Hi guys, this is another installment to the story. Thank you to all my followers, favoriters, and reviewers (Little Dhampir Jr, Brooke, RozalineGrey899, NinjaSlayer99, and some guests).
Enjoy! :)
Dimitri POV
Flashback
I was about 6 years old and was playing in the playground about a block from my house. It may sound weird but in my neighborhood in Russia everyone knew everyone and it was safe enough for a 6 year old boy to walk down the block from his house and play in the playground by himself; the town was small and very close with little to no crime occurring. Thus, that was how one summer day, I met my best friend.
I was playing on the swings enjoying the rush that came with every height and the wind blowing in my hair-which I refused to have cut. It was as I was soaring higher and higher on the swings that I saw a little girl cuddled behind some bushes off center to the park; like any curious 6 year old I immediately abandoned the swings and went to investigate. I approached the girl cautiously looking for anyone around her but she was alone and as I got closer I heard her sniffles. She stopped and turned around when I lightly poked her on the shoulder.
"Are you okay?" I asked peering down at her, speaking in my native tongue. She sat on the grass, knees to chest, arms circling her body a complete look of confusion came across her face.
"Do you speak Russian?" I asked again, in my native tongue. It wasn't often that we had people in Baia that didn't speak Russian.
"Are you okay?" I asked again, this time in English.
"Leave me alone." She said, roughly wiping her tears with the back of her hands.
Not to be deterred I tried again, "Why are you crying?"
"I'm not crying. My eyes are just sweating." came her response
I was quiet for a moment confused by her statement, "It looks like tears to me."
"Well, they're not."
"What's your name?"
"Why do you ask so many questions?"
"I just wanted to see if you were okay." I said, a little taken aback. I began to wonder if I should have bothered her at all.
She was quiet for a while, staring right at me, her brown eyes seeming to peer into my very soul. "Rose." she finally said, "My name is Rose."
"My name is Dimitri Belikov and it's very nice to meet you." I said, sticking out my hand as my mother had taught me.
She gingerly took my hand in her own, giving it two pumps before letting go.
"Are you lost?" I didn't recognize her as any of the usual neighborhood kids and I again noticed she was all alone.
She nodded, "I want to go home."
"Where do you live?"
"I want to go back home in Turkey."
I was quiet for a while, thinking of my kindergarten geography class, trying hopelessly to place Turkey on the map. "Is that far away from here?" I asked
She nodded again. "Where's your mommy?" I asked and then immediately wished I hadn't because that started a whole new round of tears.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you cry!"
"I want to go home and I want my mommy." she cried, placing her head in between her legs.
All of this was too much for my 6 year old self to comprehend let alone deal with and all of a sudden I felt an urgent need for my own mother, who would know exactly what to do.
"Rose," I said, sticking out my hand.
She looked up, tears streaking down her face. She took my hand and I helped her stand up. I didn't let go of Rose's hand until we were at my house and I was calling for my mother. My mother came out of the kitchen and appeared in the doorway and looked at the sight before her; Rose and I hand in hand, me a worried mess and Rose a tear streaked one.
"Well who is this?" My mother asked, coming towards us, sinking down to her knees so she was eye-level with both of us; though I was a bit taller than exact eye-level.
"Mama, this is Rose. I think she's lost."
"Oh is she now. Rose, honey, where are your parents?"
"Gone." Rose whispered and my 6 year old self immediately understood what that meant.
"Oh hon I'm so sorry. Who are you staying with now?" my mom asked
"Auntie Alberta."
"And where is she?"
"At work." she replied
"So you're all by yourself?"
"No. She left me with a baby-sitter."
"Okay, I understand. Rose, do you happen to know your aunt's number? Maybe it's an emergency number she told you never to forget?"
Low and behold Rose remembered her aunt's number and while my mother was on the phone with Alberta, Rose and I were wolfing down a batch of my mother's homemade cookies.
"Your mom is really nice." Rose said, watching my mom feed my smallest sister Viktoria with a bottle and carry a conversation with Alberta on the phone.
