So I am going to admit, I am not an architect. If I get things wrong, my apologies!
I started at the tablet and sighed heavily. Drawing used to help calm me down, but tonight it wasn't doing much. Abe and I weren't speaking yet, but when I walked by, I saw that he was doing recon about Adrian.
Part of me wanted him to stop, a part of me didn't care. What bugged me more was that Brittney was still in town. She claimed online that she was here for 'work', but there wasn't much prospect here for a model right now.
She may not be able to see my socials, but that didn't mean I couldn't see hers. Everything was public.
The one upside was that she had never been to my parent's house when we came here together last. She had only ever been to Lissa's house, and even she wasn't dumb enough to go to Lissa's looking for me.
"Rose! Door!"
I grumbled as I pulled myself off the couch, walking out of the hall and to the door.
"Are you fucking kidding me?!"
"Rose."
"Give me one good reason not to break your nose right now," I snarled. I could hear my father backtracking in the hall, no doubt standing at the other end of the hall.
"Rose, I really am sorry," Brittney started but I held my hand up.
"I thought I was going crazy when I could smell your perfume in the house, but you were there. This wasn't a one-off, Brit! You were having an affair with my fiancée, and helping me plan my wedding at the same time!" I exclaimed, "What kind of person does that?"
"Rose, I really am sorry. I don't know how we got there, but it just happened."
"I don't want to hear it," I said, "How did you find me?"
"A woman at the bar that you like told me where you were staying," she said and I shook my head.
"Goodbye, Brittney. Don't come around again," I said before shutting the door between us, twisting the deadbolt for good measure. I leaned against the door and blew out a deep breath, shaking my head as I tried to not let her presence get the best of me.
"She's the one?" Abe asked from down the hall.
"One of them," I said quietly and went back into the living room. I picked up the tablet and put it on the coffee table, staring at the tree instead. Now I was just pissed off. Abe walked down the hall and lingered in the archway, his hands in his pockets.
"I shouldn't have said what I did the other night."
"What part?" I asked as I crossed my arms over my chest. Abe moved and sat at the end of the sectional, his hands hanging clasped between his knees.
"About reporting Dimitri even now, and not caring if you got caught in the cross-fire," he said quietly, "I wasn't thinking logically."
I raised a brow at him.
"You would ruin me to punish someone else. You didn't even care what happened to me, you cared about having a hold over someone," I retorted with a small shake of my head.
"I'm not proud of my actions," he said, "But your mother made me see reason."
"You mean after she made you sleep on the couch and refused to talk to you?"
"And when she told me how much what you went through affected you," he said quietly, "I never realized that you were struggling."
I sighed quietly, crossing my arms over my chest.
"Do you have any idea what that was like for me? To lose my friend, to lose a part of me that I had barely had time to know, and then to lose someone who truly cared about me? Who was there for me during the times that you and Mom weren't? I needed the only person who understood what was happening to me, and you made that decision for me."
"He was your teacher."
"And our relationship never interfered with my schooling. This wasn't about getting a better grade or breezing by in the class. We barely ever talked about the class, and if anything, he helped me with my other classes only if I was really struggling. We didn't go into this with bad intentions. I even tried to switch out of his class, but the other class was full. He was a stable figure in my life when I was dying to have one," I said with a shake of my head.
Abe sat back against the couch with as quiet sigh.
"Do you blame us for what happened?"
I shook my head. "I blame you for not picking up the phone the first six times I called you and Mom. The Dragoimirs would never have come to get me, and that psycho wouldn't have purposely crashed into them to hurt me. The miscarriage was already happening," I said quietly, "But even after all that, I still forgave you both for not being there."
That night was a hard night. I was home alone while my parents had gone to a few towns over for dinner. Around eight o'clock, I started feeling abdominal pain, and I never once thought it was related to the pregnancy. I tried calling my parents, but they didn't answer. I called Lissa, and her parents overheard the conversation. They were a few blocks over having a family dinner. I didn't want to call an ambulance, so they came to get me. Rhea was almost certain it was my appendix.
