Hello everyone!
I am not going to lie, this chapter was a little hard for me to write because of that god-awful thing called writer's block. It's not that didn't try, but somehow everything I tried to write felt like bleh. Am I the only that goes through this? I hope not, it feels horrible.
But anyhow, I made it through and I am very excited to get to write the next parts of the story. So with that said, I hope you are having a lovely Easter weekend. Enjoy.
Disclaimer: These characters don't belong to me, they belong to the lovely Richelle mead. Also English isn't my first language, so please be patient with any spelling or grammar mistakes or if anyone would like to help me with that I'd appreciate it :)
Chapter 3. – Thankful.
Dimitri's side of the bed was empty, when I woke up the next day. Sure, I didn't expect for there to be cuddles or any other romantic gestures, but at least something.
The only clue from my husband was a post-it sticked on my lampshade.
Good morning, wife.
I have left for work but in my absence, I hope you will behave.
I'll be back.
—Dimitri
There you have it, your romantic gesture, I said to myself.
I wanted to smack him upside the head, reminding me to behave like a freaking pet. At the very least, I didn't have to put up with Dimitri this fine morning and that was A-Okay by me. Without lingering much on the man that already occupied way too much of my time, I decided to get my shit together.
The mission for the day, if I so chose to except it, was about making myself feel at home and scoping the place out.
But first, I'd shower and get my morning fix of caffeine.
*.*.*.*.*
It's true what they say, a shower does really work wonders to bring you back to life—and coffee helps too.
So as I sat with the little munchkins having breakfast, I noticed that the house was awfully quiet.
"Celia, where is everyone?"
"They went to do some shopping, before they return home."
Shoving with my scrambled eggs into my mouth, I asked, "Do they live far from here?"
"We live in Frisco, Aunt Rose." Paul answered, while they eat their pancakes.
"Did you guys travel all the way from San Francisco?"
"That's how the Belikov are, Rose, they're lovely people. And they're very happy that you are now part of the family as we all are. Aren't you, kiddos?"
"Yes, especially since she'll take us to the park," Zoya said, reminding me of my promise.
It wasn't hard to be genuinely happy around these kids and Celia, huh? Who knew…?
"Is the park far from here?" I asked, while I helped Celia get the kids ready for trip to the park.
"It's only down the block. I take these munchkins every time they come to visit, they absolutely love it." I didn't blame them, the park was awesome.
Even if I wasn't a kid I could see why they loved it; swings, slides and a giant playground with an incredible view of the river. What more could you ask for.
So as Celia and I sat down on a bench and let the kids play, I let my curiosity loose.
"Celia, can I ask you a question?"
"Claro, Mrs. Belikov. I mean yes, Alberto always says I need to stop speaking so much Spanish but I just can't help myself, some things you just can't translate the same in English."
"You don't have to, I actually enjoy it. If I'd had the opportunity I would've studied languages in college, instead of business administration. But it was that or not go to college." I smiled bitterly, remembering how big of a fit Abe had made when I'd decided I wanted to go to college.
He'd refused to let me enroll, until I tried to pacify him telling him I would study business administration to help out with the business. Which he didn't see as such a bad investment, so he let me. I had to say those were the most peaceful four years of my life. I sighed, what wonderful father/daughter relationship we had.
"Sorry, I forgot the question. I just…I wanted to know if you knew the truth about our marriage." I knew I could get in trouble with Belikov for asking his this to his personnel, but I really liked Celia and she was the only hope for a friend in the house.
"Mire, Mrs. B., I do know that your marriage isn't like a normal one. I try not to interfere with matters that are not my own, because that would make me a word that in my country is a chismosa, a gossip. If there's anything that I know for sure, is that you couldn't have asked for a better man than Mr. Dimitri. A man that had to defend his mother and his sisters from and abusive father, as well as making sure they are taken care of for life, is no monster. No matter how you look at it, Mrs. Belikov, there's a saying that the dog's bark is worse than his bite, it's the same with Mr. Dimitri."
"Thank you, Celia, for your honesty. It's very hard for me to trust people in general, mostly because I haven't had things handed easily to me either. The only person I've had to rely on was myself, My mother and I have never been too close, mainly because she has her own demons and I've always been angry at her for falling in love with a man like my father. The only other friend I have in my life is now happily married to man she didn't love like me."
"I am very sorry, Rose, everyone has their hardships but you can be sure to add me to the list of another person you can trust. Now enough with the sad eyes, we should enjoy today's wonderful weather and the fact that you are now here with us."
When we'd returned home from the park, we'd found that the entire Belikov clan was also back from their shopping trip.
"How did your day at the park go, kids?" Karolina said, while making sure her kids were still in one piece.
