Rose walked to her car, Dimitri trailing not far behind her. Now that she'd convinced him to come with her, she was suddenly nervous. "I guess I'll just follow you. Where are you parked?" She asked as she reached her car.
"That's fine. I'm parked way in the back. I'll wait for you on the street," Dimitri replied.
"Sounds good," Rose said as she got in her car. Dimitri started to walk away when she tried to turn over the engine. She had recently had car trouble, but she didn't expect it to happen now. She kept trying, but the car only stuttered and refused to start. She gave up and let her head drop against the steering wheel and groaned. "Not now. You were supposed to last long enough for me to save up to get you fixed or get a new car."
A knock on the window startled her. Dimitri stood outside her door. Sighing, she pulled out her keys and got out of the car, grabbing her bag as she went. "Car trouble?" Dimitri asked, concerned.
Rose frowned, locking the car behind her. "I think she finally quit on me. Mind if I ride with you?"
Dimitri hesitated for a moment, glancing around, then nodded. "Sure, I'll give you a ride."
Rose followed Dimitri, giving her car a forlorn last look. She really needed it to hold out longer. They crossed through the mostly empty to a new looking black SUV that waited in the back of the lot by itself. It had dark tinted windows and beeped when Dimitri used his key. "Nice ride," Rose commented as she opened the passenger door. His car was immaculate. It looked like he could have driven it off the lot the day before.
Dimitri slid into the driver's side and smiled. "Thanks. I got it earlier this year when my," he hesitated, his face falling, "when my car got totaled. It's a good car," he finished flatly.
Rose slipped into her seat and buckled up. She wondered what he was thinking that made him so morose looking, but she decided to leave it alone and changed the subject. "So, where is this place you're taking me that has the best eggrolls and an incredible buffet?"
"Well, it's a tiny hole in the wall place that didn't even have a digital presence until a couple of years back. They're just called China House. They're a few miles in the north part of town. I've been going there for two years and every time it's just as good as the first time," he explained as they got on the road.
"You don't have to sell me on the place. I'm totally down to devour everything. I just want to tell my best friend so she can pick me up later," Rose replied as she texted Lissa.
Hey Liss, my car broke down after work, but I'm heading to dinner with Dimitri. Tell you more later. Would you be able to pick me up from a restaurant called China House tonight?
"If she can't pick you up, I can always drop you off," Dimitri replied.
She waited for a reply, but Lissa wasn't responding. "I may need to take you up on that. She's probably studying or something," Rose replied, putting her phone in her bag.
"Your best friend is in school?" Dimitri asked.
"She loves school. She's in a graduate program right now. She wants to go into politics, but for now, she wants to get her foot in the door with city government," Rose replied, proud of her best friend. Lissa was going to do great things no matter where she ended up.
"She sounds great. Are you going back to school?" Dimitri asked. Rose opened her mouth to reply and then stopped and stared at Dimitri. When Rose didn't answer, he glanced over at her. "What?"
Rose's eyebrow arched. "Dimitri, did you look into me? I know I haven't told you anything about my school experience."
Rose could see Dimitri's cheek color. "I… I pulled up your resume earlier," he muttered then cleared his throat. "I like to know my staff," he added more firmly.
Rose held back her grin. "I'm sure you do," she replied. "And to answer your question, I thought about going for the bachelor's degree, but school and I don't get along. I don't like sitting through those classes. I want to be out in the world doing something. I just want to work. And I don't even know what I would focus on if I went back."
"School isn't for everyone. My," he paused and had a strange look on his face but then continued. "My sister was the same way. She couldn't stand traditional schooling. You just have to find your own path. Something that works for you."
Rose was a little surprised. "Thank you," she said softly. "I don't think anyone has really got that before. My parents and friends expect me to just go to school and figure it out. I decided a while back to do things my own way."
"Everyone has to figure out their own way to do things. Although, I couldn't understand why you had so many previous jobs. 8 within the last year was a lot."
Rose picked at a piece of lint on her pants. "Uhh, actually, this is my thirteenth job this year. I ran out of room on the resume to fit everything, so I focused on the longest ones and the ones that were most relevant."
Coincidentally Dimitri's expression changed to one of surprise right as he stopped at the stop sign. He turned and looked at her with the delightfully surprised expression. "Thirteen? What was your shortest job?"
"Drive, and I'll tell you. My stomach is dying for this food." He refocused on the road and his expression cooled. "I had a job at a local food place. I was trained during the first two days, and then I quit on day three. I had an angry customer throw their drink on me, so I upended their table throwing all their food on them before it fell to the floor. I quit before they could fire me."
Dimitri chuckled and shook his head. "That must have been a sight to see. Good to know you have a temper. I'll be sure Sonya knows not to let the difficult patrons deal with you alone. At the library, we have many great people come in, but with the good always comes your fair share of bad. Typically you'll have your supervisor or another supervisor deal with it, but that isn't always possible. You'll definitely want to work on maintaining your composure if that's been an issue in the past."
