Love and Pirouettes - by audrey

[audrey]

Chapter 35

By the time Marat had escaped from Nicole’s tight grip, Sophia had returned to Justin’s VIP area.

She was sitting in between Justin and another one of his celebrity guests who seemed to be smitten with her too. It was hip-hop producer of the moment Pharrell Williams from The Neptunes who was with Justin working on a new album.

Sophia was exhausted trying to keep the both of them at bay. She’d grown tired of their relentless flirting and attempts to see who could come up with the best line to win her over.
They were all pathetic and terribly inappropriate to her. Besides, she had other things on her mind to pay anymore attention to them.

Marat saw her smoking another cigarette looking bored and agitated as Justin and Pharrell fussed over her. He had to laugh. It really showed on her face when she wasn’t interested in someone.

He made his move toward her before any further interruptions stopped him.

He walked over with a determined look on his face. She saw him coming and pretended to look distracted but of course it was already too late.

“Hi,” he said, ignoring the two guys flanking her who stopped chatting her up as soon as he arrived. “We need to talk.”

Sophia stared at him coolly and though she smiled at Marat, he noticed that her eyes were empty. It gave him the chills. She was angry about something but he didn’t know what.

“Yes, let’s talk,” she agreed calmly. She got up and walked off without waiting for him. Marat turned around and followed her outside.

Justin and Pharrell were left speechless by his intimidating presence and wondered how he managed to get Sophia to go with him unquestioningly with just one sentence. Both of them had been trying to get her alone all night with no such luck.
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“Well?” Sophia had her arms crossed waiting for Marat to speak.

She was infuriated with him.

This had better be a confession, otherwise I’m going to kill him, she thought.

She inhaled her cigarette deeply.

But Marat was also enraged and was making her wait on purpose.

“So are you smoking all the time now?” he started.

She shrugged her shoulders.

“Because you know it’s an expensive habit and it’s really not healthy for you.”

“Gee, thanks for the tip, Dad,” she mocked.

He waved off her sarcasm. “How’s your back doing?”

“It’s fine. Look, what is it you have to talk to me about?” she asked irritably. “Because if you’re just going to make small talk, I’m going back inside to hang out with Justin if you don’t mind.”

He smirked. “Like you were having such a good time with him,” he muttered under his breath.

She shot him an angry look.

“Have you been keeping your options open ever since you became single again?” he questioned her, unable to hide his contempt any longer.

“Huh?”

“Well, I can’t keep up anymore. You’ve got guys all over you.”

He folded his arms and frowned at her. She made a face at him, wondering which guys exactly he was talking about.

“So who is it that you’re with? I thought it was Alex but what, is it that big shot producer? Or is it Justin?”

Sophia’s eyes widened and then she giggled. At first just quietly, then she couldn’t stop herself anymore. She broke out into uncontrollable hysteria.

“Why are you laughing?” Marat demanded. He hated being made a fool of.

It took her a while to answer him and when she finally did, she still hadn’t caught her breath and spoke in short gasps.

“Because….I’m sorry….” she tried to apologise, knowing he was annoyed with her outburst. “….but Alex…oh god…Alex is…..Alex is….Alex is gay!”

And her hysteria started all over again. Marat just stood there watching her not finding it one bit amusing that she was laughing at his expense.

“I can’t believe you thought I was with Alex!” Sophia chuckled.

“Well, he looked like a normal guy to me,” Marat grumbled. “And he keeps staring at me. Then he told me you slept in his room last night and I just thought….you and him…you know.”

She stared at him incredulously with a smile ready to break out.

“Eww,” she said. “No, definitely not. And he’s been staring at you because he finds you attractive.”

She found Marat’s expression of uneasiness hilarious and she pursed her lips to stifle her giggles.

Marat sighed loudly as Sophia peered at him all serious again.

“Why would you care who I’m with anyway?”

He rubbed his forehead nervously with his hand. Then he looked at her which made him go weak in the knees. There was fire in her eyes that he found strangely erotic.

“I’m not with Anya anymore, Sophia,” he finally confessed.

“I know,” she said abruptly, relieved that he had at last come out with it. “Your lovely friend Nicole told me already.”

She shook her head and smirked. He clenched his teeth, infuriated that someone had beaten him to his own piece of news.

“You are such a liar!” she yelled. Her accusation startled him. “You made me believe all this time you were still going out with Anya!”

“Hey, I didn’t tell you anything,” he talked over her. “You simply assumed that was the case.”

“Well, you could’ve corrected me!” Sophia was upset and the hurt in her voice was ringing loud and clear. “Instead you had me walking around trying to do the right thing and
making sure I wasn’t stepping over the friendship line but…”

She stopped here not wanting to go any further for fear of sounding too desperate.

“But what?” he asked.

When Sophia looked at him, she knew she had to tell him. It may have been her only chance to and she had nothing to lose.

“But all I wanted was to get you back,” she said softly.

Marat was stoic and speechless trying to register what she had just admitted.

“It took all my strength to try and be happy for you being with someone else,” Sophia continued. “And I know this sounds selfish but I want to be the one to be with you.”

This was getting to be too much for him. He turned away so that he wouldn’t be facing her.

“Marat, I’m so in love with you.”

Sophia couldn’t stop the flow of words now. It was all or nothing. It was time he knew that she came to Moscow for him...of course she came for him.

Even if the feeling was not mutual, at least she’d been honest and laid her heart on the line. It was up to him what he wanted to do with that.

She was through hiding her feelings especially knowing for certain there was no longer anyone who would take offense if she declared her love.

However, she didn’t take into account Marat’s unpredictable behaviour and she didn’t anticipate what he said next.

“Sophia, you can’t do this,” he told her.

“Do what?” she asked bewildered.

“You can’t tell me all this stuff now just because you found out I don’t have a girlfriend anymore and think I’m going to come back to you just like that,” he explained.

“I didn’t. I…” Sophia was about to reply but he interrupted her.

“Because I’m not going to ok, just so we’re clear.”

