A/N: Hey guys, I wish this update could have been up sooner! But alas, my old (and stupid) computer ate my word document ;(. So, I have to start over, but not completely from scratch. It should be very close to the original, but not exact because I can't remember the entire thing. I'd like to thank everyone for the unconditional support and amazing compliments. You guys inspire me. You really make what I'm doing here fun. Keep the reviews coming and enjoy! Back to Val's POV. It's extra-long for you lovelies. (I always feel like I write a little better in his POV) Xoxoxoxoxox
Chapter 13
Two and a half months. Not to sound hokey, it felt like I've known Aria for a hell of a lot longer than that. I knew something was special about her from day one. For our first major anniversary, I had planned an elaborate itinerary. That again, may sound extremely hokey, but I'm Russian (if you want to get all technical and politically correct, Ukrainian). The whole romance, chivalry thing is in my blood.
Unfortunately, our DWTS and personal schedules would not allow for the planned itinerary. Instead, Aria and I were content to have Chef Chmerkovskiy make us a very upscale, five-course dinner. He made a five star restaurant version of classic Ukrainian cuisine.
After dinner, Aria and I curled up with a cashmere blanket and planned to watch something on Netflix. I let Aria choose what we were going to watch. She decided to watch Gray's Anatomy. At first, I figured she liked to watch it just for the sake of getting to look at Dr. McDreamy. Slowly, but surely, the show actually grew on me. Maybe it was just a positive association of being with Aria when I watched it that made me like it.
In the middle of the show, Aria surprisingly presented we with a gift bag and told me to open it. Inside there was a really thoughtful card with gift cards to Starbucks and my favorite restaurant that made the best Ukrainian food that wasn't made by Mama. No doubt she bought the gift card from Starbucks so that I could get her coffee. She had that idea written all over her face. Out of the bottom of the bag, I pulled out a small, black box. My brows knit together as I tried to figure out what could possibly be a box that small. I opened the lid to find a tiny, silver angel hanging on a silver chain.
"To protect the thing I love most," she said, as I stared at the tiny figurine. That's when it hit me that it was a guardian angel. That necklace is probably one of the most thoughtful gifts I have ever received. I didn't feel words would do my feelings any justice, so I just leaned in and kissed her softly. For once, she didn't try to push it any further. I pulled back a few moments later, and I pulled her close to my chest and kept her there.
Seeing Maks walk into the kitchen snapped me out of my reverie, and made me remeeber why I was in the kitchen anyways. "Hey, I need your help with something," I called across the kitchen to Maks, whose head was inside the fridge at the moment.
"Lemme guess, it's Aria related, right?" he asked as he sat across from me at the breakfast bar. It agitated me when he spoke in his signature know-it-all tone. I wasn't about to argue about that with him at the moment though. That argument could last a good couple hours if we wanted it to.
"Well, Aria got me a really thoughtful gift for our anniversary, and I feel like a complete ass because I told her what I got her hadn't shipped in yet, but in reality, I just didn't get her anything. Bu-,"
"You mukah, What a rookie mistake. How could you forget to get her something?! C'mon we both know you've dated enough girls to know to get her something for her anniversary. And on top of it, she got you something, which by the code of chivalry, is unrequired. You should feel pretty shitty about yourself," my brother ranted, effectively cutting of my explanation of why I didn't get Aria anything.
"It's not because I forgot, it's because I had no friggin' clue what to get her, genius," I said acerbically, agitated by the thought I was capable of such an atrocity. "That's where you come in, Maksim," I added, acting like a teacher who was trying to explain Calculus to a kindergartener.
"Well, you can never go wrong with jewelry. Diamonds are a girl's best friend," he suggested. Obviously from plenty of experience, but I wasn't going to bring up his promiscuity at the moment. I'd just save that one for a rainy day.
"That could work. But I want to get her something really meaningful, you know? I'm just having a really hard time coming up with any good ideas," I explained, hopeful that Maks could give me some more ideas.