Rose felt like she'd stepped in cold water. His words were a stark reminder that he was her boss's boss. He was in charge of everyone who worked with her. After a quiet moment, the cold feeling inside her went away as she digested his words more. He was giving her advice, which meant that he cared enough about her to keep her working at the library. She wasn't sure she'd had a boss actually care enough about her. "Thanks, Dimitri," she replied.
"Of course. We're a family at the library. We look after one another, but we also expect everyone to do their best for our patrons. Sometimes that's harder to do with the difficult ones, but they still matter and deserve our assistance. They may just need another person to help them if you don't feel like you can personally handle it. You'll see as you work there more. It's a wonderful environment we've built." Dimitri replied, surprising Rose with the sheer number of words that he'd been saying. He obviously cared about his staff, his job, and the library. It was endearing and made Rose hope she could feel that way about the place. It also made her hope that he could care for her someday as much as the library.
Before Rose could reply to his words, the car stopped. "We're here. Let's get you some of that promised food," Dimitri said, giving her a small smile.
Rose sat at their table with a few empty plates stacked beside her current plate. She wasn't kidding when it came to Chinese food. "Okay, you were right," she said, finishing her dessert plate.
Across from her, looking relaxed and as full as she felt, Dimitri's eyebrow rose. "About what?"
"Best Chinese food I've ever had."
Dimitri's laugh was loud and made her heart warm. "You certainly tried everything. Glad to know it didn't disappoint."
"I'll have to bring Lissa and Christian here sometime," Rose said happily until she remembered her car. "Or, they'll have to bring me," she amended dejectedly. She hated not having her own form of transportation.
"Sydney, our Tech Services Librarian, is a genius with cars. I bet if you asked, she could take a look at yours. She especially loves older cars, so I'm sure she'd jump at the chance to look at it." Dimitri replied, somehow getting exactly what she was thinking. "Who are Lissa and Christian?"
"I'll ask her next time I work. Thank you. Lissa is my best friend and roommate. Christian is her boyfriend. He's a chef, so anytime I find a good place to eat, he's one of the first people I tell," she responded before realizing that he may be able to put faces to the names. "Actually, you may have seen them the other night. They were with me at the club. Lissa was the blonde I was with and Christian was the black-haired guy with us."
"If they were there, I didn't notice. My attention had been otherwise diverted." Dimitri replied a little huskily.
Rose's cheeks warmed at the tone and the memories. "Well, I was in my best dress. I can hardly blame you for staring," she replied flirtily. She hoped he'd keep talking about that night and not revert back to the 'anti-dating since I'm your boss' thing.
She hadn't realized she was doing it but Rose had been leaning forward. "I remember your hair the most," he replied softly as he reached out to touch her hair. "And it would be a shame if you got pudding in it," he added teasingly as he brushed her hair back softly, tucking it behind her ear. His hand slowly moved away from her hair, brushing her cheek for a split second before he pulled it back to his side of the table.
Feeling a little flustered, Rose glanced down and noticed the rest of the chocolate pudding left on her dessert plate. "That would have been awful. Thank you for the daring rescue."
"Anytime," he replied softly.
"Speaking of Lissa, I should see if she's texted me back," Rose said, feeling awkward despite her desire to play things out further. She pulled out her phone and noticed a message had come in half an hour ago.
Lissa: Can't. Christian took me out of town for a surprise dinner date at a new place he's been wanting to try. Won't be in until late and I'm staying at C's. Sorry! Tell me everything tomorrow!
Rose typed out a quick reply then looked up at Dimitri. "So, looks like my ride is out of town for the evening. Would you mind if I took you up on that offer to drive me home?"
Dimitri shook his head and gave her a small smile. "Not at all," he replied as he grabbed his coat and got up. "Text me the address and I'll GPS it. Ready to go now?"
Rose sent him her address and shoved her phone back in her bag. "Yep. Take me home, comrade," she replied without thinking. Flushing a little when she realized she'd used the term of endearment.
He paused and looked down at her as she slid out of the booth. "As you wish, Roza," he replied, holding out a hand to help her out of the booth.
Rose felt warm as the name he'd called her that night rolled so easily from his lips. She placed her hand in his and was delighted once more at the connection. She was determined to kiss Dimitri before the night was up. She had a feeling he wanted it just as much as she did. Screw the fact that he was now her boss. That connection was worth exploring.
Author's Note: So, my Grammarly was not working correctly in Google Docs. Sorry if I didn't fix all the grammatical errors. I'm hoping they get their Google Docs integration fixed. As someone working solely off a Chromebook, I need it to work. Even though I have a BA in English, I suck with grammar and need all the help Grammarly can give lol.
Anyways, thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter and for all the new readers. I hope you're all enjoying the story. I'm loving having these two in the same space together. They're so much fun to write. I have a few ideas for the future but otherwise, I just go where they take me.
And just a note to everyone that I'm reminded when I write this story. Love yourself and love others.
Also, reach out if you need someone to talk to. My inbox is open if you're going through anything and need someone to just chat with. These are crazy times we're in and we're all in it together. Also, be careful with the rabbit trail of fanfic stories. Be sure you're getting lots of good food, rest, and some exercise.
Until next time! Thanks for reading. Feel free to drop a review :)