I Took Rose Hathaway's Place

Dimitri Belikov

In walked Dimitri.

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I looked up, and saw one person. The only person who could be Dimitri Belikov.

Silently, I brought in a breath. He was gorgeous. 

Tall, maybe 6' 6", or 6 ' 7"; brown hair pulled back at the nape of his neck, neck length. A few stray strands framed his face. 

His eyes were dark brown, like endless holes, that if you stepped in, you would be lost forever. But they gave me a feeling that I did want to be lost forever.

Breaking the connection, Dimitri looked to Kirova. "You needed me?" he prompted.

Kirova nodded. "I need you to test Miss Alice here. This will be her first time at an academy, and I need to know what grade for training she will be in, and she may also need extra training."

Dimitri nodded. "When exactly?"

Kirova thought for a moment. "Now."

Dimitri left the room, not leaving a chance for me to follow right away. 

Quickly, I stood, and followed him.

Catching up to his pace, I walked alongside him.

Breaking the silence, I spoke. "So, comrade, what are we doing?"

Glancing down at me, he answered. "Don't call me that. And we are going to the gym. And running the track."

I looked at my clothes. "In this?" I asked. I was wearing a tight black tee shirt, and a pair of skinny jeans.

Dimitri gave me a once over, then looked away. "Where are your clothes?"

That gave me an opening. "Obviously on me. unless you mean the ones in my car?"

Dimitri muttered something in Russian. "What have I gotten myself into?"

Answering in the same tongue, I spoke. "Do you really wanna know?"

He looked startled. Switching to English, he spoke. "You speak Russian?"

"Yes. I am Russian. Not as much as you, but I am. So I learned the language." 

I was following Dimitri on auto pilot, so it was a surprise when I looked up from the ground, and saw that we were in the parking garage.

"Where is your car?" he asked.

Looking around, I spotted the silver 2004 Chrysler Pacifica, and went to it. I tugged on the door, and it was unlocked.

Dimitri had followed me, and was watching me. I dug through my little duffel bag of clothing, and found my gym shorts, along with my black workout shirt.

Shutting the door, I turned to Dimitri. "Where to now?" I asked.

"This way. We have to go to the gym now. There is a locker room where you can change."

I followed wordlessly. Studying my surroundings, I didn't realize there was someone coming at me, until I had bumped into them. Looking up, I saw that, from description, it was Mason Ashford. 

"I'm so sorry." he apologized.

"I'm sorry. It was my fault. I should have been watching where I was going." I said.

Mason smiled. "I should have too. But I was too busy watching you."

I laughed. "Alice Hathaway." I stuck out my free hand.

Mason shook it. "Mason Ashford. Are you related to..." he paused. "Rose Hathaway?"

I shrugged. "I don't know her, but maybe. I gotta go," I glanced and saw Dimitri waiting. "My Russian jailer is waiting."

The look Dimitri gave me was an exasperated one.

I smiled, and ran to him. "So, where is the changing room?"