"Oh great, mommy, Aunt Rose and Celia played with us and also bought us ice cream." Zoya responded as she skipped around her mother's ankles. It must all that sugar, but who could deny these kids and myself some ice cream, surely Celia couldn't.
"We'll were glad that you've enjoyed having time with your new aunt, we'll have to get going now, before it gets late."
"What?" I am surprised. "You just got here yesterday,"
"Don't worry, Rose," Olena gathered me in a hug. "We'll visit you often, for now we just wanted to meet you and get to know you, for that was the only reason we so rudely interrupted your wedding night." She was apologetic but she didn't have to be—I was thankful instead—for I had no idea what would've happened yesterday if it wasn't for their interruption.
Yeah, you do... you would've kissed Dimitri… my subconscious answered for me.
"Aren't you going to wait for Dimitri?" I was grasping on straws.
"Oh, please, if we were to wait for that man to finish his work, I'd be dead. He's a workaholic through and through, but I'm sure you know that right, child." Yeva winked at me.
"Yes, he is. Well I must say it was lovely to meet you and that I hope you'll visit us again soon. I enjoyed having many sisters with me and these kiddos." I said, as I hugged the munchkins that stole my heart.
After a few more goodbyes, the Belikov clan was out the door and for the first time I was alone in the big house with Celia.
"Would you like for me to make you some lunch?"
"I'm not that hungry. Thank you. I'll be upstairs in my room."
"Sure thing, if you need something just yell and I'll come." She said as she returned to her duties.
I was alone in this giant place, which just made me feel restless. I needed something to do, something to keep me occupied from giving Celia words at the park another thought.
Since I had no want to give him anymore of my time, I decided I would watch some TV before I decided to throw myself out the window, to relieve my boredom.
*.*.*.*.*
"—Andrew and I were about to celebrate our first anniversary together. And I knew that he'd been itching to ask me to marry him. And he was scared. Like a little tiny bird. So I started leaving him hints here and there because I knew he wouldn't have the guts to ask, but..." Sandra Bullock said from the big screen TV, while I took a bite from my sandwich. When I'd discovered The Proposal and read synopsis of the movie, I'd almost peed myself. If only I could be married to Ryan Reynolds…
"That's not exactly how it happened."
"No?"
"No. I mean, I picked up on all her hints. This woman's about as subtle as a gun. Yeah. What I was worried about was that she might find this little box...
"Oh! The decoupage box that he made where he'd taken the time to cut out tiny, little pictures of himself. Yes. Just pasted all over the box. So beautiful. So I opened that beautiful, little decoupage and out fluttered these tiny, little hand-cut heart confettis. And once they cleared, I looked down, and I saw the most beautiful, big...
"Fat nothing."
"No ring."
"How come didn't I come up with this? It's hilarious!" I asked myself. Only I was too busy being crazy that I didn't notice the moment when Dimitri entered the room.
"What are you doing?" Dimitri asked as he sat down on the couch.
The smile I had on my face disappeared. "Watching a movie."
Instead of letting me enjoy my movie in peace—as he should've—he removed his suit jacket and leaned over to take my sandwich.
"You're dead to me. I don't expect much kindness from you but I thought that we'd at least have some type of boundaries—that was mine."
He smirked. "Bite me. I've had a long day at work and if anything this my sandwich."
"Excuse me? I thought you said in sickness and in health, you savage."
"Yeah, yeah, I'm the bad man in this situation, your worst nightmare. Come on, we have somewhere to go." He said, before leaving me there to look at the crumbs of my eaten sandwich.
"Where? Never mind. I won't ask anything, since all I get from you when I do is silence. Just answer this, do I have to dress up?"
"Semi causal, will do," he yelled as he removed his dress shirt, reveling his abs.
"Is there going to be food?" I said trying not to gawk at him.
"Yes, now hurry up if you will, Mrs. Belikov."
I turned off my movie and changed in the bathroom. So much for a relaxing evening.
When I returned from the bathroom, Dimitri was dressed and ready to go. He looked so well put together in his dark blue blazer, light blue shirt, and the most surprising piece—jeans.
I on the other hand felt a little bit uncomfortable in my white floral dress and dark denim jacket, the only thing making me feel a bit better are the strappy gold sandals. "I'm ready," I said.
He stared at me a weirdly, but hey the man wanted me to go with him. "Good, let's go before traffic gets any worse."
When we made it downstairs Albert and Celia were waiting for us.
"Would you like me to drive you, sir?" Albert asked.
"No, thank you, Albert. Tonight it will be just me and the Mrs." Dimitri gestured towards me. Celia gave me a wink. I only smiled. Her mind was already caught up in romance, while I mine was only worried about food.
"Have a good evening, Mr. and Mrs. Belikov." They both said, a smile on their lips.
When we were safely inside Dimitri's car, I said the first thought on my mind. "Are they a couple?"
