Disclaimer: I do not own VA and thank Richelle Mead for writing such an awesome series.
Sincerest of apologies for such a long delay on getting this chapter out – lots of reasons/factors that hindered the writing process but anyway, it's here and I hope it was worth the wait!
Because it's such a long chapter I have a few 'line breaks' to make it easier to read
Thank you to princesslara99 for your medical expertise.
I know I usually write my chapters from a character's point of view but since a lot is going to happen in this chapter, figured it would be best to do it in third person – hopefully it flows ok and isn't too confusing.
Hopefully doesn't have too many issues/mistakes – I did one round of editing after I FINALLY finished the first draft…hopefully it was enough…
Two rival restaurants and chefs – what happens when love joins the menu?
Restaurant Wars
CHAPTER 21
Third Person POV
There is a phone call you hope you never have to experience in your life.
A total stranger ringing to inform you one of your loved ones has been hurt. What makes it infinitely worse is when it's one of your children.
That's why instead of kicking into action, Janine Hathaway Mazur sat eerily still on the sofa – paralysed in shock.
It's hard to believe that only moments ago she'd been watching trashy reality TV after having finished her nightly call to Abe – something they'd been doing daily since he'd touched down in Berlin a few days ago. For some strange reason she'd a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach since she woke up today. Thinking the 'warning' might have been about her husband, she had rung him close to their appointed time rather than wait for his usual call and after having spoken to him at great length – and determining he was fine – she'd finally relaxed.
Unfortunately, Janine hadn't considered the bad feeling could have been about one of her kids.
She couldn't even remember what she said to the ER nurse – her body had pretty much shut down the moment she heard one of her babies was in an accident. When her mind finally regained control she started to call Abe – her go-to person. Ending the call even before the first ring had played out, she realised it would have been stupid to phone him – he was all the way in Germany and there wasn't anything he could do apart from freak out & worry. Promising herself to call him later, once she knew the details, she decided to call the one person she relied on in Abe's absence – she rang her eldest child, Christian.
It was another packed night at the club and Christian was hiding in his office. He knew he should be happy that things were going so well for his business and that he was healthy & fit, but his love life was currently complicated and was causing him undue stress. He had been sitting there for the last hour staring at his phone, wondering how he should address the issue, when it started buzzing loudly. It was his anne and he couldn't help but smile thinking she was probably calling to check up on him because he'd skipped the family dinner that night. What he wasn't prepared for was her distressed voice as she struggled to convey the startling information.
Accident.
Brother.
RPA Hospital.
Call the others and meet her there.
Christian wasn't sure if he heard his anne correctly and no matter how many times he tried calling her back she wasn't picking up. But he did hear the name of the hospital and knew whatever his anne had said it wasn't a good thing. He barely remembered rushing out of his office and had just gotten into his car when his mobile rang again. Hoping it was his anne returning his call, he answered without looking.
"Thank God you called back anne. What were you trying to…"
He was cut off when the voice on the other end interrupted him, making him realise it wasn't his anne but someone else – someone who, after the women in his family, he had grown to love very deeply.
"Oh sorry babe, I didn't realise it was you... Look, I wish I could have a long chat but I just had a really weird call from my anne…I mean my mum ….and somethings wrong…I don't know what but I need to get to RPA hospital…Yeh…Yeh I will call you when I find out what's happening….Thanks babe…I love you too…"
The 'chat' with his girl was overdue but his family needed him and more importantly his anne, so he tossed his phone aside and squealed out of the parking lot, having decided to get to the hospital first before calling his other siblings and family – no point scaring them when he himself wasn't sure what the hell was going on. Trying to keep to the speed limits, he effortlessly zipped through the city traffic until he finally reached the hospital carpark. Standing outside the large building, he tried his anne again – where the hell was he supposed to meet her?
Thankfully she answered after the first ring and uttered one sentence that caused his blood to freeze.
"I'm in emergency…"
It hadn't taken him long to find his distraught anne, who upon seeing him, had collapsed into his arms. He knew she needed him to step-up and take on the role normally his baba would play. Having spoken to the ER nurse, the first people he called were his Aunt Sonya and Uncle Pavel – he knew they would need their emotional support plus he wanted to delegate the job of informing his 'uninjured' siblings to his uncle. It may have seemed insensitive but Christian was barely keeping it together and he knew that if he spoke to either of his siblings, he would definitely fall apart and that was the last thing his anne needed. He momentarily hesitated in calling his baba but knew his baba would be angry if he found out they'd waited to tell him, so taking a deep breath he made the call. Thankfully it went to voicemail, so he left a brief message outlining the key details they currently knew and promised to call him back once they had more information.
He also sent a short text to his girl knowing she would be worried and wanting to know what happened. And finally a quick call to Joshua, his assistant manager at the club, to let him know he needed to stay back and close up – something told Christian he wasn't going to be leaving the ER any time soon. Holding his anne tightly he tried to give her as much of his strength as possible, praying the rest of the family would turn up soon.
He wasn't sure how long they'd been sitting in the waiting area when he heard a commotion near the ER reception.
"Where is my brother!? I want to see him! Take me to him damn it!"
He was about to untangle himself from his anne's embrace when he watched Rose and Dimitri (what the hell was he doing here?) run towards them followed by a distressed Uncle Pavel and a sobbing Aunt Sonya. Rose practically fell into their anne's arms and the two women held each other tightly – neither one willing to cry and desperately holding their emotions in check for the sake of the other. They fell into a pair of chairs, still clutching one another, while the others in the room shuffled around anxiously.
Christian approached his uncle and was about to ask him the whereabouts of his 'missing' sibling, when he noticed him running down the corridor towards them.
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Dimitri stood to the side and watched the Mazur's deal with their tragedy. He tried to make himself as inconspicuous as possible, which for a 6'7' guy was impossible. Thankfully no one had approached him yet and he wondered if it was best if he left undetected. But seeing Rose trying to stay strong for her family, even though she suffered internally, stalled his departure – for he knew he couldn't leave until it looked like she was going to be ok. So he kept his distance and silent vigil, watching Rose for the slightest indication that she needed him.
A tired doctor in blue scrubs made his way over to the huddled group in the waiting room.
"Are you Mr. Mazur's family?"
Janine leapt from her seat, pulling Rose up in the process.
"Yes, we are his family. I'm his mother. Where is he? How is he?"
The doctor held up his hand to halt any further questions.
