"Rose… I've missed you."
-o.o-
Adrian. The man, who had blatantly abandoned Rose, was standing before Dimitri in the flesh. Dimitri's hands curled and tightened into balled fists. Adrian shouldn't have come back. Compared to Rose, Adrian looked very different. Where she had sun kissed skin, his was pale. Her rich chocolate eyes conflicted greatly with his deep emerald green eyes. Adrian hadn't changed much over the years, and still greatly resembled the photo.
"I'm home Rosie!" Rose's face lit up and she flung herself into Adrian's open arms. She laughed joyously as he spun her around in his tight embrace. When Adrian's lips pressed against Rose's forehead, Dimitri burned up inside. He had told Rose he loved her and now she was in the arms of another man.
"It's been too long, Rose," Her smile remained as radiant as ever as she gazed up at him.
"Oh my god… Adrian…" Her smile became softer, her eyes fluttered as if she was recalling pleasant memories of their past. Rose's smile didn't last long though, her eyes hardened soon after and she glared accusingly as if to promise him hell later.
"Dimitri, this is Adrian. Adrian, this is Dimitri… Though I'm still plenty pissed at you, I'm so glad you came back…" She smiled again and pulled Adrian into a half hug. Over her shoulder, Adrian's piercing eyes stared Dimitri down as if he were witnessing something private. Dimitri suddenly felt very unwanted.
"I'll let the two of you catch up then," Dimitri grinded out bitterly, his heart slowly sinking into his stomach.
-o.o-
The very next morning Dimitri woke up to shouting. He had fallen asleep on the floor in the hallway, so he only needed to peer around the corner to see Rose slamming down a frying pan in frustration.
"What the hell? Do I look like some country hick you can just screw over? Does it look like I care whether or not you came back for me? Get that through your head. Stop being a damn victim."
"This is why I left! I can't stand listening to you yelling at me constantly. You've got a new boy toy? Great! I could care less. I'm here now."
Rose was about to reply when she saw Dimitri. Her comeback died on her tongue and she dropped it. Rose cleaned the rest of the dishes off and set the recently made plate of pancakes in the center of the kitchen table. She excused herself and quickly left the room.
"So you're Dimitri Belikov?" Dimitri looked up to see two green eyes glaring straight at him.
"Yes, and you must be the infamous Adrian. It's been a pleasure, but I have more important matters to attend to." Dimitri brushed past Adrian and grabbed his laptop. He sat at the breakfast bar, not wanting to be near Adrian. Adrian, however, didn't get that and pulled up another chair next to Dimitri.
"Working are you? You're the editor of Trinity Affair, right?" Dimitri looked up shocked to see Adrian smirking. "The Ivashkov name gets around. But it's okay… I've never really come into contact with your work. And I don't plan to either," Adrian got up and snatched the platter of pancakes and leaving the house in favor of the stables.
Dimitri watched him saunter over to Ryder and give him a good scratch. His eyes didn't return to his laptop until Adrian dumped the pancakes, mounted Ryder and take off.
So that's Adrian…
Looking back at the stockpile of emails, Dimitri swore under his breath. Everyone had gone and sent him more than enough work. He'd be working into next Sunday. The last few emails that had cluttered his inbox were from Christian. He had sent three very descriptive scenarios of how Tasha would remove his internal organs and carry said organs in her purse. Classy Tasha, real classy…
To: Dimitri Belikov
From: Natasha Ozera
Subject: READ
Dimitri,
You'll be glad to know that Jillian Mastrano is no longer employed to our offices. Her contract was officially terminated as of yesterday. She had been given the simple task of sending you your airline tickets via email, but she failed to execute such a simple task. I somehow managed to cancel the tickets.
I wanted you to know how proud I am of you, Dimitri, for keeping up on such hard and strenuous work. You are so very dedicated to your work. That dedication has been recognized and I would like to show you my appreciation.
In three days, the company's plane will finally get you out of that train wreck of a ghost town. That said, I know you'll make the right choice.
Yours truly,
Natasha Ozera
Dimitri reread the email twice, shuddering at Tasha's attempt to seem human. She was desperate to get him back at her side. The likely hood of that, though, was slim to none. But if Adrian was able to wedge himself into Rose and Dimitri's relationship and rekindle whatever it was the two had together… No, Rose would never.
