Hello again!
blondjinjit, Dimitri will find out about that, but just a little later :)
And Bitterblue Fairchild, there will be some of Abe later into the story. For now, there will be just a little of Janine.
Enjoy!
Lots of love!
Dimitri was still driving and I was holding his hand, resting them both on my thigh, as I was watching the little stars on the roof of the car, making up my own constellations. It's amazing how simple things like these can mean so much. In this moment there is nothing more that I need, just him next to me, sharing this silence.
But then, of course, my mouth has to do its part and spoil everything with stupid things spoken without putting much thought into it. Really now, I should learn how to control this thing. It always brings me trouble.
"Comrade?"
"Hm? What happened?" he runs his fingers along my palm.
"How many?" the question comes out of nowhere, unprocessed by my brain, but after it gets out my mouth, I realize that deep inside, I felt the need to know. Maybe it isn't right for me to ask him this. His past shouldn't matter for me, and it really doesn't, as he just said that everything he wants is me and no one else and this is all I need to know. I trust him with that. And I had some boyfriends before, so I'm no different than him; it doesn't matter that we didn't get past second base either. People do what they do when they are together. But I somehow want to know. I guess I always did.
"How many what?"
"Women." I say a little unsure now. Maybe I shouldn't push things that far but the need to know is nagging me. And he frowns as his eyes are still pinned on the road. "Come on buddy, don't be shy." I approach him into the funny way.
"Roza." he says sighing. Does he regret that? I doubt it. I mean, he shouldn't. He was just enjoying himself after all. And those women wanted it too. So practically there is nothing wrong about what he did. Unless he got some STDs in the process, which would be a total bitch. Besides that, I don't see any problem. But he still doesn't respond, so I drop the subject. It would be stupid to insist. I don't really care about that. It is just a number. It doesn't define him. I know who he is now.
So, to mend the matters, I get jokingly about the matter. "Fine, fine. At least tell me how many you did on your bureau. Am I special or not?"
"None." I puff at his answer.
"Hey, if you don't want to tell me fine. But don't lie. Didn't your mother teach you it's not nice to lie?"
"I'm not lying."
"Yeah? What about Tasha that night?" remembering her annoys me for a second. Even though she is not around anymore, I still get jealous when I think about her. It may be irrational, but I can't help it, I swear.
He chuckles. "Oh, Rose. I wasn't really in the mood that night after I saw you." I somehow feel proud about this. At least that bitch didn't get some because of me. Good.
"But were there others?"
"Rose."
"Please? I know that I shouldn't ask. Your past doesn't matter. But I don't know, I just..." I really don't know why I am continuing with this thing but my mouth keeps on talking about it.
"Are you sure you want to know?" now that he is willing to respond, am I sure I want to know?
"Yes." So be it. I was the one who wanted to know. It's not going to affect me.
He entangles our fingers and holds on to them tightly. "There were other women. I won't say there weren't Rose. But I-"
"Yeah, okay. Leave that." I know that there were others and I really don't care, I mean it now. He is with me now and this is all that really matters. "I want to know if you did any of them on your bureau." now this is a more important matter for me.
He chuckles. "We usually didn't get to my office."
"Oh, good." I say proud of myself. But then I snap my head in his direction as I realize something. "Waaait a second. Does that mean that you…" he nods and a little smile spreads on his lips. Oooh, you little bastard. "On my fucking desk?" he nods again. "Hey! I eat there sometimes! Hell, I spend almost all my day at that desk." And now he laughs a little. "Not funny, comrade." I say punching him in the arm and then pretend to be upset and cross my arms over my chest but I can't help but smile. All I know is that I will never look the same at that damn table. "I want that desk burned."
"Anything you wish." He says taking my hand into his again and it takes me less than a second to laugh myself about that thing.
"So, I was the one you inaugurated your bureau, huh?"
He laughs some more. "Yes. You can say that."
"And? Was that a good inauguration comrade?"
He bites his bottom lip and looks at me for a second. "The best." is all he says and gets his attention back to the road after he boosts up my ego.
We drive in silence for some seconds.
"Rose...What about you and…" he begins to say and then stops, considering if he should go further or stop. Well, if I asked, why wouldn't he?
"Adrian, right?"
"Mhm." he says nodding and I can see that just the thought of me and Adrian together brings that displeased expression on his face. He really is that jealous. Without a very good reason because he never saw me and Adrian actually doing anything except talking, but still. I understand him. I used to get that feeling too when I was thinking about him and Tasha. "But only if you wa-"
"No, Dimitri. We didn't do anything. Nothing happened between us. We are just friends. In fact, it's funny because you-" and I stop abruptly, taking in a short breath. Whoopsie daisies, my mouth spoke without me thinking about it once more. Really, maybe I should carry some duct tape with me from now on. It would be the safest way of preventing me from speaking shit.
