Hello again! I'm back to publishing fairly consistently and hopefully that will continue. I have closed the poll on my page and by overwhelming majority, Dimitri will be Rose's first. No lemons in this chapter, but there is mention of her being a virgin. Please continue to review, especially if you find issues with my writing or believability of the story. I based some of Rose's interactions with her TAs loosely on my own experience (mainly just the drinking together portions) as well as my interpretation of her character before she ran away from St. Vlads. I also welcome private messages if you have any questions about the story that you don't want to ask in a review! Here's chapter 9 and I hope you enjoy it!
The whole day I was jumpy, afraid to move too far away from my phone, checking it constantly to be sure I hadn't turned off the ringer. I was worried that Dimitri would call and I would miss it and then I'd have to call him back and think of something to talk about and—Stop it, Rose! I told myself, cutting off the internal panic. He would call, or he wouldn't. There was nothing I could do about it now.
"ROSEMARIE HATHAWAY," Lissa shouted when she opened the door to our apartment, a sheepish Christian slinking in behind her.
"What, Lissa? Stop shouting I'm right here." I told her from the kitchen, grateful I hadn't had anything in my hands to drop when she scared me.
"I WILL NOT STOP SHOUTING! YOU HAD A MAN HERE THIS MORNING!"
Oh, shit. Christian must've seen Dimitri's shoes, and somehow told Lissa about it. I glared at him as he tried to hide behind Lissa's small frame and her anger. "Lissa, it was no big deal…" I started.
"NO BIG DEAL? HOW MANY TIMES HAVE WE TALKED ABOUT YOU NEEDING TO WAIT FOR THE RIGHT MAN? I DIDN'T WANT YOU TO MAKE MY MISTAKES!" Lissa was clearly worked up; she was more defensive of my virginity than I was. "PLEASE TELL ME YOU AT LEAST REMEMBER IT. YOU DIDIN'T LOSE YOUR VIRGINITY WHILE YOU WERE BLACKED OUT, DID YOU? HAS HE CALLED YOU? DID YOU KNOW HIM? DO YOU REMEMBER HIS NAME?"
"LISSA!" I roared, cutting off her tirade. "I didn't lose my virginity, yes I know him, I wasn't blacked out, and he just stayed the night."
Lissa looked at me skeptically, "Are you lying to make me stop shouting?"
"No," I huffed, although that is something I would do.
"Did you get to third base?"
"No."
"Second base?"
"No."
"First base?"
"No."
"Are you lying?"
"NO!"
"Rose you're telling me a man spent the night in your bed and you didn't even kiss?"
"He could've slept on my floor?" I said, trying to distract her. Maybe Dimitri didn't like me after all. He hadn't called yet. Maybe he just pitied me and stayed because he felt bad telling me no.
"Did he sleep on your floor?" she asked sternly.
"No," I answered reluctantly. "I don't know, we just slept, and then he left this morning. He said he'd call me…"
Lissa's face softened. "You really like this one, don't you?"
"Yes," I whispered, suddenly overwhelmed that I hadn't heard from Dimitri yet. It was nearly 6 p.m. and he hadn't even tried to contact me.
"It's ok Rose, I'm sure he'll call." Lissa said sympathetically. "Sorry about the third degree, Christian mentioned your 'huge black combat boots' nearly tripping him this morning and I panicked."
"Lissa, we have to get you less involved in my love life," I teased. "It's going to happen eventually."
"I just don't want your first time to be a one night stand with some drunk asshole!" she objected.
"I don't know why you're convinced that that's the type of man I'd end up bringing home…" I replied, indignant. This was an old argument we'd been having since she found blissful love with Christian and became determined that no one else would ever have an experience like her and Aaron.
"Rose, I'm just here to protect you," she teased and the last of the tension left the room.
I flopped down on the couch, purposely leaving my phone on the counter in the kitchen. "How was date night/ breakfast/ today?"
"It was great! Very relaxing…" Lissa and Christian took turns telling me what they'd done for dinner, what they thought of the movie, and what they'd done today. I tried to pay attention but I kept staring at my cell phone, willing Dimitri to call, fighting the urge to go make sure I hadn't silenced it.