“Ok, but I…”

“We’re not just going to pick up where we left off because you’re all of a sudden ready to.”

She nodded her head in comprehension. “I just wanted to tell you how I feel,” she said resignedly. “I wasn’t expecting anything to happen between us. I mean…I was hoping…but you clearly don’t want the same thing.”

Marat put his hands on his hips and frowned.

“Oh god, this was a stupid idea,” Sophia decided, staggering back. “I shouldn’t have said anything.”

“No, wait,” he said.

“No, forget it. Forget I said anything.” And she turned around and ran before he could say anything more.

[audrey]

Chapter 36

Alex entered his room and heard soft music playing in the background. He grinned because he knew his best friend was there again. It was still pretty early in the evening so he was glad she had at least half listened to him and not partied until the wee hours of the morning.

“Phia, I met the cutest guy tonight!” he exclaimed prancing into the bedroom. “I take back every complaint I made about coming…honey, what’s wrong?”

He found Sophia sitting on the bed, endless tears running down her face, digging into a tub of cookies and cream ice cream with a big fat spoon.

She looked up at him pitifully. “He’s not going to come back to me!” she blubbered with her mouth full.

“What? Why? How do you know?” Alex rushed over to her and caressed her back.

“Because he said so! And he and Anya already broke up! Oh Sash, I was honest with him like you told me to be and he just blew me off.”

She took another large spoonful of ice cream into her mouth and wailed even louder when the coldness of it gave her a brain freeze.

“What am I supposed to do now, Sash? I feel so humiliated.”

She was disheartened and inconsolable. Sasha wiped the tears off her face and embraced her with the ice cream tub in between them.

“Honey, I’m supposed to be the drama queen between the both of us,” he joked, trying his best to comfort her. She kind of laughed but he could tell she was just doing it to be polite.

“Uuuughh and this sad a$s music is enough to drive anyone to tears.”

He turned off the stereo then turned to her with a sympathetic smile.

“I’m sorry, Phia,” he said more seriously. “He doesn’t know what he’s missing out on.”

She broke away from his hold and shook her head willing herself to stop crying.

“Can we talk about something else for now?” she asked. “Tell me about this cute guy…”
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Back at the bar, Marat slumped into a chair next to Igor and Nikolay.

“Hey man, are you all right?” Kolya asked.

He didn’t answer. Instead, he poured himself a double shot and downed it smoothly. Then he sat back and rubbed his face with his hands irritably.

The two guys looked at each other perplexed. Igor shrugged his shoulders and urged Kolya with his eyes to find out why their friend was in such a mood.

“Rough night?” Kolya began.

“Something like that,” he grunted. “Have you seen my sister?”

“She’s dancing with Makiri.”

Marat stood up and groaned. He looked over on the dance floor and saw the girls with Justin who was being very friendly with them.

“Igor, you better make sure Makiri isn’t getting hit on,” he advised walking off to get his sister.

Igor looked around panicked then followed Marat quickly when he discovered Justin’s arm slung casually around Maria’s shoulder.

Dinara didn’t know he was there until she felt his grip on her wrist. She turned around and gave him a murderous glare.

“What?” she spat.

“Hey what’s with the attitude? Are you embarrassed that your big brother is here to rescue you from this jerk?”

She pushed him lightly. “No this isn’t about me. It’s Sophia,” she revealed. “What did you do? She ran out of here so quickly I couldn’t chase her. Especially in these heels.”

He gritted his teeth and put his hands on his hips.

“She didn’t tell me what happened but can you just go and fix things with her, please?” Dinara pleaded, her voice tired. “You are both killing me! You’re single now, she's single now and you want each other, I don’t know why it’s so hard for you to just get together!”

Her outburst took Marat by surprise. They were so alike in more ways than one.

“You are so lucky,” she continued. “You have someone to love who also loves you back. Meanwhile, look around at all the single guys out here tonight who are having a hard time trying to get even one number from a girl.”

“Dinara, it’s not that easy,” he answered. “We have a lot of things to work out.”

“So work it out," she said, folding her arms defiantly. "You love each other so whatever it is, you’ll get through it. Come on, you belong together, you know that.”

She looked at him, daring her brother to argue but he didn’t.

Marat simply nodded his head in acceptance, kissed Dinara good night, told her to stay away from Justin which she didn’t listen to and left.

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Alex and Sophia had been watching a movie on cable when he heard a soft knock on the door. All her crying made her tired and she’d fallen asleep in his arms.

He opened the door and found Marat standing there looking exhausted.

“Is she in here again?” he asked.

Alex nodded and let him in reluctantly. He didn’t want Sophia to be anymore upset than she already was and he was afraid Marat was about to make things worse.

He walked straight into the bedroom and shut the door quietly. He sat on the bed and watched her sleeping. He gently brushed the hair off her face and saw her tear-stained cheeks. Her exquisite beauty still overwhelmed him. How she could make his heart stop.

Marat touched her cheek delicately with the back of his finger and she stirred but didn’t open her eyes.

She turned to her side with her body now facing him. She sloppily threw one arm out and unconsciously reached out for his hand. Marat took hers into his and kissed it. She still didn’t wake up.

She was too irresistible for him. He leaned down and kissed her cheeks, lingering long enough to breathe in her heavenly scent that he missed so much.

Finally she let out a sweet moan and opened her eyes. He gave her a small smile, his eyes fixed on hers which were squinting at him.

“Hey sleepy,” he said.

“Am I dreaming?” she asked uncertainly looking around the room.

“No,” Marat replied, his smile widening.

Sophia sat up disheveled and disoriented. She noticed he was still holding her hand and she pulled away. She smoothed down her hair conscious of the fact that Marat was staring at the mess of curls on top of her head.

“What are you doing here?” Her voice was afraid and hesitant.

She didn’t think her heart could take another conversation similar to what they had just a while ago.

“I wanted to see you,” Marat said simply.

He sighed. He loved her hair and didn’t want her to touch it. It looked $exy as h3ll the way it was tousled.