"He suffered heavy blood loss and was unconscious when he arrived. He required resuscitation when his body shut down due to the trauma and shock. There was some heavy internal bleeding, a broken arm and fractured ribs. He also had some swelling in the brain which we had to ease via surgery. He is very lucky that he didn't injure his spinal cord – people in such accidents normally do and become paralysed. He is currently in a medically induced coma and will remain in ICU for the next couple of days to monitor his injuries. Its best if he doesn't have any visitors but I imagine you would like to have a quick look Mrs. Mazur so please follow me".
Letting go of Rose Janine quickly followed the doctor down the corridor. The rest of the group stood there, letting the extent of the injuries sink in.
Internal bleeding.
Broken arm.
Fractured ribs.
Swelling in the brain.
Could have been worse.
Rose felt utterly helpless and was boiling with endless questions. How could her brother, who she'd seen just this morning, end up in hospital which such severe injuries? Was he going to make it? Who was responsible? It felt like she was given very little information, making her want to tear her hair out or at least punch someone very hard.
Dimitri sensing her rising distress, momentarily forgot the other people in the waiting room and took her into his arms.
Feeling his strong, warm embrace, Rose relaxed a little and took a deep, comforting breath. That was until she heard…
"What the fuck is going on?!"
Jumping apart, Rose and Dimitri watched a confused & slightly rattled Christian looking at them back and forth. Even though Rose had been given the perfect opportunity to reveal her 'secret' to Christian the night she'd almost had 'phone sex' with Dimitri, she'd chosen to keep her brother in the dark.
Well it looked like the cats out of the bag!
An awkward silence fell over the group, as Rose watched her eldest brother's expression morph from perplexed to one of pure rage. Rose and Dimitri didn't know how they could explain let alone get-out of the situation they'd been caught in. Thankfully Uncle Pavel stepped in and as he pulled a distraught Christian out of the room as he gave Rose a meaningful look, letting her know he would handle this but that she had some explaining to do. Aunt Sonya also gave her a look, one that Rose couldn't decipher, before she too stepped out – mumbling that she needed to call rest of the family and update them on the situation.
Momentarily forgetting about her other brother, who sat there quietly in the waiting room staring off into the distance, Rose and Dimitri looked at one another and once again lost themselves in their little world. It looked like the universe was forcing them to reveal their relationship to their families, whether they were ready or not. They were startled yet again – this time by someone clearing their throat to get their attention. They noticed two police officers standing before them. One stepped forward to make the introductions.
"Good evening, I'm Officer Stevenson and this is my partner Officer Kristov. We were the officers at the crime scene and were hoping to speak to Mr. Mazur's family?"
Rose was perplexed. Crime scene? Were accidents considered crime scenes? Seemed a bit extreme but what would she know.
"Yes, I'm Rose Mazur, his sister. The rest of our family are around somewhere and our mum is currently with the doctor checking up on my brother but she should be back any moment. Hmm…excuse me officer, but why would an accident be considered a crime scene?"
The two police officers looked at each other briefly before Officer Stevenson gave his reply.
"Miss Mazur, your brother wasn't in an accident. We believe that Mason Mazur was a victim of a pre-meditated collision".
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After dropping that bombshell Officer Stevenson refused to say anything further until Mrs. Mazur returned to the waiting room – he didn't want to repeat himself multiple times, plus they needed to get an update on Mason Mazur's condition for their investigation. This did not bode well with his sister, who continued to grow agitated with their refusal to answer any of her questions and at one point it looked like she would have launched herself at the officers had it not been for the gentleman who had remained by her side the entire time – his forethought to quickly grab her and exit the waiting room saved her from being arrested for assaulting a federal officer.
In a night that was already shaping up to be one of the craziest he had ever experienced, Dimitri really shouldn't have been surprised to see his babushka and mama marching towards them.
"What are you two doing here?" he asked warily.
Whether they heard him or not it didn't matter since they walked right passed an anxious Dimitri and a confused Rose. They couldn't have timed their entry any better as right about then Janine returned with the doctor. Pavel, Sonya and Christian had also returned and the small waiting room was now filled to capacity.
The two officers didn't waste any time and made a beeline for the attending doctor. Everybody watched in silence as the three spoke quietly in a corner, though both Janine and Rose were restless to find out what was going on.
Finally, after getting the latest update on Mason's medical condition, the two officers reluctantly faced the large crowd of people.
Officer Stevenson frowned – surely not everyone was family?
"Hmm, I think it would be best if we discussed the details with Mason Mazur's immediate family…" he tried to relay the suggestion with an air of authority.
But the poor officer had not met the likes of Yeva Belikova, who was more than happy to interrupt with a hard gaze and an even harsher tone as she set him straight!
"No one is leaving this room. We are all family. Now stop wasting time and tell us what happened!"
Startled by the fearsome, little Russian grandmother, the two officers conferred quietly before Officer Kristov stepped forward and spoke for the first time that night.
"When we got to the scene, we'd naturally assumed it was a standard motorbike/car accident. Mr. Mazur had been thrown off his bike and was being treated by the paramedics. Normally in such accidents it's the bike rider who is seriously injured while the car driver barely gets a scratch. This time, however, it looked like something happened to the car when it collided with the bike and it smashed into a lamp post. Luckily the driver survived but they too are in a critical condition…"
At this point the officers exchanged a look which seemed to double as a signal for Officer Stevenson to take over the narration.
"Like we said, we thought it was a standard accident, but when we started talking to the witnesses a different situation was presented to us. Multiple people saw the car purposefully accelerate and run Mr. Mazur off the road. No one had seen any communication occur between the two so weren't convinced it was a road rage incident. Nearly everyone we spoke to said it looked like the driver was hell bent on either veering the rider off the road or smash into them. Like we said before – a pre-mediated collision".
As the truth of the 'accident' – which sounded more like attempted murder – was revealed, there were shouts of outrage and gasps of shock. Janine collapsed into a nearby chair upon hearing someone had tried to kill her baby boy.
Who could do such a thing?
Mason was a sweet, innocent kid. He didn't fraternise with dodgy characters and was loved by all who knew him. For someone to go out of their way to kill him didn't make sense to anyone. While everyone silently digested the news, Rose couldn't shake the feeling she was overlooking something important. Suddenly she felt her stomach twist in a nauseous manner as she finally realised what was bothering her.
"Mason was wearing his full riding gear right? So there was no way for anyone to know if it was Mason who was on the bike…"
Officer Stevenson nodded his head in acceptance, but came back with his own theory on the matter.