But Abe pissed off the wrong person. I never knew exactly what my father did, but sometimes I wondered if he was a bookie or an enforcer. For years, my 'uncle' Pavel was around him at all times. Almost like a bodyguard.
I held so much guilt about what happened, and my saving grace was that Lissa never held it against me. She said that she didn't blame me and that if it were the other way around, I would have come to her.
I looked up at Abe and licked my lips.
"I didn't want to drudge all this up because I've had enough crap happen in the last few weeks. But leave Dimitri out of it. He has had his own fair share of damage in the last few years," I said as I stood up, hearing the front door open.
"Despite my earlier impression, he is a good man. He went to the hospital after I chewed him out."
"I know that," I said as I smiled tightly at Janine when she stepped into the living room. Her eyes moved from me to Abe and then back.
"Am I interrupting something?"
I wasn't sure what to say, but Abe beat me to it.
"Just a little heart-to-heart with my daughter. And an apology that she has been owed for a long time," he said, glancing at me. None of us in this family were big communicators with each other, but even I could tell he meant the words he said.
Then
I sighed quietly as I watched the snow fall, the silence peaceful and hypnotizing. The warm fingers on my spine were soothing, and despite the tickle they left, I loved it.
"What provoked your fight with Sam Mitchell?" Dimitri asked quietly.
I looked at him and raised my brows.
"Who says it was provoked and I didn't start it?" I asked.
Dimitri smirked at me. "You don't do anything without reason; even if the reason and logic don't make sense to anyone but you," he replied and I pulled my lips together. I shifted and leaned on my elbow, toying with the edge of the blanket.
"Do you remember when Lissa was out of school for a few weeks before Christmas? When she had mono?"
Dimitri nodded.
"She didn't have mono. She was at Bellview in Portland," I said quietly, not quite looking him in the eye. Bellview was a psychiatric hospital for people who were high profile or had a lot of money. It was Fort Knocks, and you couldn't see anyone unless you had the code and their alias name.
"What was she there for?"
"Depression. We don't know if it was an accident, or if she really tried to kill herself, but the night of Halloween she was admitted under a temporary hold. The only people at school who knew the truth were me, Christian and Kirova," I explained quietly.
"You never said anything," he said quietly and I bit my lip.
"I promised I wouldn't tell anyone. I didn't even tell my parents the real reason why Lissa wasn't around. I wasn't sure if I could trust you yet," I said, finally looking up at him.
"You weren't sure you could trust me, but we had already been having sex by then?"
I rolled my eyes. "I could trust you, but I wasn't sure if I could trust you with the heavy stuff," I said and sighed quietly.
"And this relates to the fight how?"
I scoffed and sat up, pulling the flat sheet up with me to fight the chill in the arm.
"She made some backhanded comment about Liss. She saw the scars on her wrist and said that 'her life was perfect, and she was just doing it for attention'. I could see that it bothered Lissa, but Sam just kept making comments."
Dimitri nodded and lifted his hand, brushing the small mark on the corner of my mouth. I got out of the fight relatively unmarked, but Same walked away with a black eye and a bloody nose.
"How is Lissa coping with everything?"
I shrugged. "She doesn't like the meds, but they're working. She said that she feels muted all the time, and sometimes she has issues sleeping, but she's better," I said as I laid back beside him, twisting the nazar around my neck.
"Where are your parents this week?"
"Dad is in Russia and Mom is in Scotland."
Dimitri nodded. He wasn't fond of the fact that my parents were gone more than they were here. I spent more time on my own, or at the gym, or at school.
"Are you staying the night, or do you want me to drive you home?" Dimitri asked after a little while, glancing at the clock. It was getting pretty late, and it was Thursday, so he needed to be up early for work.
"I think I might stay if that's okay. I don't want to go home to an empty house," I said as I slipped out of bed to put my panties on.
