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CHAPTER 40

RPOV

"Rose, are you sure you're okay? This is like the third time you're canceling. Is there something going on?"

"No, everything's fine," I assured Dimitri. I glanced over my shoulder at my mother who was waiting for me at our table. "I just…can't. I'm sorry."

I heard him sigh over the phone. "Alright. Call me when you can."

He disconnected. I stared at my phone for a few moments, saddened by the fact that I'd had to cancel on him for the third time this week. What was even worse was that I couldn't even tell him why. I felt awful about it, but I didn't have a choice.

"Who was that?" my mom asked when I returned to the table.

"Christian," I lied. "He was wondering where I was."

"Oh. Didn't you tell him earlier today you're having dinner with him?" she asked, frowning.

"No, that was Adrian," I said quickly. Yet another lie.

Mom's frown deepened. "How come you're only friends with boys?"

"I…am not," I said slowly. "I, um, am friends with Lissa. Christian's girlfriend."

That wasn't entirely true. Lissa was a nice girl and I liked her, but it wasn't like the two of us hung out. We only hung out together when Christian was around. "Oh. And Mia. She's my colleague."

"Colleague?" she questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah. I work at the supermarket now, remember?" I said, taking a sip of my drink.

"Right," she said, remembering. "I'm glad you have a different job now. Much better, I think."

I tried not to scoff. "Yeah, I guess," I said, forcing a smile.

I glanced down at my watch. I was counting down the time until we'd leave this restaurant and I could go back to campus. Ever since mom arrived – which was three days ago – she'd kept wanting to have dinner with me or lunch or even take a walk around town. She wanted to spend more time with me and be a better mother, she'd said on the night she'd showed up at my doorstep. She wanted to make amends for what she did.

"Look, Rose," Mom said sighing when I reluctantly invited her inside. Avery wasn't around, luckily. I was sure she would have loved to see us argue. "I'm sorry. I was wrong. I shouldn't have done what I did, but I did it because I thought it's what's best for you. I still think it is."

I crossed my arms and looked at her defiantly. "Well, it isn't what's best for me."

She let out another sigh. "I didn't come here to argue with you, Rose. I want us… I want things to be better between us."

I frowned. "Where's this coming from? You never cared about me. Why now?" Then I realized. "Did your boyfriend break up with you? Is that why you're here?"

"No, we didn't break up," she responded. "Everything's fine between us. In fact, Peter told me it was fine if I visited you instead of coming along with him to Spain."

"So, he went to Spain without you?"

"Yes. And I came here to spend time with you," she clarified.

"So… You'll be staying here for a while then?" I asked, not sure if I was happy about that.

"Yes."

"How long?"

"I don't know," she said with a shrug. "I'm staying indefinitely."

I gave her an incredulous look. "And where will you be staying?"

"A hotel. It's about ten minutes away from campus." She smiled. "Isn't that great?"

"Yeah. Great," I said unenthusiastically.

She didn't notice my tone of voice – or maybe she just ignored it. "So have you heard from Dimitri since…?"

She didn't finish her sentence and looked at me, waiting for me to say something.

"Why?" I asked sharply.

She shrugged. "I don't know… Did he try to contact you? Have you seen him?"

I looked at her, contemplating if I should lie to her. I could tell her the truth, let her know we were back together, but what good would that do? She'd probably get mad and I wouldn't put it past her to go back to Dimitri and make him break up with me again. Don't tell her, a voice inside my head whispered. Don't tell her about him.

"No," I replied. "He didn't call and I haven't seen him."

Mom smiled. "Well, that's good."

I didn't reply.

"I should be going," she announced after a few moments of silence. "Are you free for lunch tomorrow?" Before I could respond, she said, "Great. I'll see you here at one o'clock tomorrow, then. Good night, Rose."

And then she abruptly left my room.

"Mom, I'm tired," I said, interrupting her babbling. She'd never been a big talker, but tonight she'd sure loosened up. It was probably because of the wine. "Can we…" She looked at me, surprised. I cleared my throat and shifted in my seat uncomfortably. "Can we go? I could really use some sleep."

"Oh. Sure," she said, drinking the last of her wine. "Let's go."

"I'll see you tomorrow," I said before walking back to campus. "Good night, Mom."

As I walked home, I fished my phone out of my pocket and texted Dimitri. I'm really sorry about tonight. I'll explain it to you tomorrow, okay? I stared at the screen for a while, wondering if that was enough. I decided to send a second text: I love you, comrade.

When I didn't get a reply, I sighed and put my phone back inside my pocket. I wasn't sure how I was going to explain this to Dimitri. He didn't know my mom was back in town and I wanted to keep it that way. I didn't want another disaster like last time she'd visited. So, now I was lying to both my boyfriend and my mother, which was horrible. But it was for the best, right?

DPOV

I'm really sorry about tonight. I'll explain it to you tomorrow, okay?

Then a second text: I love you, comrade.

It made me feel a little bit better, but I was still wondering why she kept canceling on me. I hadn't seen her in three days. It was nothing compared to the three months we'd been apart, but after being with her again this weekend three days seemed long. Too long.