"I what?" of course he isn't going to let it pass that easily. He is as curious as me, but he is not as impatient as I am. He would slowly torture you into telling him everything. I really have no idea where he got all that patience from, but I surely need some of that sometimes.
"Oh, nothing. Look, we arrived already. It didn't take that long, didn't it? The streets were quite empty." I say trying to distract him as he pulls the car in front of my building. Yeah, Rose, good idea. You are saying it like he wouldn't have already been aware of where he is. It's not like he is the one who is driving the car, no? Oh, shut up. You know I can't think straight when he is around.
He turns off the engine and gives me all of his attention. Then he smiles. "You were going to say it. So say it." ugh, I so want to slap myself now.
"Fiiiine." I say rolling my eyes and then I pause, looking at him and plead him with my glance to let the subject go. But he is watching me expecting for me to continue. I take a deep breath in and put my hair behind my ears. Here is confession time. "Well, um, you were my, um...my first, okay?" and I look around the car, trying to avoid his eyes for a second. But I have to face him. And when I watch him again, a smug smile appears on his face. Damn you, Dimitri. He enjoys every second of this. "Oh, don't be so proud of yourself." I say and punch his arm once more and we both laugh a little.
But his expression rapidly changes and his eyebrows knit. Then, his eyes widen and he blinks at me twice, just like I have told him some secret of the universe. I didn't think it my virginity would be such an interesting subject. "I didn't know that." He states. Well, it's not like I bragged with it in front of you or gave you any heads up that night. But he surely isn't very pleased about this because he is mumbling in Russian under his breath some things that I can't understand. And he seems really upset. I would bet my money on him swearing now, but I can't be sure.
"Dimitri, what happened?" shouldn't I have told him that? Well, he wanted to know. There shouldn't be anything bad about it, right?
Then, his expression turns to worried and he takes my hand in between his. "Roza, did I...fuck…" oh, wow. He just swore, so this is bad. "Did I hurt you somehow that night?" what? Is this the thing that got him that upset? "Please tell me Rose. I need to know. I wouldn't forgive myself if I would have. But God, I don't remember much except you."
I, on the other hand, I remember every second of it. That night was very special for me. Remembering how gentle he was with me warms me on the inside. How can he even think about hurting me? I know he wouldn't be capable of doing that. "Hey. Dimitri." I squeeze his hands and smile lightly. "No, you didn't do…"
"Was I rough or something? Please tell me that I didn't hurt you. Why did I have to be that drunk?" he passes his hand through his hair, seeming to have some kind of panic attack and speaks in Russian some more. "I really couldn't forgive myself for that Roza. And I'm sorry if I... if it wasn't how it should have been. Was it a bad experience for you? Is this why you were mad at me? Did I do something to you that night?" nothing that I didn't like.
"Hey, Dimitri. Calm down. No. God no. And no to everything. It was perfect. More than perfect. You were so sweet to me." I say and place my hand on his cheek. Gosh, he even held my hand the whole time. "Really." He turns his head and kisses the inside of my palm.
"Tell me."
"Tell you what?"
"What I don't remember."
"What? No." I look down embarrassed as I shake my head. Today was only the second time I had sex and now I am going to tell him about our first time? Hell no! It's like you would explain someone the plot of a porn movie.
"Why not?" why not? Because it's weird as fuck, that's why! Does he want an explicit report? Some drawings too? What about a practical demonstration? I don't think that this part would mind me that much, but still, I am getting away from my point. I don't respond to him. "Hey." he lifts my chin up. "You don't have to be shy about it. There is nothing wrong with talking about things like that. It's about us." Um, okay, it is something to make some inappropriate suggestions or to talk about sex in general, but to actually tell him everything that happened on a particular occasion? I don't think so. I frown at him. This time I am not going to give in. "For me? I really want to know. Please, Rose?" he asks and I can't resist his face. Nice. It took you just five seconds Rose.
So I tell him, but I don't get way too graphic. And to my surprise, it doesn't seem as weird as I thought it would be. It simply feels normal, like I would be able to share anything with him at any time. Plus, as he said, it is a thing about us, so it would be fair for him to know what happened then. And I really don't want him to continue thinking he did horrible things to me.
"And I don't know, lastly, you told me something in Russian. It was a single word in fact."
