Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Academy or anything surrounding it (but I do own this plot :D)
DPOV
And through it all, my head just hurt.
The same alarm. The same suit. The same drive. The same car. The same job.
But for how much longer?
How is that only when you are about to loose it does something really show its worth? I never fully appreciated what I had before and now, it was on the edge of being taken away. To be fair, I had never liked my job and that still hadn't changed but without it, I did not know what I would do.
I walked through the same glass doors and up to the same floor. I felt the eyes of all my colleagues on me but felt it was best to ignore them. I opened the door to my office and sighed into my leather chair. Everything had been left as it had always been, and the view from my glass office had not changed.
"Sir?" A friendly voice timidly said and I swung in my chair to face the same face I always did.
"Hello, Alberta." She raised her eyebrow and her face registered shock. I realised I had never actually said hello to her before, or even spoken to her in a tone that wasn't demanding. The thought made me sicker than alcohol would have; if there was one thing about this job I could appreciate, it was her.
"Umm, the kitchen was out of sugar again." She said placing a coffee on my desk.
"You take black coffee with no sugar, do you?" I asked and she nodded slowly. I smiled and pushed the cup to her. "Then it is yours." The way she looked at me, you would have thought I had grown an extra head. "What?" I questioned.
"Nothin- are you feeling okay?" she asked, concern leaking onto her face.
I sighed and placed my face into my hands. "No, not really, but I guess I can't do anything about it." My gaze travelled to where my post-pitch plans lay, neatly organised (by Alberta) in a file.
She looked at me bewildered before her eyes widened and a knowing smile consumed her face. "You haven't lost yet, sir."
"On balance of probability…" I sighed and looked back at her as she began to wander out my office. "And, Alberta," I called after her. "Please, call me, Dimitri."
Her knowing looked grew and her face softened. "I hope she will make you very happy, Dimitri." She said before she walked out. I was paralyzed in shock. How did she…? I groaned and face-planted my desk.
"Dimitri Belikov?" I slowly looked up to see Viktor's newly appointed personal assistant – Harper I think her name was – standing at my door.
"Yes?" I said slowly.
"Mr Dashkov will see you now." and with that, she turned and walked through the building, flipping through her clipboard as she went. I took a deep breath before clearing my thoughts of Roz-Rose and slowly striding towards Viktor's office.
Through the transparent glass, I could see Nathan already sitting there grinning deviously at me. I shook my head and entered.
"Ah, Belikov." Viktor greeted and I sat, as professionally as I could, opposite Nathan.
"Good morning sir, Mr Ivashkov." I nodded to each of them.
"Come, come Dimitri," I flinched at Nathan's lack of formality, "we are all friends here." He grinned.
We were not all friends here and I wanted nothing more to hit him in the face, especially after learning about what had happened with Adrian. I didn't really know Adrian before, but I now held a new amount of respect for him for putting up with that for a father. Though mine wasn't much better…
"Yes," Viktor interrupted my thoughts, "I think we can drop the formalities since one of you will be leaving us today."
"Yes, it is a shame to be saying goodbye to someone so young and with so much potential." Nathan said, pouring a two glasses of scotch and offering one to Viktor. I just glared at him which only made him smile more. "But, fair play Dimitri; at least you went down fighting." Oh, how I wanted to sock him.
"Actually Dimitri here did very well indeed." Viktor interjected which caused me to snap my head round at him. He winked and turned to face an oblivious Nathan.
"Well it just goes to show that not every good deed goes rewarded." Nathan said taking a gulp of his whiskey.
"Indeed." Viktor smiled and shot me another glance. I was frozen in my seat. Had I…? No, I could've beaten Nathan Ivashkov. Viktor was just teasing me. But Viktor was not the type to tease...
"So, when do we say goodbye to our esteemed colleague?" Nathan asked, leaning back on his chair.
"We do not." Viktor replied clearly, placing the finished glass on the table.
My eyes widened upon the realisation. Nathan just frowned. "I'm sorry Viktor, I don't quite understand."
"Mmm." Viktor nodded, "How shall I put this…lightly?" Nathan's frown deepened as my eyes, if possible, widened. "Dimitri had the better pitch so Dimitri will not be fired. Was that light enough?" he queried a shocked Nathan.
"What?!" Nathan said his voice on the verge of a shout.
"The district head preferred Dimitri's pitch to your own, so they have offered the position to him, thus meaning he won." Viktor clarified and I honestly felt faint.
Nathan, however, felt pissed. "I have worked for you for thirty years…" he began, his voice trembling with anger.
"I am aware but as you said, Dimitri here is young and 'full of potential'." Viktor said patting me on the back. I didn't really respond because I was still in shock from the first news.
"But I am the better worker!" Nathan roared, perking the interest of the employees outside.
"Evidently not, Mr Ivashkov." Viktor stated bluntly. "You are hereby fired from your position. You have twenty-four hours to pack up your things and leave. Failing to do so will result in forceful removal."
Nathan was in a state of pure shock and horror before the anger seeped through again. "You will pay for this." He said and I realised he wasn't talking to Viktor. "You hear me, Belikov!" he spat my name. "You will pay for this and I will do everything in my power to break you, to make sure you suffer…" his green eyes shone with rage and I barely managed to keep an emotionless face.
Thankfully, unaffected Viktor broke the tension. "Your time is ticking Mr Ivashkov; you need to have left in 23 hours and 59 minutes." With that, Nathan stormed out the room leaving me very shocked and audience of employees who had gathered to watch the scene. Viktor waved them off and they immediately scattered, pretending to find something to do. "Apologies for him, anyway, back to business."
I turned my head to look at him and was marvelled at how he could just walk away from a situation like that, as if nothing had happened.
"Dimitri, I would like to introduce you to the head of the lower Manhattan District and your new colleague and partner…" just as he finished the door opened and Avery walked in followed by a slender woman with dark hair. My eyes widened again, not because the amount of power and influence this dark-haired woman had, but because I knew her. Where I knew her, I could not say, but the smile she was giving me told me she knew too.
Then it clicked.
"Dimitri, I would like you to meet Ms. Natasha Ozera…"