"That's true but we believe they recognised his bike or registration plate and gave chase with the intent to kill him…"
Yup – Rose was only moments away from throwing up. Grabbing Dimitri's hand for support – she no longer cared how their families could react to the action – she spoke the words she knew would open up a whole new 'can of worms'.
"Mason wasn't riding his bike – he was riding mine…"
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As Rose predicted, the moment she uttered those words the officers practically pounced on her and buried her with a million questions. Overwhelmed by the deluge thrown her way, Rose leaned into Dimitri hoping he could shelter her from this never ending nightmare. Sensing her building anguish, Dimitri pulled her close and taking a deep breath, dared to interrupt the officers.
"I can understand you have a lot of questions to ask Miss Mazur, but as you can see she is still trying to process the whole thing. If you could just give her a moment to get her head around the situation I'm sure she'd be happy to answer your questions…"
Feeling sheepish for not assessing the situation correctly and overwhelming a key individual in the investigation, the officers apologised and stated they would give the family some time to absorb the information while they updated things on their end. Just as they were about to step out of the waiting room, Janine suddenly found her voice and in a hard, cold tone asked the question that was burning on everyone's mind.
"Who was the driver that tried to kill my son thinking it was my daughter?"
Officer Stevenson and Officer Kristov looked at each other nervously – this was an on-going investigation and revealing the identity of the guilty party to the family of the victim would not bode well – especially since the driver was being treated somewhere in the same hospital as the victim.
Officer Stevenson stepped up yet again to answer the difficult question.
"Since the driver is still unconscious we are unable to reveal their identity to you. However, once we've had a chance to speak to them…we can let you know more…"
It was the best he could do and he could see his evasiveness was not taken kindly or accepted. Before things could get messy, the two officers quickly made their exit leaving the Mazurs and Belikovs to deal with the aftermath.
With the officers gone, some of the Mazur clan were finally able to acknowledge the unexplained presence of the Belikovs. Sonya leaned into Pavel and tried to ask discreetly.
"Why are the Belikovs here?"
She wasn't as quiet as she thought she was, but before Rose could answer on behalf of Dimitri, Janine answered the question.
"I called them…"
Her tone was strangely calm yet had a ring of hardness that conveyed she would not take nonsense from anyone on the matter. Everyone, bar Olena, Yeva and Eddie, looked at Janine like she had lost her mind. But Janine knew what she was doing and made it clear to her family she wasn't to be questioned on the matter.
"I have my reasons for them being here, so don't bother me with idle, stupid questions….I don't have the time or energy for it…Ah fuck!"
She swore in frustration, shocking her children. Since she had her kids Janine had tried her best to be a good role model for them and would rarely say a dirty or bad word in front of them, so hearing her swear so brazenly was a strange novelty for her children. It made her kids worry that she was probably on the verge of a breakdown.
Janine let out a large sigh and turned to Christian to address the reason behind her outburst.
"Can you call your father and give him an update on Mason please… He must be busy since he hasn't called us back yet…"
Christian was just about to make the call when his phone buzzed in his hand – it was baba. Seeing his distraught expression, Janine grabbed the phone and walked away – allowing herself the chance to finally fall apart on the one man she'd never hide her vulnerable side from.
Yeva quietly watched the drama unfold. Her heart went out to Janine – it's always a gut-wrenching experience to watch one of your children go through such trauma. She'd sensed a storm brewing since she'd awoke that day and knew something big was going to happen, so when Janine called, distraught and struggling to relay that one of her children was in an accident, the Belikov matriarch had taken matters into her own hand, dragging a sleepy daughter in law out of bed.
But when the officers revealed that this was no accident but attempted murder, the feelings inside her intensified and she knew she had made the right decision to come here tonight – something told her it was going to be a long yet life-changing night!
Rose was glad Dimitri was there and curled up against him for much needed warmth and support. Who could want her dead? She had no enemies, as far as she could think, and had very little life outside her family and restaurant. She didn't have any close friends – well if you didn't consider Adrian – and the only non-family person she spent any time with was Dimitri. So who would garner that much hatred that they were willing to commit murder?
"Rose…Dimitri? What are you guys doing here?"
The two parties in question looked up towards the familiar voice and were surprised to see Adrian standing by the door. Not wanting to disturb the other family members, Rose and Dimitri indicated to Adrian to follow them out. Rose assumed Adrian was here for Sydney and felt immediate concern for the young chef.
"Is Sydney ok? Why are you in Emergency?"
A brief expression of confusion passed over Adrian's face until he understood what Rose and Dimitri would have assumed to be the reason for him being in Emergency this late at night.
"Oh yeh…Syds fine…and she still has a few more months to go…No, I'm here because one of my employees, who listed me down as their emergency contact, were in some kind of accident. They won't say much to me since I'm not family but I guess once they wake up and speak to the doctors maybe I will know a little more…..What about you guys? Why are you here? Is everyone ok?"
"Rose's little brother, Mason, was in an accident…no, not an accident…Hmm, someone tried to hurt Mason while he drove Rose's bike….We think….we think Rose was the actual target for the 'hit'…" Dimitri whispered while he held Rose tightly in his arms. He didn't even want to think about how things could have been if it had been Rose riding her bike.
Adrian's mouth fell open in surprise and his eyes darted back in forth between the two, wondering if this was some kind of a sick joke. This sounded like something you'd hear on a cheesy gangster movie.
Who the hell does this kind of thing in this day and age?
As Dimitri held Rose close to his heart, his jaw clenched tightly. Adrian said he was here visiting an employee who had been in an 'accident', the same night Mason was almost killed – this was too freaky to be a coincidence.
Dreading to ask the question but needing to know, he looked back at Adrian and asked the one question he knew would change the whole night.
"Which of your employees was in the accident tonight Adrian?"
Comprehension slowly dawned on Adrian's face and he looked troubled at the possibility that one of his staff could have been involved in such a heinous act – surely this was just a crazy coincidence? Seeing Dimitri's unwavering gaze, he released a resigned sigh and whispered the person's name.
"Avery"
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Abe was catching the next flight home – fuck the convention!
When he heard the voicemail Christian had left him, he'd almost had a heart attack. Strangely it was Victor who had come to his aide and calmed him down enough to find out what the matter was. After hearing the tragic news, he talked Abe into some common sense and stopped him from hoping on the next flight at the airport heading home. When Abe finally gained some control of his emotions he returned Christian's call, needing to know exactly what had transpired. But hearing Janine's emotional voice and sensing her falling apart on the other end, almost made Abe fall back into 'irrational' mode. But Victor's calming presence prevented that from happening and Abe was able to hold a steady conversation. While he comforted his distraught wife, Victor stepped away for a moment and made a few calls to find out when the next available flight was leaving for Sydney.
