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Chapter 53
RPOV
Work was something I loved; and something I had always done. But there was only so much a girl could take. I had been writing down notes, scribbling them out, rewriting them and throwing away pieces of paper that could possibly linked to this murder case...and honestly, I couldn't stare helplessly at the page any longer.
That was why I had left my office – locked the door behind me, of course – and decided to wander around the building to get some air and clear my head. That was when I ran into Viktoria.
"How's it going?" I asked her as I approached her. "What are you doing on this floor?"
"I'm just looking around," she said nonchalantly. When I gave her a sceptical look, she rolled her eyes.
"Oh alright," she admitted, throwing her hands up. "I'm totally lost. Help me out?"
"Depends," I replied teasingly. "What are you looking for?"
"I was asked to get these forms copied for the newbies, but I can't the copy room- Oh wait! There it is!" Viktoria made to open the copy room door and it suddenly hit me what floor we were on.
"Stop!" I grabbed her arm before she had time to open it, causing her to look at me in shock.
"Why? What's wrong?" I listened carefully, pressing my ear as close to the door as I dared.
"Shit!" I whispered loudly as I heard the sound of shuffling. "Run, quick!" I dragged her down the corridor, nearly sending her flying as I sprinted around the corner.
"What the hell is going on?" She whispered loudly back, and I shushed her, before daring to peek around the corner. Vika crept lower and did the same thing.
Right on cue, the third floor copy room door opened slowly, and the one and only Natasha Ozera peeked out, glancing around cautiously. I rolled my eyes and pulled Vika back in completely out of sight.
"Rose!" She demanded. "Can you please tell me what's going on?"
"That," I pointed back in the direction we had just run from. "is what is known here as 'the sex room.'"
"I-" Viktoria gaped. "There's a sex room! Oh god," her expression went from shocked to disgusted. "Please tell me you and my brother have not used it."
"Nope," I grinned at her. "Not that I'm not willing; it's just convincing him to that's the problem."
"Stop right there," Viktoria glared at me – a glare that intensified when I chuckled at her. "I don't want to hear any more – I heard enough last night."
"Oh get over it already," I shoved her jokingly. "We have a baby; how did you think that happened?"
"I don't want to think about the 'how' part, I just care about Luka and how cute he is." I was about to comment again when the sound of the copy room door opening once again sounded through the corridor. I gasped and peeked around again just in time to see Natasha and a young looking man leave the room hurriedly.
"Who are they?" Vika asked as soon as they were out of sight and we were free to come out of hiding.
"I have no idea who the guy is," I replied honestly, having never seen him before. "As for her…That was Natasha Ozera."
"That was her? Wow, she's prettier than I expected."
"Wait, what? You've heard of her? How?" I stared at Viktoria as she seemingly struggled to answer.
"I just, I've heard some stuff about her around this office this morning. No major gossip or anything," She said quickly. "Just hearsay, you know?" I narrowed my eyes at her, not trusting that she was telling the truth, but decided to let it slide…for now.
"Well, I don't like her," I announced after a few moments. "She flirts with Dimitri."
"She does?" Viktoria looked disgusted. "Does she know you guys are together?"
"Everyone knows we're together."
"Why don't you say something to her?" Vik suggested, linking our arms as we strolled back towards my office. I thought about her proposition but shot it down…for now, anyway.
"She doesn't exact seem like the type that will listen," I replied. "Not to mention she's a whore." My comment made Viktoria guffaw. "I'll deal with her if she gets any worse."
"Can I help?" She shot me a sly look and I grinned in reply.
"Of course," A thought sudden occurred to me. "Hey, there's actually something else you could help me…if you're not too busy." She agreed and I pulled her into my office, quickly filling her in on my case thus far.
"Woah…I can't believe you're the one who was put on the murder case!" She exclaimed – albeit quietly as Hans had said to keep the case on the down low.
"What do you mean?" I asked her in confusion.
"Well, there's been a rumour going around that someone was given a huge case recently. I didn't realise that person was you."
