DPOV
All week I had been treating Roza like I should have been – as a client. Or, at least, I had been trying.
I admit, there had been slip ups. Roza was… unconventional, funny and beautiful. To not find her laughter intoxicating was practically a sin!
All she had to do was saunter over to me while I was in the gym with a 'Hey Comrade' and I would be weak at the knees, willing to do anything for her.
But I kept my cool. Like I said, only a few – in frequent – slip ups.
I greeted her with a 'hello' this morning, but since then I had remained professional – I had to remain professional.
But this...this was the last straw. Seeing her sitting in a dressing room, alone, was what broke me.
"You're nervous." It wasn't intended as a question, and Roza knew that.
"Yeah, but I'm trying not to be. I've never been nervous being the centre of attention before." She replied, her voice barely a whisper, further proving my suspicions of her apprehension.
"You will do great, Roza." I said. A lock of her wig had fallen in front of her face and I reached forwards to brush it away, tucking it neatly behind her ear. She gave a sharp intake of breath, and for a brief moment, I allowed my fingers to lightly graze her cheek. "I have complete faith in you."
She smiled, so breathtakingly beautiful that I felt my own breath hitch as she regarded me.
"Thanks, Comrade."
My hand stayed where it was, cupping her had I managed to resist her for so long? No one knew.
A resounding knock sounded through the room and I stiffened, realising the position we were in. I jerked away, moving quickly to open the door, only to be pushed aside by a technician informing us that Rose was needed in 2 minutes.
Rose walked – almost numbly – through the door and to a small area where she could safely stand beside the stage without being seen by the audience.
I followed diligently, and my attention was drawn to the small screen hanging above us, showing what was happening on the stage.
A small blonde girl stood and smiled at the audience.
"And next up, our final guest for tonight. We have a rising star here to have a chat – and perform live for us this evening!" A loud cheer came from the audience as a picture of Roza appeared behind Mia on a large screen. "She is a young girl, still in her teens, who recently released a track that touched millions of our hearts. Give a warm welcome for the one and only Rose Mazur!"
Roza walked up onto the stage, and the screen showed how clueless she looked. By now Mia had sat down, and Rose sat opposite her on a large white chair.
"Why the hell is it so bright up here? The lights are trying to blind me." I laughed along with the audience at the bizarre comment to come out of Rose's mouth. "Oh. I didn't mean to say that out aloud."
Another laugh came from the audience, causing Rose's blush to darken even more.
"No worries, Rose. Honestly, I'd have probably said the same thing, had it been me." Mia replied with a polite smile. "You're being yourself, and that's all we can ask for, right?" she continued, eliciting a cheer from the audience. "Besides," she said in a loud whisper, "You wouldn't believe the amount of fake new celebs that I've met since doing this show."
The audience laughed again, and I noticed Rose relax slightly in the seat, and give Mia a soft smile. "So, how about we get down to what everyone wants to know about the new, mysterious Rose Mazur? Whereas your music is blowing up the charts right now, you have been out of the spotlight. How does it feel becoming so famous, so fast?" Mia asked.
"Honestly? It's all kind of strange. One day, I was in high school, worrying about college, and singing in a karaoke joint, and the next, I was being signed to a record deal with my best friend as a backup singer."
"So it's kind of surreal?"
"Yeah, exactly. I mean, I was an average girl who had barely gotten over the fear of singing in front of others, and now, I have bodyguards. Not just one either. A whole team of them. It's definitely surreal." She said, her confidence growing with every word she said.
They continued chatting, and my attention drew elsewhere. I began to scan the surroundings of the studio we were in, checking for any signs of danger.
That is, until one particular question caught my attention.
"Okay now Rose, there has been a lot of speculation behind your inspiration. Not just any teen can sing about love with the same amount of power and feeling as you do. What motivates you?"
I saw the indecision in Rose's face – I was the indecision in her face. She didn't know what to say, even though we both knew the answer.