“Why? So you can tell me how much you don’t want to be with me?” she retorted bitterly.

She got out of bed and headed straight for her pack of cigarettes.

He followed her and watched her silently until she had the cigarette ready to light it. But before she could, he took it from her lips and threw it away along with the rest of her smokes.

If Alex did that, she would’ve slapped him. If anybody else did that, they would’ve gotten a talking to. But Marat did it and she was powerless against him.

“We really need to talk,” he stated. “Will you sit with me?”

Sophia shrugged her shoulders and plonked herself right on the floor.

“There is a bed we can sit on,” he suggested lightly.

“I’m fine right here,” she said firmly, crossing her arms.

Marat smirked but sat on the floor with her, their backs leaning on the bed.

He turned to face her and swallowed the lump in his throat. It was hard for him to be so open and honest with her after everything.

“Thank you for telling me how you feel,” he began.

Sophia wasn’t looking at him. Instead her eyes were fixed to her right foot which was pointing and flexing. It was a nervous twitch.

“And it’s not that I don’t want the same thing…”

Her foot suddenly stopped moving and she stopped breathing. She listened for the rest…

“I’m sorry I freaked out earlier. It’s just…hearing all that from you…it’s a really big thing, you have no idea.”

“Why?” Sophia blurted out. She couldn’t remain impassive.

“Because you’ve said things before and you nearly married another guy!” he exclaimed. “Who’s to say someone else is not going to come along after you say all these things to me and you choose him and again I’m left with nothing but your words which were meaningless anyway.”

Sophia blinked and opened her mouth in shock. There he was looking so confident and self-assured but deep down, Marat was just like everybody else who’s heart could get broken and scarred. She didn’t know she’d had that much of an effect on him and she felt bad for it.

“They weren’t meaningless,” she reassured him.

“How could they not be meaningless when you weren’t brave enough to be with me? See Sophia, they’re only words unless you do something about them.”

Sophia realized she had really hurt him in the past and wished there was something she could do to prove to him that would never happen again.

“There’s going to be noone else,” she promised. “I want to be with you.”

Marat took her hand and this time she didn’t pull away.

“I think maybe we shouldn’t jump into anything too soon,” he said carefully. “Not that I don’t want to be with you because I do.”

Sophia was flooded with relief. Those were the words she’d been longing to hear from him in such long time. There was no doubt they always wanted to be together and now it might actually happen with no one to hold them back anymore. Except themselves.

“If you had stayed with me instead of running away earlier, you would’ve heard me say that I want to be with you. I think I’ve always wanted to. I just think you know, to make sure this is really what we both want, we shouldn’t rush…and we shouldn’t be saying things that could hurt the other person in the future.”

Sophia frowned knowing why Marat was being so careful.

“Ok Marat, we’ll take it slow,” she agreed. “And I get it. You need to make sure that I’m not going to go anywhere.”

She reached up to caress the back of his head and gazed into his eyes lovingly.

“And I promise I’m not. I’ll wait for as long as it takes for you to trust me on that.”

He nodded wanting to believe her. He didn’t want to fall into the same trap again of becoming so into her and then getting screwed over.

Sufficed to say, Marat was hurt and only protecting his heart.

“I’m sorry for being such a…what did you call it? A lousy date?” he said.

She giggled, finding it so cute when he didn’t understand a certain word in English.

“I came to talk to you in the morning but then I was in a bad mood when I found you here in Alex’s room and it was before you told me he was…and…well you know the rest!”

Sophia pursed her lips to stifle her laughter. Marat was also starting to find the whole situation amusing and chuckled.

“Anyway now you know why.”

“Yeah coz you were jealous of my gay best friend!” laughed Sophia.

He didn’t want to be embarrassed any longer so he pulled her up and tucked some loose curls covering her face behind her ear. She stared up at him smiling bashfully. She wanted to kiss him but considering what he had just told her, she had a feeling he might not like her being so forward.

She decided to let him make all the moves because she was not sure what would be considered inappropriate or not.

“I’m glad we’ve talked things over,” she commented instead.

“Me too,” Marat replied.

She hugged him tight and he hugged her back and kissed her lightly on the forehead.

“Well, I should probably go back to my room and sleep there for once. I think Sasha has someone he wants to invite over,” she revealed.

Marat shook his head and shuddered. “Too much information,” he said.

Sophia opened the bedroom door and caught Alex hovering just outside of it. She slapped him playfully on the arm.

“I guess you’ve heard everything already,” she whispered through gritted teeth as she walked past him.

“Yes!” Alex exclaimed trying to keep his voice down. “Oh god, you guys are so sweet! And I’m really glad it’s all going to work out! But you’re right, I’ve invited the hottie over so you and lover boy will need to clear out now.”

She hit him again but then slinked her arms around his waist.

Marat was walking behind them, observing their interaction. This time he felt no hostility or anger as he watched Alex pick Sophia off the floor and spin her around or when he finally put her down and kissed her.

“She really loves you,” Alex said to him as he walked out. Sophia had already exited the room and was walking ahead.

“You have to know that. She was so miserable for so many months and I never knew why. But then she told me it was because of you. And now that she has this second chance with you, she’s not going to do anything to ruin that.”

Marat gave him a friendly handshake. He was appreciative that Alex was protective of Sophia and took care of her the same way he would have.

“That’s what she said to me, you know. She said ‘if I ever get another chance to be with Marat, I promise I’m going to show him everyday how much I love him.’”

Marat looked over at Sophia a few doors down who was clumsily trying to open her door with the hotel keycard she was never very good at using. The sight of her made him content and at peace once more.

“I thought you should know that in case you have any doubts about her,” Alex continued. “Because you shouldn’t. She’s so completely crazy about you.”

With a slight nod at Alex, he turned around and made his way towards Sophia. He was so full of affection for her that very moment and he needed to reassure her that despite what he said, he did want to be with her so much.

Sophia finally opened the door and faced Marat who was standing inches behind her. “Well, good night then,” she said shyly.

