The Best of Dimitri's Effect

Chapter Three

Dimitri

          ''It's a little bit empty but we can find time to go shopping to buy the things you need,'' My eyes wandering around the room before landing on her, seeing her standing in the middle of the bedroom with both of her hands in place; not wanting to touch anything which causes me to eye her every movement—wanting to observe her by the way she observes her own surroundings.

          Sophia turns to look at me, ''You don't have to do this. It's too much,''

         ''Giving you a room to rent is too much?'' I raise an eyebrow, instantly causing her to chuckle as she tucks a strand of hair behind her ear.

         ''Well . . . technically, you're giving me a place to stay for a very reasonable price which makes no sense unless you're just willing to help. I don't want to be indebted to you, Derrick and I don't want to feel like I owe you something when s**t goes down. I've been there and I've done that, I just don't need another person to sympathy me.'' She replies, her voice almost inaudible but loud enough for things to be spoken clearly.

          ''You're moving out as soon as you get your first salary. No excuses,'' I say with both of my eyes staring deeply into her dark ones, ''Does that sound a little bit more demanding? Do you still feel like you owe me?'' I ask, my lips curving up into a playful smile.

          ''No, you're doing great.'' She chuckles.

          ''Right . . . I need to go.'' I glance down at my wrist watch to see that I'm running out of time if I'm going to meet Aidan and Kenna before going to the office unless I leave right now. ''Can we talk tonight? Just you and me about a few things. We can't remain strangers forever, right?'' I ask, smiling at the end.

          Her brown eyes stare back into mine, ''Yeah. I'd love to talk,''

         --

         With both of my hands gripping tightly onto my phone, I immediately let my fingers type the necessary words for my two best friends to show up; knowing that they're probably working their asses off and it'd be best to just freak them off a little bit by, 'Let's meet up. It's an emergency.' Before hitting send, entering my car in a hurry.

          As soon as I've arrived at our hangout spot in New York City, somewhere less crowded and more quiet, somewhat a little hip. My eyes wander around to find myself staring at Kenna who steps out of her car in a fast pace as she heads straight towards the door, making her way towards me.

          Just as I'm about to wave at her, Aidan appears from behind with his tie hanging loose and his sleeves folded up to his elbows. ''Hey . . . I guess,'' I mutter under my breath, eyeing as they take a seat, both of their eyes looking straight into mine as they wait for me to say something.

         ''So, what's up?'' They both say in unison.

         I clear my throat, ''Wait . . . why do you guys look like you were in a rush?'' I ask, raising an eyebrow before eyeing both of their states. Kenna looking more presentable than Aidan, with her hair tied up into a high ponytail but her face seems to be a little bit smaller as dark circles show underneath her eyes. As for Aidan, well . . . he looks as if he just went through a rough day at the office with his hair messily in different directions and his phone continuing to beep every second.

          They turn to look at one another, ''Stressful day at the office, long ass meetings, ton of work—'' Aidan speaks, continuing to run his fingers through his hair but cut shortly by Kenna's light shove on his shoulder, making him roll his eyes as he leans back.

          ''—I see. You get to complain about your stressful day at work as if you're the only one that's going through all the shitty things in life,'' She responds, eyeing straightly towards Aidan who seems to be returning back the eye contact but a much more softer one rather than a hard gaze.

          ''W—wait, where is this coming from?'' I interfere.

         ''That's not what I mean. We're both busy and there's no other way to deny that, Kenna. What I'm trying to say is that I'm exhausted, I'm just f*****g exhausted.'' Aidan replies, sighing deeply. ''I'm trying to make sure that you and our baby get whatever he or she wants in the future and in order for that to happen, I have to work my ass off. Things are only getting expensive!'' He adds.

          ''Uh . . . guys—'' They cut me off, causing me to lean back on my seat as I watch them argue, thankfully only loud enough for the three of us.

         ''Do you realise what you just said?'' Kenna raises an eyebrow.

          Aidan breathes out, ''What? It's true. As your husband, it's my responsibility to make sure that you get everything you need and to make sure that you're happy. Now . . . that we're going to be a family of three, our baby needs to have everything, too.'' He stops to look into her blue eyes, seeing them water a little bit.

         Just as she's about to say something, I cut her off by saying, ''There's a woman living in my house.''