"Do you remember it?"
"Oh, of course I do." I would have that word ingrained in my mind forever. It sounded so sweet. "It was something like, mil-ya? Mi-ya? Mi… Naah, it's not like that. I don't know, it makes more sense in my head." A big smile appears on his lips. "I mispronounced it big time, didn't I?" he nods, still amused.
"What about this?" he comes close to my ear and whispers: "Milaya." And hearing it again sends shivers down my spine. I missed being called like this even though I have no idea what that means and, God, the way he is saying it only makes it more perfect.
"Yes! This is the one. What does it mean?" I am dying to know. I have searched the whole internet for its translation but as I had no idea how to write it, I didn't get lucky.
He smiles as he responds. "Dear." And he passes a hand through my hair, tucking it behind my ear. "My dear." A silly smile covers my face and I get closer to him and rest my head on his shoulder.
We sit there for a minute in silence and I almost fall asleep in his embrace and I get caught that I am way sleepier than I have been stating until now. And he throws me that '-told you-you-should-get-some-sleep look.
"Well, I guess I should better go." he nods. "See you tomorrow comrade." and I give him a goodbye kiss.
I get out of the car and head for the entrance. I turn my head and he is still there, watching me and a smile appears on his face when he sees that I turned around. An idea pops in my head and I hurriedly get back to the car and lean on the open window.
"Forgot something?"
"Yup."
"What?"
"You, Mister Belikov." I say extending my hand, reaching for his. He frowns. "You know, Lissa is not coming home until eight." I say smiling. And this is all he needs to hear to reciprocate my smile.
He parks the car and we head upstairs.
Still excited that we are together for the night, I open the door and turn on the light. And my excitement fades away when I take a look around as he is taking it in too. Well, it's not that clean, but it's not that bad either. It's acceptable in here. Just a blanket that is thrown messily on the couch, some magazines that are out of their place and some clothes that I brought from the laundry that need to be folded and put back into the closet, but I never really gotten to do that. I kind of feel bad right now. Should I have brought him upstairs? Compared to his apartment, mine is, well, mine is pretty poor looking.
"So," I say as I am shifting my weight from one leg to the other. "this is my home. It's little and it's not much but-"
"Hey. Don't do that. I really like it. This place looks so much like you." He says and takes my hand into his. "So what if it is little? It seems cozy. And warm. And sweet. Just like you." a smile appears on my face. He didn't say those words out of courtesy. He really meant them. Aww, he's so sweet.
I take a second to take off his coat and then my heels. "Hey!" it just hit me.
"What?"
"I am not little." I say crossing my arms over my chest, trying to seem imposing. He just implied this when he was speaking about my apartment.
He comes in front of me and puts an arm around me, pulling me close to him, gluing our front bodies. "Of course you are not, Roza." he says smiling. And you know what? I am not the one with the upper hand here. Because I have to fucking look at him by tilting my head a little. And you know why? Because I just took my heels off and I have lost those couple of centimeters that could have helped me win this thing. And he is practically rubbing his almost one foot in addition to me in my face. Oh, damn you Dimitri. It annoys me when people tell me I am short. I am not. Well, comparing to him I kind of am but in general, I am not.
I squint my eyes at him and he laughs lightly. Then, he leans over a little, indicating me that we are going to kiss soon. Well, that I like and if he kisses me good, I will make forgotten his earlier suggestion. But oh, things are not that simple. He is teasing me, not coming close enough towards me, and letting me make the next step. And you know what the next step is? Me having to lift myself on my tippy toes in order to reach his lips. But to hell if I am going to do it! So I resume to an area I can reach without having to do that. I pass my nose along his collarbones, kiss that spot in between them and then bite on his skin lightly, trying to tease him back and it works because he can't take it for long and comes even closer to me, meeting me halfway. And I can feel that he smiles smugly as our lips press onto each other. Yeah, your point was perfectly proven, comrade. Be proud of yourself.
"Do you wanna know what the coziest place in this house is?" I change the subject and he lets me do it. He already won, so what can you do?
"I'd love to." he says biting his lip.
So I take him to my room.
"There. Make yourself comfortable."
He sits on my bed, takes one of my pillows and smells it.
"Did I ever tell you that you smell divine?"
"Yeah, a couple of times I think." I say as I unzip my dress. He is watching me with one of his eyebrows lifted as I get it down my shoulders. Oh, he is so hot when he does that. I take the dress off completely, remaining bare in front of him. I place myself on his lap and we start kissing. This night is far from ending.
