Chapter 5

Taking my plate into the kitchen I wanted to retrieve into my bedroom when my parents woke up.

"Morning." They grumbled, clearly hungover.

Suppressing a smile I greeted them.

After they had their cup of coffee and looked more or less presentable, I joined them in the living room.

"Any plans for today, sweetheart?" Mom looked up from the newspaper she was reading.

"Not really. Just going to go for a quick run and then I'll probably spent all day watching tv. What are you guys doing?"

"We'll have dinner with Pavel and his new girlfriend. You could join us if you'd like, Rosemarie." How much I hated it when my mother called me Rosemarie. But it seemed like she would only do it more often the more I protested so I gave up in hopes that she would too and would start calling me Rose, just like everyone else.

"Don't know. I'll tell you later when I come back from my run, okay?" She nodded and resumed reading and with that I got up, headed to my room to change into my running gear.

Stretching thoroughly I headed towards the woods that started a few feet away from our house.

Without paying attention to my surroundings I switched off my brain. Running always helped me clear my head. God knows I needed it after yesterday. The mixed signals I got from Dimitri and the regretting texts from earlier today made my head spin. The prospect of spending time with him while renovating made the spinning get worse, if this was even possible.

After almost an hour of running, my eyes fell onto a field. Some boys were playing soccer. This made me think of Dimitri, who was at his nephews soccer game this morning. As if my thoughts just made him appear, I spotted him, barely 15 feet away. He was sitting next to some women at the left end of the stands. These were probably his sisters since they clearly looked like a female version of him.

Instantly, as if sensing my eyes on him, he turned his head, staring straight into mine.

Apparently the game reached half time and the players went and joined their families.

Unsure whether I should acknowledge his presents or just continue walking, I must have tripped while my mind was occupied with the question what to do know. Perfect. Before I could get up myself, I felt two hands helping me up.

Without looking, I knew it was Dimitri, who came to my rescue.

"You okay, Rose?" he asked.

So, no Roza? I was a little disappointed.

"Everything's fine. Thank you." Talking to him felt so awkward after what happened.

Neither of us knew what to say and when he opened his mouth he was interrupted by a small boy running towards him.

"Uncle Dimka. You saw the goal I made?" he asked, smiling brilliantly from ear to ear.

Turning towards Paul, I assumed, he crouched down so he was the same height.

"Sure buddy, I saw it, you did great. I'm sure the second half is going to be even better."

His uncles praises made the boys face glow up with pure joy, which melted my heart.

Glancing at me, he leaned in closer to his uncle and whispered something I couldn't quite understand.

Whatever he said, made Dimitri laugh. His laugh was just as beautiful as everything else.

"Yes, I do know her, and yes she is beautiful." even though these were very sweet words I couldn't help but notice that he wasn't meeting my eyes.

"Hi, I'm Paul. Are you going to watch me play after the break?" looking at me with puppy eyes, eyes that were so similar to his uncle's, I couldn't help but agree.

"Sure and I'm Rose. It's nice to meet you Paul." I shook his hand before he stormed off into his family's direction, leaving me behind with Dimitri.

His text from this morning made me feel very uncomfortable.

Scratching his neck and looking down, he greeted me.

"Hey Rose."

"Hi." was all I replied.

After what felt like minutes, we both started talking at the same time.

"You know, I should probably go home, my parents are-"

"Why don't you come sit with us for the rest of the game-"

Stopping mid-sentence, I looked away and he again scratched his hands before looking towards his family, who were all looking in our direction. "Oh, sure, if you need to go home." Maybe it was just wishful thinking, but I thought he sounded a little disappointed.

"It's fine, I just didn't want to force myself on you." Smiling shyly, my eyes met his and he smiled back at me.

"Your presence is very much wanted." Did he really just say that? This man gave me whiplash from this back and forth between being nice and wanting to spent time with me and then apologizing for being inappropriate. As if sensing my thoughts he clarified. "You saw Paul, he really wants you to stay and besides you promised him you'd watch the rest of the game."

Nodding I agreed to stay and followed him, taking a seat next to the rest of his family.

"Hello, I'm Rose." I introduced myself.

Their eyes showed some sort of recognition but I couldn't quite place it.

"So you're the Rose, Dimka told us so much about?" one of them said. With her big belly she looked like she would give birth any given moment.

Dimitri shot her a look and scolded her in Russian.

"Sonja." Another woman chastised her as well.

"Don't mind Sonja. My daughter seemed to have forgot her manners. I'm Olena. So You're Mr. Mazur's daughter?" she asked me with a friendly smile.

Nodding I understood Sonja's previous question. It seemed like Dimitri told them about his business partner's daughter. No surprise considering the fact that my father already worked together with Dimitri's father before he left and Dimitri took over or the numerous parties we held at his garden house.

Before anyone else could ask another question, the game resumed.

Watching the boys play was fun. The atmosphere was infective. Paul's team won and the whole family cheered and congratulated him.

"You were amazing. How about as a reward we all head over to the ice cream parlor and I'll pay for everyone." Karolina, Paul's mother, suggested.

"Oh yes!" Paul exclaimed. "You're coming with us, Roza?" again, I couldn't help but agree to this boy.

"If your family doesn't mind. I'm still in my sweats though and I don't want to intrude." They all smiled at me and assured I wasn't intruding. Only Dimitri kept quiet.

Having ice cream with them was nice. They all made me feel welcomed and even though Dimitri behaved strangely, the other talked to me a lot and we were enjoying ourselves.

After an hour I said goodbye and headed home. I really needed a shower and I wanted to give them time alone. While they made it clear I was welcomed I couldn't help but noticed that Dimitri, despite being polite, apparently felt uneasy with me there.

Walking home I took my time and tried to figure out how to approach the following day. I would be seeing Dimitri again and after his behavior today, I was unsure how to handle everything. Considering I still crushed on him, strongly, may I add, I couldn't see us having a good time while renovating his garden house.

Nevertheless there was no getting out of this. Although my parents, more specifically my father, was rarely strict, if he decided on something, then there was no turning back.

Arriving home, I instantly took a shower.

"How was your run?" my father asked when I returned to the living room. Both my parents were still sitting on the couch where I left them but they seemed to have showered and changed.

"Good. I met Dimitri and his family at his nephew's soccer game." I told them.

"Then you ran for a very long time, the soccer field is quite far away." Was the only comment I received from my Mom.

"I guess. When are you leaving for Pavel's?" I asked, still unsure whether to join them.

"We'll leave in two hours. So are you going to come with us?" my father answered.

Thinking about my options I made my decision.

"I guess. Not like I have anything better to do, right?" I tried to joke.

Two hours later we left and had dinner with Pavel and his new girlfriend.

She was nice. Keira, that's her name, a beautiful women, welcomed us and entertained us with stories about her work. She worked as a photographer and traveled around the world.

The evening progressed very quickly and it got late before we knew it.

Leaving we barely talked and I went to bed almost instantly.

Before I was fully asleep I got a text from Lissa. She would spent the next day with Adrian and Sydney so decided to stay another night.

We exchanged a few texts and I told her about my father's idea and that I would have to spent most of my holiday helping Dimitri. She laughed at the idea of me renovating anything. What else would you expect from your best friend, I thought smiling. I wished her a good night and she wished me good luck for my summer project.

I felt asleep almost immediately and had a good nights sleep before the next day would start. It already promised to be a tiering, uncomfortable day, not to mention the hard work that would need to be done.