Marat leaned down, cupped her face and gave her the sweetest kiss she’d ever tasted in her life.

It rendered her speechless for a few seconds from shock and confusion. She licked her lips to taste him some more.

“Umm, I thought you said you didn’t want to rush,” she reminded him.

He grinned. “This is not rushing, it’s just a kiss,” he explained.

She folded her arms. “Just a kiss?” she asked skeptically.

“Ok no, it’s not just a kiss,” Marat admitted.

He bent down and gave her another one that had her knees buckling. She held on to his arms to stop from falling.

“I want you to know I do feel everything the same as you. Everything,” he emphasised. He made Sophia’s heart flutter. “But just give me some time to work through my issues.”

She hugged him again and kissed his chest where she could feel the steady beating of his heart.

“I really should go,” he decided, pulling away from her embrace and looking at her with wonder in his eyes. “Why do you always have to smell so good?”

Her scent alone was enough of a temptation to Marat. He didn’t know if he’d be able to resist her for very long.

[audrey]

Chapter 37

Due to her injury, Sophia had been assigned to teach classes at the ballet studio she had taught at previously for the duration of her stay in Moscow.

The owner of the studio had really taken a liking to her and requested for her to teach her younger students when she found out from Juliette that Sophia was once again incapacitated.

She really didn’t mind. In fact, she welcomed the break from having to rehearse everyday and perform every night.

She loved teaching and she especially loved her students.

Most of all, she loved being able to spend time with Marat. They were getting to know each other all over again and she was falling for him harder than ever if that were possible.

It wasn’t that he’d changed. He was still the same nice, charming, funny and incredibly gorgeous man she remembered him to be. Sophia simply took more notice of his appealing qualities than she did before. There was no way she was going to take Marat for granted ever again and appreciating every single part him re-opened her eyes to all his goodness.

Likewise Marat was enjoying his time alone with her. Alex was busy with performances and his sister had left for Australia to get ready for the first grand slam of the year. This left Sophia all to himself which he didn’t mind one bit.

It was easy to become so besotted with her. She had the most disarming smile that could brighten up his day and a sense of humour that enabled her to genuinely laugh at all his jokes no matter how lame.

He could barely get a smile out of past girlfriends who all loved a good pout much less a giggle. Marat found it thoroughly refreshing that here was a girl who could laugh so easily and wholeheartedly, unperturbed that the media might catch her in something less than a perfect model-like pose.

Her confident and strong but impossibly sweet personality was causing some serious damage to his head. He had to be careful otherwise he risked falling prey to her charm and beauty real quickly.

He was naïve to think he was strong enough to resist her.
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Marat was standing outside waiting for Sophia. It was a bittersweet but special day and he wanted to spend every moment of it with her.

When she came out, he could see she was trying to stop herself from running up to him and jumping into his arms. Her excitement was evident on her face and he couldn’t help it, she got him all excited as well. But it wasn’t hard for Marat to get excited when she was around. She was sunshine personified.

“Hi!” she said cheerfully.

“Happy birthday, birthday girl.” Marat gave her a bunch of her favourite flowers and a smile that melted her frozen body.

“Thanks!” Sophia replied taking the bright yellow tulips from him wondering how and where he managed to get them seeing as they were not in season.

“How was your class?” He took her hand and walked with her taking smaller steps to keep in time with her petite feet that were taking extra care not to slip on the icy ground.

“It was great! I’m really going to miss those kids. You know, two of the girls actually started crying when I told them I was going home tomorrow,” she told him sadly.

“And Mrs. Ivanova is practically handing over the studio to me!” she said incredulous. “She’s wants someone to take over and run the place so she can have more time to pursue her other interests.”

Sophia shook her head finding the idea of her running a ballet school a bit ridiculous.

“Why are you shaking your head? You’re good with those kids,” Marat commented. “I think you’d do a good job if you took over the school.”

It was true. He’d seen her with the students and how natural she was taking care of them.

She nudged him playfully. “Come on, be serious!” she laughed.

“I am! You don’t think you’d be good at it?”

“No, it’s not that. I can’t even consider it because I don’t live here, remember? It’ll be a little hard to teach when I’m in Sydney.”

Marat nodded in agreement. He kept forgetting her home was on the other side of the world. He was getting used to having her around all the time. Moscow would definitely be different once she left.

His own birthday was coming up soon and for the first time in a long time, he had someone really special in his life he could celebrated it with. Except with Sophia, it would probably have to be over the phone.

He looked over at her and her mood had turned slightly. She was dreading the trip back to Sydney because she didn’t want to be away from Marat. Their relationship was finally on the right path and she didn’t want anything to jeopardize it.

“So I hope you like Japanese food. I’m taking you to my favourite Japanese restaurant tonight,” Marat announced trying to take her mind away from whatever was bothering her.

“Are you asking me out on a date?” Sophia asked uncertainly with a big smile on her face.

“Yes so you know, I’m really hoping you’re going to say yes,” he replied suddenly sounding a little nervous.

Sophia stopped walking and turned to Marat. She reached up to wrap her arms around his neck and stared at his beautiful face. She wanted to reassure him that he needn’t feel nervous about anything. Her answer would always be yes.

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They had a few hours to kill before dinner and when Marat asked Sophia what she wanted to do, he was surprised by her answer.

“Teach me how to play tennis,” she said.

He laughed but stopped when he realized she wasn’t joking.

“It’s your birthday!” he exclaimed. “There are more fun things to do than learn how to play tennis on your birthday. Plus you’re injured.”

But Sophia was adamant insisting the doctor had already given her clearance.

“Please?” she insisted with her flirtatious eyes and cheeky smile he couldn’t say no to.

Marat caved in and took her to the Spartak club where they were met by his dad who was working in the office and delightfully surprised by the unexpected visit.

While the men were talking family business, Sophia looked around Mikhail’s office full of trophies and plaques. On closer inspection, she discovered they all belonged to his freakishly talented children.