"Well, then you should be honoured to assist me and my awesome case today," I grinned and shoved her down in my desk chair, taking my time to fill her in on the smaller details I had figured out in the last couple of weeks.
Tasha wandered through the hallways unseen...It was true to say that she was a little pissed off.
Okay, maybe 'a little' was an understatement.
Not only had Dimitri ditched her for their lunch date yesterday, but he hadn't even bothered to give her a reason as to why! She stormed into the cafeteria, the door crashing open with a bang.
People looked up at her dramatic entrance but quickly looked away, going back to enjoying their food, well accustomed to her common mood swings.
Tasha's eyes scanned the room quickly, hoping to locate Dimitri and confront him…or maybe get him to agree to make it up to her.
However, the lunchroom was Dimitri-free. Having already been to his office, she wondered if he was hiding. Come to think of it, she hadn't seen him all day. She was about to turn and stalk back out when she spotted an unfamiliar face in the food queue.
"Hey," she walked over to the nearest table and grabbed the attention of three of her co-workers sitting and eating their lunch. "Who's that?"
They all glanced over in the direction she was pointing simultaneously.
"Eh, that's the new girl," the man answered. "Think she's Belikov's sister."
"Bel- As in Dimitri's?" Tasha gasped. "He never told me she was an agent!"
The three who were trying to have a peaceful lunch looked at each other, one of them even going as far as to roll her eyes.
"And why would he tell you?" One of the women asked. "He doesn't even know you." Yes. It was no secret that Natasha Ozera had eyes for Dimitri Belikov…It was also no secret that he clearly had no interest in her – a detail that Tasha refused to acknowledge.
Tasha looked offended at the agent's comment. "In fact," she began to correct her. "I know him very well; I just prefer to keep my personal life private."
"Funny, I would've said the opposite," one of the women muttered, making the other two struggle to hold in their laughter.
Tasha was about to retort but was swiftly interrupted by the only man sitting at the table.
"Natasha, we all know you're not dating Belikov."
"Isn't he with Rose Hathaway?" Another agent approached and sat down. Once seated, she begin tearing into her food.
"Yeah, that's what I thought," another answered. The simple conversation was making Tasha's blood boil.
"No, they're not," she spat out, trying to control her anger. Rose Hathaway was someone she had not known very long, but had instantly taken a disliking to.
"Yeah, I think they are," the girl piped up. She was one of the newer additions to the branch, only here less than a year. She hadn't had much to do with Natasha until today, and so didn't know of her rapid mood swings. "I just saw them together when I walked passed her office; they're such a cute couple."
Hathaway's office! Bingo. Why hadn't she thought to look there?
"When you say you saw them in her office…" one of the women encouraged, eager for some gossip. "You mean, like, making out?"
"Not that I could tell," she replied with a shrug. Tasha's anger calmed ever so slightly. "But I did catch them kissing in the corridor this morning."
"You see?" One of the women who had originally been at the table looked up at Tasha. "They are together."
"Supposedly," Tasha replied vaguely. "I wouldn't buy into it though. Hathaway's a skank; she has only been here a few months and I've already seen her go in and out of the third floor copy room more times than I can count!"
"Wait," the new girl piped up. "What does that mean?" Nobody answered her – the third floor copy room was something everyone had to discover for themselves.
"I've seen her leave the room with a different newbie every time," Tasha went on. "Shirt's undone, pants unzipped, hair messed up if you get what I'm saying!" Silence ensued the table after Tasha's announcement, everybody torn between believing her juicy gossip or just writing it off as a stupid made-up rumour.
"I don't believe you," someone said eventually. "She seems so nice…and in love. She and Belikov have a baby for heavens sake!"
"Please, it's all a show!" Tasha scoffed. "The girl's a whore. Oh and by the way, you didn't hear it from me."
RPOV
"Thank you," I grinned at my boyfriend as I let him out of my office. He had spent all day listening to every little detail of my case – making me repeat the ones I felt were the most important and going through a whole list of possible leads. I stepped out in the cool hallway with him just to get some air; throughout the morning, my office had become stuffy and hot – so much so that I was tempted to take off my shirt when I was alone again.