         Both of their eyes turn to look at me, widening as I slowly grab onto my phone on the table to check for any new notifications but unfortunately, it's like the desert—simply empty. I look back at my two best friends, realising how they're somewhat speechless, confused and even shocked.

         ''What . . . what did you just say?'' Kenna asks.

         ''There's a beautiful stranger living in my house,'' I reply with both of my lips curving up into a smile as I call out for the waiter to take our order, watching him leave with only an order for me and none from Aidan or Kenna as they're too busy staring into oblivion.

         ''Dimitri, are you f*****g stupid?'' Aidan asks, his arms crossing as he leans forward—making me shrug immediately, not knowing how to explain things in order for them to understand.

         I shake my head, ''Define stupid . . . ''

         ''Who is she? How old is she? What's her name? Where is she from?'' My best friend, Kenna, starts to drown me in questions that only my mother would ask if I end up wanting to marry someone—just like when I told her that I wanted to marry Chloe, should've seen the look on her face and how she disapproved of it.

        When my marriage went down the hills into a complete disaster, the look she had given me kept on replaying in my head as if she was right all along. She was right . . . marriage is hard and it'd take everything to make sure that it works out especially young couples, it'd be easy at first but hard as soon as s**t hits the fan. It was a mistake to ever get married that early but getting Brody in the process is never a fault, always a blessing.

        ''She's someone I met yesterday when I was walking down the streets and she was just anxiously on the phone. Her name's Sophia, she's from Tennessee but I don't exactly know her age.'' I reply, seeing Kenna slowly trying to process the words in her mind—not exactly believing that this whole thing is happening, especially by letting an unknown person to live under the same roof.

        ''You're making zero sense, Dimitri!'' She exclaims, almost grabbing other people's attention.

        ''And you're pregnant. Stop stressing out,'' I respond, causing Aidan to let out a light chuckle but immediately refrain it as soon as he earns a glare coming from his wife.

        ''Look, I'm almost twenty-nine. Not a kid and not a child for you guys to be controlling around. She's just someone I want to help under certain circumstances that I will for sure tell once I think that you guys are ready to know. The reason why I'm telling you guys is because I don't want you to feel left out—as if you guys don't matter to me when you two are very much important in my life,'' I answer.

        ''Is she legal? How about Brody?'' She asks, again.

         ''For god's sake, Kenna. She looks and appear to be legal . . . I mean, her ex-boyfriend must've been around twenty-four or twenty-five. She must be around that age, right?'' I clear my throat, ''And Brody will stay with his mother tonight while I clear things out with Sophia—wanting to talk things through about this whole 'living under the same roof' but being strangers kind of thing,'' I add.

         ''I don't even know what to say. Why are you not saying anything, Aidan?'' Kenna turns to him who seems to be zoning out for the past couple of minutes before sighing deeply.

       ''It's his choice,'' He replies.

       ''Oh, fuck.'' Kenna curses under her breath which causes both Aidan and I to look at each other, not expecting her to curse especially in her current state; she had promised not to mutter anything negative while she's pregnant but I guess she had already broke her promise.

       ''Language,'' Aidan and I say in unison.

       ''I don't f*****g care right now. Our best friend has a stranger living with him and you're totally fine with it? How can you be fine? He has a child, for god's sake, Aidan—what if she's crazy? What if she has bad intentions and that she'd do anything crazy to make sure that she gets whatever the f**k she wants,'' She continues to speak.

        Aidan wraps his arm around her waist to pull her closer, ''Baby, baby, baby . . . come on. Relax, just breathe and calm down. He's a grown up man, he can take good care of himself and he has been taking good care of Brody without even Chloe being around and he has been a great dad. So, something as crazy as this is for sure will be handled, ASAP. Right, Dimitri?'' He turns to look at me while I nod, quickly.

        Within seconds, his phone is already ringing which causes him to grab onto it before gazing down at the screen, ''I need to take this. It's from work,'' He says, standing up but being stopped by Kenna, her hand grabbing onto his. ''What's wrong?'' He asks.

        ''Let me see,'' She says, without even waiting for Aidan to respond as he grabs onto his phone to gaze down at the name on the screen.

        He takes his phone away from her grasps, ''It's Flynn, baby. It's about work,''

        Kenna leans back on her seat as Aidan walks out of the café with his phone near his ear, talking about a few things while I pay attention to the woman in front of me. ''Since when are you like that?'' I ask, causing her to turn and look at me.

