Rose's Point of View
Buzz Buzz Buzz
"Roza, the phone" Dimitri grumbled beside me.
Buzz Buzz Buzz
"Roza…answer your phone.
Buzz Buzz Buzz
"ROZA!"
Ugh, alright already! Reaching over blindly I swiped away at the bedside table before my hands latched on to the offensive little object.
"What" I growled into the other end.
"Now is that any way to greet your father little girl?"
"Old Man?" It was a silly question, of course it was him. But it wasn't my birthday or Christmas, so I couldn't understand what would warrant a phone call.
"The one and only. Now get dressed and open the door. I'd like to take my beautiful little girl out to breakfast."
"What? You're here, like outside my dorm room door?" I shot a panicked glance at Dimitri and noticed he had already sprang into action. With lightning fast reflexes he was out of the bed and pulling on his t shirt and jeans. However In his haste to get dressed, he tripped on a shoe and went tumbling into the nightstand with a crash.
"Rose, what was that noise? Are you alright?"
Shit!
"I'm fine dad; I just tripped on a shoe. You kind of caught me off guard here you know, I was sleeping until 20 seconds ago."
"Uh huh. Is there someone in there with you?"
Double Shit!
"What? Of course not. Why would you think that?" I heard a low growl on the other end and even I wasn't buying that line.
"Rosemarie Elizabeth Mazur, you open this door right now!" He bellowed on the other end.
Shit Shit Shit!
With a defeated sigh, I straightened out my own clothes and opened the door. Standing in the hallway with a murderous expression was the one and only Abe Mazur. He was dressed to the nines as usual, wearing a flashy pinstripe suit and a bright pink tie, with a matching handkerchief and his signature gold earring. The moment his eyes landed on Dimitri he lost it.
"You! What the hell are you doing in here?" Abe and Dimitri had only met once, and that was after the Spokane incident. It was one of the last time's I saw Dimitri as well. I knew he was wondering what the hell my former mentor was doing in my bedroom at 8am, and I doubted any explanation we could come up with would really matter. So I did what any daughter would do in a moment like this, I pulled out the big guns.
"Daddy…please don't be angry." I pleaded, giving him my biggest puppy dog eyes. The words sounded all wrong coming out of my mouth, but if they did the trick, it'd be worth it. His eyes only softened the slightest bit at hearing me call him daddy, but at least he wasn't actively trying to kill Dimitri. Turning his attention back to me, his face was less extreme.
"Explain." He ordered, shooting one more glance at Dimitri.
"I've been having nightmares again…about Spokane." Abe's gaze immediately softened as he recalled the memory of that trip. "Ever since the attack on the college, it's started up again, and Dimitri stayed with me last night so I wouldn't be alone." He seemed to weigh this explanation for a minute, before remembering something.
"Well where's Lissa? Why isn't she here with you?"
"Lissa spends a lot of time with her boyfriend Christian. I just didn't want to be alone last night." I mentally hoped Dimitri wouldn't take my words to heart. Sure they were partly true, but I would have wanted Dimitri to stay last night, regardless.
"Okay Flower, I guess I can understand that." He said softy. "However, your services will no longer be needed Guardian Belikov, so you're free to go." He added harshly.
"Don't be so rude Old Man!" I scolded, turning my gaze back to Dimitri. "Thank you for staying last night. I'll call you later." I noticed Abe's jaw clench at the mention of further contact, but he kept quiet while he waited for Dimitri to close the door behind him.
"Well then" he said cheerily once it was just the two of us. "How about that breakfast?"
Dimitri's Point of View
Well that was one hell of a way to wake up.
Last night had been surreal, and I was walking on cloud nine now that Roza hadn't gone back to freezing me out this morning.
"Someone's in a good mood." Ivan remarked from his seat on the bed. "Could it be because he spent the whole night out with a feisty brunette Moroi?"
"Well it's certainly not from being woken up with a surprise visit from said Moroi's crazy father."
"Dude! Abe Mazur caught you in bed with his daughter? How are you still breathing?" Ivan laughed heartily and the infectious sound made me join in.
"She pulled out the Daddy card." I admitted with a smirk and Ivan laughed even louder.
"Oh man, I'm totally going to tease her for that later." He said wiping a tear from his eye.
"Don't you dare!" I growled.
I didn't know how long Rose would be out with her father, so in an effort to kill some time I headed down to the gym for a workout. Last night felt like a turning point for me and Rose, now I just had to figure out a way to keep reassuring her.
