A/N: HEY EVERYONE! So, not so many reviews last week :/ I hope this chapter makes up for the last one, it's also slightly if not a lot longer than past chapters, but it's for a good reason :D So tell me what you think about it :)
Also, I'm dedicating this chapter to DEE2389 for helping me with this chapter a bit :D
Disclaimer: I don't own VA or anyone in it, sadly.
Enjoy :) :) :)
"C'mon guys! Can we please decide on a dress?" I groaned, not surprised that my three best friends can't decide on a single dress, or at least two of them on one.
"I don't see why you even bother. He'll probably just take you to Jack-in-the-Box or his mom's house at best," Mia stated matter-of-factly, the slight disapproval evident.
"You know what, Mia? I don't have time for your shit, so goodbye," I said firmly as I escorted her out my room and closed the door. Lissa and Sydney remained quiet, neither knowing where my outburst was coming from. I was nervous, beyond butterflies in my stomach nervous, and when I get nervous everything ticks me off easily. I mean I feel bad for Mia, and I know part of her comment was just her still hung up on Eddie leaving her, but I wasn't in the mood to be sympathetic and let the comment slide.
"So," I drew out awkwardly as I took a deep, calming breath. I tossed aside the dress Mia wanted. "Which one?" I brought the red one in front of me, showing them what it looked like and checking it myself, and then did the same with the yellow one, alternating them until they answered. I could tell in Lissa's face she knew which one, so I let the dresses stay in front me for a few moments, giving her and Sydney time to choose.
"That one," Lissa said with a cheeky smile. I looked at Sydney with a questioning look and she mulled it over before nodding her head in agreement.
"Yay!" I shouted as I tossed the red dress onto of Mia's dress and twirled around with the yellow on still in front. Both Liss and Syd looked at me like I had grown a third head. So I wasn't so jubilant before. I just made a major decision for a major first date, it deserved squealing and twirling, maybe even some happy dancing and jumping, but I still had to decide on shoes.
"No heels," I said firmly as I brought one of my shoe racks into camera view, it was the one that had all my flats and sandals. I took out two flats and two sandals I thought went with the dress, and had Lissa and Sydney decide. There was no argument about which ones to wear. With my outfit decided, we said our goodbyes and I went to go get ready, beginning with a shower. A nice hot, soothing shower, the air filled with vanilla. Whatever tranquility I gained during my shower, wafted away with the steam when I opened the door and found Mia sitting on my bed.
A little thrown off, I slowly make my way to my dresser, grabbing a bra and panties to put on. Seeing as I wasn't going to say anything, Mia cleared her throat.
"I'm sorry, Rose," she began. I turned and faced her as I put on my undergarments under my towel. "I shouldn't have been so uptight and well just plain old bitchy about Dimitri. I hope I didn't ruin your good mood."
"You didn't," I assured her with a smile as I sat down to put lotion on. "That's the outfit we decided on." I nodded my head towards the dress and shoes hanging on my closet door. She looked over and nodded her head in a approval and offered to help me with my hair and makeup. I told her I was just going to dry my hair and put light makeup she nodded her head and said she was going to get some food.
I was just putting the finishing touch on my makeup when I heard the doorbell ring. Oh shit, I thought, realizing I took longer than I thought to blow drying my hair. I heard Mia shout that she'd get it and I sat on my bed and took deep, calming breathes. My hand rested on my stomach, trying to settle the butterflies swarming inside. He's here, inside, waiting for me. Oh god, that just made the butterflies worse. Deep breathes. Once I had my stomach and breathing calmed, I got up and stood in front my mirror. When I deemed myself perfect I took another deep breathe, grabbed my clutch, and walked out and down the stairs. My steps faltered as I almost got to the bottom because the sexy Russian was standing in front me, with his dark wash denim jeans, white button down, and black sports jacket and black Vans. My breath caught in my throat as I looked up and saw his hair loose on his shoulder and his deep, alluring, brown eyes locked with mine and a smile crept along his lips.
"Zakhvatyvayushchiy," he breathed out.
LINE BREAK
Knock knock. With a grunt I got up from the kitchen stool where I was reading the paper. I hadn't even made it halfway through my small living room when the door open.
"What's the point of knocking if you have keys to open the door?" I asked with an annoying tone. "Keys, might I remind you, are for emergency uses only."
"This is an emergency!" Ivan, my best friend from childhood, said exasperatingly as he plopped down on my couch.
"Please, make yourself at home," I sarcastically remarked under my breath as I joined him. He turned on the TV and left it on some comedy show used the atom molecule to indicate a scene change.
"So, when do I get to meet the lovely daisy?" Ivan asked casually.
I raised my eyebrow at him in disbelief. "You already met her, and it's Rose."
"I know that I mean actually getting to know her? See if she's right for my best friend."
"You are looking out for me? The guy who always tried to get me to have at least one one night stand?" I couldn't help the incredulousness in my tone.
He chuckled before responding. "It's one thing to bring someone to bed and another to bring someone home. I tried to get you to loosen up and stop being so socially distant, but I never expected any of those chicks to be more than one, maybe two nights. Rose, on the other hand, has already met your family, stolen your heart, and met me. And you're just now going on your first date!"