We were just discussing what we should do for dinner when the loud, piercing ring of my phone came from the kitchen. I felt a huge dump of adrenaline hit my bloodstream as the phone continued to ring. I stood up on shaky legs and promptly felt as if my stomach had dropped to the floor. I tried to swallow, despite my dry throat as I picked up my phone and saw that it wasn't any of my contacts calling.
"Hello," I whispered, then cleared my throat. "Hello?" Get a grip Rose it's just a phone call.
"Hello, did you know there is a break-in every—" I hit the end button, cutting off the recorded voice. I was disappointed but relieved that Dimitri hadn't heard my scratchy greeting.
"Telemarketer," I told Lissa and Christian, walking back to sit with them.
My phone rang in my hand, and just that quick it happened again; adrenaline dump, dropping stomach, shaking legs. "Hello?" I answered, not daring to look at the screen.
"Roza?" Dimitri's voice came through the tiny speaker of the phone and I felt the grin spread across my face.
"Hi, Dimitri," I said, turning on my heel and walking into my room, ignoring Christian and Lissa mouthing questions at me. I was really nervous, I didn't spend a lot of time talking on the phone, but I wanted to talk to him!
"How was your day?" he asked, his voice soft and sincere.
"It was good! I didn't do too much, read on my balcony for a while and drank half the water supply in the city. How was yours?" I smiled to myself. I hadn't made a fool of myself yet, I could do this; I could have a real phone conversation!
He laughed at my antics and I grinned, pleased I could make him laugh. "I'm glad you had a good day. I think I drank the other half of the water supply today, along with having some very vivid flashbacks to my days as a TA and grading papers while I was hung over."
I giggled; a very un-Rose-like sound that was a mix of nerves and amusement; "Did that happen a lot?"
"A fair amount," he chuckled. "Although I never had a night quite like last night. We never danced on the bar."
"Not even on the tables?" I asked, slightly horrified.
"Not even on the tables," he confirmed. "I don't really trust them."
I laughed for real this time, my nerves finally settled. "You're a little big for them, huh?"
"And I don't dance," he reminded me, teasing.
"You're missing out," I informed him. "It's fun!"
"I could see that you enjoyed it."
"Maybe one day I'll get you to dance with me," I teased him.
"We'll see," his tone tolerant, but I was more focused on the fact that he was ok with seeing me again. "Are you planning to come to my class on Monday?" He asked, hesitantly.
"I'm enrolled, aren't I? I'll be there." I said, unsure if he was going to be weird about it again. "I'll behave, I promise." I assured him.
"I'm not worried about that," he assured me, "you're smart enough to understand the situation. Besides, it's not entirely unheard of for something like this to happen. We just have to be careful. And I don't want you to feel obligated whatsoever. You don't have to hang out with me if you don't want to, Roza. I don't want you to feel like you have to spend time with me."
I smiled, touched that he had the same issues I did, "I'll be sure to tell you if I ever feel that way," I assured him; "As long as you promise to do the same?"
"I promise," he confirmed warmly. "So I guess I'll see you Monday?"
"Well, you could call me or send me a text or something tomorrow, if you want?"
"I think I could do that," he murmured, low and intimate. "Have a good night, Roza."
"You too, Dimitri. Sleep tight."
"I will."
There was a long pause between us, as if neither of us wanted to hang up the phone.
"Bye, Roza," he whispered.
"Bye," I whispered back, regretting that our conversation was over so soon, but unsure what I would else I wanted to talk about with him.
The phone beeped in my ear, confirming that Dimitri had ended the call and I sighed, a giant grin creeping back across my face. I didn't know what it was about the man, but he had me so mixed up I couldn't think straight. And somehow, the more time I spent with him, the more time I wanted to spend with him. It was like an addiction, the more I got the more I needed. And I couldn't find it in myself to resist him. Maybe I would discover some flaw I just couldn't stand or he would tire of me, but until that moment, I wouldn't hold back. There was something special about Dimitri, and I had to know what it was.