Dimitri archived the email and continued through several of the other emails. Editing the mistakes too less time than Dimitri had originally thought and he found himself over half way done by 4:30 p.m.
Rose made her appearance then, sitting by his side. Her hand rubbed circles into his thigh, her head resting lightly on his shoulder.
"Hey… Ignore Adrian, okay? He'll be gone before you even know it." Rose had a lot of faith in that playing out.
Somehow I doubt he'll be leaving anytime soon…
-o.o-
Dimitri pushed through the rest of the work with ease. He had gotten up after he had finished completely and stretched out his sleepy muscles. Dimitri wandered outside to watch his beautiful Rose laugh at Ryder's awkward trot. Adrian was by her side with Midnight, Adrian's horse. Like the name suggested, Midnight was pitch black with white speckles scattered along his legs imitating stars in the midnight sky. And though he looked graceful and beautiful, he was also absolutely terrifying with his size.
"Hey! Comrade, join us? We were just about to ride these cuties," Rose hollered, stroking Ryder's soft coat. Dimitri nodded to Rose's invitation.
Purposefully, Adrian glared at Dimitri responding with a sneer, "You think he can keep up with us on Storm? This guy doesn't look like he's up for it…"
"He's not riding Storm, you big doofus. He'll be with Ryder, and besides Dimitri has always been able to keep up with me. You've got nothing to worry about." Dimitri was sad to admit it, but Rose no longer held anger towards Adrian. It had died sometime during the day. It made Dimitri wonder about what Rose thought about their relationship… Was it paused with Adrian's presence or were they still allowed to be together…?
With worries stuck in his mind, Dimitri joined Rose and Adrian on their ride. The silence continued throughout the entire ride; echoing and blaring, leaving Dimitri more than a little nervous. Dimitri could admit that it was a very uncomfortable ride; his first with Rose.
The trio ended up by the lake. Dimitri felt strangely possessive over this shared land, but suddenly remembered who had come first. Adrian.
Adrian may have met Rose first, but that wasn't going to stop Dimitri. He would not back down until Rose told him to.
-o.o-
Adrian grabbed Rose around the waist and pulled her into the air. She clung to him desperately, tears sliding down her flushed cheeks from the chaotic laughter. Dimitri opted to keep all three horses company while he watched Adrian toss Rose into the glassy water. She shrieked loudly when the water poured over her head before attempting to pull Adrian down with her.
Eventually Rose's eyes strayed to Dimitri, who kept himself busy with stroking Ryder's coat again.
"Dimitri! Come on in! The water is fantastic; you'll love it!" Just as Dimitri opened his mouth to respond, Adrian spoke up.
"Or don't! We don't really need you to come in. In fact, we're doing just fine without you!" Rose dunked Adrian back down, holding him there a little longer than she should have; it wasn't like Dimitri disagreed with her actions though.
-o.o-
The trip ended shortly after and the three returned back to the house. Adrian moped around after he had seen the disaster in his room. Rose and Dimitri had both forgotten about the charred mess. They only remembered when Adrian yelled out.
Dimitri couldn't help but grin at Adrian's anger. The younger man was banished to the couch until Rose decided to go and fix Adrian's old room. Dimitri, despite it being childish, hoped that she never would.
They left Adrian grumbling on the couch and returned to their room. Once Rose redressed herself in her pajamas, Dimitri wound his arms around her and drew her in close.
Adrian would not separate them…
Author's Note:
Oh my blessed goodness… It has been done! The evil chapter of evilness has finally been written! I thought I would never update! This was a lot harder than I thought it would be. In all honesty, I didn't know where to go from the last chapter. I know where I want this story to end up, but this chapter was the hardest. The rest will hopefully be a cake walk. PFT! As if…
To RozaRocks, peggy, Tatiana Belikova, tbrett29, M, Katy, gracedallas2012, Lesya17, and everyone else who has stuck around with me and read this… YOU PEOPLE ARE FANTASTIC! Thank you!
I almost wanted to screw with you guys and have it be someone really random xD but then I thought better of it and kept it as Adrian :)
Again, thank you!
-Lolita