There were also a couple of pictures on the wall and again they were of Marat and Dinara in their younger days when they trained at the club. She grinned, finding them so adorably cute.

Her absolute favourite though was taken in 2005 of Marat holding the cup after winning the Australian Open. He looked so happy, tired, relieved, excited, calm, ecstatic, proud and yet humble all at the same time. The emotions he laid bare in that one photo reached out to her soul.

“You must be very proud of your kids,” she said, turning to Mikhail.

He nodded. “Yes of course,” he replied. “But not because of what they’ve achieved in tennis. It’s the people they’ve become as adults that make me and their mother proud.”

Marat shifted his feet feeling awkward about hearing his father’s praises. He was never comfortable at accepting compliments.

“So you’re here to learn how to play tennis!” Mikhail said delighted. “That’s good. Though I must say my son’s not a very patient teacher so you must forgive him.”

“Well, I’m not a very patient student so maybe we can start off just learning how to connect racquet with ball,” Sophia giggled.

They went out to the courts where Marat explained the basics to Sophia before getting her to start hitting some balls.

For all her elegance and beauty on stage, she was terribly hopeless in tennis and as Mikhail predicted it didn’t take long for Marat to get frustrated.

“I told you – don’t take your eyes off the ball!” he shouted from the other side of the net.

“I haven’t!” Sophia yelled back.

“Yes, you have. You’re looking at me, not the ball,” Marat stated matter-of-fact.

Ooops, busted, Sophia thought. He was right, she was looking at him. But she couldn’t help herself. She found him ridiculously good looking in his Adidas gear which he’d changed into because he always had a spare change of clothes at his dad’s club.

She’d never been very good at sports and now with Marat distracting her, she was even worse. If she wasn’t missing the ball, she was hitting it fiercely at him and he was sure he was going to have a couple of bruises by the end of their “lesson”.

After ducking low to miss another one of her missiles, Marat threw his racquet on the ground, gently by his standards, and put his hands on his hips. Irritation was etched all over his face and he was shaking his head as Sophia looked over at him indignantly.

“What? I’m doing exactly what you wanted me to do!” she cried out.

“And what exactly is that?” he inquired marching towards the middle of the court.

“I’m hitting the ball!” Sophia also made her way to the net.

“I think you’re trying to kill me,” he said. “The game is called tennis, Sophia. It’s not thump the guy on the other side of the net as hard as you can.”

They had met halfway and Marat was staring down at her. His effort to look angry was failing though because he could not get mad at those playful eyes or that glorious smile.

“Geez, your dad was right – you are a terrible teacher!” she teased.

“Hey, my dad said I was impatient. No one said anything about being terrible.”

“Oh that’s right. Well then I’m saying it!” Sophia’s eyes twinkled and she raised her eyebrows cheekily.

“Alright then. I’ll let you get away with that one and not mention you’re a terrible student only because it’s your birthday.”

He grinned at her, amused by his own comeback. Her mouth twitched as she suppressed a smile, pretending to be offended.

Marat bent down and kissed her on the cheek as a peace offering which she accepted with triumphant grace.

“See, I told you tennis is not much fun. Have you had enough yet?”

He prayed she was because he was exhausted just watching her awful serve and dodging the balls that came his way. That’s how he knew he would make a bad coach. Instead of helping the person improve, he could only see their faults and be too appalled by their shortcomings that he would want to walk away from the job.

“Yes, I suppose so,” she conceded. “I don’t really want to humiliate myself any further.”

They went back inside to Mikhail’s office where they had some tea with him. Marat’s dad chuckled while Sophia gave him a recount of her pathetic first tennis lesson and her teacher’s horrible teaching abilities.

Marat was amazed at how Sophia managed to make his dad laugh with ease. Mikhail had met all of Marat’s long term girlfriends and none of them had ever been able to connect with him the way Sophia could. Marat guessed he wasn’t the only one who was drawn to her charm.

“Well I hope Marat has something else planned for your birthday,” Mikhail commented frowning at his son.

“Yes, yes, what do you think I am?” Marat muttered. “It was her idea to play tennis.”

He took Sophia’s hand and stood up to leave. His dad winked at her and she smiled at him.
He greeted her a happy birthday and wished her a safe trip home to Sydney.

“Your visits here are too short,” he said. “My wife and I would love to have you over again for dinner when you return to Moscow.”

Sophia promised to take him up on his offer although she wasn’t really sure when she would be back. She was nonetheless touched by his kindness which was something Marat shared with him.

“Your family is great. I love them,” Sophia said as they drove away.

“They’re ok,” Marat replied smiling.

It occurred to him that while Sophia had gotten to know his family and seen where they lived and worked, he didn’t know hers very much at all apart from Rosa and she was gone.

Although he’d met her parents in Valencia, he didn’t have a chance to really talk to them as they were too preoccupied taking care of her grandmother.

“So birthday girl, what do you want for your birthday?” he asked.

Sophia shook her head. “Nothing,” she told him.

“Really?”

He couldn’t quite believe her. He was accustomed to his girlfriends demanding him to lavish gifts on them even when there was no special occasion.

“Yes really!” she laughed. “I have everything I want.”

She placed her hand on top of his that was controlling the gear stick and left it there as if to prove her point.

“You don’t have to get me anything, Marat,” Sophia reassured him. “You’re my birthday present.”

She was too sweet and he wanted to kiss her desperately right then and there.

Her genuine disregard for a tangible gift pleased him very much. Not that he wouldn’t splurge on her. But it was good to know that she was not a materialistic person like some of the other women he knew.

“I got you something already,” Marat revealed with a smile. “Do you think I should return it then?”

His lips twitched as he watched her shift uncomfortably in her seat.

“Oh…well…since you’ve already got it, why waste a good present?!” she backtracked giggling.
--------------------------------------------------------------

He waited patiently in her room until she had showered and changed to give her the gift.

While she was in the bathroom, he had snuck out to get it from his car. It was only something small, but it was beautifully gift-wrapped and there was no way he could’ve hidden it as they walked together up to her hotel room.