I couldn't help but wonder if she was having second thoughts about taking me back. I couldn't think of another reason why she was avoiding me.

The next morning, I was determined to find out whether or not she had doubts about me. After I'd dropped the kids off at school, I drove to campus. When I knocked on her door, she looked surprised to see me.

"Dimitri, what are you doing here?" Rose exclaimed, her eyes darting to the hallway. "You didn't tell me you were coming over."

"I, um… Can we talk?"

She glanced down at her watch. "Right now?" she asked, biting her lip.

"Yeah. Unless you've got somewhere to be," I replied. It was only a little past eight in the morning; I knew her classes didn't start until ten.

Rose grimaced. "Well, actually…"

I sighed. "What's going on? Why are you avoiding me?"

Her eyes widened in surprise. "I'm not avoiding you. I've just been…busy," she said evasively.

"Are you sure? Because if you're having second thoughts…"

"No!" she said quickly, grabbing my hand. "No, of course not. It's like I said… I've been busy."

She glanced around nervously.

"Are you okay?" I asked, concerned.

"Yeah, fine," she said. "I just…need to go."

"When can we talk?" I asked.

"How about I come over tonight?" she suggested.

"You say that every day, but you never-"

"I know, I'm sorry, but tonight I will come over. I promise," she said earnestly.

"You don't have to if you can't," I started.

"I can! I swear, I'll come over tonight," she promised. She walked back into her room to grab her bag and then leaned in, kissing my cheek. "I'm sorry, but I really have to go now. We'll talk tonight, okay?"

She was gone before I could utter another word.

"Well, that went great," I muttered to myself before leaving too.

I headed off to work and afterwards, I went to pick up the kids from school. I was glad I didn't need Hayley anymore. She'd offered to pick them up from school, but I declined politely, knowing that I wouldn't get her out of my house before dinner if I let her pick up the kids.

I waited anxiously for Rose to come that night. It took forever. When I put the kids to bed, I figured she wouldn't be coming. It was already late. I thought it was weird she hadn't texted or called, though.

Just when I'd made myself comfortable on the couch to read a novel, my phone started buzzing.

"Hello?" I said, holding the phone to my ear.

"Comrade, it's me," Rose said. "I'm at your door. Can you come and let me in?"

"Okay," I said, a little surprised. I hadn't expected her to call anymore, let alone visit. I moved to the door, my phone still against my ear. "What are you doing here?"

"I told you I would come over," she responded.

"Yeah, but I figured-"

"Hey, comrade!" Rose said smiling when I opened the door. She walked past me. "I didn't want to ring the bell and wake up the kids," she said in a hushed tone.

"Where have you been all night?" I asked, following her back to the living room. She removed her jacket and plopped down on the couch. "I didn't think you'd show up."

"I'm sorry," she said, looking at me apologetically. "I wanted to come hours ago, but then I…" She faltered. "I, um, got distracted."

I crossed my arms. "Rose, I know there's something you're not telling me. What is it?"

She bit her lip and glanced away from my gaze.

"Roza."

That made her look up.

"Are you having second thoughts?" I asked. She immediately opened her mouth to protest, but I cut her off. "It's okay if you do. I understand that after what I've done-"

"No, I'm not having second thoughts," she interrupted me. "I already told you that."

"Okay. Then what is it?" I asked. "This is the first time this week I've actually seen you longer than five minutes."

She jumped up from the couch, looking at me pleadingly. "It's nothing, Dimitri. Really. Just give me a little bit more time and then I'll-"

"Are you in some kind of trouble?"

"No, everything's fine. It's just-" She cut herself off and glanced away guiltily.

"It's just what?" I questioned, starting to get worried now.

"Dammit," she muttered to herself. "Dammit. Dammit. Dammit."

I stared at her, wondering what the hell was going on with her and why she wouldn't tell me. "Rose-"

"Fine!" she said with a loud sigh. "My mom is in town and that's why you haven't seen me these past few days. She doesn't know we're back together." She paused and then admitted, "And I didn't want to tell you she is here."

"Okay," I said after a few moments of silence, relieved she'd finally told me what was going on. "Why didn't you want to tell me your mother is here?"

Rose raised her eyebrows at me. "Seriously, you need to ask?"

"Okay, I get why you didn't want to tell me," I admitted. "But I'm not going to make that stupid mistake again, even if your mother tries to convince me otherwise. I thought you knew that."

"I do," she said, "but I can't say I wasn't a little scared it would happen again if you knew she's here. I'm lucky she hasn't found out yet about us."

"So… You're going to keep it a secret from her?" I asked, not sure how to feel about that.

She shrugged. "I guess I'll have to."

"Why? Like I said, I'm not making that mistake again, no matter what she says." I stepped forward and took her face in my hands. "I love you, Roza, and I'm not letting you go this time."

She smiled. "Good to know."

I smiled back and kissed her lips softly.

"Well, I guess I'll have to tell her then," Rose said, pulling back slightly to look in my eyes. Her smile turned wry. "I can't keep you a secret forever, can I?"

Do you think it's a good idea if Rose tells her mom about Dimitri? How will Janine react? Please leave a review and let me know what you think of this chapter. Hope you have a nice day/evening! :)