"We can swing by your house on the way for you to get a change of clothes," he said as he got out of bed to pull on boxers and sweatpants. Ever being a living, breathing furnace, the house he lived in was a historic house, and it was drafty in the winter.
I nodded with a smile and opened on of his drawers, pulling out a long-sleeved shirt and walking to the bathroom. I brushed my teeth and washed my face. When I finished up, Dimitri was tossing another blanket on the bed, smoothing it over before smiling at me.
"It's supposed to get colder tonight," he said and I nodded, leaning against the doorframe.
"Take out?"
"I don't plan on cooking tonight," he laughed as he walked past me, swatting my ass as he went. I rolled my eyes and followed, looking for the collection of take out menus he had squirrelled away. The man was a fantastic cook but loved take-out.
"What are you feeling?"
"Pick whichever you like," Dimitri called out from the other end of the hall, rummaging through the closet. I nodded to myself and found the Italian menu near the bottom of the stack, reading through it for a few minutes. I could feel Dimitri standing behind me, his hair brushing my neck as he read over my shoulder.
"I forgot about this place," he said.
"Me too, but it was good," I mused, turning my head to look at me. He had a carefree smile on his lips and pecked mine.
"I think I'll get the seafood pasta again," I said handing him the menu. He nodded and picked up the house phone, dialling and then putting it to his ear with a smirk.
Now
"Twice in two weeks; I feel like I'm back in high school," I joked as I saw Alberta approach me while I sat in a chair. When Alberta called Janine and asked if I could swing by the high school to see her, I couldn't say no.
"Well, this is no different than your attendance record," she retorted as I stood up. She hugged me again and I smirked at her.
"My attendance record got better when I became a junior," I teased and she smiled, gesturing for me to follow her. She led me to the back of the main office and I raised my brows at her when she knocked on Kirova's door. She was still the Headmistress, and I spent far too much time in her office when I was a student.
"I swear, I didn't do anything wrong," I joked.
"We know," Alberta said and opened the door, letting us both in. Kirova was sitting at her desk and looked up when we came in, standing and nodding at me politely.
"Ms. Hathaway, thank you for coming," she said.
"I was under the impression that I was here to see Alberta," I said but sat down when Kirova gestured to the chair.
"I didn't think you would come if I asked," she said plainly. She wasn't wrong. We didn't have a good track record.
"And why am I here?"
"We have a project we'd like to get off the ground. However, finding someone who will appreciate the school's history is difficult," she explained. I nodded.
"You mean the architectural history?" The academy was built during the 1800s and was built in a similar way that the University of Glasglow was built. We even had our own undercroft.
"We know that you are here for a limited time and that you are considered to be on vacation, but if were willing to draw up the designs, we would compensate you," Kirova said. I mulled it over and leaned forward, picking up my bag and pulling the notepad I kept in it.
"What were you thinking of doing?" I asked, opening it to a blank page. Kirova looked surprised for a moment but composed himself, explaining the expansion they wanted to add to the school. An electrical fire burned down the original chapel. It was a major loss to the school, so much so that I heard about it in New York. The academy was known for its architecture, and it was a shame when it burned down. But now they wanted to rebuild it. They wanted it to be similar to the original but obviously updated to accommodate more students, and to have a library above the nave.
"And you want to stick to the Gothic Revival as much as possible? It will be costly," I advised Kirova.
"The board is willing to provide additional funds to cover the costs that insurance can't. We also were able to get the original blueprints of the church for reference," she said and I nodded. I turned the notepad to her, setting it on her desk. Kirova looked it over and nodded to herself before pushing it back towards me.
"Some of the stained glass was salvaged from the fire. Would we be able to incorporate that into the structure?"
"Depending on the state, we may be able to make it work. Are you talking about the piece that was above the altar?"
"Yes."
"For that spot, you'd be better to have a new piece commissioned, but we could incorporate it elsewhere. I can do up some more concrete designs and have them back to you by…end of next week?"