"Yes, they think I don't notice they're hiding their relationship. Both of them think it's unprofessional to date on the job."
I smiled, uh-huh that was why Celia was a romantic woman…
"They're sweet people, they deserve to be happy." I said as I looked out at the amazing city.
Even though I had been having fun watching a movie, I was really happy to leave the house even for a little while.
Suddenly Dimitri turned on the radio, and we speed into traffic.
*.*.*.*.*.*
Half an hour later, we made it to a casual restaurant in the middle of the city. Dimitri gave the keys to Wanda to the ballet parking, and went to the other side to get the door for me. When his hand reached mine, another of those weird little buzzes went through us.
We both tried to pretend nothing happened, and ignore it all together.
The interior of the restaurant was quaint, not a restaurant I'd imagined Dimitri frequented. The lanky man that I'd recognized at our wedding was signaling Dimitri to his table. Standing next to him, was the woman I knew from the photographs I'd seen online, as well as from Lissa's wedding— Tasha Ozera, Christian's aunt. What a small world…
Just as we arrived to the table, the lanky guy man-hugged Dimitri affectionately before turning his attention to me and doing the same. Dimitri cleared his throat and the man let go. "Sorry. Belikov, I'll give you back your wife. I'm sorry, Mrs. Belikov, I haven't introduced myself. I am Dimitri's better half and business partner, Ivan Zeklos."
I grinned, used to getting hugged now. "Hello, Mr. Zeklos, nice to meet you. I'm Rose."
"Likewise, but please call me, Ivan."
"Oh, but please don't forget about me. Where are your manners, Ivan, tsk?" Tasha said, giving Ivan a pout. "Hello, darling, pleasure to meet you, Tasha Ozera."
Yeah right…she's about as happy to meet me as someone would be about getting a catheter put in.
Without any pretense, I shake her hand and smile. I didn't have the patience for this drama. It was clear on her face she was green with envy. Please, god, let me not beat her up today
As we took our seats, I managed to swap Dimitri's seat before he made sit me in front of Tasha and instead I sat in front of Ivan. My stomach started to get a whiff of the wonderful aromas of food making, letting himself known.
"You're hungry?" Dimitri whispered.
"Yes," I said trying to conceal the noises with tapping my feet. "You ate my dinner, remember?"
"Here," he said as he handed me some of the complimentary bread. "Let me just ask for some ham and mayo."
I whispered to him. "You're not good at telling jokes, remember that."
"They make the most adorable couple, don't they Ivan?" She bitterly took a drink of her mojito. If she was trying to be discrete about her dislike towards me, she sucked balls.
Ivan grimaced. "They do, but Dimitri is giving me the creeps. I didn't know he had it in him to be mushy."
Before anyone can make another comment, the waiter appears asking to take our orders.
"YES!" I said, too loudly, but I didn't care. I was starving.
Ivan smirked. "She'll order first."
Looking at the menu, I decided on some overly priced steak with potatoes and a glass of wine. I wasn't much of a drinker, but any other choice would be less frowned upon than a Coke.
"I'll have the house salad, please, and a glass of Chardonnay."
I mentally rolled my eyes. Yeah, wench, keep your grass to yourself.
Both Dimitri and Ivan decide to partner with me and have steak, with some imported beer.
Just as the waiter leaves with our order, Tasha decides to make another of her lovely comments. "What a pity that you didn't get to enjoy a proper honeymoon. It was a surprise to hear that you had to come straight home from your wedding."
I glared at Dimitri, as if to say, handle your crazy friend. He shrugged. Bastard.
Unexpectedly, Ivan saved the day. "We both know how Dimitri is, but the fact that he made time for wife is enough."
Tasha rolled her eyes. The guys began to talk sports and about some new business deals they were after, I decide I need to visit the ladies room. "I'll be right back." I said, standing from the table. "Where are you going?" Dimitri said, as he stood up.
"To ladies room, would you like to come with me?"
"Keep it up, smartass, and we'll leave without that steak."
I stuck my tongue out like a five year old. When I make inside the ladies room, I finish my business and see that Tasha has followed me to the restroom.
"You know that he married you because he had to, don't you?" she said, while she applied her lipstick.
"What a nice shade of red. Is it called, petty?" I replied, drying my hands. "You do realize this is quite anticlimactic, right? Where's the part when you pretend to be my friend and then steal my husband from me? It's disappointing, to be honest."
She laughed. "Why pretend when I know perfectly that he's just with you for business? I prefer to be upfront about things, instead of pretending to be your friend and shit, I'm honest that way."
"You know what," I glanced at her through the mirror. "I appreciate your honesty so much, that I'll be honest too. You want the man's attention, go ahead work for it, but don't come messing with me unless you're willing to get your pretty face rearranged."
