Chapter 31: Chapter 31

Blair

I woke up the next day noticing the absence of the usual darkness in my room. The light came in through a crack in the half open door. I sat up in bed feeling bewildered.

I never left the door open!

My confusion became even greater when I saw a large bouquet of colorful roses on my dressing table. I stood up, putting on my slippers, hearing some voices coming from the living room. I picked up the bouquet, bringing it up to my face to inhale its perfume. There must have been at least fifty roses in there.

Had my father decided to raise the level of his presents?

Driven by curiosity I went toward the voices, still carrying the roses.

" What we mean is, we're not getting involved in this relationship, Blair is an adult and knows how to make her own decisions," I heard my mother declare.

Are they talking about me?

" Here, have some more tea? " I frowned as I heard my father offer.

Who's here?

I hurried my steps, stopping at the entrance to the dining room to find Dimitri sitting at the table, having breakfast with my parents.

Is this some kind of joke?

" Ayeleen, there you are. We were already wondering what time you would wake up," my father smiled, as if nothing unusual was happening there.

" What... how... " I stammered, not knowing how to react.

" Dimitri arrived here almost an hour ago, and since you were snoring too loudly to wake up, we decided to get to know him better," he added.

I felt my face heat up at that comment. Couldn't my father be more discreet? And they could have woken me up, like normal parents would!

" Since you're up, your father and I will give you some privacy," my mother made him get up.

" Sure, we'll be in that corner over there, you won't even notice us," he assured, mortifying me even more.

" You mean we'll go out and come back only in the afternoon," my mother corrected him.

The two of them passed me, who was still standing in the same place, still holding the bouquet.

" You might want to fix your hair a little," my mother whispered.

I stared, running a hasty hand through my hair, trying to make myself look a little more presentable. Dimitri couldn't look away from me, seeming to expect some reaction.

Did he really get on a plane and come all the way from Russia to settle things with me? This attitude made me smile internally, showing me how stupid I had been to get so upset with him.

" I didn't expect to see you," I decided to approach him, and he immediately stood up.

" You weren't answering my phone and I wanted to make things right. I'm sorry if it seemed like I was some kind of lunatic stalker for showing up like this," I couldn't help but let out a little laugh.

" Well, we are a couple of lunatics then," I looked away.

" We need to talk," he began, making my heart race.

" I suppose so," I sighed.

" Blair, I'm sorry for what I said. I was so stressed and everything seemed to be happening all at once, I had no right to take it out on you.”

I put the bouquet on the table, watching him stand just inches away.

" And I'm sorry for the way I reacted, but it's just that…”

" I understand why you're uncomfortable with the situation. She is my ex and she was at a family celebration. But I have no way of preventing this from happening.”

" And I can't help feeling jealous!”

The thought that she would always be there and I wouldn't, made my blood boil.

" It's natural to be jealous, Blair, but you have to trust me," he stepped closer, holding my hand.

He had already won my forgiveness, I knew that, but I still didn't want to give in for good.

" Don't you want to marry her?”

" The only person who ever made me talk about marriage was you," he assured me with a half smile.

I couldn't contain my own smile, which mirrored his. I picked the bouquet again, admiring each of the roses.

" I love it," I commented, sucking in the perfume once more.

" I was unsure about the quantity, after I told my sister what happened, she said I should give you at least fifty one roses to apologize for what I said, so I decided to buy fifty three to be sure," he said.

" Why roses?”

" I wanted to apologize," he returned as if it were obvious.

Although it was strange, I decided not to question him about it. At the very least, it was another Russian custom that I did not know.

I moved closer after placing the bouquet back on the table, intertwining our fingers before standing on tiptoe to kiss him. Before long the intensity of the kiss increased, I released his hands, taking mine to the back of his neck, running my fingers through his hair as he clasped our bodies together.

It has been almost a month since we were really together, and every cell in my body was screaming for Dimitri, but he pulled away, even if against my will.

" Did your parents really leave? " his question made me laugh.

" Come with me, Commander," I merely pulled him in for another kiss, before leading him to my room.

I enjoyed every minute by his side, after all, after missing him for so long, I wouldn't leave without missing his body, his smell, his touch, his kisses. We enjoyed every second that we had that empty apartment entirely to ourselves.

" Aren't you hungry? You haven't eaten anything yet," Dimitri looked worried.

I turned towards him, looking into his eyes. I was in my bed, cuddled up against my boyfriend's body, enjoying our moment of reconciliation.

Who said I couldn't have my own romantic comedy script?

" A little," I admitted.

Actually, I was starving, it was past lunchtime and I hadn't eaten anything yet.

" Let's settle this then," he kissed me softly, causing me to sigh with my eyes still closed.

Dimitri got out of bed, and I sat up, watching him start to gather his clothes from the room.

" Are you going to cook naked for me? " I teased him.

He interrupted what he was doing, giving me an amused look.

" What?”