"How about you get her an evil eye necklace. The one like the ones from Ukraine? I know you could have something custom made at Tifanny's. That way, you could fill the entire thing with a shit ton of gem stones. I'm sure if you encourage them with a rush fee, they could get it to you in a week, max," these are the times that I truly loved my brother. And then I thought again that he probably was drawing all his ideas on past experiences with women. My gratitude outweighed the urge to call him out; thankfully for him.
"I actually really like that idea. Maybe after rehearsals today, I'll go downtown and talk to someone there. I just want to make sure I have enough time for rehearsals. We're pretty good on our samba, but we really need to work on our rumba," I explained. I was a complete perfectionist when it came to dancing. It HAD to be perfect.
"Sounds like a good plan. Make sure to ask for Dmitri when you're there," Maks called after me as I was leaving the house. I shook my head at his last comment. The evidence was stockpiling against him. Big time.
As an incentive to work, I decided to bring Aria her beloved Java Chip Frappuccino from Starbucks. All hell broke loose the second I left the safety of my red Maserati. Paparazzi surrounded me on all sides, yelling out questions. "So, when is baby Chmerkovskiy due? How far is Aria along?"one of them yelled. That one, ignorant question stood out among the roar.
I wanted to punch the son of a bitch in the face. Using my better judgment, I ignored the guy and speed walked into Starbucks. I tried to calm down so I would act like a complete ass to the completely innocent cashier who didn't deserve to be snapped at.
When I got to the counter, I ordered a Java Chip for Aria and a plain Dark Roast for me. I even said it with a smile.
"I'm not trying to be an annoying fan girl or anything, but I just want you to know I'm voting for you and Aria. You're the reason I went back into dancing," the young cashier said shyly. It really warmed my heart to see people who I don't even know supporting me and being inspired by me. It made everything I was doing worthwhile.
"Thank you so much for your support. I think I speak for both of us when I say your support means so much to us. I'm really happy you got back into dancing and that I had some part in it. I'd like for you to stop by the studio sometime when you get a chance. Here's my contact info," I said, handing her a business card that had my personal information on it.
"I'll be sure to do that," she said, a huge smile on her face. I was happy I was able to give back after all the success I had experienced.
"Hey Krasavitsa, I brought you something," I called across the studio in a singsong voice. I just wanted to see her face light up when she saw that it was Starbucks. Priceless.
"You're more than enough," she said as she hugged herself tightly against her chest. A huge grin spread over my entire face at her words. I inhaled deeply, savoring the smell of her shampoo: vanilla and coconut. I loved when she said cute things like that.
"While that may be true, I brought Starbucks as an incentive to nail this routine," I explained as I handed her the Frappuccino. The caffeine couldn't hurt either.
"You know me so well; you even got my favorite kind!" Aria squealed and clapped her hands like a kid that was being told they were going to Disney World. I was happiest when she was.
And just like that, our blissful world came crashing down as the dreaded camera crew came strolling through the studios. They really made my job so much more difficult than it needed to be. They always got in the way for the sake of getting the "perfect shot", and were always trying to dictate how rehearsal progressed so they would only have to edit minimally. Lazy asses.
Seeing Aria's unhappy expression made me even angrier. They just couldn't leave us alone for one damn rehearsal. They had probably gotten already more than they needed. Sometimes I thought I was paranoid, but I always felt like they were there all the time so they could catch us slip up once and kiss and say something incriminating so they could make the show ratings skyrocket. But maybe I was just suffering from sleep deprivation.
"Okay, so for the rumba I want to amp up the technical difficulty and include an increased number of steps of greater difficulty. I really want to push the envelope a little bit for this one," I started off a little formally so I wouldn't have to listen to Mike, or whatever his name was, to tell me I needed to fix it.
"I'm game," she replied simply as she rose sinuously from the floor into a standing position. Mike was about to open his mouth to tell Aria to add something to that, when I shot him a chilling glare that dared him to say a word to her.
"So I was thinking that for the story this time, that we both did really shitty things, but we can't stay away from each other, we're too in love. Every time one tries to pull away, the other pulls them right back. It's basically a sexified version on the paso doble. To sum it up in one word: sex. It's about as close as you get," I explained, trying to appear light hearted and humorous to the camera. Out of the cameras' prying view, Aria eye lit up and a mischievous grin spread across her face. Right then and there, I knew I was done for.