At five, my alarm goes off. I hurriedly get up and prop my hand upon Dimitri's chest to get to the phone. After the loud ringing sound has finally stopped, he drags my hand from under myself and I end up plopping on his chest.
Still dismayed from sleeping, I squint my eyes in his direction. "Hey, what was that for?"
But he doesn't respond, just takes my mouth into a sweet kiss. Well, I could definitely get used to that.
After a couple of seconds of admiring his sleepy face, I decide to speak.
"You know, we should get ready. It's five already." I say and yawn widely. Well, we didn't get much sleep last night, but I don't complain. At all.
"No."
"No?" He shakes his head. "How come?"
"We can go later."
"Oh, the advantages of banging your boss." I say and we both laugh.
But after a while of lazily sitting there and just looking at each other, I get out of the bed and go to the closet to get some clothes.
"What are you doing?"
"I'm going to take a shower."
"May I join?"
"Only if you promise to behave."
He considers things for a second and then shakes his head no, smiling.
"Meh, comrade, wrong answer. I'll have to disappoint you today. I don't want my skin to get wrinkly." I say as I wink and get close to him to give him another kiss before I enter the bathroom. And no really, but if I would have given in, I don't think we would have gotten out of that shower for some time. Plus, I really think we should take a little break because I don't think I will be able to walk straight today if we go on like this.
When I pull away and turn around to head towards the bathroom, I feel that the sheet I wrapped myself in got caught in something. By someone in fact. I turn around and face Dimitri again.
"Hey, let go of that." and he shakes his head. "Fine then." I let go of the edges keeping the sheet on me, it falls on the floor and I remain completely naked. He turns to one side and extends a hand to catch me and I squeal and run into the bathroom laughing.
When I get out of the bathroom, I find a Dimitri who is putting on his pants. I look at him and pout jokingly.
"Oh, comrade, I thought you were already into the kitchen making me breakfast." I say and I laugh.
"We can do that too. We have plenty of time." Maybe not that much; we are one hour late already, but who is counting them? I have a passing ticket.
"Nah, we don't have to. I don't eat much in the morning anyway."
"I can make you some pancakes." he surely knows I like pancakes as it was all I wanted to eat in the mornings back in Russia.
And my eyes get glowing at his offer. "Fluffy ones? I love fluffy ones." he nods. "That's a deal. And I'm making the coffee then."
He gets his shirt and wants to put it on, but it is all wrinkly. I get to my closet and get out the shirt I got from him that morning when I sneaked out and hand the hanger to him.
"You kept this?" he asks smiling.
"Yeah, I did." I couldn't bring myself to give it away. It would have been one of his things that I would have had. But now that I have him, the shirt doesn't interest me anymore. "Now come. Don't make me wait with those pancakes."
Half an hour later we are still in the kitchen, me eating and laughing at a joke that Dimitri made. Yeah, he makes jokes, everybody. Under all that seriousness, he is really funny. And I was missing it all out.
Lissa comes home earlier and makes her entrance into the kitchen, shock filling her words.
"Rose? What are you doing home at thi- Oh, hi!" she stops into the doorframe at our sight and the shock on her face only gets bigger. "Hello, Mister Belikov." she says and I can feel the confusion in her voice. She didn't expect to get home to this.
"Good morning, Lissa. And please, call me Dimitri."
"Come, Liss, come! You have to taste this. This man makes the best pancakes in the whole world. I am already on my third serving. And they are so fluffy! You know I never get them right. Can you make those for her now, please?" I ask Dimitri lastly. He nods and gets up.
"You don't have to bother, Dimitri." Lissa responds kindly. Pff. Like someone could resist these pancakes after they get a taste.
"We kept the mixture especially for you, Liss. Aren't you starving? Plus, I made coffee." and at my offer, she gives in and takes a seat next to me.
As Dimitri is making the pancakes for Lissa, she turns at me and throws me a questioning glance. I just look at her and plaster a silly smile on my face. I am feeling like a teenager in love in this moment, with the butterflies and the whole package. She understood what I was trying to transmit and kicks me into the arm whispering ''lucky bitch''.
DPOV begins
It is nine and we are finally heading to the office.
"What are people going to say about us? They must have already found out, right? It surely is all out there, comrade." Rose says concerned.
"I don't care." And if people have a problem with us, they will have to deal with it. I am with the woman I love. Anything else doesn't matter. "And neither should you, Rose. It will be okay."
"Yeah, but isn't this like, the perfect cliché? The boss with his secretary? Like, really? Oh, and we even did it on your bureau. That's the whole package, comrade." Rose with her stereotypes and clichés. She is so funny when she does that.