"Speaking of which, I should get ready," I said, getting up and heading towards my room, my outfit already on my bed.
"Yea, yea, you go do that. Hey, do you mind if I stay here a bit?"
I shrugged my shoulders. "As long as I still have an apartment to come back to," I said over my shoulder, a grin forming as I pictured his face turning red.
"That was one time!" he shouted as I closed my door.
I quickly got dressed and put on the aftershave cologne I know Rose likes, even if she hasn't admitted it yet. I wasn't sure if I should have gotten her anything and asking my sisters was no help, so I bought a thin, wool, white shawl in case the temperature dropped and she needed it. I just hope it goes with what she's wearing. It wasn't long before I left my room, and apartment, and drove over to the house that was coincidently close to my mothers. I rang the door bell, the chimes unnerving me even more. Maybe I should have gotten her flowers. But, I didn't know which she liked, and I didn't want to get roses because she might not like them. I don't know what, or who, I expected to open the door, but I was mildly stunned to see a small blonde girl opening the door. She looked familiar, but I couldn't think from where.
"She's finishing up, she should be down soon, do you want to take a seat?" she asked. I shook my head and politely said I could wait right here. It wasn't soon after that I heard light footsteps coming down the stairs and then when she came into view, I stopped breathing. My eyes focused in on her and took in everything about her, starting from the bottom up. She had on white woven leather flat sandals that showed off her beautifully tanned skin. She was wearing short, strapless yellow dress with lace embroided hem, right under her bust it was pulled so it could be tied from the back, in the middle of the chest are three bottom with lace embellishment on both sides. It accentuated her curves so well without being revealing. Her hair was let down loosely cascading soft waves onto her shoulder. When I looked into her eyes, I saw she was looking at me too before locking her eyes with mine. By now we were right in front of each other and only one thing was floating through my mind. How breathtakingly beautiful she looks. I think I said something because she her eyes widen in confusion and her cheeks blushed.
LINE BREAK
"Wow," I breathed out as we were seated. This was not what I was expecting. When he had parked the car, all I saw was an average looking pizzeria, but looks can be deceiving. Once we entered San Remos, it was liked we stepped right onto a street in Italy. The walls were painted as if it were the stone walls found in a quaint Italian village, then where there were "archways" it was as if you could walk down to other buildings. the top half of the walls were painted, with window frames. There was even real gates, curtains, and flower boxes with fake flowers. Lastly, there were light post placed around like street lamps. We were seated right by a street lamp but still semi secluded.
Our waiter soon came, but she quickly got on my bad list. I could tell she had the hots for Dimitri, and the fact that she ignored me wasn't what set me off.
"Hi, my name's Zoe and I'll be you server today. Can I get you anything?" she practically purred, undressing his with her eyes. I wanted to laugh because I could tell Dimitri hadn't noticed, I mean his eyes haven't left mine since we've sat down. He absentmindedly shook his head and she left, my glares killing her as her she walked away.
"What's wrong, Roza?" he asked, clearly not aware of the tramp's mission.
"You really didn't notice did you? She was practically ready to jump you right here and now," I said, not able to stop the venom from coming from my tone.
He took my hand his with a chuckle before lifting it to his lips and kissing and caressing all my fingers, "No I didn't notice. I was too busy looking at you."
"Your so cheesy," I joked, trying to get rid of the slight blush that came across my cheeks. It wasn't that hard since the waitress came back. She didn't even say anything before Dimitri spoke.
"A pepperoni pizza and a pitcher of coke. And for desert brownie a la mode. That'll be all," he said dismissively, handing her our menus without letting go of my hand or looking away from me.
"The pizza with extra pepperoni," I added smugly, with a smirk on my lips. She glared at me as she went to go put in our order. Pretty soon Dimitri and I fell into a casual conversation. And soon our pizza was place on our table and the waitress tried to make a move yet again. Really, this was getting annoyingly irritating.
"Is there anything else I can get you?" she asked as she leaned over to place the pizza, not missing the chance to throw out her cleavage.
"No, we're fine," I answered as I served Dimitri a slice of pizza with a cheeky smile. She huffed and stomped away when she noticed it was a lost cause. I didn't feel sorry about the giggle that slipped through my lips, which turned into fool on laughter as Dimitri shook his head, but I could see the smile he had on.
"So how are the wedding plans going?" he asked light-heartingly. Internally I smiled but externally I groaned and shook my head.
"Please, let's not ruin the night," I dramatically told him. "Lissa makes monster brides look like the perfect brides. I mean we spend hours trying to decide on the smallest thing. And I still have two months left. I don't know how I'll survive.'
"Roza, I doubt it's that bad."
"Maybe so," I said with a shrug, a mischievous grin coming along when an idea strikes me. I place my free hand on top of his, taking him my surprise, and then slide it up along his forearm, his eyes bugging out. "But you know what would make it better?" He shakes his head slowly. "If you come as my plus one to the rehearsal dinner and wedding."
He quickly composed himself and broke into another grin, slyly saying, "I think it can be arranged." Soon after our brownie came and we shared it.