        ''Like what?'' She raises an eyebrow, clearly confused.

        ''Possessive. Protective. Clingy. Annoying,'' I reply, straight-forwardly as she scoffs. ''What is it, Kenna? Has he done anything suspicious to make you doubt him?'' I continue to ask, concern about my best friend and only want what's best for her. If Aidan's being a complete asshole, I can just beat the crap out of him but if Kenna's reacting this way for no reason, it's best for her to try and ease her worries.

        ''I don't doubt him, Dimitri. He has done nothing wrong,'' She replies. ''It's just that I feel a little bit . . . needy especially now that I'm pregnant. He's always busy, he's always at work, he comes home tired and I don't want that—I want him the way he was before I got pregnant. How he would always make time for me, how he'd get home early and even finish his work at home because he'd want to see me. He'd want to get in bed with me so that I wouldn't sleep alone or feel cold underneath the sheets.'' She adds, slowly as her eyes wander to him.

       I clear my throat, ''It's just what you feel.''

        ''I just want him to always be there for me. He's rarely home, now.'' She continues to speak, seconds before Aidan starts to walk back inside—heading towards us while I eye his every movement, wanting to see if he has been acting distant around Kenna in which I would be able to notice because ever since they both fell in love with each other, they were miserably inseparable.

        ''Flynn said that I have to head back to the office.'' Aidan says, ''Dimitri, you need to settle things with Sophia or whoever she is and make sure that she's not a psycho or something, okay? You have Brody and his safety is what matters most, including your own.''

       ''Got it, man.''

       Then, he turns towards Kenna, slowly grabbing onto her hand before leaning in to kiss onto her cheek, ''I'll see you tonight, okay? I love you,'' He whispers but loud enough for me to hear as she turns to smile at him, seeing him walk out of the cafe after placing a fifty-dollar bill on the table, making Kenna lean back onto her seat.

         ''So?'' She waits for me to respond.

         ''I see it.'' I mutter under my breath, eyeing her every movement.

         ''I told you and I'm right. He's been acting weird lately and you can see that, too. I'm not crazy or just hormonally emotional because—''

         I cut her off, ''—he's in love with you, Kenna. You're overreacting. The way you see him now is something normal because . . . I think, it's because of your pregnancy. You want him near you all the time, to be there with you, to show affection towards you and that's exactly what he's doing, that's exactly how he has always been ever since the very beginning. You're just seeing and feeling things differently but I still see him, the same Aidan who told you that he was in love with you.'' I continue to speak, silencing her.

         ''I saw how he grabbed onto your hand, how he kissed your cheek and how he whispered those words into your ear, it's something any man can do but the way he did it to you, it's different. Don't think of him not loving you, Kenna. He's clearly still and will love you. You're probably tired as well,'' I add.

         Both of her blue eyes blink a few times before nodding her head, ''Thanks, Dimitri. That means a lot,'' She replies.

          The whole day at the office is somehow spent well, my mind and body being at the same place without even wandering elsewhere, making it easier for me to finish my work rather than daydreaming or thinking about the weird things in life or even worry about Brody and how he'd be doing at his mother's place.

        ''Knock, knock, Mr. Belrose.'' I glance up to find my personal assistant, Dion to be walking in with a few files in his hand. My eyes wander up to his pair of striking red slacks as he smiles widely before placing the files on my desk, ''As you've requested, right on time, can I get a raise now?'' He asks, showing off his well-manicured nails.

         Dion, my all-time favourite personal assistant has always been there for me. He understands me and he gets the job done which is very important in wanting to stay on my good side which is why I let him wear colourful work attires to . . . well, work. It's something that I've agreed when all he ever did was beg and beg until he was given permission to do so.

          The thing about Dion is, he likes to attend formal events with me because he enjoys looking at rich and good-looking, successful men. One of the reasons why, he'd still want to keep his job and of course, his salary is pretty much enough to support a family of five but every time he gets a job done, he'd be asking for a raise . . . again and again and again.

          ''You'll get a raise as will everyone else, next year, Dion.'' I reply, opening the files to go through the details about my new project in Milan.