"Doesn't the cliché involve the boss being married or being into a relationship already? I thought that the thing with the secretary is all about an affair."
"So, then, comrade, are you married?" She asks smiling.
"No."
"Do you have a relationship?"
"Yes." I answer, an idea popping in my head. I just can't help myself not to tease her. The faces she makes are priceless.
And as I predicted, her face drops. "You are shitting me right now, right?" She already got pissed. But I don't stop. I keep myself as serious as I can. And I am not smiling at all.
"No."
"Dimitri, stop the car. Now."
"No." she tries the car door but it is locked.
"I'll fucking jump out the window. Stop the fucking car. Now, Dimitri." And she proceeds to unbuckle her seatbelt. She looks so cute when she gets this furious. It's like this fire begins to burn inside her, making her more beautiful. I want to pull over and kiss her until I can't breathe normally, but I keep up to my initial plan.
"Aren't you curious to find out who she is?"
"Don't fuck with me, please. I am not in the mood right now Dimitri." She answers and crosses her hands over her full chest, looking out the window.
"Oh, come on, please me. Ask me who she is." she surely isn't in the mood, because she is all tensed up. It's obvious that she didn't get that I am playing with her. She is taking this thing very seriously. I just hope that she won't punch me for what I am going to say next. She seems capable of doing that right now.
"Fine. Who is she?"
"Oh, she is a very, very beautiful woman and I love her very much. Want to know her name?"
"Yeah, I would like to know that very much, please." she says being on the verge of going apeshit.
"Roza." I lastly say, smiling.
"Oh, you, you, you, ugh! Don't do things like that to me!" she says punching my thigh. "I swear I was a second away from jumping out that window." Then, she turns my way, smiling and gets her hand to the nape of my neck, passing her fingers on my skin. God, these little things are driving me insane. "So, are we a thing now, huh?"
I take her hand and kiss the inside of her palm. "Of course we are."
She entangles our fingers and gets our hands on her thigh to rest. "I like how that sounds comrade." Yeah, I like that too. Very much.
DPOV ends
We exit the same car and people into the parking lot are already staring. Yay! Can't they just keep it to themselves? We are not circus workers, really. But that is not the only thing that happens. In a flash, the place gets full of people with cameras hanging from their necks and they get straight to questioning us. Well, shit. Not knowing what I should do, I throw a scared glance towards Dimitri, who is having a displeased expression on his face as the people encircle us, coming out of nowhere.
He comes to me and slips his fingers between mine, taking my hand into his. I freak out. Should we do that in public? I look at him, trying to transmit him that we shouldn't do that. Maybe it's too early. I also try to pull my hand back, but he doesn't let go. "Rose, stay calm. There is nothing wrong with this." he whispers. And you know what? He is totally right. There is absolutely nothing wrong with this. I first was afraid of people talking shit about me for having a relationship with my boss, but if people have a problem with this, they can go and fuck themselves. I love him and he loves me and I am not going to stay away from him anymore. And especially if some fuckers have something to comment about this. It's not their life, it's mine. "And don't tell them anything, no matter what they ask. They'll eventually get tired and leave." He lastly says to me and hurriedly drags me out of there as they are shamelessly taking photos of us.
"Mister Belikov, what happened with your last girlfriend?" well, I hope she went to hell.
"Mister Belikov, is this your new lover?" no, he is just holding my hand so that I wouldn't get lost.
"Miss, are you two in love?" yeah, we very much are.
"Isn't Tasha jealous?" yeah, she is jealous as fuck but she can just go fuck herself. He is with me now.
"Mister Belikov, is it true that this woman is your secretary, right?" yeah, so what the hell is the problem there?
"Mister Belikov, is she the reason you broke up with Tasha?" God, would people stop thinking that I was the one who broke them apart?
"Miss, did you get the job just because you are with him and kept it a secret until now because of that?" what the fuck? I just want to turn and punch whoever said that but I try to stay calm and Dimitri tightens his fingers on my palm, transmitting me that he's there for me. They'll eventually get tired and leave I keep on saying to myself as my heart starts beating faster while we are still on our way through the crowd around us. God, I was so not prepared for this shit. And I really don't appreciate all this attention I get all of a sudden.
"Mister Belikov, was your trip to Russia from two weeks ago a romantic escapade?" oh, I so wish it would have been that instead of that bad episode we had.
And God, these people have so many other things to ask but I don't understand most of them because they are talking over each other. They want to know everything and their questions keep on pouring over us.