I beamed, "She's my best friend."
"And now I'm your best friend too." Rose said, matter of-factly.
"When did that happen?" I asked.
She pretended to count on her fingers. "Five minutes ago."
I smiled, "Okay. We can be best friends."
And we had a lot of time to become best friends when Alberta fired Rose's baby-sitter who was so preoccupied with her phone that she failed to notice Rose had left her house, which was oddly enough right across from mine. Rose said she hadn't recognized it because she had just moved about 2 weeks prior to our meeting. With a fired baby-sitter, it left no one to care for Rose during the summer while Alberta went to work so, my gracious mother volunteered, citing that because she stayed home to care for a newborn and me, she wouldn't mind one bit looking after Rose too.
When asked how we felt about the new arrangements by Alberta and my mother Rose answered for both of us, "Dimitri is my new best friend, of course it's okay!" My sentiments exactly.
Present Day
"I have to go back to my-that apartment." We were on the couch, it was near midnight and we had just finished out fourth or fifth movie.
"I need clothes and some other stuff." she said.
I looked at the clock and she followed my gaze, "He's not home, it's a Saturday night so he's probably out getting drunk somewhere and won't be home til about after 2. Trust me."
"I'm going with you." I said
"He won't be there."
"I'm still going with you."
So that was how on late on a Saturday night-well more like Sunday morning- Rose and I were tiptoeing around the apartment she and Jesse shared. I looked around the living room definitely noting some of Rose's touches; probably Lissa's touches as she had helped Rose decorate the apartment. Although the apartment was well furnished and spacious I noted that there were things missing that made it a home; pictures of Jesse and Rose, miscellaneous objects lying around. The whole apartment just seemed too cold, too impersonal. I did notice, however, the copious amount of beer and vodka bottles spilling out of the trash, I also noticed how on her way to the bed room Rose diverted her gaze from the mess the bottles created. It wasn't until I was in the hallway close to their bedroom that I saw the broken glass from a broken vase as well as a broken frame. Rose paused slightly when she saw the sight, sighing while she walked over them and shook her head.
"Do you need my help packing anything?" I asked.
"No. Majority of my stuff is here and the rest is at Lissa's so it'll take probably a couple minutes."
"Okay, I'll wait in the living room." I had decided to give her some time and privacy in the bedroom while she packed her things but I noticed nearly 20 minutes had gone by since I last heard shuffling from her packing.
I knocked lightly on the door and when I didn't hear a response, I gently pushed the door open. "Rose? Are you-" I stopped at the sight before me.
The bedroom was a complete and total mess, clothes and shoes strewn everywhere and in the middle of it sat Rose, back to me, hair framing her body, knees to chest, head in hear lap, very similar to how I had found her many years ago sobbing in the park.
I gingerly made my way through the clothes and sunk down on the carpet next to her. This time, instead of poking her on the shoulder, I put my arm around her body and held her closer to me. She wasn't crying but her chest heaved up and down with every breath she took. I don't know how long we sat there, my arm around Rose as she breathed, eventually my fingers playing absent-mindly with her hair, Rose crushed to my chest, various objects around us in disarray.
"How could he do this to me?" She finally asked.
"I don't know." I said, honestly.
"I love him. Loved him."
"I know."
"Dimitri my heart hurts."
"I'm so sorry milaya."
"I never want to feel like this again." she whispered.
I held her closer to me, wanting to take away her pain. I let go of her briefly as I worked quickly on packing and putting everything away. When I was finished, Rose and I walked out of that apartment hand in hand similar to when we had started our friendship years upon years ago.
Sunday Night- Dimitri POV
"You're going to work tomorrow?"
"Yes, aren't you?" She responded, putting clothes haphazardly into the closet save for a pair of slacks and blouse that she had left out on the bed.
"Well yes, but-"
"But crime doesn't just stop because my husband cheated on me Dimitri." Rose worked as a Public Defender and was quite good at her job; so good sometimes I accused her of being at the border of a workaholic. She had quite sobered up since last night's bed room break down and she was slowly morphing back into the tough Rose I knew and was accustomed too, while it didn't quite bother me, I liked seeing her as her old self, the speed at which she was snapping back couldn't be healthy. She was doing what she used to do to cope with pain-suppress and sit on it until it came out-usually at bad times.
