Okay! Next chapter! Thanks for the warm feedback! I was really touched And please keep reviewing! Some constructive criticism always goes a long way.
Keep reading!
.Lysa.
After his afternoon class, Dimitri headed home. Mom had probably made lunch, and to be quite honest, he was starving. He jumped onto his bike, and with more than enough stares on his back, courtesy of 95% of the female population of the school, he raced home.
To his surprise, the driveway was not empty as it usually was. A bright red little car was in front of it. One Dimitri had neither seen here or anywhere in the village.
The house was empty, he knew that. Mom was out. Mom usually left the window on the right side of the house closed if she was here, and it was open now. Which meant she wasn't here.
So who was?
Dimitri jumped the back fence and crept his way around the back of the house.
This door was open.
With a little trepidation and caution, he opened the door and slipped inside.
Dimitri could hear water running. Bathroom? But who? A faint humming joined the chorus of water. What the heck is that?
He followed the voice upstairs, grabbing Viktoria's wooden bat from the coffee table on his way and taking station outside the closed bathroom door. The voice issued louder out of the bathroom. Cheaptrick?
But why would a thief be taking a shower and singing to Cheaptrick of all things?
Wouldn't they just take whatever they wanted and just go?
Click. The door swung open. Steam streamed out. No time to think. Dimitri steadied the bat and muttered a prayer in Russian. Forgive me.
And swung the bat at the intruder.
The intruder, in total surprise and fear, screamed at the top of its lungs and dropped the towel. Dimitri, in total surprise and fear, dropped the bat and put his hands up.
Dimitri's eyes slowly moved up to find the intruder.
The intruder. The intruder had….
….had dark brunette hair. All the way to her waist.
What? Shit! Rose? Cue the screaming. And it came. Oh, it came. She screamed. And screamed. And screamed.
"Here, here, here!" Dimitri threw the towel at her. "Just take it! Just take it! I am so sorry! I am so-"
Rose shot him an angry look and cut him off with a "mmmm."
"I am so-"
She held a hand up, and with the towel secured around her body, moved down the corridor.
"Can I help you?" Dimitri called after her.
"What were you doing here anyway?" Dimitri asked her as he set down a cup of tea in front of Rose.
"Taking a shower. At my guest's place."
Oh, shit.
Hold up. Wait, she's the guest? She? Hot new art teacher? Shoot. Me. Actually, shoot mom first. She didn't mention any of this! But then again, we didn't ask.
"…Olena Belikov. What were you doing here?" she enquired with a frown.
"I live here."
"Huh?"
"I. Live. Here," Dimitri enunciated slowly.
She gave him a dry smile. "Yeah, not a retard."
"I never mentioned my last name. I'm Dimitri. Belikov."
Understanding shone in her eyes. "Belikov? You're Belikov? The Belikov?"
Dimitri looked up in surprise. "The Belikov? Where'd you hear that from?"
She blushed. "Nowhere. In the staffroom. I didn't know you were Belikov. Or that your mother was Olena. Or that you lived here."
She took the tea in two hands. "Sorry. It was my fault. I should have…I don't know. Have left a sign on the door or something."
"Olena left in the morning for some meeting thingy and left me here. Apparently her daughter wouldn't be back till late. But her son probably would be. She didn't say what time though…or how old he was…" She muttered the last bit.
Dimitri sat down opposite her. "Aren't you freezing? Why'd you open the window in the garage?"
"I was painting. It was the turpentine. It smells really strong. So I opened a window. I also spilled paint through to my shirt. That's why I decided to take a shower this early." She gestured to the damp hair and ratty paint decorated overalls.
"Right. Well, I'm sorry. Mom didn't tell me you'd be here this early, so I really had no-"
Rose cut in. "Oh, no, she had no idea I was coming in this early. It was my fault." She paused. "But seriously, who comes at somebody with a baseball bat like that? With eyes closed and all? You really think an intruder will stick around to have a shower?"
She chuckled and jumped up out of her seat to pop the kettle on.
"Ha ha ha. Hilarious. Of course not. I just thought….whatever." Dimitri wasn't going to justify his actions. She grinned. "What are you doing?"
She opened the cupboards up, rummaged around a bit, then started pulling ingredients out.
"Lunch. Spaghetti. Olena said you should make something, but I'll do it. My treat, since I scared the living daylights out of you." I jumped up as well and headed over to the stove.
"You scared me? I scared you! You screamed like somebody was murdering you."
Rose stood on her tiptoes trying to get to the sauce on the top shelf. "Well, it's not every day a man comes at you with a baseball bat with enough force to render you brain dead." Noted.