When she stepped out, she looked stunning and radiant as usual. Her hair was out and she was dressed fashionably chic in a pair of hip hugging jeans and a fitted dark brown leather jacket, accessorized with a scarf wrapped stylishly around her neck and a pair of boots that added a good few inches to her height. She was all covered up and all Marat could think of was what was underneath all those clothes. He didn’t even realize he was staring at her until she spoke.

“What? What are you looking at?” Sophia asked with apprehension.

She consciously smoothed down her hair and adjusted her clothes in case there was something out of place.

Marat stood up from the edge of the bed and approached her.

“You look so beautiful,” he said to her.

Sophia felt her cheeks flush and she became short of breath.

He gave her a soft kiss on the cheek and presented her the gift.

“Happy birthday, pretty girl.”

Sophia stared dumbly at the yellow ribbon tied around the small rectangular item he was handing to her. The thought, the gesture, the presentation – it was all so beautiful and perfect.

She was all choked up and when she looked at him, she had tears in her eyes.

“I know it’s not much but don’t cry,” Marat joked stroking her back.

She hit him lightly on his chest. “Don’t be stupid,” she said hugging the present. “I love it.”

“You haven’t even opened it.”

Sophia smiled at him. “I love it anyway.”

She sat on the bed and began untying the ribbon slowly.

“This is almost too pretty to open. Did you wrap this up yourself?” she asked.

“Well, the gift is all me but I had some help with the wrapping,” Marat admitted.

Sophia carefully tore open the plain white wrapper and gushed when she saw what was inside.

“Do you like it?” he asked nervously.

“Uh-huh.” She couldn’t say anything more than that because she started tearing up again.

What Marat gave her was a beautiful photo book he’d put together himself. It was book full of pictures he’d taken of Rosa and Sophia during the two trips Sophia made to Valencia and numerous other ones he took of Rosa when he visited her on his own.

Sophia was touched by such a thoughtful gift. She could tell Marat had put so much effort in it, selecting only the most beautiful pictures of Rosa from his collection, touching them up to make them look that little bit better and arranging them so carefully and creatively.

She was crying silently as she turned each page with care feeling truly overwhelmed.

She realized how much she missed her abuela and touched her face as if she could feel her skin.

She also realized that yes, it was possible to fall for Marat even deeper. She was truly, hopelessly and utterly in love with him.

Marat put his arm around her shoulder and kissed her temple. He wiped away the tears running down her cheeks.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to make you sad on your birthday,” he apologized. He wondered if he should’ve gone the safer option of buying her a leather handbag or purse that was sure to bring a smile on her face.

“Marat, this must’ve taken you such a long time,” she commented with awe. “When did you do all this?”

He shrugged not wanting to make a big deal. “Whenever I’ve had time. It was something I always wanted to give to you. It doesn’t matter how we ended up.”

Sophia looked at him with glistening eyes. “It’s the most beautiful gift,” she said. “Thank you.”

She felt like being bold then, for a moment forgetting about her promise not to make the first move. But she wanted to be as close as she could get, as close as he would let her, to that big and kind heart of his.

She touched Marat’s cheek affectionately and leaned in to kiss him nice and slow.

He didn’t mind her being impulsive and daring one bit. It was his idea not to move too quickly and she was being very good following his wishes. So good in fact that her attempt at resisting him was making Marat want her so much more.

He didn’t want to eat his words and his pride wasn’t allowing him to give in and go further than what he deemed appropriately slow. But he was finding it extremely difficult keeping his hands off her. He didn’t realise how much he wanted Sophia until he made the stupid decision not to rush things. Now all he thought about was what it would be like to be with her again.

Especially with her moaning seductively into his mouth, her lips pressed against his and her hands stroking his back Marat was instantly aroused. He wished he’d made their dinner reservations for later on in the night.

But no sooner than he thought of this that Sophia suddenly pulled away all out of breath.

“We should probably go,” she suggested standing up.

“It’s ok, we have time,” Marat answered trying hard not to sound desperate. He was still seated hoping she would follow suit.

Sophia, well aware of his desire, looked at him and smiled cheekily. She grabbed his hand and pulled him up. She wrapped her arms around his neck and stared into his intense green eyes.

“You really want to stay here?” she asked keeping a straight face.

He nodded.

“Would that make you happy?”

“That would make me very happy,” he said.

She pursed her lips then kissed him on the mouth making him shiver.

Then very softly she murmured in his ear, “Marat, honey, I’m afraid we can’t do that.”

“What? Why?” he almost shouted pulling away from her.

Sophia giggled. “It’s too soon.” She took his hand again and led him towards the door.

“No it’s not,” he whined, letting her pull him along though rather reluctantly.

“I’m just playing by your rules,” she reminded him.

“Well, it’s a stupid rule.”

She turned around and took his face in her hands, stroking his cheek to soothe him. “It’s not a stupid rule,” she said. “You’ll see. And when it’s the right time, it’ll be perfect.”

Marat tried not to let his frustration show. What she said only made him crave her even more because although she had just turned him down, she’d also made it perfectly clear to him that a physical union between them would eventually happen.

“When it’s the right time, it’ll be perfect.” He wished the right time would come already.

From the moment they’d met, she’d always made him wait. But he didn’t mind because she was worth waiting for.

What a tease, he thought. But he said it in the most affectionate way.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dinner was a joyful and romantic occasion. The food was amazing and Marat and Sophia had not had a night like this in a very long time. As always they enjoyed their time together immensely, laughing without restraint, talking non-stop and having eyes only for each other as if they were the only two people in the room.

Marat was being extra attentive and loving towards Sophia, finding any excuse to touch her hair or stroke her back and for most of the night had his hand linked around hers.

Dessert had come and Sophia was not having much luck in getting him to have a bite of the chocolate birthday cake he ordered for her.

“Come on!” she pushed. “It’s no fun if I eat all this birthday cake on my own.” She waved a fork playfully inches from his face. Marat grabbed her wrist gently with a smile and pushed her hand down the table.

