Rose woke to the sound of her phone buzzing. She groaned as she reached for the phone on her nightstand. "Hello?" she grumbled, not checking to see who was calling.
"Rose, my sweet Rose, are you still asleep? What I wouldn't give to see you like that."
Rose's brows furrowed. She pulled her phone away and saw the time and caller. It was way too early for him. "Adrian, why are you waking me up?"
"Well, since I obviously woke you up, you didn't see Lissa's texts. Or my own for the matter. I'm back in town and will be crashing on your couch for the next few weeks."
That woke Rose up. "Wait, what? Why are you going to stay with us? Don't you have your own place?"
Adrian sighed dramatically. "I did have a place, but my old roommate rented out my room when I went to my mom's. I didn't like the guy anyway, so I'm going to stay with you two while I look for a new place. It'll be great, just like the old days."
Rose sat up and rubbed her eyes. It was just like Adrian to do something like this. "Great. Well, when do you get here?"
She heard a knock on the door as Adrian replied. "I'm here now. Let me in." Rose hung up the phone and pulled herself out of bed, not looking forward to Adrian's flirting this morning. She slipped on a robe and glanced down at her phone as she walked to the front door.
She paused and smiled as she saw the texts that had come in from the only person she cared to flirt with now. Dimitri had sent a good morning text, likely when he'd woken up based on the timestamp. A while after that was another text from him.
I spoke with Sydney and she's happy to look at your car today if you wanted to come in for it.
Before she could reply, Adrian knocked again. "Let me in! I brought you a hot chocolate!"
Rose slipped her phone into her robe pocket and finished her walk. "I'm coming. Hold your horses." She unbolted the door and found Adrian disheveled as ever. His dark chestnut hair was messy like he had rolled out of bed instead of her. He wore dark jeans and a blue v-neck t-shirt. He had a to-go cup held out to her. "Thanks," she said, taking the cup and moving to let him in. He rolled a suitcase behind him and had a backpack slung over a shoulder.
"Well don't you look ravishing so early in the morning?"
"Oh, shut it Ivashkov. Can it with the flirting, please. It's too early for that. I haven't eaten yet and don't want to barf," Rose replied, walking to the kitchen, letting Adrian shut the door and follow.
"Fine. My flirting never seems to work on you anyway. All these years have made you impervious to my charms," Adrian replied, tossing his backpack on the couch. "So, what's for breakfast?"
Rose pulled open the fridge and grabbed the milk. "Cereal. We ate all the leftovers Christian made. You missed out on some delicious new dishes."
"Aww, man. I hope he brings something Thai next. I'm craving something spicy. Pour me a bowl of whatever you've got. I'm starving."
Rose and Adrian devoured their bowls and finished off their respective drinks. "So, what is your plan for today?" Adrian asked, sitting back.
"My car broke down yesterday, but one of my new coworkers is going to check it out for me. Would you take me to work?"
"Where are you working now? Is it still the fast-food restaurant? I didn't see you staying there long."
Rose rolled her eyes. "I'll have you know that I'm actually working at a library now. So, will you take me or not? I don't want to make her wait," she replied irritably. She also wanted to see Dimitri.
Adrian's eyebrows rose and a smirk came to his lips, but he stopped himself from making a quip. "Okay, I'll take you. Go get dressed, Hathaway."
Adrian pulled into the spot beside Rose's broken down car. "Wait out here. I'll run in and get her," Rose said, unbuckling and getting out of the mustang.
"Forget that. I'm seeing what type of place you're working at now. You're stuck with me," he replied, following her out.
Rose knew she didn't have a chance of making him stay, so she just sighed and led him into the library. She waved to Mason and Eddie as she walked past them and up to the second floor. Somehow they made it all the way to Sydney's desk without Adrian saying a word. Rose glanced at him a couple of times to see him taking everything in.
"Hey Sydney," Rose said, knocking on her office door. "Dimitri said you were willing to look at my car. Is now a good time?"
Sydney looked up from her computer slowly, her eyes unfocused for a moment. "Rose! Yes, just give me a couple of minutes. Come in and sit down. I need to finish up this book before I lose track of what I was doing," she replied, looking back down at her monitor.
"I'm going to go thank Dimitri real quick. No rush." Rose replied, walking toward Dimitri's office. Adrian, instead of following Rose for once, entered Sydney's office and took over one of the chairs she'd offered to Rose. Sydney didn't even notice, she was focused on her monitor and the book in front of her. Rose gave Adrian a look. He smirked and waved her off.
Rose wasn't going to miss the opportunity to have Adrian out of her hair. She made her way to Dimitri's office and knocked as she walked in. Dimitri was seated at the head of the conference table with papers spread across half of the table. He was once again wearing the glasses that Rose found too alluring. She resisted the urge to walk over and kiss him. His hair was pulled back into a low ponytail. He was wearing a light blue button-up shirt with the sleeves rolled up and dark slacks. Dimitri looked up at her knock and gave her a smile.
"Roza, hey, I assume you got my texts this morning," he said warmly.
Rose entered the office and took the chair perpendicular from Dimitri. "I did. Sorry I didn't respond. Lissa's cousin woke me up by banging at my door and has been talking to me ever since. He's currently seated in Sydney's office. He's going to be staying with Lis and I for a few weeks while he looks for a new place," Rose said, filling him in on her morning. "But, good morning and I'm glad to see you," she added quietly with a soft smile. "Oh, and thank you for talking to Sydney for me."
Dimitri put his pen down and started straightening the papers. "Of course," he replied to her last statement. "I'll go down with you to your car. I'm always eager to learn new things. I haven't had the opportunity to learn much about vehicle health," he added. "I'm glad to see you too. Let's go pull Sydney out of her records and meet this new housemate."