"Okay, so one of the biggest features of the rumba is hip movements. Oh and by the way, please bear with me here, I haven't performed and choreographed a rumba in a really long time. It's been almost a year and a half ago, since I never did the rumba with Z," I explained. Thank the Lord I didn't. That would have been the definition of a PR nightmare right there.
Thankfully, Mike and the rest of the crew decided that they had gotten enough footage for the package and left to go bother some other couple. Now, I was finally able to go theough rehearsal without watching over my shoulder.
"Okay. So I think we're gonna practice just your very basic hip movements. First, we're going to practice some figure eights," I announced as I pulled her in front of the wall of mirrors. These rehearsals were going to be a hell of a lot easier given our not-so-platonic relationship.
I demonstrated couple of the figure eights and she nailed it on the very first try. Damn, she's really good at this. Not terribly surprising though, I thought.
"So it would be like this during the choreography?" Aria asked innocently, as she demonstrated a figure eight in hold. Sweet baby Jesus, I groaned internally. This girl is going to be my undoing. I finally nodded in response to her question. I didn't trust myself to speak quite yet.
For the sake of my sanity, I breezed through the other hip movements for the time being. I decided that I had better introduce her to some of the lifts we were doing so she could get comfortable with them. I was well aware of his issue with heights, even if it was little more than a few feet above my head.
The first lift I had decided to show her was where she ran into my arms and I lifted her up so that her hips were resting on my shoulders. Then I lifted her up, off my shoulders and into the air. From there, I let her fall in a barrel roll kinda thing while she was airborne. I then would catch her and pull her tight against her chest.
As I first explained this, Aria looked extremely apprehensive. I knew it was a really complicated lift that some professionals even have trouble with, but I knew she could do it. I wanted to challenge her and get her to go outside her comfort zone.
"Okay, babe. I want you to run up to me and I'll lift you up onto my shoulders. That's all you're gonna do for now," I said encouragingly. I decided to teach the lifts in parts so that she wouldn't be as intimidated by it. It was also a hell of a lot easier to learn that way.
Aria didn't move an inch from where she was. She stood there staring abstractedly at me, chewing on her bottom lip. She sort of resembled a deer in headlights. However, I found her lip chewing endearing in an odd way. It was kind of attractive too.
"Babe, I promise I will not, under any circumstances, let you fall. I got you," I said encouraging as I walked over to her and stroked her cheek. I knew she had a fear of heights, not to mention some deep rooted trust issues (Thanks to that ass named Ryan). I desperately wanted to help her conquer her fears once and for all.
"Fierce mode," she replied simply as she walked several paces backward towards the wall of mirrors. I gave her encouraging smile.
"Okay, run on the count of three. One…..two…..three,". She loped gracefully towards me and leapt into my arms perfectly. The second she was in my arms I quickly perched her on my shoulders so that she hips were resting on them.
"Okay, now I want you to completely extend your arms out," I explained, looking at her through one of the many mirrors on the west wall. She executed it perfectly, the overall line of her body looking fantastic.
"Perfect,". Now, I going to lift you above my head horizontally and then let you go. You're going to do kind of a barrel roll back into my arms, then I'm going to pull you back to my chest. "Ready? One ….two….three….,".
"No, Va-," she protested, fear filling her eyes.
Before she could protest any further, I lifted her up and let her drop. I quickly caught her in my arms and pulled her against my chest. I kissed her hair and let her down gently on the floor.
"VALENTIN CHMERKOVSKIY! What the hell was that?! She spluttered. Shit, she called me Valentin. Not good. If looks could kill, I thought. I would have been a goner.
"Moy angel(this is actually Russian, not a typo), don't me upset with me. I knew you were never going to do it unless I took the decision out of your hands. And see? It turned out perfectly," I said to her with puppy dog eyes. She did nothing but cross her arms defiantly like a stubborn child. It was time to bring in the big guns.
I grabbed her and pulled her to my chest. I whispered sweet nothings in Russian in her ear and intermittently placed butterfly kisses all over her neck. Within minutes she caved and grabbed my face and kissed me feverishly. Victory.