“It’s for you and you know I don’t eat dessert,” he said.

“But it’s my birthday! And do you know that we’ve known each other for exactly a year in case you’ve forgotten. That’s a double occasion! So you have to have a taste for me.”

Marat hadn’t forgotten. He always thought about that fateful night with fondness when they first met inside that laidback, unassuming Melbourne bar. Sophia with her wild hair, her clumsy trip to the bar, and her abrupt, uninterested manner. Marat was sucked in from the get-go. He never had a chance against her.

He surrendered and took a bite.

Sophia grinned and still in a playful mood, took another chunk of the cake with her fingers and pretended to eat it. But before she put it into her mouth, she quickly reached for his face and smeared the icing all over his cheeks and the crumbs on his mouth.

“You’re going to regret doing that,” he warned, taking a napkin and wiping the chocolate off his face. He reached for the plate to get her back but as he did so, his phone rang.

“You’re lucky,” he said pointing a finger at Sophia who was in hysterics.

Shaking his head, he moved away from the table to take the call leaving Sophia alone still cracking herself up.

“Hello,” he mumbled.

“Hey guess what? I’m through to the second round here in Sydney,” Dinara announced.

“Good work,” Marat said distractedly as he licked off the icing that remained on his lips and brushed off the crumbs that had fallen on his shirt.

“I haven’t been able to reach Sophia. Is she with you?” Dinara asked.

“Yes,” Marat replied.

“That’s great!” she exclaimed. “Are you out celebrating her birthday?”

“We are.”

Dinara squealed with delight. “And…how’s it all going?”

“Hmmm, let’s see,” he began. “We played tennis and she hit me so many times with the balls that she actually bruised me. I don’t know how she ever paid attention in ballet class when she was young. She wouldn’t listen to me it was so annoying!”

Dinara rolled her eyes finding it hard to believe that Sophia could ever do anything to annoy her brother. She knew how besotted Marat was with her.

“Then when I gave her the present, she started crying….” he continued only to be interrupted.

“What did she think of my gift wrapping?”

“She loved it. But Dinara, you know how I don’t like it when girls cry,” he complained.

“No you don’t,” she agreed.

“And just then she thought it would be funny to attack me with a piece of cake which by the way was not funny.”

“It sounds like a disaster but I have a feeling you’re going to tell me otherwise,” Dinara said laughing.

He smiled thoughtfully. “Even with this chocolate cake all over my face, her bad tennis and her maddening ways, I couldn’t have asked for a better date.”

Marat turned around and watched Sophia enjoying what was left of her dessert with affection. She saw him watching her and flashed him one of her captivating smiles. It was a smile that he could look at all day.

“So does she have it?” his sister asked with anticipation.

“Have what?”

“Remember before when you kept complaining that all the girls you dated didn’t have that thing you were looking for?”

Marat remembered. He felt so lost then and those meaningless dates were so depressing.

“Well, does Sophia have it?”

He thought back to the beginning of the day and could only recall how excited he was as soon as he woke up knowing he would be spending the day with her. He remembered the happiness he felt seeing her face. Being around her all this time made him so happy that he was almost giddy. He hadn’t once thought there was something lacking in her or their time together.

He was still staring at Sophia when it suddenly hit him.

“She IS it,” he declared with absolute certainty. “Dinara, she is it! She was the it I was looking for in all those girls and of course I couldn’t find her in any of them because none of them were her!”

Marat smiled to himself, relieved that he finally realized what was missing all along. The love and joy that he felt and the sensation of being on top of the world whenever he was around Sophia were things he never experienced with anybody else.

He came to another realization that he wasn’t ready to be apart from her so quickly after they’d just decided to try again. He considered how he could go about asking her to stay longer with him in Moscow and if she would even agree.

“I love you and I’m really happy for you but stop grinning like an idiot,” he heard Dinara say bringing him back to the present.

“How do you know I’m smiling?” he asked defensively.

She smirked. “Psshhh…please, I’m your sister,” she responded. “And I can hear it in your voice. You’re smiling like you’re the happiest guy in the world right now.”

It was true. Marat found himself grinning from ear to ear. But it was because at that very moment, he really was the happiest guy in the world.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

They had come to the end of their date but neither of them wanted the night to be over.

They were in his car arguing. A decision had to be made about where they were going to next. Sophia could only scoff at Marat’s suggestion.

“What’s wrong with going back to my place?” he asked indignantly.

She folded her arms. “For someone who wants to take things slow, you’re being very pushy,” she said.

Marat shook his head and let out a sarcastic laugh. “Can you stop quoting me? I know what I said. I’m asking you back to my place to drink some tea, talk, hang out, enjoy what’s left of your birthday.”

She gave him a suspicious look. “Really? That’s all you had in mind?”

“Actually no it’s not,” he admitted.

Sophia hit him playfully on the arm.

“What? You asked me!”

He was so exasperating! He enforced some stupid rule on their relationship and expected her to abide by it but he couldn’t even follow it himself.

After careful consideration, Sophia had come to the conclusion that it was probably best to start over and not rush.

$ex just made things complicated and the emotions it invoked before, during and after it sometimes confused people for what they truly felt.

She was sure of her feelings for Marat but she wanted him to be absolutely certain about her in case he changed his mind. She had nothing to worry about but she was going to make him wait nonetheless.

Besides, this was his brilliant idea and now he had to suffer the consequences for making it up.

“Marat, can you please just take me back to the hotel?” Sophia asked politely. “I’m not going to put myself in a situation that is, entering your apartment, where both of us might get tempted to go further than we should.”

He shook his head and started the engine. “Ok, I’ll take you back,” he agreed. “But I’m not going to leave you alone.”

She frowned at him and shook her head as well at his stubbornness.

“I just want to be with you, that’s all,” Marat explained. “You’re going home tomorrow. We have less than 12 hours left together. Do you really want to spend your last night here alone?”

He made a good point. “No,” she said quietly.