         He rolls his eyes before grinning widely as he takes a seat, ''Mr. Belrose, don't we have any upcoming events in the nearest future? I was thinking of chandeliers, wines and men . . . if you know what I mean, it's been getting a little bit dull and boring here at the office.'' He sighs, deeply as his mind wanders off.

         ''It's an office, Dion. It's supposed to be dull and boring,'' I respond, ''If you're very much uninterested in doing things at the office, you can head down and watch some men at the hotel lobby—who knows? You might find someone interesting and worth your time,'' I add.

         Dion laughs, ''You're by far the best chief executive officer in the world. Unfortunately, you're not gay or I'd be snatching you away.'' He winks, leaning back on his seat while I chuckle, completely enjoying this whole thing—he has always been an entertainment to me, someone to keep me laughing and stress-free at the office.

          ''Have you ever had a girlfriend before?'' I ask, dropping my pen on the desk.

         He raises both of his hands to count, ''Plenty, Mr. Belrose but women are just tiring. They talk a lot, complain a lot, shop a lot. They're just basically burning a hole in my pocket. Besides, it has been awhile since I've dated one but I'm never going back there. No way,'' He replies, his Australian accent showing through. ''Don't you have anyone to recommend to me?

         ''Well . . . no, not really but to ease your worries, we will have an event in the nearest future and you can attend if you keep up the good job.'' I reply, gesturing for him to leave my office and head straight back to his cubicle in which he does, smiling widely before saluting and walking out, running his fingers through his nicely-made hair.

         Just as I'm about to type something on my laptop, I immediately pick up my phone to call Brody as soon as I realise that it's almost seven.

         ''Hey, dad.'' He answers.

         ''Hey, what are you up to? Did you have dinner?'' I ask, leaning back on my seat as I try to imagine him sitting in his bedroom as he tries to finish off some of his homework.

         ''Well, I'm just sitting in my room doing homework and yeah, I had pizza for dinner. Mum's not home because she just went out with her friends. She'd probably be back late,'' He replies, making me sigh deeply at Chloe's behaviour—ever since the divorce and separation, she is still with the same guy that she cheated with.

         ''Is Margaret home?'' I ask.

        Margaret is Chloe's maid, someone she had hired to take good care of her apartment or Brody whenever she's not around and Margaret has been great—I've met her once and she was very friendly to one point that I actually trust her.

        ''Yeah. Um, dad?'' Brody speaks on the other line, making me respond.

        ''What is it?'' I lean forward on my desk, waiting for him to speak as I hear him shifts, probably moving from his desk and to his bed.

        ''You're going to come and pick me up tomorrow after school, right? It's just going to be tonight, right?'' He asks, somehow hesitating at first but I immediately realise just how badly he'd want to be home with me than with Chloe. It's how he is. Brody knows that things with Chloe and I weren't working out and that's why we are not together but he doesn't need to know the details, he's too young for that.

        I've never been the type to make him hate his own mother but he seems to be fairly uncomfortable around her, somehow . . . as if, she's not a good mother to begin with. Unfortunately, due to custody agreements in court, Brody has to spend the weekend at least twice a month and every weekend that he spends there, he'd dread to be at home.

        ''Of course, bud. I'm picking you up tomorrow,''

        ''Great, I can't wait.'' I can see a smile plastered on his face as he responds, making me breathe out.

        ''Finish your homework early and head straight to bed, okay? Don't want you to be tired tomorrow for school,'' I reply, glancing down at my wrist watch to check the time.

        ''Okay dad, I love you.'' He says, hearing him moving as I try to push away the thoughts of even picking him up tonight because I need to settle things with Sophia first, setting up a few boundaries here and there, putting up rules and how things should be.

         ''I love you more,'' Always.

         --

        As soon as I've arrived home, I push the door open to find the place squeaky clean and not as messy as when I left it—in fact, it's not even messy at all which causes me to furrow my brows before closing the door behind me.

         To my surprise, I hear a loud thud coming from the kitchen, making me run towards the kitchen in a hurry to see Sophia muttering curses under her breath as she tries to pick up an empty pan before looking up to find me staring down at her. Both of her eyes widen as she stands up immediately, trying to fix her hair.

         ''Oh . . . uh, you're back!'' She exclaims, her voice cracking a little bit at the end as she tries to cover it up by coughing.