"Well the inspiration for each song is usually different. Sometimes it's an experience that I or one of my close friends have had, and sometimes it's just an idea I have that springs up from a word or phrase that I've heard" She paused before continuing, "The 'what' that inspired me to sing in the first place was actually a 'who'. A very good friend of mine encouraged me to get over my fear of singing, and once I did, I was discovered by a talent scout."
"Wow! So all these changes really did happen fast!" Mia exclaimed. "And your new album? I've been told that it's out today, you must be excited!"
"I am!" Rose agreed, "in fact, I believe that everyone here gets a free autographed copy."
A cheer went up from the audience, but I was distracted by something else. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw something move slowly in the shadows.
It was just behind Roza, on the other side of the stage in the wings. I found myself on full alert in seconds, my body coiling to strike.
"I believe there is an intruder," I whispered into the device hidden in my cuff.
"Where?" Eddie replied immediately.
"Left wing, but I'm on it." I responded, intending to sneak up behind the masked man. Before I could reach him, another person jumped onto the stage and I had followed in seconds.
I grabbed his shoulder, swinging him around as I did, and aimed an elbow to his stomach. The man reacted quickly, straightening up and sending a punch back. I grabbed his fist in mid-air and twisted, bringing the man to the ground. With him on his knelt in front of me, I sent a knee into his chin, effectively knocking the man out.
I felt my gun knock against my leg as I straightened and scanned the area for more assailants. I knew that drawing it in front of the crowd was a bad idea – especially as there was a crowd who clearly thought this was organised. Before I could get Rose off the stage, I was thrown to the ground.
I saw Eddie and Mason blur onto the stage beside me, stopping the next two attackers in their tracks.
I rolled over, narrowly missing a foot that was aimed at my face. I jumped up, surprising the person in front of me with a swift lick of my leg to his midsection, bringing him to the ground.
It was at this point that I guess the audience started to panic.
"GET ROSE AND MIA OUT NOW!" I yelled into my headset. "CLEAR THE AUDIENCE!"
The man on the floor below me stood, and judging by the weight shift to his right leg, I knew the other was injured.
He leapt at me and I dodged, aiming the heel of my foot into his kneecap, bringing the man to the ground one again. With a sharp punch to his jaw, he was out cold.
Eddie and Mason were already onto another set of people and my attention went back to Rose. I ran towards her, but was stopped by a hit to my ankle.
I fell down as the pain distracted me for a moment. I felt a punch to my stomach, but rolled my body away quickly, managing to get to my feet before I was hit elsewhere. I was able to block a fist flying toward me, gripping it in my own hand as I twisted, sending my elbow into the man's nose with a sickening crunch.
The man crumpled to the ground, crying out in pain as blood gushed from his severely broken nose. With another quick kick, he was incapacitated. The pain in my ankle flared up and I grimaced.
"Embrace the pain, Dimka!" Ivan joked. We were on a 6 day hike through a rain forest for army training. I rolled my eyes at him with a smile.
Ever since our commander had told us that the day before, he had turned it into an ever repeating mantra.
Once I was certain the guy was out and fully restrained, and glanced over my shoulder to see Rose still on the stage, eyes wide with shock.
"Go help her; I'll deal with this guy." Eddie said as he whisked past me.
I got up, and started heading towards where I had last seen them. I felt a blow on the side of my head and winced, before sending a flying kick into whoever was next to me. I heard an 'oof' and, knowing he would be taken care of, rushed to the white chairs.
"We need to get you out. Now." Rose stood from where she had been hiding behind the chair, her arms wrapped around a terrified Mia. "C'mon." I commanded.
They both headed in front of me, and I guided them safely through the studio. Once we were backstage and away from the fighting, Mia seemed to relax slightly and I took both of them to the dressing room Rose had been in earlier.
"You're safe now." I reassured both of them, before I turned back to Roza, "Are you okay? Are you injured? Do I need to-"
"Comrade." She cut me off with a laugh. "I'm fine. Calm down."
Her calm demeanour surprised me, but I shook it off. She must be in shock, I told myself. "Okay. Stay in here – both of you." I gave Roza a pointed look and she gave me a smirk back, "I'm serious Rose. Don't leave unless Eddie, Mason or I come and get you."