It was strange that a tragedy such as this would – for the time being – make both men forget about their ongoing family feud. Victor knew in his heart that had he been in a similar situation, Abe would be doing the exact same thing for him. Despite how long the families competed and despised each other they knew that when push comes to shove they could rely on one another for help during difficult times such as this.
Abe was grateful for the help Victor provided and was doubly glad that the main part of the convention was already over so he wouldn't feel bad about leaving early. His original plan had been to stick around a few days and attend the extra seminars/workshops but with Mason being in the hospital he no longer wanted to remain in Berlin. He was pleasantly surprised to note that Victor had re-arranged his own flights so he could leave the same time as Abe. Victor brushed it off as a 'makes sense to me' moment and explained he had always planned on leaving early. Abe wasn't sure if this was true or not but he appreciated the gesture and company nonetheless.
The thing that was bothering Abe the most from this whole experience was learning that this wasn't an accident but a deliberate attempt at his baby girl's life. He could feel his protective paternal instincts kicking in and he had spoken to Christian just before he boarded the plane, telling him that it was his job to watch over the family until he got there. Abe didn't like the thought that someone had been watching his family, specifically his baby girl. He would burn the world to ashes before anyone dared touch his family!
Abe whispered a silent pray for Mason as he settled down for the long flight home, making sure to give plenty of room to Victor, who was sitting next to him. He watched the twinkling lights of Berlin grow further into the distance as he struggled to keep his eyes open. His final thoughts before succumbing to sleep were of his son.
"Hang in there baby boy, baba is on his way home…"
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It was one of the most uncomfortable nights Dimitri had ever experienced – physically and emotionally.
With his large frame sitting in one of the plastic chairs in the waiting room all night, whilst holding Rose and dozing in and out of sleep, had caused his back to stiffen and his neck to cramp. Meanwhile he had to deal with death glares from Christian all night long while his mama and babushka were busy looking after Janine. The only person who seemed to appreciate his presence – apart from Rose – was Eddie, who gave him sympathetic smiles whenever their eyes met.
And yet, even with all this drama and pain, it was the one of the best nights of his life – the best being the night Rose had spent at his place after the party. Finally having their relationship out in the open and being able to hold his soulmate in his arms the whole night was strangely blissful. He would have preferred to have spent the night with Rose under better circumstances but having the chance to be there for her and her family made Dimitri feel like their relationship was real and not just a lustful attraction.
Rose was slowly waking up within the confines of his arms, when the two officers from last night walked into the waiting room.
Seeing the group sprawled throughout plus an unknown individual, they conferred with each other quietly as to who they should approach and address. That choice was taken for them when Janine noticed their presence and jumped out of her chair in full mama-bear mode.
Stomping over, she stopped just a few steps away from them, trying to reign in her anger and frustration – last thing she needed was to be arrested for assaulting an officer. She hadn't done that in a long time and didn't exactly want to repeat such behaviour in front of her children.
"So have you spoken to the 'murderer'? Did they explain why they did what they did? What are you going to do? They should be arrested and sent to a prison hospital…I don't like that they are in the same hospital as my family especially my two children – one they have already injured and another they are hell-bent on hurting…"
Officer Stevenson tried to keep his stoic expression in check but he couldn't help but feel nervous around the infamous Janine Hathaway Mazur. He had spent the night doing background checks on everyone – the Mazurs, Belikovs and the 'guilty party'. He had seen the rap sheet for Janine Mazur aka Janine Hathaway and he definitely did not want to be on the receiving end of her wrath!
Shifting slightly to take a subtle step back in order to distance himself from the fiery Scottish woman, he looked around the room again. Everyone was wide awake and watching them intently, waiting on a much needed update. Narrowing his eyes on the new person in the room, he decided to stall for a bit and find out the identity of the mysterious individual.
"And who might you be sir?"
Everyone apart from Janine turned to look at the dishevelled young chef sitting in the corner. Janine had shifted her glare from Stevenson to Kristov – she wasn't interested in anyone else and didn't appreciate the delay tactic!
"Adrian Innocentis, I'm the head chef of an Italian restaurant and I'm here because I was listed as an emergency contact for an employee who was in a car accident last night…"
This finally got Janine's attention. Stevenson took a tentative step closer to Adrian, his gut telling him another piece of the puzzle was just within his reach.
"What's your employee's name?"
Adrian studied Stevenson than Kristov – something told him the connection he and Dimitri made earlier was about to be confirmed.
"Fischer – Avery Fischer"
He may as well have revealed who shot Kennedy with the way Stevenson and Kristov reacted. Ideally they would have preferred to have interrogated Adrian privately but something told them that neither Janine nor Yeva would allow them to leave their sights.
"Can you tell us how Ms. Fischer came to your employ? And what do you know about her, if anything, outside the restaurant?... Like her family, friends, where she lives…"
Even though Adrian normally thrived on being centre of attention, today he would have preferred to have remained in the shadows. He could see from the corner of his eyes everyone was watching him – most with confused looks, except for Janine and Dimitri – Janine had a look of frustration because she didn't understand how this line of questioning was going to help her family, while Dimitri had a weird mix of sympathy and simmering rage – sympathy for Adrian and his current predicament and rage as his fears were confirmed with the officers sudden interest in Avery.
After all this woman had wanted to kill Rose!
"Hmm… I don't know much about her personal life – she keeps to herself… I think she once mentioned she doesn't have any family here – she is originally from Germany…She worked at various restaurants before applying to mine which was around the time my restaurant opened so less than a year ago… She is a hard worker but very competitive and driven…She along with another staff member are in the running to take over my current restaurant IF I were to win the competition – it was dependent on their performance and ability to work alongside me…Other than that I don't know what else to say…Oh and she lives in an apartment in Surry Hills…"
Kristov had been making notes during Adrian's statement while Stevenson watched the young chef carefully looking for any non-verbal cues that could reveal if he was lying or hiding something but everything seemed to line up – nothing that had been said appeared false and he got the impression Mr. Innocentis was being as forthcoming as he possibly could. Advising Adrian to remain at the hospital for a while longer, Stevenson and Kristov quickly walked out of the room to discuss this latest development – much to Janine's annoyance which she was more than happy to vocalise in a perfect Gaelic insult!