         ''What are you doing?'' I ask, placing my phone and the rest of my stuff on the kitchen island, eyes wandering around the kitchen to find enough ingredients to make a spaghetti but unfortunately, it looks more like the kitchen is going to burn down if she keeps it up.

        She clears her throat, ''I was cooking but I haven't started yet. I was busy looking at the recipe because honestly, I'm a bad cook. I don't know how to cook but I assumed that you'd be home, hungry and tired . . . I don't know how to thank you for letting me stay.''

         I chuckle lightly, ''Look what I bought.''

         I lift up the paper bag to show her enough Chinese food for the two of us which causes her to nod her head a few times, smiling in embarrassment. ''Is it the same as how it is in TV shows about when they order Chinese and eat it in a cup with chopsticks?'' She asks, her question has randomly made me laugh as I place it on the island.

         ''You've never eaten Chinese before?'' I ask, seeing her tuck a strand of hair behind her ear.

         ''No . . . no, I haven't. Anyways, I was worried about your son, Brody, he hasn't came home and I wanted to call you but I don't have your number. I didn't know how to react,'' She continues to speak while I loosen the tie around my neck before taking it off and placing it near my phone, feeling her eyes watching on my every movement.

         ''He's with his mother tonight.'' I reply before turning to look at the kitchen again as I roll up my sleeves to my elbows, ''If you really want to cook . . . I can teach you someday but now, we're just going to eat Chinese.'' I add and she smiles, letting her hair in a messy ponytail with a sauce stain on her cheek and her shirt being slightly dirty from the spices.

         As I'm using the chopsticks to eat, my eyes wander up to see her struggling to hold it as she continues to furrow her brows, showing an adequate amount of concentration. Then, I keep on eyeing the stain on her cheek and how she has flour in her hair which causes me to hold back my laughter, ''You need help?'' I ask.

         ''Yes, please.'' She replies before sighing as her cheeks redden.

         ''Here, look at how I'm holding the chopsticks.'' I raise my right hand and show her the right way to hold the chopsticks in order to get a better grip. It doesn't take her long to try and copy the exact way but she fails miserably, causing me to slowly grab onto her wrist and help her by lifting her hand after fixing her fingers' grip on the chopsticks. ''Just . . . like that.'' I add.

         ''There you go, you're officially a New Yorker.'' I joke and she laughs, chewing slowly as she continues to eye me.

         As a couple of minutes by, I can't help but feel slightly uncomfortable by her stare, causing me to look up and see her playing with her chopsticks after quickly looking away from me. ''You know . . . you can ask me anything that you want to know. In fact, we're going to do that tonight. About this whole talking that I said we'd do . . . it's good to know each other while we're eating Chinese, very New Yorker style.'' I joke again and she chuckles, putting the chopsticks in the cup.

        ''What's your name?'' She asks, causing both of us to laugh.

        ''Why'd you ask? I thought you knew?'' I raise an eyebrow, finding it funny at how she has been saying my name wrong from 'Dimitri' to 'Derrick' and for some reason, it's quite entertaining.

        ''You told me it's not Derrick but what is it if it's not Derrick? Dennis? Daniel?'' She continues to ask, leaving me smiling.

        ''Dimitri. Dimitri Pierre Belrose,'' I respond before giving her my hand, waiting for her to return the handshake in which she does with a smile slowly creeping up her face.

       ''Sophia,''

        ''Sophia what?'' I smirk.

        ''Sophia Grace Thompson,'' She replies. ''It's nice to finally meet you, Dimitri Pierre Belrose. Do you even know how embarrassing it is to be saying your name wrong the whole time and you just let me? You could've corrected me,'' She chuckles, taking a bite of her food.

         ''Well, I did . . . but I got tired of correcting because you seem to like the name Derrick,'' I lean back on my sofa as I eye her, ''How old are you?'' I ask, out of the blue.

        ''Twenty-five. What about you?'' She asks before frowning, ''Wait, if you're more than thirty, please don't even bother answering because that's kind of weird. I mean, it's not weird but to me, it's kind of weird having to live under the same roof with a thirty year old guy who already has a son,'' She adds.

         ''Lucky for you—''

        Just as I'm about to say something, a sudden loud knock on the door has managed to shock us both, making me stand up immediately as Sophia remains seated on the sofa, her grip on the cup tightens while I continue to make my way towards the sound.