"That soon?"
"I don't have any projects that need my immediate attention right now. And I haven't been sleeping, so this will help," I said with a shrug, "Do you mind if I walk around campus for a bit? Familiarizing myself again with everything?"
"Not at all," Kirova said and looked at Alberta to get me a visitor's badge. I left Kirova's office and shifted on my feet.
"Is Kirova wanting to hire the firm I'm with, or me directly?"
"You directly," she said.
"This isn't going to be cheap, Alberta. This could end up costing a couple hundred thousand dollars," I said, the idea of the pay starting to make me dizzy.
"Do you have any idea how much it costs to build a church?!"
Alberta smirked. "We have an idea of how much it would cost. Insurance will cover plenty of it, plus the board has funds set aside for repairs and upkeep."
I nodded to myself and ran my hands through my hair.
"I've never done a contract this large on my own," I whispered.
"Do you think you can handle it?"
I swallowed thickly and nodded. "Yeah. I just need to comprehend what is happening. I'm going to walk around for a bit," I said before leaving the office, holding my notepad in my hand.
Even though the town we lived in was small, the academy brought a lot of people here. The tuition for the academy was surprising, but as an adult who understood bills, it was appropriate. As I wandered, I found myself thinking about the memories I had here. When I went here, I had to wear a uniform, but now the students don't.
I came into the alumni hall and stopped at the display case that was there. It held all the trophies that were there, but there was also something there that I helped design.
In Loving Memory of Andre Dragomir.
Andre was the closest thing I had to a brother, other than my two childhood friends, Eddie and Mason. But Andre was a different kind of brother. He was my best friend's twin. And when he died, it did something to all of us.
The memorial was made out of pictures that were provided by his closest friends.
"Miss you, Dre," I whispered as I rested my fingers against the glass. I continued on through the halls, weaving between students but could easily see the cliques in the hall. It was closer to lunchtime so I swung by the cafeteria, purchasing a wrap and then moving towards the undercroft.
I shifted from one foot to the other as I studied the designs, biting the end of my pencil.
"What are you doing?"
I turned with a furrowed brow but smiled at Dimitri when I noticed him standing with another woman.
"Hey. I thought you had to take Leena to an appointment?"
"Just during my first class," Dimitri said, "What are you doing here?"
I held up the notepad. "Inspiration," I said before looking back up at the ceiling, "How high would you say the cloisters are?"
"I'm not really sure. The whole building?"
"No. The building itself is a couple hundred feet. I'll have to come back with a laser tape measure," I said and looked back at him. The woman beside him looked between us and she cleared her throat pointedly.
"Sorry, Rose this is Inna Moyer. She is one of the new English teachers. Inna, this is Rose Hathaway. She was a student here the year I started teaching," Dimitri introduced us. I smiled at her and extended my hand to her. She looked at it and then looked at me. When she didn't return the gesture, I let my hand drop and looked at Dimitri again.
"I think you broke my mother."
"Oh?" Dimitri chuckled with a smile.
"She keeps asking about Leena. I think she's going through this whole 'my grandmother needs' are in overdrive after being around an adorable toddler," I laughed, "And she had no issue with rewrapping all the presents she opened."
Dimitri smiled and ran his fingers through his hair. "Well, I guess I will have to bring her around again. Can't have her going through cuteness withdrawal," he said.
"I'm sure we could organize that," I smile, casting my eyes towards Inna who was starring daggers at me.
"Well, I should get back to it. I gotta get this done so that I can get prints to Kirova," I said with a shake of my notepad. Dimitri nodded and stepped towards me, kissing my cheek quickly.
"I won't keep you from working even though you're not supposed to be working," he chuckled, walking away with Inna hot on his heels. I scoffed quietly to myself and moved on to the next section of the campus.
What are you doing tonight? - D
I looked at my phone and smiled.