Rose felt like she was stuck in a never ending nightmare – her little brother in a comma, her life in danger, poor Avery was also in an accident and Tweedle di & Tweedle dumb were constantly talking to each other and not giving them any damn information. She wanted nothing more than to curl up in a corner and disappear but she had to be strong for her anne – at least until her baba arrived. She had spent last night being comforted by Dimitri and had left her anne in the hands of strangers – heck up to this point they were meant to be enemies of the family! But it was time for her to step up and be a supportive daughter.
With a small but full of love kiss on the cheek, Rose untangled herself from Dimitri's arms. She made her way towards her anne and took the suddenly frail looking woman into her arms. The action snapped her brothers out of their own stupor and suddenly the Mazurs were having a group hug in the middle of the waiting room.
Almost an hour later, Stevenson and Kristov returned to the room and made their way towards Rose.
"Ms. Mazur we were wondering if you could come with us and speak to Ms. Fischer…"
Seeing Rose's confused look, they finally decided to reveal some of the information.
"You see Ms. Fischer was the driver that ran your brother off the road…"
The loudest gasp came from Rose and it was Janine's turn to comfort her distraught daughter.
"But…I don't understand…why would Avery want to kill me?"
Stevenson and Kristov had a silent argument of sorts, made obvious by their head jerks and facial movements, until Kristov finally gave a resigned sigh and slight nod to his partner. Stevenson turned to Rose and softened his gaze, hoping the following unorthodox request wouldn't be shut down.
"We tried to question her, but she refuses to answer. We didn't tell her it was Mr. Mazur and not you on the bike. So as of this moment, she still thinks she succeeded. We were wondering how she would react if you were to suddenly appear in her room. Seeing you in person may get a full confession from her without us having to go through lawyers…"
Rose stared at Stevenson then Kristov uneasily – could she really face a woman who wanted her dead? A part of her was telling her to run as far away from the damn hospital as possible but another – the Mazur in her – knew she needed to face this and get Avery to confess or at least reveal why she did what she did. She sensed movement to her side and noted Dimitri had moved closer to her – whether consciously or not she knew his gesture conveyed protection & love and she drew on that to do what needed to be done.
"Ok I will do it…"
Before she even took a step, a large warm hand clasped around her wrist and as always send bursts of electricity through her body.
"I'm going with you…"
The officers readied themselves to argue against Dimitri coming when Yeva spoke up, reminding everyone she was still very much there and in command.
"He will go with her, don't bother arguing – the girl will sing like a canary when she sees them together…Even though Roza was her target…something tells me she has no love for a Belikov either…"
Dimitri looked at his babushka for more clues but all he saw was the uncanny expression she got whenever a vision of hers was coming true. Knowing by now not to question her wisdom or her abilities he returned his determined gaze to the officers. After a quick whispered conference, the officers nodded their acceptance – they hated to admit it but the little Russian woman was scary and what was one more person in the room, especially if it was someone who could ease Rose's discomfort?
As the foursome walked towards the ward where Avery had been moved to since regaining consciousness, Stevenson quickly explained the plan to Rose and Dimitri. The officers would be just outside the room and would step in if anything got out of hand. They placed a recording device in Rose's hand and told her to keep it in her jacket so Avery wouldn't suspect the conversation was being recorded. It hadn't taken them long to get to Avery's room but now that Rose was about to confront the woman, she felt her legs turn to lead.
Dimitri noticed Rose's hesitation and took her hand in his. He gave it a firm squeeze, hoping to convey what he wanted to say in that gesture. With one final look at each other, Rose let go of Dimitri's hand and stepped into the room after having announced herself via a knock. Stevenson and Kristov stepped to the side, so Avery couldn't see them while the door remained open – another thing they suggested right at the end to give them quick access should they need it.
Rose wasn't sure what she'd been expecting but it certainly wasn't a battered and bruised young woman with her right leg in a cast.
Sensing someone enter her room, Avery stirred from her sleep and when her eyes opened and fell on Rose a plethora of emotions flew across her face – shock, confusion, fear and finally pure rage. She didn't look anything like her usual bubbly self – the woman before them had the coldest set of eyes they had ever seen.
Rose suddenly wasn't sure what she was supposed to do or say. Was she to act like she didn't know? Be friendly towards this woman? While she internally debated on the best way to approach Avery, she noted Avery's eyes widen and her nose flare with even more anger as she took note of the person behind Rose.
Dimitri had moved as close to Rose as possible. He would have preferred to have stood in front of Rose, distancing her from Avery – even if Avery looked like she wasn't going to be moving any time soon. He too was blown away by the hostility this young woman seemed to have for Rose, even with her current frail state, but what shocked him further was watching her rage intensify when her eyes registered his presence. So babushka was right – she had something against him or his family as well.
Rose felt the briefest of touches on her lower back, as a small reminder from Dimitri she wasn't facing this psycho alone. His touch also helped break Rose's internalisation and she finally figured out the best way to approach the situation – the direct one!
"Why do you want to kill me? What did I ever do to you?"
Avery sat there, glaring at them with so much hatred that Rose and Dimitri couldn't help but take a small step back. Her unrelenting silence caused Rose and Dimitri to squirm and just as they started to worry that they too wouldn't get anything out of her, Avery let off a crazy laugh.
"What did you do to me indeed!? Well in all fairness the blame lies at the feet of your great, great grandfathers! Because of them my family missed out on fame & fortune and the chance to live in Australia! I can see from your stupid confused faces you don't know what I'm talking about so let me give you a little history lesson…"
Rose and Dimitri tried to follow Avery's angry rant but the more she spoke, the more they were confused. The only thing they seemed to understand was it had something to do with their great, great grandfathers.
Avery wished she could get out of bed – she desperately wanted to wrap her hands around their throats! And seeing their dumb, baffled looks only made her angrier. Taking a deep breath, she started at the beginning – her rage fuelling her narration and clouding her common sense. She was so consumed with her hatred and disbelief that her attempt at killing Rose had been unsuccessful, she didn't realise that she was pretty much confessing to her crime and at the same time finally shedding light on the family feud between the Mazurs and Belikovs.
She told them all about Alberich's journal and the events that occurred which caused the Mazurs and Belikovs to hate one another. Of course her re-telling was biased by the fact she portrayed her great, great grandfather as the wronged party, but in her emotional state she gave away enough to let Rose and Dimitri read between the lines.
Rose's recording device captured everything which was probably a good thing because by the end of it Rose and Dimitri were too gobsmacked to speak. It was strangely liberating to finally discover the reason behind the mysterious feud and even though they could understand the cause behind it, it saddened them to think of all those years lost between the two families – years which instead of being full of love & friendship were filled with hostility and competition.