And when we are close enough to the entrance, one of those bastards gets a hold of my elbow and pulls me towards him, trying to get a good photo of my face as I was covering it as well as I could with my hair and my palm as a concealment. I don't get to react fast enough to that and I swear that the next thing I know is that the guy is sitting in front of me with a bloody nose and Dimitri is by my side and telling that guy to get out of our face. What the hell did just happen? He takes me away from there as that guy is threatening him to sue him for hitting him, but Dimitri simply doesn't give a fuck. Neither do I. That fucker had it coming, if not from Dimitri, then from me.
We finally enter the enormous building and I get to take a normal breath in the past three minutes. I am already sick of these people. We go to the right side of the hallway, getting cover from everyone that might be around. I really need a moment of peace now.
"Are you alright, Roza?" Dimitri asks me concerned and gets my hair out of my face.
I plant my forehead into his chest and sigh, being already exhausted. "Now I am. But will things forever be like this?"
"Just until they get used to it. It's news for them. They'll eventually give up." I encircle him with my hands and sigh once more. God knows how much that will take. "I am really sorry you had to go through that Rose."
"Well, it still would have happened someday. And it's not your fault anyway."
"Yeah, but you said you weren't ready for it and now you just got dragged into it. I have expected them to be here, but as I didn't see them when I parked the car I thought that we were safe. I am sorry for that."
"Well, comrade, I am as ready as I'll ever be, so stop worrying about it. It already happened and I will get used to it." It's not like some people would make me give up on him.
He smiles lightly and kisses my forehead. "And are you ready to get further?" he asks tilting his head towards the other side of the hallway. I nod and we head to his office upstairs. At least in here people are not as aggressive as the ones outside.
As I walk through the hallway, I observe that nothing has changed since last night. But everything seems different at the same time. I feel different. And I know why. It's because this place doesn't mean a place where I am coming to get myself tortured. Now, it is so much more.
And the first person I lay my eyes on is a smiling Sydney who is gesturing me to get to her. I throw a questioning look towards Dimitri and he smiles. "Go ahead. I'll wait for you next to the elevator."
"Thanks. I won't be staying too long."
I walk towards Sydney's desk and on the way, there are two bitches that are sitting at their desk and sipping from their coffees together, and they decide to get gossiping as I pass next to them.
"So it's her." One of them whispers not silently enough.
"Well, let's see how much she will last." The other one says smiling and as I look at them squinting my eyes they shut up in an instant and go back to doing their thing. They can get their opinions and shove them up their flat asses. I am not going to let people like them affect me.
Instead, I let Sydney fill me up with her cheerfulness. She saw Dimitri and I holding hands and now she is lightly jumping up and down excitedly as I reach her and her happiness is contagious, making me smile. When I get close enough, she gets from under her desk a magazine. And at its sight I shake my head no. I so don't want to read what people who have no idea about what is going on have to say.
"It's not what you think. I want to show you something nice."
"Well, then impress me please."
And what she shows me really impresses me. She shows me an article about me and Dimitri and it's mostly about 'Who is the mysterious woman Dimitri Belikov has been seen yesterday night leaving the quarters of his business with?' and 'Could she be the woman he has been seen at a charitable dinner some weeks ago with?' and many other questions that would make the readers go buy another edition of that magazine. But what Sydney wanted me to see are the pictures from that article. Along with the picture James took of us last night, there is another one of me and Dimitri on that page. One I didn't even know existed. But gosh, I fall in love with it on an instant.
It's a picture of me and him, made when we were at that charitable dinner. Hell, I didn't even know there were people taking photos, that distracted I was about other things around. And the photo is taken just after we descended the stairs because I am attached to Dimitri, having my hand around his upper arm, and the décor is right and plus, I am a little leaning over to his side, and they might have just caught the moment I was asking him why everyone was staring at us. But there is one thing I didn't observe that night but that I can clearly see into this picture. I wasn't paying much attention to him, being distracted by everyone staring at us, and I didn't get to see the way he was looking at me in the moment the photo was taken. As I was looking around, Dimitri had his head slightly turned towards me and his eyes were pinned on me, only on me, looking at me just like he did when we were upstairs, with that glint in his eyes. And on his lips, there is a slight smile that makes my knees go weak. Gosh, there is so much love into that glance of his and I was just too blind to see it.
"You showed her without me, babe?" I hear Adrian's voice coming from behind me. And what did he just say? Oh, boy, Sydney is so not going to like being called like that.