"Here, I'll get it." Dimitri grabbed it with ease and then offered it to her. A few metres over her head.
"Give it! Don't be such a jerk!" She cried, clawing away at my outstretched arm.
"A little higher Hathaway." Gosh, he was mean. But it meant watching her struggle. And she looked adorable when she struggled. And whenever she stretched, her shirt rode up. Oh, gosh, he was so going to hell.
"Kidding. Here. See? I'm nice." That earned him a slap.
She gave him a dark look but snatched it off him with a little more force than probably necessary. "Jerk. And where are you going buddy?" Rose added when he began to walk away. "You're helping Belikov. Chop chop. You're in charge of the sauce. Don't burn it. Or I'll burn your face and a few other places I'm too polite to mention." She hip-bumped him with a dark look and slapped a pot to his chest.
"Damn, girl. Harsh."
After a rather nice lunch (minus the fact Rose scalded most of the spaghetti- "It was the pot!" Rose had justified with a blush) they settled down in front of the television to while away the afternoon until Viktoria or Olena came home.
Dimitri grabbed the remote before Rose could protest.
"What's on?" She threw herself onto the coach next to him.
"A few serials. A few movies. All Russian," Dimitri grinned appreciatively. "But we do have normal television as well."
Rose smiled happily and instructed him to change it before she broke his eye socket.
"Let's see….God, The O.C? I hate that show!" Dimitri grumbled.
An extremely eager Rose wrestled the remote off him and excitedly announced the contrary: she loved the O.C.
Dimitri was left to endure 90 minutes of the show (double episodes, different seasons) which he had to admit, was not that bad.
"Can I call you a 75 year old yenta named Sylvia too? How about telling everyone that you have genital warts?" Rose asked in between.
Just as the third episode was about to begin, Rose and Dimitri both heard the door slam shut. A tired and pissed off Viktoria traipsed into the room and parked herself on one of the opposing chairs.
"I hate my life," Viktoria announced.
"Glad you finally realized." Slap from Rose. "I mean, Welcome to my life." Slap from Rose. Dimitri took Rose's small hands in his. "Yeah, okay, stop. Before I bitch slap your ass back to America."
"Hey Viktoria," Rose smiled, trying to pull grasped her fingers away from Dimitri's.
Dimitri looked taken back. "Wait, you guys know each other?" He narrowed his eyes at Viktoria.
Viktoria grinned. "Something wittle Dimitri doesn't know? Score. Met her in school, nut nut. She introduced herself. You're the new art teacher right?"
Rose nodded and continued to try to pry her fingers from Dimitri's.
"Balls of steel, huh?" Viktoria nodded to Rose's crushed fingers. "He'll give it up. Easy." Viktoria hit him on the back. Hard. He let go.
Ow. "Okay, the abuse I get from both of you is just unbelievable. I could just go home instead of putting up with all this!"
"Awwww. Poor Dimitri. All swollen and purple. Would you like a band-aid little bunny?" Viktoria tried with a grin, poking Dimitri.
"Get off!" Dimitri protested. Rose beamed as well but told Viktoria they should knock it off.
"I'll go get you something to eat. You relax. And watch the O.C!" Rose called enthusiastically, running toward the kitchen.
As soon as she was out of sight, Viktoria immediately pounced on Dimitri and grilled him for questions. He was still rubbing away at his sore back with an annoyed look.
"Hands!" Dimitri yelled with a look at Viktoria's hands.
Viktoria ignored that. "So, you like? Up to your standards? Totally hot and smoking? Meat on two legs? Did something…happen?"
Dimitri looked disgusted with a fake shocked look on his face. "No. No. And," he paused, "way too young to know. I'm not telling you. Not adding corrupting minors to my list of bad traits. Too young to go to jail. A few more years sweetie," Dimitri added with a pat on Viktoria's shoulder.
She gave him a look. "I've known about sex 3 years too early courtesy of you, jackass. So don't use that half-assed excuse. Spill."
"Did you learn all the cussing from me too?"
"GO!"
Dimitri frowned. "Alright. Jeez, woman. Keep your panties on straight."
Silence fell. Dimitri looked like he was going to have a heart attack with the face he was attempting. He tried for a fake, vague staring-off-into-the-distance look. "I don't know. I guess…something did happen." He quickly snapped out of it and jumped up casually adding, "We'll see. I'm going to get some water."
"Arse-hole," Viktoria said, punctuating with word with force as she threw the pillow at her brother's retreating back.
Thoughts? Review? I may have gone into 1st person and 3rd person here and there, which is totally my fault. I am going to fix it! As soon as possible!
.Lysa.