Stevenson and Kristov, having heard enough especially the loud threat from an enraged Avery who vowed to get her revenge and not make the same mistake twice, stepped into the room and read Avery her rights before arresting her.
Dimitri walked Rose out of the room and down the corridor to put some much needed distance between them and Avery – even though she was bed-ridden and the officers were with her, he couldn't trust the deranged woman to not try something crazy.
He could feel Rose shaking, clearly traumatised from the whole experience. She had had a hellish night and then to top it off had to confront her would-be killer – it was a miracle she hadn't had a nervous breakdown! He pulled her aside into a small alcove off the main corridor and took her into his arms.
Rose really needed Dimitri's comfort in that moment and like the perfect soulmate he had sensed it. Wrapped in his warm arms, she finally let her emotions go. She didn't know how long she stood there, crying into his shirt but she finally felt like a giant weight had been lifted off her shoulders. She was just about to pull away and lean up to give Dimitri a deep kiss when her phone buzzed.
One look at the text message and Rose was running back towards the Emergency waiting area, Dimitri following a step behind.
Her baba was home!
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The taxi was racing through all and any traffic – the driver incentivised to drive as fast as possible to the hospital while Abe and Victor sat in the back, lost in their own thoughts.
Abe was experiencing a range of emotions – apprehension that something could have happened between now and the last time he had spoken to Janine when their plane had landed in Sydney, grateful that Mason was no longer considered 'critical' and rage on discovering who was behind it all. Victor, on the other hand, was anxious to find out why his wife and mama were at the hospital. His mama had taken the phone off Olena, even before he'd had a chance to let her know he was home. Yeva, as always, was brief and cryptic on the phone – telling him to not bother going home and to accompany Abe to the hospital.
Why were his family comforting and supporting the Mazurs?
They arrived at the hospital in half the expected time and both half ran half jogged to ICU. They were surprised to see Janine and Olena standing outside Mason's room, holding each other in a comforting embrace.
What the two men didn't know was that both of their families had been prepped and readied before their arrival.
The moment she knew Abe and Victor were on their way to the hospital, Yeva had taken control. She advised Janine and Olena to show a united front and wait for their husbands by Mason's room. She also suggested that it would be best if they heard about Rose and Dimitri's relationship from them since it was already out in the open.
Janine was strangely more comforted by Yeva's words, when the Belikov matriarch told her with absolute certainty that Mason was out of danger, than when the doctor said the same thing a few minutes later. Maybe it was because the doctor added the fact that Mason would need to remain in a coma for a few more days to help speed up the healing process – even if he was no longer considered 'critical'.
Officer Kristov had come by and asked Adrian to accompany him to the station, since he was listed as Avery's 'emergency contact'. A sad and tired Adrian had left quietly, wishing he had seen Rose and Dimitri before his departure.
When Rose and Dimitri had finally returned to the waiting room they were ambushed by Yeva who explained that their mums would be revealing their relationship to their respective fathers. They weren't too happy about this, since they'd wanted to have that chat with their dads, but they respected and trusted Yeva too much to go against her wishes. A nurse came in shortly and advised the group to move to the ICU waiting room, since that was where Mason was to remain for the next few days.
They weren't in the room for long before Sonya said she had to leave to tend to her family, promising she would return with Mikhail to check on things. Shortly after Pavel also made his exist saying he would head to the restaurant and help Ambrose out. He knew his brother and sister-in-law needed some time with their children while they watched over Mason's recovery and the last thing they needed was to worry about the restaurant.
It wasn't long before Abe, Victor, Olena and Janine walked into the waiting room – whatever they had said to their husbands was enough to keep their questions at bay. In another moment of perfect timing Officer Stevenson and Officer Kristov came into the room – momentarily interrupting the mini-Mazur reunion.
Abe walked towards them and introduced himself and Victor. Janine hadn't gone into too much detail but he knew these were the officers who were handling the 'investigation'.
Knowing this was as good a time as any to reveal what they discovered, Officer Stevenson took the lead once again.
He explained that Avery Fischer was arrested on grounds for 'intention to commit bodily harm' to Rose and attempted murder for Mason. Meanwhile a contingent of officers had searched Avery's apartment and found that Avery had a dossier on the Mazurs, Belikovs, Innocentis and Tatianna. But the most important find had been the discovery of Avery's journal which documented her life since she had found Alberich's journal. In her eyes she was fulfilling her family's unfinished legacy and that was ultimately what motivated her actions. Since her move to Australia 5 years ago, her entire focus had been to regain her family's restaurant and exact revenge on the Mazurs and Belikovs. Things were moving along nicely until something had derailed her goals momentarily – Avery had fallen in love.
Turns out Avery and Tatianna had a brief fling when they were both in Melbourne – back then Avery's surname was Heidrich and she had long platinum blonde hair and wore glasses. When the police spoke to Tatianna about Avery's revelation she had explained that as far as she was concerned they had ended the relationship amicably but apparently Avery didn't see it that way. Seems Avery had not gotten over her 'first love' and had followed Tatianna to Sydney in hopes to re-establish a permanent relationship. It had been a while since Tatianna had seen Avery – who had lost some weight, changed her hair to a shorter brunette style and wore contacts – which is why Tatianna hadn't recognised her at the competition.
When things hadn't played out the way she wanted – Tatianna had started her on-again/off-again relationship with Alberta – Avery threw her focus back into her original goal which was getting her great, great grandfather's restaurant back and exacting revenge on the families who she blamed for all her family's woes.
Her journal detailed her surveillance of the Mazur and Belikov clans and how in her quest to learn as much as she could about the families she had even befriended some of the 'fringe' members of the clans. She had easily manipulated and bedded Tasha, who ended up being an amazing source of information on the Belikovs especially Dimitri. Cracking the 'Mazur nut' had been difficult but one day she had luck out and bumped into Ambrose at the local farmer's market. It took a while to gain his trust, especially since he was already in a serious relationship but since she knew some of his likes/dislikes and was able to give him a 'sympathetic' ear to his love troubles, she was able to bring him into her 'inner circle'.
She'd also been keeping a close eye on Rose and Dimitri, monitoring their blossoming romance while waiting for the right opportunity to break them up. Ultimately, Avery's end game for the two families was to cause as much heartache and pain as possible!