"I don't know Rose, maybe you should stay home a few days, you know relax and figure out how you feel about everything." If she had heard me, I didn't see an indication, she was busy moving everything back into her old room.
"Rose-" I tried again.
"I heard you." she said, her back to me.
"Okay so don't you think-"
"Dimitri if something happened to you would you just stop giving making sure little Johnny is okay? Or that little Meghan's cold isn't a sign of something worse?"
I worked as a pediatrician and I also worked on call as an obstetrician (delivering babies); I had studied for a long time in college and worked very hard for my job and although high-paced and stressful at times, I loved it. There was nothing that compared to making sure a child is well and bringing new life into the world. And although I accused Rose of being a workaholic it was also a title she threw right back at me.
I sighed at her questions, not replying because she already knew the answer. "Exactly, I didn't think so." she said smugly.
"Rose, I just want to make sure that you're 100% sure about going to work after everything that's happened."
"I'll be fine. Besides, work keeps me busy. Busy is good." she said, turning to face me.
"Do you want to meet for lunch or something?" I asked.
"Can't I'm meeting Lissa, but I'll be here when you get home and I'll supervise as you do your favorite past time: cleaning something." she teased
I rolled my eyes, "By supervising you mean participating." I countered.
"You know me comrade, by supervising I really mean supervising."
She laughed lightly as I walked out of the room.
Monday Morning-Lissa POV
Buzz. Buzz.
I had just stepped out of the shower and into my bedroom when I heard my phone vibrate from my nightstand. I sat down from my bed and read the text from Rose.
Lunch today? I have something to tell you-Rose
Absolutely. Are you okay?-Lissa
You know me, I'll get through it. Gotta go, Dimitri made pancakes again :)-Rose
I sighed and set down my phone and stared into the distance, Christian's lips on my neck broke me out of my revere and also brought a smile to my lips.
"Well good morning to you, Mr. Ozera." I said, turning around to kiss him.
"Good morning to you, Mrs. Ozera." he said, a smile in his bright blue eyes. "Rose?" he asked, signaling to the phone.
"Yeah." I paused, my smile slowly disappearing. Rose had been staying in our guest bedroom for a couple weeks now due to problems between her and Jesse; she had yet to tell me the full story as to what had made her move out of her apartment and all I knew was that Jesse was an extreme alcoholic. I had grown worried on Friday night when she said she was going back for her things at the apartment and she had never returned but she had texted me saying that she was staying at Dimitri's. I had to ignore the very small twinge of jealousy that I felt pertaining to their relationship. It was unlike anything that I had ever seen. I had met Rose in college (we were roommates) and we grew to be very close friends, regarding each other as sisters, but with Dimitri it was a completely different story. They were closer than a standard friendship but they weren't dating. I remembered once asking Rose about their relationship after Dimitri had visited her over a long weekend.
Flashback
"So," I said, propping myself onto my bed across from Rose. "What's the deal with you and Dimitri?" I asked, waggling my eyebrows.
I watched as Rose averted her gaze and turned a very interesting shade of pink. "Dimitri and I are just friends and nothing more." she said
"Please, I see the way he looks at you and the way you look at him. That is more than just friendship."
"Dimitri doesn't think of me in that way and he's my best friend."
"So you think of him in that way?" I asked, teasing.
Rose only shook her head, "I've known Dimitri practically my whole life, he's my best friend, and we've been through a lot together."
"But you guys have never dated?"
"No. We're just friends and nothing more."
"Okay..."