"Anytime," he replied and tucked a strand of my hair behind my ear. Instead of letting his hand fall back down to his side, he let it rest on my cheek. I leaned heavily into his palm and placed the tiniest kiss there. "I mean it."
"Are you going to get lunch?" I asked him, entwining our fingers. "I'm hungry after all of that."
"Tell you what," Dimitri began. "I'll go grab us some food and you call Avery to check up on Luka. When I come back, we can eat together in your office."
"Can we eat in yours?" I asked, making a face. "Mine's all stuffy…plus we've been crammed in there all day; I need a change of scenery."
"Of course," he smiled in response. "I'll be back in a few minutes."
I gathered whatever stuff I needed and locked the door behind me. On the way to Dimitri's office, I dialled Avery to briefly check in. As it turned out, Luka was doing just fine, and Avery was managing great by herself.
"That's great, Avery, thanks," I hung up just as Dimitri entered his office. In his arms was enough food for probably four people; he had even brought me two doughnuts as a treat.
"Luka okay?"
"He's fine," I replied, distractedly looking at the delicious food in his arms. "Are those doughnuts for me?"
"If you want them," he grinned. "I just grabbed whatever I could see on the table." He settled himself in his chair and gestured for me to sit on his lap.
It became a daily routine then. It may have been slightly anti-social, but instead of sitting in the cafeteria and talking with a bunch of people I didn't really know (or didn't really like), we spent our lunches in Dimitri's office – which was a hell of a lot nicer than mine due to his somewhat higher status.
"What's wrong?"
I had been sitting on his desk thinking about my day when Dimitri approached me and smoothed out the crease I hadn't realised had formed in between my eyebrows.
"Have you noticed anything…odd these past few days?" I asked him, thinking about on the several occasions where I had found myself being watched.
"Odd?" he repeated, looking confused. "What do you mean?"
"I've noticed that a lot of people have been staring at me," I went on. "Any idea why?"
He looked honestly baffled. "I have no idea. Have you asked Viktoria? She's usually the eyes and ears of any social gathering…including gossip at work." He had meant it as a joke, but his comment sent my mind whirling.
"Do you think there's gossip going around about me?" I asked quickly. Gossip was the very last thing I needed right now, considering I was still just the 'new girl from New York' to most. A stupid rumour could definitely kill whatever name I was trying to make for myself here.
"Don't worry about it, Roza," Dimitri placed his warm palm on my cheek and I leaned in to the comforting feel of his skin on mine. "I'm sure it's nothing. We'll talk to Viktoria and figure it out."
"No, that's okay," I replied, hopping down off of the desk. "You have work to do. Vika's giving me a hand with the case anyway so I can ask her then."
"Alright," I stood on my tip toes and placed a firm kiss on his lips; a kiss he returned with equal pressure.
"Thanks anyway."
Shutting his door behind me, I left his office and walked slowly to my own. Thankfully, the 'official' lunchtime wasn't over yet and so, the corridors were mainly empty. I could see as I moved through them that there were still quite a few who had had the same idea as Dimitri and I and were eating lunch in their offices whilst doing their work…although Dimitri and I hadn't exactly been doing work in his office...
Unless making out counted as work?
"There you are," I was searching my pocket for my office key when Viktoria's voice echoed from down the hall. "I've been waiting out here for ages!"
"Sorry, Vik," I apologised, producing the key from my pocket and unlocking the door. "You know I spend lunches with Dimitri. You could've come and got me."
She grimaced. "I didn't want to risk walking in on anything that would possibly scar me for the rest of my awesome life."
"Right," I grinned at her and close the door behind us. "Anyway, we're not here to talk about my sex life…You ready to help with this case?"
"Hit me."
AN – I would really like to express my deepest sympathies with a true, dedicated, young VA fan that passed away earlier this week. Although I didn't know her personally, I've seen her about on Twitter on countless occasions and am finding it extremely difficult to believe; I wouldn't have known other than the fact that Richelle and the cast tweeted her sympathy and sorrow.
R.I.P Rayana (aka ReadingGirl21) Hope you're at peace wherever you are x