"Well, I couldn't wait, I was way too excited. It's not my fault that you are late. You should have come on time." Sydney responds and Adrian goes to her and gives her a little kiss on the lips.
I look at them shocked. "Wha-? How? When?" They both laugh at my confusion. But really, when the hell did they get that close? Just two days ago they were ready to rip each other's heads off. Trust me, I was there.
"Oh, Rose. I needed a reason to send you all those flowers without you thinking I was trying to make Belikov jealous, right?" so, this is why he was doing that? It kind of makes sense, considering that he is the reason Dimitri eventually confessed to me that he is jealous. Wow, we both got played by them. "And Syd right here," he says kissing her once more. "Only helped me keep the two of you together for longer into that office. Where do you think that all those papers you both had to take care of came from?"
"So, this means that the two of you…pretended all this time to hate each other?"
They both nod. "We got along fine way before you decided to make us meet, sweetie. We met just the day before you came with Adrian and introduced him to me, and anyway, that was a nice gesture from you, but we have already made a little plan together, as Adrian needed some help with dealing with you both blind people. It amazes me how long it took you to realize all of this, but still, it's better late than never. And we quite enjoyed playing that game in front of you, Rose. It was so exciting!" Sydney responds this time. "And if you'd only know on how many occasions you were close enough to catch us! I don't know how you did it, but you kept on finding our little hiding spots." she laughs and it gets contagious. Nice. They are such good actors, what can I say?
But I can't stay for longer with them because Dimitri is waiting for me and I promise that I will come back later. I am so not going to let them get away with this little thing they did. I want to know everything.
And as I leave the two lovers do their thing and head towards where I know Dimitri is, someone bumps into me. Really? I get it that this place is quite crowded, but isn't this damn front desk area big enough or what? I turn my gaze into the person's direction and it takes me a second to recognize who the person is. It's fucking Tasha! But she is dressed so unlike her, into baggy clothes and she is wearing a cap and a pair of big sunglasses, trying to get around unobserved. But she surely wanted me to observe her. When she catches my eye, her face turns into a displeased expression. What? Did she come here to convince herself? To see this thing with her own eyes? Couldn't she believe it when she saw the pictures into the magazines? Well, if she is here already, I am going to convince her right here and right now. I wanted to pay her back for so long now and I know the perfect way to do it.
So, without paying much attention to her, I leave her behind, and I make my way towards the elevator, where I find Dimitri. We both smile as we see each other and as I reach him, I take his hand into mine. I lean over to kiss him, and I don't pull away for some good long seconds, enjoying his lips on mine. And I am one hundred percent sure that Tasha is watching. Well, I hope she likes what she sees because she will be seeing this thing quite often if she keeps on being around.
When I pull away, Dimitri is smiling. "What was that for?"
I smile too, pleased with myself. Maybe I was kind of mean to do that, but I just wanted to pay her back so fucking bad. "Just because." I respond to him and give him one more little kiss.
We get inside the elevator and it's kind of crowded in here. We are a total of six people in here. As the elevator goes up, Dimitri comes closer to me and pokes me into my thigh. I look at him questioningly.
One person gets out.
"You know what that blue button is used for?" he whispers so that I can only hear him.
I spot the button and I lean on my right side, getting even closer to him. "No. What is it used for?"
Another two get out of the elevator.
He smiles lightly. "You can use it to stop the elevator in between the stories."
I frown. This doesn't make any sense. "And why would someone want to-" but I stop mid-question as I see the playful smile on his face. "Oh. I get it." And I reciprocate his smile.
He comes even closer, dissolving the space between our side bodies, and his fingers travel now left and right on the back of my thigh, just under my butt and then they get up my ass, cupping it with his big palm sneakily and he gives me a little squeeze. Damn, comrade. In public? (it's only one person, but still) But it's not like we are trying to hide anything now. Everybody knows and I don't really care anymore. I have made peace with that already. It's better not to fight it. I am going to concentrate on the more important things now. Or persons. "Maybe we will get the chance to use that button someday." Shocked, I turn my head and look at him. Did he just say that? He surely did and he is pleased by my reaction. I hope that the man that just exited the elevator didn't hear that.
And now, as the doors are closing, he leans over, turns me to face him, drags me closer and as he lightly bites my earlobe he whispers: "I'd love to do you in the elevator." My whole body shivers and as he senses that he chuckles. And this sound is like music to my ears.
"But wouldn't someone see us in here?"
I can already see his eyes glowing. "No. There are no cameras in here."
"Hm, good to know for one day." And with my reply I defuse him.
I take a step forward and get closer to the elevator's doors.