"But I do know who's not just friends...you and Christian!" she said, thus making me turn an interesting shade of red. I let the conversation go and whenever I asked the same question about her and Dimitri she answered the same way, that they were just friends and nothing more. I never told her that I had continued to ask because of what I saw. When they were around each other they were so in sync, it was scary. It was even more amazing when paired with how opposite they were inside and out. Rose-petite, out-going, and loud. Dimitri-tall, reserved, and quiet. They were like the two pieces of a puzzle that you think would never fit together yet they did. However, as college progressed and the only sign of a possible relationship was Rose's pink cheeks, I stopped asking and took her answer as is. But I never gave up on the idea of them two and decided to keep it in my back pocket as a possible "I told you so" card later.
"Is she okay?" Christian asked
"Yeah, she's staying with Dimitri and wants to meet for lunch."
"Hmm, do you think it's over?"
"Between her and Jesse? Yeah probably, but it's been over for a while. I wonder what made her stay and Dimitri's and not here over the weekend."
"Well you know how close they are." Christian said.
"Yeah and I was surprised when she came over here and not to him."
"Well Dimitri doesn't like Jesse at all so maybe that had something to do with it."
"Well yeah, but I thought he just thought of Jesse as an annoyance." I said.
Christian gave me a dubious look, "Remember the wedding rehearsal dinner? When Jesse got a little too drunk and said something stupid to Rose? I thought Dimitri was going to fight him right then and there, and Dimitri is one of the most well-mannered people I know. Rose had to calm Dimitri down."
"Oh yeah, how did I forget all that?"
"You weren't there. You had a doctor's conference. I remember telling you about it later."
"Hmm." I sighed again and jumped as I looked at the clock. "Crap I'm going to be late."
"Well since you're already late, you could always come back into the bed and be a little more late." Christian said suggestively.
I blame Christian for making me nearly 15 minutes late for my first appointment this morning.
Monday-Lunch-Lissa POV
"Hey!" I said, slipping into a booth across from Rose at Panera. We didn't get to eat lunch together that often but when we did we opted to go to Panera which was equidistant from the hospital where I worked as an OB-GYN (and where Dimitri also worked as a Pediatrician), and also the courthouse where Rose worked.
"Hey." She said, sipping on her coke.
"Did you order for me already?" I asked, taking off my coat and gloves in the warm restaurant.
"Yes, I did. Wow it feels nice to be the one ordering and not slipping in right before the food comes." She laughed. Due to Christian's "persuasion" I was late for my appointment this morning and therefore uncharacteristically late for my lunch meeting with Rose. Usually it was Rose I would already order for and wait as she slipped in.
"Haha. Don't get too used to it." I retorted. "So," I said, unsure exactly of how to continue. "You said you had something to tell me."
"Yes I did." she said, looking down at her napkin and sipping her coke before she continued. "Show me all the hot, single doctors because I'm getting a divorce."
What? "What?" I said.
"Yep. I can now go out on the town on Single Ladies Tuesday." she joked, an old tactic whenever she felt uncomfortable.
"Rose, I'm so sorry."
"Don't be. I let that scumbag into my life, and I forgave him every time he did something wrong or stupid, even when he made me feel like I wasn't amazing, like I was dirt under his shoe, I still stayed, I was still deluded by some blind love and adoration for him. Not anymore. I'm done, I'm divorcing his ass."
I let her go on her small rant, enjoying seeing my Rose back-the strong, confident one-not the shell of a person she was when he was around. Our food came then and we were silent as we ate.
"Do you need me to do anything for you? You know, you're always welcome to stay for as long as you like with Christian and I."
"Trust me, I think Christian enjoys having you all to himself. And thanks but no, I'm gonna stay with Dimitri until-" She paused, thinking. "Until I figure out what I'm going to do next."
"Well if you need anything, I'm always here. And Christian too, even though her pretends not to, he really does care about you." I said
"Thanks Lissa for-for everything." she said smiling. "No if you don't want your bacon, can I please have it?"
Monday Night-Dimitri POV
I banged on the door with such force I'm surprised the neighbors didn't come out to investigate.
"Whoever it is,you have to fucking wait, I said I was coming like 3 damn times, coming over every hour in the damn night, banging down my damn door, who the hell-" his words cut off as he opened to the door and saw me in the doorway.
"Hello Jesse."
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