Rose resisted the urge to lean over and give him a kiss. Instead, she stood back up and walked out, Dimitri following behind. She waved at Mia as she passed her open office door. Before she could reach Sydney's office, she heard her speak. "Oh! Who are you?"
She heard Adrian laugh at the surprise from Sydney. "A pleasure to meet you. I'm Adrian Ivashkov, Rose's best friend."
Rose snorted coming around the corner. "I wouldn't say best friend. Lissa holds that mantle and I'm pretty sure Christian ranks higher than you do. Sorry, Sydney, this is my best friend and roommate's cousin. I've known him since I was a teen. He's my ride today."
Sydney stood and stretched out a hand to Adrian. "Sydney Sage, I'm in charge of the library's Tech Services." Adrian stood, taking the hand. Rose wasn't even remotely surprised when he lifted her hand to his lips to kiss it. Sydney froze in surprise at the old-timey gesture, but he had released her hand before she could do anything.
"Wonderful to meet you, Sage. Shall we go see what Rose has done to her poor car?"
Sydney, a little flustered straightened her khaki skirt. "Yes, lead the way," she said, waving him toward the door. Adrian gave a little bow, ever the dramatic, and walked out of the office.
Adrian paused as he stepped out and looked at Rose. Dimitri stepped around her and held out a hand. "I'm Dimitri Belikov, the Director here. It's nice to meet you, Adrian." Adrian looked between Rose and Dimitri for a moment and then shook his hand.
"Nice to meet you. I hope you're taking great care of my dear Rose," he replied shaking Dimitri's hand firmly.
Rose rolled her eyes. "Okay, introductions have been made, so let's get this done so I don't take too much of Sydney's and Dimitri's time today."
The group walked out to the parking lot. Before Rose could tell Sydney which car was Rose's, Sydney made a squeal and rushed past her and her car to Adrian's yellow Mustang. "Oh my goodness, this car is beautiful," she breathed before blurting out a lot of car facts that Rose couldn't follow. "I wonder what patron in the library owns it," Sydney finally finished as she resisted touching the car.
Adrian stepped up beside Sydney and cleared his throat. "That would be mine."
Sydney's head whipped up to look at Adrian. "Can you pop the hood? Can I see inside?"
Rose leaned against her car, Dimitri following suit as they observed the show before them. Rose could tell Adrian was attracted to Sydney, so he was all too willing to unlock the car and pop the hood. Sydney disappeared beneath the hood of the car, Adrian close at hand listening to every word.
"Adrian seems like a good guy," Dimitri said quietly, his arm brushing Rose's.
"He is. He's a huge flirt, but he's been a steady presence in our lives since we were in high school. He's been there for me through some tough times," she replied fondly as she observed the pair.
"Have you guys dated?"
Rose snorted and looked up at Dimitri. "No. He's known me since I was an awkward 15-year-old and Lissa and I were as close as sisters, so it would have been too weird. He's like a brother to me."
Dimitri nodded and smiled lightly. "I'm glad you still have each other in your life. Family is incredibly important, even adopted family," he replied, his tone a little off.
Rose wondered what was behind his words, but couldn't resist replying. "Family has always been complicated for me. I lived with Lissa since I was five. My mom left the country for work as soon as I was of school age and I didn't meet my birth father until I was 15. No siblings or anything. Lissa has always been family to me, and her family was mine for a long time," Rose said, her tone dropping at the mention of Lissa's family.
"Was your family?"
"Yea, they died. Her parents and older brother… but that's a long story for another day. What about your family?"
Dimitri's smile was soft. "My family is very important. They're all in Russia, but I try to go visit them as much as possible and we speak often. I have… sisters, and my mother and grandmother. I have two nieces and a nephew as well."
Rose smiled at the thought of his family. "I've never had a large family like that. I'm glad you have a good relationship."
Dimitri looked down at the ground, nodding. He seemed to be thinking of something else. "Sydney, would you take a look at Rose's car now?" Dimitri called.
Sydney had made her way to the inside of the car, leaning to look inside. Adrian stood back, admiring the view of Sydney learning into the car. Rose shook her head at Adrian and raised an eyebrow. He raised a shoulder in response and smirked. Sydney backed out and closed the door. "Yes, sorry Director."
Ten minutes later Sydney straightened and wiped her hands on a towel Adrian provided. "Looks like you need a new battery and starter plugs. You're also in need of an oil change and windshield wiper fluid. I could make that happen pretty easily," she replied, looking down at her watch. "We can get everything from the auto parts store now if you'd like."
Rose glanced at Adrian then looked back to Sydney. "I have a few things to do here, but Adrian can buy the stuff for me. Would you go with him? He'd be hopeless on his own there." Adrian gave Rose a wink and looked at Sydney.
"That's fine by me. It shouldn't take long to get everything."
Rose gave Adrian her card and keys.
"Shall I drive?" Adrian asked, looking at Sydney.
Sydney's smile was all the answer that was needed.
Rose waved as they drove off before turning back to Dimitri. "Can I hang out in your office or will that bother you too much?"
Dimitri smiled. "I'd really like that."
Author's Note: I hope you enjoyed the new chapter! Sorry for the delay. I've had the idea for this chapter since the last one, but it takes me a while to sit down and actually do it. I know you all want more Romitri, but I couldn't help but introduce my favorite character, Adrian. And I absolutely couldn't pass up a Sydney/Adrian connection. I feel like I know Rose and Dimitri very well by now, but I'm still exploring other characters. They're all too good.
I hope you all had a happy holiday season. Be safe out there and happy 2021!