"Where are you going? It's not our story yet."
I turn to face him. "I know." And smiling devilishly, I extend my hand to push the blue little button at the end of the panel.
But just as the elevator stops, my phone gets ringing. And guess who is calling me? My beloved mother. Oh, I should have seen this shitty conversation coming, but I was too preoccupied with other things. And I know I can't avoid it so I decide I have to deal with it now. The sooner the better, or the more I prolong not doing it, the more angrier she will get.
So I postpone my little adventure into the elevator with Dimitri and we continue our way up, where I call my mother back after I leave Dimitri into his office.
She responds but doesn't say anything. "Hi, mum." Gosh, I am already regretting this. I can already see the disapproving expression forming on her face.
"How could you?!" she already starts yelling.
"What did I do?"
"You have the cheek to ask me that?"
"I do in fact because I didn't do anything wrong."
"How can you go out with that man?!" and I have to get the phone away from my ear for one second because I might get deaf from how loud she is.
"Don't say it like that!" That man. The way she said it makes me angry. She knows nothing about him. She just knows everything she read about him. She doesn't have the slightest idea about how he is when he is with me.
"Do you even think about what that might do to your reputation!? Of course you don't. You never do, Rose! You just go and do all these stupid things all the time! Is this why you went to Manhattan, to fool around with rich people?! This is how you are sustaining yourself?" and her words hurt me more than I might admit out loud. How can she think that?
"Oh, give me a break mum! Don't say it like I am some kind of whore! Is that your opinion about me? Wow. You know me so well! Yeah, I am with him, so what is the problem with that?! Did you stop for a second and thought that he might just make me happy? No! You didn't. I am sure of that. All you care about is your little reputation. Well, I am not doing anything to 'ruin' it, so stop talking shit, okay?"
And she doesn't give any attention to what I have just told her, just like she always does, and she just babbles some more about me making a fool of myself and embarrassing her and about how she found out from a friend at work that her only daughter is embarrassing her by going out with a man like him and what was I thinking and some more usual stuff about me never doing the right thing. Yay! I really missed these kinds of conversations.
"Is dad there? Pass him to the phone." I interrupt her monologue. At least with him I would manage to say something too. He is way more understanding than she is anyway.
"Oh, he will so not be on your side this time. When he will find out he will be more pissed than I am, trust me. He will not agree either with you going out with that man."
"God, he has a fucking name and you'd better get used to it because I don't fucking care about what the hell you think! I do what I want and you won't have anything to say about that. And wait, doesn't he know already?" I think the whole neighborhood already knows, that loud she is.
"No, he doesn't because he is not here for the moment. He has gone to Russia to take care of something for one of his art clients, but you'd better be sure that when he comes back home, the first thing he will find out from me will be about your stupidity! And you'd better prepare yourself for some more moral because he will surely not agree with what the hell you are doing!" And then she simply hangs up, leaving me hanging. Nice move, mum.
I throw my phone on the desk and lean over it with my hands crossed and I look out the window, trying to calm myself. Gosh! She's my fucking mother, shouldn't she support me? No, instead of that all she does is to tell me that everything I do is wrong. And why does everybody around think they have the right to say something about what is happening now?! It's my fucking life and I do what I want with it! I feel like crying from all this anger in me but I just resume to puffing air out of my nose as loud as I can, trying to get a hold of myself.
Some seconds later, I feel some arms wrapping around me from behind and a head leaning over my shoulder. I know it's Dimitri as I calm on an instant when I feel him. I turn my head into his direction and brush my cheek over his. It's good that at least he is here for me, along with the few people who are happy for me.
"How are you, milaya?"
I sigh. "I'm good."
He smiles lightly. "I know you're not."
"You heard it all, no?"
"Kind of. The walls are pretty thin."
"It's just that…" I turn to face him completely and he takes my hands into his. "She doesn't like you and she didn't even meet you, and she didn't even give me the chance to tell her anything about you. What annoys me most is that she is never willing to listen to me and goes on with her opinion about everything and nothing can change that, no matter how hard I try."
He drags me closer to him. "But do you like me?"
I look at him weirdly. "What kind of question is that, comrade? You know I do."
"Good. That's all I need to know." He says smiling. "I'll make your mother like me too somehow."
At this, I laugh. "Yeah, that would be quite hard. She is stubborn as fuck."
"Just like you?"
And I chuckle again. "Maybe worse."
"It doesn't matter. I'd do anything to show her I am worthy of you, Roza."
Aw, he is just so sweet.
"But let's just let her calm down first, okay?" and we both laugh a little.