Probably watch Criminal Minds and binge on popcorn. Why? - R
Dinner? At Modesto?- D
I smiled to myself and glanced at the time.
What time? - R
Hour or so? - D
I'm game – R
I stood up and practically sprinted up the stairs, heading to my closet before stalling.
"Shit!" I squeaked.
"What?" I heard Janine say from her bedroom. I slunk into her room like a disheartened teenager.
"I'm going out for dinner, but just realized I didn't bring anything that's appropriate," I said with a grimace.
"Where?" she asked from the chair near the window, setting the book in her lap.
"Modesto," I said, "And I'm not sure if it's just dinner between two friends or a date."
Janine stood up and walked to her closet, flicking through a few things before pulling out a black dress.
"It come to the ankles on me and is a bit loose, but it should fit you. And I would say it's a date," she said. I took the hanger from her and tilted my head.
"Why do you say that?"
"Because Dimitri called and asked if I would watch Leena while you went out," Janine said with a smirk. I scoffed and rolled my eyes, but smirked at her.
"I may have mentioned that you had been asking about Leena," I joked. Janine smiled and gestured for me to go get ready. I slipped into my room and got changed. It was a little tight in the chest, but it was still pretty. It came down above my knee, and it had sequences that shimmered as I moved. The straps were thin, and the neckline was square, but overall very pretty, and not at all something my mom would wear.
I reached for the zipper to get Janine to zip it after clasping the eye and hook, feeling something rub against my skin. I moved my hand around and found a tag. I shook my head and walked back to her room, finding her back in the chair.
"You've never worn this, have you? You bought this today and guessed my size."
"I have no idea what you are insinuating. But hypothetically, did I get the size right?"
"If I don't wear a bra, yes," I replied, not skipping a beat.
Janine glanced up from her book and appraised me, a smile crossing her lips.
"You look beautiful," she said. I smiled at her and asked her to zip the dress. She got up and zipped it for me, smoothing the back of the dress.
"I have a coat that will match," she said as she went back into the closet.
"You didn't buy that for tonight too, right?" I asked, my brows pinching together. I could hear her laughter from inside the closet and she came back out, holding a beautiful red wool dress coat.
"No. I bought it for Christmas but hadn't wrapped it yet. Figured it wouldn't hurt to get an early Christmas present."
I smiled at her and took the coat from her, walking back to my room to finish getting ready. I put on a little makeup, mostly just some working the cream blush and highlighter to my skin. I wasn't crazy about makeup, but wore it for work when I was meeting with clients. Not putting it on for two weeks felt strange.
Once I was finished I misted my hair and applied some curl cream, scrunching my curls to liven them up. Once that was done I rooted through my closet for some shoes. I left some here when I moved to New York, and fist pumped when I found a pair of heeled boots I bought for my university graduation. I had forgotten them here last year.
They were leather and came up to my knee, covering them enough to fight off a bit of the cold. I pulled on the coat and checked myself over in the mirror before heading down the stairs, making it halfway down before the bell rang.
I made it to the bottom and opened the door, smiling at Dimitri and Leena on the other side of the door.
"Hi," I said with a smile, "Hi, Leena."
Leena waved at me and I stepped aside to let them in. I helped Leena out of her coat and boots. Once she was free of them, she ran with a smile to Janine. Janine leaned down and picked her up in a hug, smiling as she cuddled her.
"Anything I need to be aware of? Allergies?"
"We're limiting the amount of dairy she has. Sometimes it upsets her stomach. But she can have anything else," Dimitri explained, smiling at Leena. Janine nodded and set Leena on her feet, whispering to her that there were toys in the living room.
I raised a brow at her. She must have gone out to buy toys for her to play with.
"Have a good dinner," she wished us. I smiled at her and looked at Dimitri, biting my lip for a moment. I felt anxious but in a good way. We weren't strangers, but this was the first time that we were able to do what we had always talked about doing.
Going out for dinner at our favourite Italian restaurant.