As for her goal to own the restaurant – she was ruthless on that front. She was actively sabotaging Jesse's chances while turning the staff against him, hoping that when the final decision came for ownership Adrian would select her over Jesse. Of course this was based on the assumption that Adrian would win the competition. Unfortunately, that was one thing Avery had little control over even though she'd looked into the possibility of sleeping with the judges or even Eric or Rhea to curry favour.
Thankfully Avery was now in jail awaiting deportation since she was technically a German citizen and was only in Australia on a work visa which naturally became void the moment she was arrested.
Abe and Victor felt overwhelmed.
They were already struggling with the jet-lag when they arrived to an emotional reunion with their wives only to then have them drop the big bombshell that Rose and Dimitri were in a relationship. If that wasn't enough of an emotional whiplash they had just spent a better part of an hour with their families listening to the police debriefing them about this crazy Avery girl. But the thing that caused them the biggest heartache was finally discovering the reason behind the family feud. On the one hand it was strangely freeing – knowing the real reason behind the fall-out. But on the other, it was hard letting go of years of hostility and bad blood.
This wasn't something that could be sorted in a day – definitely not when considering all the other things that were happening around them.
Seeing the two men struggle, Yeva stepped in and took charge once again. Since Mason was no longer critical and had been moved to his own room in ICU so they could monitor his medically induced coma, it didn't make sense for the whole family to reside at the hospital. She suggested the Mazurs come up with a shift system – that way there was always someone at the hospital but meanwhile life could continue. After all they had a restaurant to run and a competition to participate in.
Speaking of competition, Eric and Rhea had called Abe to tell him they were sorry to hear about his son's accident and that they were postponing the filming of the Banquet challenge to the following weekend. Suffice to say three of the four remaining contestants appreciated the much needed extra time.
As the families got ready to head to their respective homes – the first hospital shift going to Janine – Rose and Dimitri stepped outside to have some alone time.
"I guess we should be happy that everyone knows the truth about us now. Plus finally finding out that our families were actually close friends helps our case a little…I think…I just wished all of this could have come out under better circumstances…" Rose whispered hoarsely.
She wrapped herself tightly against Dimitri's torso and basked in the calming effect his thumping heart had over her own.
"I know milaya…but the universe works in a strange way…but I have a feeling we aren't out of the woods just yet…we still have one more storm to face…"
Rose pulled back and looked up at Dimitri questioningly.
"Our fathers"
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Even though Abe and Victor were back from the convention they still wanted Rose and Dimitri to run the challenge. The additional week was a godsend, especially for the Mazur's and Adrian, who now needed a new cuisinier for his restaurant and the competition.
Rose and Dimitri had the 'talk' with their dads but it didn't go as planned. They expected some serious grilling and interrogation but instead were asked one question and given one statement – "Are you two in love?" and "We will discuss this in more detail once this week's challenge is over". They couldn't be too sure but it felt like Yeva had yet again played a part in some way – especially since both fathers had said the exact same things.
Though Abe and Victor hadn't openly given their blessing, they hadn't forbade their children to see one another either. In a strange way, Mason's situation had helped their relationships – it made the father's realise life was short and the last thing they wanted to do was spend it being angry or strict with their kids.
It was exactly a week after Mason had been admitted to the hospital when he woke up from his coma. They had removed the necessary machines and drugs a couple of days ago and advised the Mazurs that it was now up to Mason to pull through and wake up.
The day it happened it was Janine's 'shift' at the hospital. Even though the others relived her from time to time, Janine vowed to stay by her baby boy's bedside until he woke up. So when she sensed Mason's hand twitch against her own, she nearly had a heart attack. After she calmed herself she buzzed the nurse for help.
In less than an hour the ICU waiting room was full of the Mazur clan and Dimitri – they had all come to visit Mason. The head nurse warned them to not overwhelm him with too much excitement, so people went in pairs. Abe and Janine were the first to visit and when they returned they both had happy tears in their eyes – their baby boy was alive and would make a full recovery. Christian and Eddie went next and they too came back with misty eyes, though both tried to brush it off as an allergy/dust reaction. The last to visit Mason were Rose and Dimitri.
Rose was nervous – not only would Mason finally find out about her and Dimitri but she still carried guilt for what happened to him. It should have been her in the hospital not him. Everyone, including Dimitri, had told her she was silly to feel guilt – it wasn't her who had been driving the car – but Rose still felt responsible, after all Avery was out to get her.
Seeing Mason sitting up in bed with a big goofy grin broke her composure and she almost crushed him in a bear hug. It was his loud wince that reminded her about the fractured ribs and she quickly moved away, mumbling an embarrassed apology.
Mason noted the tall, quiet Russian by the door and looked quizzically at him then his sister. Rose looked at her baby brother sheepishly.
"So hmm…Dimitri and I are in a relationship…everyone in our families know now …well except you…but now you know as well…so yeh" Rose whispered, blushing furiously.
Mason smiled at her confession – he never told Rose but he had caught them a few times stealing kisses. He may be the youngest of the Mazurs but he wasn't stupid. He knew that the competition had bought Rose and Dimitri closer and that they had hid their relationship due to the feud. He was happy for his sister – he had always worried about her and her workaholic ways – but now that she was in love, he knew she would start to enjoy other aspects of life. Plus he hoped it wouldn't be long before she made him an Uncle!
Rose suddenly broke down in an uncontrollable sob, startling Dimitri and freaking Mason out. Dimitri took a step forward but faltered and with a quiet nod, indicated Mason should comfort his sister while he waited outside. It was difficult for him to walk away from a distressed Rose but he knew she needed some one on one time with Mason to process her guilt.
Mason took his sister in a side hug and kissed her temple gently. He waited patiently until she calmed down. Tilting her face up he asked her what had caused the mini-breakdown. He kept the goofy grin on his face to lessen the tension.
"It's my fault you're here…all bandaged up! I know everyone says it isn't but they don't understand! Avery was aiming to kill me but because you were driving my bike she almost killed you…God! I don't even want to know how I would have coped if you'd died!"
That bought another round of tears and Mason pulled Rose closer, hoping to comfort her in some manner. He felt his eyes tear up as well – not because he was in pain or because he was in hospital – but because he had such a caring and loving sister. She may have been closest to Eddie but Mason knew her just as well and he wasn't surprised that she was full of remorse and guilt – she was a selfless, loyal person who you could always count on and hated seeing others in pain.
When she finally calmed down, Mason tilted her face up again to lock his gaze with hers.