" According to my romantic comedy script, after our reconciliation I would get out of bed and find you in the kitchen naked, preparing something very tasty.”

" Does this have to happen now? Because your parents could be home any minute, and I'm sure it's not a sight your father would like to see." Dimitri moved closer, leaning over to trace a trail of kisses from my cheek to my neck. “So how about you get dressed, the two of us go to a nice restaurant, and leave the whole cooking-with-small-clothes thing to the day you come to my apartment, or when I visit you in Newark.”

" small-clothes nothing, I said I want you naked!”

I turned away from him, accepting his suggestion about the restaurant.

" Blair, I love you, but I'm not going to risk burning any sensitive areas by cooking naked," he stated with amusement, causing me to widen my eyes.

He didn't even seem to realize what he had said; he simply continued to get dressed, with an amused smile on his face.

I bit the inside of my cheeks trying not to get too excited about those three words. But he said he loves me! How can I not be excited?

And what do I feel for him? Can I match that feeling? Come on, I have to be honest with myself, if I didn't I wouldn't have felt so bad about our fight.

That thought brought an involuntary smile to my face. How long had it been since I had felt this way about someone? Since I was a teenager, maybe. With my profession I always avoided serious relationships, although I never spent that much time alone.

" Blair? " Dimitri snapped me out of my reverie.

" What? " I blinked dazedly.

" You need to go back to earth and return my shirt. Aren't you going to get dressed?”

I took advantage of his moment of distraction when he reached up to grab the shirt I had taken off, pulling him in for another kiss, laying me down on the bed and bringing him with me.

" Blair," he gasped when I abandoned his lips to nibble the skin of his neck.

" You said you love me," I commented, feeling his body tense against mine at that.

I pulled away to look into his eyes, searching for any sign of regret. Did he say it in the heat of the moment?

" Yes," he confirmed a little uncertainly.

" And did you mean it? " My heart hammered hard in my chest.

" That depends.”

" On what?”

" If you think it's too soon and I'm psychotic, then I was joking," he frowned, making me smile.

" And if I don't think so?”

" In that case, yes. I meant it," he assured me, stroking my cheek.

I kissed him again, expressing all the feelings that was inside me.

" As much as I'd like to continue, you need to eat something," he stood up quickly, leaving me alone on the bed.

" All right, commander, I'll get dressed and we can go out," I sighed.

Some time later we were walking together through the bustling streets of Istanbul.  I cringed every time the icy winter wind hit us, but Dimitri hardly seemed to mind.

" Tell me, how did you get here? " I asked, wrapping my hands around his arm.

" By plane," he answered naturally, not holding back his laughter.

" You're so funny, Commander Voitovich," I rolled my eyes.

He laughed, putting his arm around my shoulders, wrapping his arm around me as we walked side by side.

" When I realized that you probably wouldn't answer, I looked for another way to reach you. Then I called Noah. He let me know that you were in Istanbul and gave me your father's number.”

We arrived at the restaurant I decided to take Dimitri to, and I turned to him, surprised by the information.

" You talked to my father?”

" I don't know if I can call that a talk, after I identified myself, he simply said, "Young man, I am not an errand boy, if you have something to say to my daughter, get on a plane and say it yourself. Stop acting like a teenager" I couldn't help but laugh at his imitation of my father's accent.

The maitre d' guided us to a vacant table, and we waited until we were comfortable enough to take up the subject again.

" He gave me the address, I got a ride with a friend who was coming to Istanbul, and the rest you already know.”

The waiter came over to take our orders.

" This place has the best red lentil soup I have ever had," I told Dimitri.

" So we already know what we're having," he didn't even bother to open the menu.

We waited for the waiter to walk away with our order before resuming our previous topic.

" I received a similar speech. I was told to grow up and stop imagining a romantic comedy script for our relationship," I sighed.

" So your parents know the script for our relationship? " he teased me.

" A little.”

" You need to share it with me, since I am acting blind. I just know that I'm going to have to cook naked for you at some point," he winked.

" Don't worry, I'll let you wear an apron.”

That statement made him laugh. But contrary to my expectations, he didn't forget the previous subject.

" What was supposed to happen according to our script?”

" To begin with, I would be present and our fight would take place in the rain," I repeated what I had told my mother.

" Rain? In a temperature of minus four degrees farenheit? Are you out of your mind? " Dimitri frowned.

" Minus four degrees farenheit? Are you kidding me? " I stared at him in bewilderment.

" No, it's Russian winter. It can't possibly rain," he returned.

I stared at him dumbfounded as I processed this information. How can he live in such a low temperature? No wonder he doesn't look cold, he could probably walk down the street shirtless and not bother!

" And what about the reconciliation? What's the script? " he snapped me out of my reverie.

" That part you did very well without needing one," I assured him.

He smiled in reply. Soon our plates arrived, occupying us during the time we stayed in the restaurant, but our day was far from over and I had much of that wonderful city to present to him.