When I'd returned to the table, the food had arrived which in retrospect improved my mood. We all ate in silence, with the occasional good-natured question from Ivan. Which was good because I didn't think I could take another word from the wonderful woman sitting in front of my husband.
"Tasha," Dimitri asked. "How are the preparations for the benefit gala coming along?"
"They're coming along just fine, everything from the banquet to guests has been arranged for next week." She answered him with a beaming smile. Kiss ass.
"Good, I'm glad especially since we'll be announcing the new deal with the Germans. So I expect for things to continue to sail smoothly."
"Don't worry, Dimitri, when have I ever let you down?"
I wanted to barf. She was conniving little thing. Just as I rolled my eyes, Ivan caught me doing so, and looked at me like if he understood my pain. Thus gaining himself my friendship.
After we'd all finished our dinner, and Ivan and Dimitri had both fought over the tab, we parted ways and I decided that liked Ivan.
*.*.*.*.*
As the car advanced along streets the busy streets of the city, Dimitri lowered the volume of the radio. "Are you going to tell me what happened when you went to restroom?"
I glanced out the window. "Nothing much, except that your coworker is crazy in love with you and a psycho bitch."
"What did she say to you? Did she hurt you?"
"No, and even if we don't know each other it's hurtful that you'd think I wouldn't be able to at least get a punch in."
He laughed, "The daughter of the Turkish mafia knows how to fight?"
"What do you think? That I sat down and took embroidery lessons and cooking classes?"
"Something like that, yes."
"I'm sorry to disappoint you, but my life has been tougher than that." I said bitterly, shit, I didn't want to go down that route. I needed a distraction. So when I saw shopping mall I yelled at him. "Stop right here!"
"What's wrong?" He said, as he pulled into a parking spot.
"Nothing I just need to pick up some things from Target."
Without giving him much choice but to follow me, I quickly try to find the woman's section. It was quite late to be shopping but I was not going to keep on wearing borrowed pajamas. Only god knew when the rest of my belongings were going to arrive—if they were going to arrive. While I searched for the pajama section, I found the most awesome pair of shoes.
Crocs. Fuzzy crocs.
Yes, I needed these ugly shoes to give me comfort. To give me life.
"Those are the ugliest shoes I've ever seen." Dimitri stood behind me as he stared at the shoes.
"Hey, don't knock them till you try them. As a matter of fact, for that comment alone, I am getting us matching pairs. As beautiful marriage present from your loving wife." I smirked.
"Stop it, you will not. I have a reputation to uphold."
"I'll superglue them to your feet, then." I said as I tried to figure out his size.
After putting the god-awful shoes in a basket I find myself some decent human pajamas. There, that would be able to cover me at least a few days. I just hoped I didn't have to go out much, since I could live in pajamas. When I was ready to check out, I took out some of the money I'd been saving from my odd jobs.
"What are you doing?" I asked when Dimitri handed the cashier his Amex.
He glared at me. "Paying for my wife's clothing and as a matter of fact tomorrow you and Celia are going to buy enough clothing for the rest of the year."
The cashier looks at Dimitri with lovey-dovey eyes, while I just stood there feeling like a scolded child.
"Hold on, I forgot something," I said as I made my way back inside the store.
*.*.*.*.*
"Don't you ever, go running off like that again, do you hear me?"
"Yeah, yeah. Here," I said as I gave him a bag.
"How did you know about my chocolate?" He glanced at me, curious.
"I saw the box in the morning while we were having breakfast. Celia mentioned it was your favorite."
"You didn't have to buy it for me."
"Do you ever just accept something nice, without making some type of comeback," I mimicked him.
He laughed. "I think I played into that one, huh?"
"Yeah, you did. Thanks for tonight for the food and everything. I may seem like I'm rude and stubborn, but I do know when to be thankful. So enjoy your chocolate."
As soon as we got home, I changed into my brand new pajamas settled on the couch. I was very surprised when Dimitri sat down next to me and even more when he passed me a cup of hot cocoa.
"Why don't you put on that movie you were watching earlier," he suggested, while he removed his slippers.
"I will, just as long as I see you wear your brand new shoes."
"I have work to do." He stood up to leave before I grabbed his arm. A big mistake, on my part again. That damn energy…
"Fine, fine. You win." I said while trying to get out of my mind how natural it felt to be near him at times.
*.*.*.*.*
Dimitri and I finished the whole movie, and while he wasn't much of a talker like I was, he seemed to enjoy himself. And even thought my stubborn, toughest and meanest self, wanted to lie—I did enjoy spending time with another human being. Not being alone was nice, having someone to share something as dumb as movie was a lot more than I'd had in long time. So as I looked at the man laughing unguardedly at a funny scene, I said to him. Thank you, for making the loneliness go away. Even for a little while.