"Gotcha!" she said with a salute. I rolled my eyes and headed back out, just in time to see the last of the attackers to be taken down.
"Dimitri!" Mason came running over to me, "Are you okay? I saw that guy hit your foot and I could have sworn I heard a crack!"
"I'm fine." I gritted out.
"Are you sure because-"
"Mason, when I know that there is no longer any danger, I'll go get my ankle checked out." I said, hoping that might shut him up. Now that all the adrenaline I had been running on was slowly leaving my system, I felt tired and dead on my feet – and the pain in my ankle was slowly starting to worsen.
"You'd better go now then."
I turned to see Abe Mazur with a smirk on his face – the same smirk Roza had been wearing just moments before.
"You did this, didn't you?" I guessed. His smirk widened and I resisted the urge to lash out at him. He's your employer, I warned myself. Breathe.
"Good news Dimitri," he said cheerfully, walking over. "You passed." He whispered the last two words into my ear, and a shiver went through my body.
Had it been any other client I would have thought this was some test to see my skills.
But this was Zmey, the serpent.
He knew something… Roza had told me that he had read one of my letters.
I could only guess what that could be, but I knew the outcome wouldn't be pretty.
I collapsed into a chair backstage, a clear view of the stage where Roza was sitting. A paramedic ran over to me, after having finally finished checking over all of the 'assailants'. Apparently I had instilled quite a lot of damage – along with Eddie and Mason, of course. I heard a few broken ribs and nose being mentioned, and I could only guess about what had happened to everyone else I had fought.
As my ankle was checked over, I found myself being numbed by the sound of Roza's voice. After our little 'battle' had finished, the audience were brought back in to finish the show, and that was what was happening right now. I felt myself drifting off, Roza's voice lulling me to sleep.
I found myself under the willow tree, in front of Ivan's grave.
"I miss you." I whispered. "So, so much, Ivan. I've been plagued with memories of you. Good memories. Memories, that I don't want to forget. But, I've realised that I've not been listening to your advice. I've been pushing away the thought of you dead subconsciously, and I realise now that I need to learn to embrace it. I've let you down, and I'm sorry." A singular tear traced its way down my cheek, and fell to the ground.
I dug a small hole in front of his grave, and placed a bulb there. "One day Ivan, a poppy is going to grow right here, in this spot. And that one poppy, is going to turn into thousands of poppies. A field of red, to remember all of those who died beside you and all the bloodshed that has been spilled. You will not be forgotten, Ivan. But right now, I need to except that you're gone. Unless I can do that, I don't think I'll ever be fully able to open my heart up to anyone. I won't forget you."
Embrace the pain. I reminded myself as I got up, and slowly limped away.
"Dimitri."
I groaned, wishing whoever it was would just go away. My head was throbbing and I just wanted to go back to sleep.
"DIMITRI! You can't go back to sleep."
I shot up, alert. I scanned my surroundings to find a hysterical Rose standing sitting beside me. "If only you had seen your face!" she said, exploding into another fit of giggles. I rolled my eyes and tried to stand, only to find myself in a white bed… in a hospital gown.
What the heck happened?
Rose looked up at me between fits of laughter and seemed to realise my confusion. Her eyes softened. "You strained the muscle in your ankle pretty bad. You also have a mild concussion. You need to stay awake."
"Great." I said, shell-shocked. How was I meant to do my job? How was I going to protect Roza? "How long do I have to stay here?" I asked, not sure I wanted to hear the answer.
"I think they will let you out today," she reassured me. "The concussion's not too bad, but the doctors want to make sure before they discharge you. Dad's in the lobby talking to them now."
I ran a hand through my hair, annoyed with myself. It was just a stupid mistake, I should have been more careful. "How long will I be down for?"
"6 weeks." she admitted solemnly.
"Until I heal?" I asked in disbelief. Glancing down, I found my ankle encased in a heavy, black boot and grimaced.
"You'll have to wear that for a while, and do physical therapy while you recover." she told me sympathetically.
I groaned, and plopped back against my pillow.
This was going to be a long month.