give me one week."
Lissa scowled. "You're trying to worm your way out of me buying clothes for you!"
Rose, with a face so innocent that Lissa knew it was pure bullshit, said, "Now, why would I do that?"
Frustrated, but still mildly amused by her friend, Lissa shook her head even as her lips curved. "If you lose this bet, the penalty will be quadrupled."
Rose's eyes widened, her jaws going slack. "You've got to be kidding me."
"No, I'm not." Lissa's eyes twinkled with merriment as she reveled in her friend's horror. "It's only fair since if you win the bet" – Lissa gave a wag of her finger to indicate how that would never happen – "you're off the hook."
"Just for that," Rose answered with an air of confidence as she tied her hair into a ponytail, "I'll make sure that I win to prove to you that nothing's impossible with me." She paused then, a steely glint entering her eyes as she glanced at the instructor she had to try her very best to drive crazy by the end of the week to avoid being assaulted and buried under a mountain of expensive clothing.
"Not even Dimitri Belikov."
"I wasn't aware of any last minute alterations to the groupings." Christian said in a conversational tone as he gazed at the first team tackling the obstacle course, or, putting it in a more accurate way, the obstacle course tackling the first team. "And I'm pretty damned sure that I read it out correctly the first time."
Dimitri, standing as still as a statue next to him, took so long to reply that Christian thought he wasn't going to reply at all. But when he did, his response was short, his tone even. "I changed my mind."
Realizing that he wasn't going to get anything else from Dimitri when he was determined not to reveal anything, Christian changed the subject. "They're doing pretty badly." He observed, wincing when one recruit fell off the balancing log to land face-first into the pit of sand. Maybe 'pretty badly' was an understatement.
Dimitri didn't give too much of a reaction to that statement either. "I've seen worst."
Already accustomed to his icy cold replies at times, Christian was not the least bothered. "Something crawled up your ass? Wait, let me guess. It's female in gender, short and curvy, and her name starts with R."
No response, but Christian felt his friend stiffen. Hiding his grin, Christian continued. "Need some advice on seducing a girl?"
"Nobody sane gets advice from you." Dimitri answered.
"Hey! A six-word reply! Keep that up and you just might form a complete sentence in a few more tries."
Dimitri growled in warning. "Don't push me Christian; I'm not in the best of moods right now."
"I never would have guessed." Christian muttered wryly, then spotting the murderous glare in his direction, stopped in case Dimitri decided that wringing his neck would shut him up – again. "So, tell me, you planning on taking a vacation this Christmas break?" Christmas was just around the corner in about two weeks, and Christian was still contemplating whether or not to go for a trip to relieve some stress. Preferably in some place that had beautiful and hot women.
Or just women in general, he wasn't really picky about appearances. After all, a few drinks or two can easily solve that problem. And if the woman still looked ugly after the third drink. . . well, there's always plenty of fish left in the sea. "I'm sure that Headquarters won't object to that. You need some time to unwind too. You're getting real. . . uptight these few days." More so than normal, Christian wanted to add, but decided against it when his neck gave a pointed, painful reminder.
"Hmm" was Dimitri's sole indication that he had even heard his words. After another long pause where Christian witnessed a recruit from team one failing to grasp the next monkey bar and crumbling into the mud pool below, Dimitri said, "I just might."
"Any particular place in mind?"
Dimitri slanted him a suspicious glance. "What's it to you?"
Christian shrugged. "If your destination sounds appealing enough to me, I might tag along."
"What do you consider unappealing, then?"
"I don't know," A pause as Christian thought the question over. "Maybe Tokyo? Way too crowded for my liking."
"Tokyo it is." Dimitri said instantly, smugly.
"Great!" Already anticipating the reason for Dimitri's question, Christian clapped his hands together in approval. "I was thinking of going there too. How ever did you know?"
A moment passed in stunned silence as Dimitri slowly realized that he had been played.
Then he growled.
Rose was practically skipping to and fro with the balls of her heels, adrenaline surging through her veins at the prospect of a challenge.
Lissa, however, did not seem to share her enthusiasm. "Really? Crawling through the mud?" She wrinkled her nose in disgust.
"Oh, come on, Lissa. It's going to be fun!"
"Your definition of fun definitely does not align with mine." But she must admit, Rose's enthusiasm was a contagious disease; she was already feeling pumped up herself.
Ten minutes had already passed, and only two out of six members of team one had managed to make it through the obstacle course. The other four were still struggling, none of them displaying any teamwork by helping each other.
It was almost painful to watch the four remaining stragglers flailing and yelling in frustration when they failed a particular part of the course and had to return to the start.
Fifteen minutes in, Dimitri marched forward and bellowed for them to stop. "Pitiful." There was no sympathy, only that blunt remark as he stared each and every single one of the recruits until they dropped their heads in shame. "Teamwork – does that word exist in your vocabulary? If it does not, it's about high time to learn it." With hands clasped behind his back, he patrolled in front of the members of team one as he gave a dreadfully long lecture about the importance of working together. Afterwards, he dismissed them off to the showers to wash off the filth.
Lissa frowned when she couldn't spot Christian anywhere during Dimiti's boring speech. Not that she was looking out for him, of course. No, it was pure coincidence that she had noticed such an insignificant detail.
Yeah.
Pure coincidence.
After hearing the scalding chastisement from Dimitri for the lack of teamwork in team one, team two did not repeat the same mistake. Working together, they sped through the course and finished it in under seven minutes, much to the approval of Dimitri.
Dismissing team two with a few compliments and a warning for them not to get complacent, Dimitri faced the remaining two teams. "See what they did there? Now, prove that you guys are as competent as them by not screwing it up."
Admittedly, Lissa's attention had been elsewhere throughout the entire of team two's splendid run. Her mind had wandered off, wondering where Christian could have gone. Nothing wrong with that, she rationalized, he was her instructor after all. It was perfectly fine for her to worry about his safety.
That was no cause for alarm.
No cause at all.
Could it be? Is Lissa developing feelings for the playboy Christian?
Uh oh.