"Dimka!" Tasha called out, as she strutted through the gym doors. She was dressed in workout clothes that looked more stylish than practical and I had to suppress an eye roll when I noticed she was even wearing makeup. Of all the things I needed to do to get back in Rose's good graces, staying away from Tasha was at the top of that list. Looking at her now reminded me of what happened with Spokane:
***After a recent string of attacks near the academy, the school and all its officials felt the holiday would be spent safer if everyone celebrated in a single approved environment. It's how we'd all ended up at a Royal Ski resort about an hour outside of Spokane.
Ever since Tasha had arrived she'd been a constant source of tension between Roza and I. No matter how many times I tried to reassure her my feelings were strictly platonic, she'd break out in a fit of jealously any time she saw us together. I tried to be understanding, but it was the first time since we'd gotten close that I actually felt some of the age difference between us.
"Roza for the last time, nothing is going on with Tasha!"
"Well why not Comrade? She's hot and willingly and ready to give you babies. You can't tell me you don't want those things, you're 24 years ago. It has to have crossed your mind!"
It was true Tasha had made a tempting offer. It's not often Dhamphir men are given the opportunity to start a family and had I not fallen in love with Rose I probably would have taken it.
"Roza, please be reasonable. Of courses I want all those things, but I want them all with you."
"I'm 17 Comrade! Are you crazy?!"
God she could be so infuriating.
"Don't be absurd, I didn't mean right now. I only mean someday."
"You say that now, but you'll change your mind. You're not getting any younger you know."
"And your clearly not getting any older!" she visibly flinched when I referenced her immature behavior and I was pretty sure if would have hurt less if I had actually slapped her.
"See you even admitted it yourself. Tasha is the adult here, and me I'm just a stupid child!"
"That's not what I meant and you know it!" I shouted, getting angrier by the second. Why was she being so difficult? Was she trying to convince me to be with Tasha? Did she want me to give her an out so she could date someone closer to her own age? I'd seen the way she flirted constantly with Mason Ashford. He was funny and smart and could always manage to make her smile.
"Is this about Mason?" I asked without thinking and her eyes hardened at my line of questioning.
"What the hell does Mason have to do with this?"
"I've seen the way you act around him Rose. The constant laughing and flirting, you even told him about the Strigoi nest in Spokane!" We'd gotten word about a possible Strigoi location and Rose had been foolish enough to mention it to her novice friends one night while they were drinking.
"What are you trying to insinuate?" she glared at me, her eyes completely clouded in anger.
"That you like Mason just as much as I like Tasha!"
Oh shit, that's not at all how I meant it.
"You like Tasha?" she cried, her eyes welling up in tears. "I knew it, I knew you were lying!"
I was so busy trying to find a way to backtrack in my head that I couldn't stop her before she turned tail and ran.
"Roza wait!" I called after her, but she was already out of sight.
I had never meant to tell her I liked Tasha, just that my flirtation with her was as innocent as her flirtation with Mason. Of course that wasn't even close to how it came out, and now Rose was God knows where in this monstrosity of a resort, somewhere thinking I didn't want her. Unbeknownst to me at the time, I would spend the next several hours searching for her, but the next time I would see her would be two days later at the Strigoi nest in Spokane.***
"Hello, Earth to Dimka" Tasha chuckled pulling me back to the present. I shook my head trying to clear away the memory and was met with Tasha's sparkling ice blue eyes.
"I'm sorry Tasha, but I've got to go." I told her as I started stuffing my towel and water in my gym bag.
"But I just got here" she pouted. "I was hoping maybe we could spar together." She was giving me what Rose always referred to as a man-eater smile, but unfortunately for her it had little effect on me.
"I'm sorry Tasha, but maybe some other time." It was a lie of course; I intended to avoid her like the plague. The last thing I wanted was to give Rose a reason to second guess me, not after coming this far.
"This is about Rose isn't it?" She called when I was halfway to the door. I spun around to face her and found an accusing glare in her eyes. "She's the reason you won't agree to my offer. Honestly Dimka, she's just a child, what are you thinking?"
Her words stung and I struggled to control my anger.
"Don't talk about her that way. Roza may be young, but she's no child. I care about her Tasha. I love her."
Even though she had called me out on my feelings I don't think she was prepared to hear me say that. She let out an audible gasp and her ice blue eyes were frozen over.
"I'm sorry Tasha, but if I'm the only reason you stuck around here, then you should go."
"You're making a mistake Dimitri!"
Huh, no Dimka this time. She must really be pissed off now.
"Goodbye Natasha." And I closed the gym door to the sound of her hitting things.