"My mama's been asking when I'd take you back to the house," Dimitri said tentatively after we ate a few slices. I looked up at him curiously, finishing my bite before talking.
"Do you want to take me back" I asked just as tentatively.
"Of course!" He said, appalled by my doubting. "I would love to do more than just take you to my mother's house for dinner." A blush crept on my cheeks as his eyes bore into mine, sweet and caring, telling me he did want more.
"I'm not a first date kind of girl, Comrade," I said with a wink. "Well I'd love to go over for dinner anytime you'd like." He smiled at me in response and nodded his head.
"How about tomorrow or the day after sound?"
"Mm. I can't," I said after thinking about it. He quirked an eyebrow in question. "I'm gonna be starting that week, and they have me on closing shift the first few days after training tomorrow. How about the end of the week?"
He smiled as he said, "Sounds like a date. But first tell me about this job you got."
"Oh," I said bashfully. I forgot I hadn't told him about it. "Well it's nothing big. Just a summer job that I can hopefully keep during the school year."
"What is it?"
"Oh well, I'm working at little boutique downtown. Well more downtown," I said with a giggle when I realized this place was technically downtown. "It's called Chic Boutique."
He laughed and asked if I liked it and I nodded my head. "The owner, Ms. Karp, is really um essentric but she's really sweet and nice. Actually she used to teach Lissa and I in high school. And my manager, Alberta, is a tough love type of person, but she has her \ moments. And I mean I'm not exactly the easiest person to work with, so it's gonna be real fun."
"Roza, that's great, but how will that transpire into the school year?"
"Mm, well Ms. Karp wants to open an online site for her shop, so she wants me to run it and if we can set that up before I leave, I can do that during the school year."
"Oh, well I guess we're both learning to run a business," he muttered.
"What? What's going on in your job?"
"Um, well," he stuttered as he looked down. When I intertwined my hand with his and made soothing circles with my thumb he looked back up at me. "Stan, my boss and the studio owner, said he might retire but first he wants the person that's going to run it to be experienced and make sure that the dojo doesn't go to the ruins. But he also wants someone that can work there and continue the sessions. So he wants me to replace him, so he's making take some classes on small businesses and work with someone in another business to know what I have to deal with."
"That's great! Congratz, Comerade. When do you start your internship thing?"
"When school starts, so in two months," he said as he waived over a waiter for our check.
Once we paid we left and decided to stroll down to the center of downtown, hand in hand. We passed by an ice cream parlor that was still open, so I tugged on his hand as I walked inside. I got a chocolate ice cream single scoop on a sugar cone and he didn't get anything.
"I don't know how store all that without losing your figure," he said as we walked out.
"Neither do I but I don't question it either." He chuckled and we walked in a comfortable silence as I ate my ice cream. We came across a water fountain with benches around it so I took a seat in the closest one, Dimitri sat down next to me. While I ate and looked at the fountain lights change color, Dimitri had moved me so I was leaning against his side and he could play with my hair. I don't know how, but as I finished my cone a thought came across me and I spoke without thinking.
"What did Tasha tell you at the engagement party?" I turned around to face him, confusion written all over his face. "I mean after you caught me."
"Oh, um," he said, tripping over his words before taking a deep breath. "She asked why I came with her and she kept pressing questions of why I wasn't with you. She was trying to get to say what wasn't true. I caught on to her game though and cut her off and told her I wasn't going to fall for her traps again. And then I left to go see you." He did that for me, I thought as I looked up at him. I found myself smiling at him and getting a smile in return and then his lips were softly pressed against mine, kissing me sweetly and I returned the kiss. But the kiss didn't last long, as he pulled away and stood up, offering me his hand. I took it and we walked back to his truck, his arm around my shoulder.
LINE BREAK
"Good night, Roza," Dimitri said as we got to the front door. I had the keys in my hands, but I made no move to open the door.
"Good night, Comrade," I responded as I leaned in closer to him. He tucked a loose strand of hair behind my ears and smiled at me.
"Roza…" he began as he leaned in closer. My thoughts were clouded by his aftershave the only thing I could form on my lips was a quiet hum, which brought a smile to his face as his nose nuzzled mine. When our lips were millimeters apart he continued. "Will you be my girlfriend?" Then he closed the space, giving me a tenderly heated kiss.
A/N: Zakhvatyvyushchiy (pronounced zah-wha-tay-vu-shee) is Russian for breathtaking.
Also, the atom molecule, you know the one with a cluster of bubbles in the middle and four rings in every direction (up/down, left/right/ upleft/downright, upright/downleft) around it, is referring to?
Ok so heads up...I want to write chapter 17 and 18 (and 19 if I can) before updating again, so if I don't update next week, that's why...also my sister's Quince is this Saturday so I'm gonna b busy with that for a few days...just thought I should let you know
So...how was that chapter? SO FLUFFY YOU'RE GONNA DIE? :) well REVIEW and tell me what you thought of it. So next chapter will be...I don't know yet...but it's the rehearsal dinner, so tell me if there's anything you want to happen at the rehearsal dinner.
UD: On my profile are links for Rose and Dimitri's outfits...thought you might like that :D