"First of all, I agree with everyone – me ending up in hospital was DEFINITELY not your fault…It was that crazy bitch…Secondly, I'm glad it's me and not you in the hospital. I love you Rosie and I don't think I could cope seeing you in pain and trust me – it's painful!"
He pulled a silly, overtly dramatic pained face to highlight his point which finally made Rose burst into giggles. Hearing her laugh, Dimitri figured it was fine to return to the room and gave Mason a small smile of gratitude – he could finally see Rose accepting that her baby brother ending up in the hospital WASN'T her fault.
Mason's goofy grin turned cheeky as he looked between Dimitri and Rose.
"Now…why don't you two tell me how you fell in love? Oh and how our dad's reacted when they found out…"
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The weekend of the challenge finally came around and things were in full swing.
The schedule was amended so that:
Thursday = Bhaarat ka Khazaana
Menu
Seekh kebab | Dhal makhani | Naan | Chicken korma | Gulab jamun
Friday = Spirito di Italia
Menu
Bruscheta | Minestrone soup | Chicken parmesan | Caprice salad | Bomboloni
Saturday = Gordost Rossii
Menu
Black bread | Borsch | Olivier | Tefteli | Medovnik
Sunday = Tϋrkiye Mϋcevher
Menu
Lahmacun | Tabbolei | Balik corbasi | Kofta | Kanef
So when Thursday rolled around the 5 judges, Galina and the other contestants headed to a small function room set aside in the Indian restaurant. They were treated to the 5 course banquet and some colourful Bollywood dancers.
It was obvious they added the dancers to enhance the 'restaurant' experience. The judges score was 90% while the other contests score would make up the last 10% - they did that so the score from the contestants wouldn't be too influential on the final score, after all it was a competition!
Similar experience happened on the following day, with Adrian and his team – sans Avery of course – and their entertainment was Adrian's sister Lissa, who sang a beautiful aria in Italian. Rose watched the graceful beauty with rapt attention, wondering why she looked familiar.
The Belikov's gave the judges, Galina and the other contestants an authentic Russian experience that included Russian vodka shots. Once the scrumptious 5 course meal was eaten, Pavel and Ambrose performed a mini version of a traditional Russian folklore dance called the Hopak. It was very entertaining and Rose enjoyed the show immensely – especially when the father/son duo pulled a slightly sheepish Dimitri into the dance.
Who knew the large, handsome Russian could be so light and graceful on his feet!
Abe and Rose Mazur were feeling the pressure – being the last of the contestants to 'host' the banquets meant the judges would be comparing them to the 3 restaurants before them. They transformed one of the function rooms into a Sultan's Royal Court – a flush of colours, silks and cushions! Traditional instrumental music from Turkey was playing in the background and the table setting was communal & on the floor. They even had a few hookah pipes set around, incase anyone wanted to smoke some flavoured tobacco after dinner.
Rose would have loved to perform her belly dancing as their entertainment piece but since she was the 'head chef' for the challenge, she knew it would be difficult to manage the banquet and perform. Her motivation to showcase her talents had nothing to do with the competition and everything to do with enticing and teasing Dimitri. She was certain he had seen her that night she had performed for her aunt's birthday – not that he'd ever confessed – and so she'd wanted to give him another performance, one that was up-close and personal.
Sonya, who had mentored Rose and encouraged her belly dancing in the first place, volunteered to perform that night. She was beautiful and mesmerising – even if she was twice Rose's age. Her husband Mikhail was watching from the kitchen and he couldn't have been prouder of his sexy, gorgeous wife.
He was glad they had dropped the kids at his parents since he knew they weren't going to get much sleep that night!
As the Mazur banquet was the last one for the challenge, it was decided the scores would be tallied and the results announced that night.
All four restaurants waited anxiously – the Mazurs, Belikovs and Adrian more so but that could have been because of the emotionally straining week they'd had to endure whilst trying to keep their head level enough for the competition. Thankfully Galina didn't keep them waiting too long.
"This week's challenge took our restaurants to a whole new level in the competition. Due to some unforeseen circumstances we had to delay the challenge by a week but that hasn't deterred our contestants. In fact they are even more motivated to win the title of Best Restaurant! But unfortunately it's time to say alvidha to our wonderful chefs at Bhaarat ka Khazaana. You guys should be proud that you made it to the top 4 and we wish you all the best! Now next week's challenge will be interesting – it's called Something Old and we want the three restaurants to cook a dish that is from days of old. So think food served during the Roman Empire, recipes enjoyed by the Sultans during the Ottoman rule and the types of dishes the Russian Tsars would have expected during royal occasions. Gosh I can't wait for next week – till then, keep cooking!"
Once filming was wrapped up and most everyone had left, Rose and Dimitri gravitated towards each other – silently communicating their desire to have some much needed alone time, but alas that was not to be the case.
Abe and Victor, who had been watching the filming from afar decided to intervene at that moment. They had to admit to themselves that they really must have been blind to have not noticed the love their children felt for one another and they were sure no two individuals deserved to be together as much as these two. But things were rarely that simple in life.
Plus there was the longer version of the 'talk' they still needed to have.
Google translate
'Alvidha' – Goodbye in Hindi
So….what did you think?
Intense chapter right? To be honest I'm not 100% happy with this chapter but that could just be me being my own harsh critic.
I know it ends a bit abruptly but come on – the chapter was already over 11,000 words!
Plus I want to start on the next chapter soon – let's just say it's the one a lot of people have been waiting for *cough LEMON cough*
And incase you were wondering Avery is derived from an Old French version of the name Alfred or the Ancient Germanic name Alberich (or at least that's what Wikipedia tells me) – so you see she was named after her great, great grandfather!
It was fun seeing people guess who the 'badie' was – no one guessed Avery (which surprised me) and some people even suggested Alberta.
Thank you to all who have been patient and kept interest in this story – I know I'm not updating as quickly as I would like. Unfortunately it's because of a variety of reasons – the biggest being I'm back at work *insert sad face* and even though it's part-time I only really get Wednesday's and weekends to write. But that time at home needs to be distributed amongst family, chores and ff writing…and you can imagine which ends up falling behind in priority.
Anyway just wanted to give everyone a heads up and apologise in advance for my long delays.
I will never abandon my stories – that's a promise! One way or another I will always finish what I write. And I have soo many more ideas so I'm not done with VA FF yet!
Which reminds me – I'm contributing a piece to the Halloween Special in the VA10thAnniversaryProject…check it out when it goes live end of this month on Halloween! We have lots of talented writers contributing so check out all the stories and remember to give us some love via reviews!