“Look, we’re going back to your hotel. It’s your territory. You can tell me whenever you want me to leave and I will. I’ll make sure you sit on one end of the room and I’ll sit on the other end so we’re not touching even one bit. Ok?”

She laughed then. His humour never failed to amuse her.

When they got to her room, Sophia opened the door and let Marat in. Before they disappeared inside, Alex was down the corridor back from his own date and saw them both enter her room. He smiled to himself.

“Yes girlfriend,” he said wickedly. “You go and ravage your man!”
------------------------------------------------------------

In the morning Marat was still there.

He opened his eyes and smiled at the loveliness in front of him.

Curled up close by his side was a sleeping Sophia who could not bear the thought of letting him go the night before that she surrendered to her desire and let him stay.

Her alarm went off and she slowly woke up. The first thing she saw was him gazing at her and it made her feel so wonderfully happy.

“Hi,” she said.

“Hi,” he said. “How are you this morning?”

“Tired. And I really don’t want to go home today.”

Marat was tired too as they had been up most of the night and only forced themselves to go to sleep only a few hours earlier.

He also didn’t want her to go home today either.

Sophia sighed loudly and began to get out of bed. But Marat pulled her back and spooned her nice and tight.

“Fifteen minutes,” he requested. “Then you can get ready and I’ll take you to the airport.”

She liked the sound of that and snuggled even closer to him.

Marat hugged her tighter. He wanted to wake up to this every morning.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

On their way to the airport, Marat made a quick call and told her he need to make a stopover at his parents’ place for a favour.

“What’s the favour?” Sophia asked with curiosity stepping out of the car in her big winter boots.

It was extremely cold that morning and the only thing that she was glad about going home was the sun and the surf waiting for her in Sydney.

“Ummm…I just need them to do something for me,” he said taking her hand and leading her inside the building.

He was a little jumpy which was very out of character for him as he was usually so composed.

He’d been acting weird since they left the hotel and Sophia found his strange behaviour disconcerting especially when he disappeared into the kitchen talking in hushed tones with his mum and dad.

She needed to be at the airport very soon and was irritated that Marat couldn’t wait to ask for this favour until after he had dropped her off.

Now she was stuck there while they took their time discussing something in secrecy, leaving her all alone in the lounge room.

After waiting a few more restless minutes, his parents finally reemerged with Marat following them close behind carrying a small duffel bag.

“Ok let’s go,” he announced. “My dad needs to take my car so he’ll drive to the airport.”

Sophia was a little embarrassed that Mikhail had suddenly become her chauffeur but she shrugged her shoulders choosing to save any questions until they were well on their way in case it delayed them any further.

They were sitting in silence in the back seat with Marat’s parents at the front. The scene was quite amusing reminiscent of two high school kids going out on a date and being chaperoned.

“Are you ok?” Sophia whispered.

“Yes, why?” he whispered back.

“You look a bit edgy.”

“Do I? No I’m fine.”

She nodded but unconvinced. “Ok, I just thought you know, you might have regrets about last night.”

Marat looked at her adoringly and squeezed her hand. “No regrets,” he assured her. “Did you enjoy your birthday?”

“I did,” she replied. “Thank you for everything. Now can you tell me why you’ve dragged your parents out of their nice, warm home to this ridiculous freezing weather and made your dad drive to the airport?”

He patted her knee lightly and chuckled. “He’s going to take care of my car because I’ll be away for a while.”

“Oh…for business or pleasure?”

This was the first he’d ever mentioned that he was going somewhere and they’d talked about almost everything in the last week.

“Definitely pleasure,” he said still being very secretive.

“Hmmm…and is it somewhere nice, this place you’re going to?” she asked becoming more frustrated with his evasiveness.

“It’s beautiful,” he said looking right at her.

She rolled her eyes. “Ok, you’re being very annoying now,” she told him ignoring his quiet laughter. “Can you just tell me where you’re going?”

Looking directly at the road in front of him with a smile he was trying to contain, Marat revealed in the most casual manner, “I’m coming with you to Sydney.”

“Shut up!” Sophia shouted in shock.

Mikhail looked back at her through the rearview mirror and Rauza turned around from her seat smiling. Marat laughed out loud.

Sophia remembered they weren’t alone and smiled sheepishly at them.

“I’m sorry but is it true? Is your son really going to Sydney?” she asked doubtful.

“Yes, it’s really true,” Mikhail replied. “The only time I get to drive his nice cars is when he goes away so it better be!”

She faced Marat and looked at him incredulously. “When did you organize all this, you sneak?”

He put his arm around her shoulders. “I made a call with the airline this morning while you were in the shower but I made up my mind I was coming with you last night,” he said.

“So that whole line you fed to me about having less than 12 hours left together was just a trick to convince me to let you come to my room, wasn’t it?” she hissed keeping her voice low so his parents wouldn’t hear.

“Yes it was,” he admitted unrepentant.

Sophia could only laugh at his cockiness.

“But tell me, do you regret spending all of last night together?” he returned her earlier question back to her before kissing her cheek.

She gazed at him with adoring eyes and Marat knew her answer.

[audrey]

Chapter 38

It was Sophia’s second day back in Sydney and she had agreed to an early morning coffee with Alex and her girlfriends who she hadn’t seen since before she went to Moscow.

“So where’s loverboy?” Alex inquired as he sipped on his macchiato.

The other girls were just as curious and waited expectantly for her answer.

“He’s sleeping,” Sophia replied. “The jetlag really got to him and this is his first trip here where he doesn’t have any agenda and he doesn’t have to get up early for practice.”

Alex snorted and refused to believe that was the reason why Marat wasn’t around.

“Sure. I bet it’s because you’ve made him your love slave in your little love nest and you’ve been keeping him up every night,” he decided.

The other girls giggled and Sophia glared at him. Although there was not much she kept from her friends, she was very sensitive when it came to talking about Marat especially when questions came out as being nosey. And Alex this morning was being very nosey and infuriating. She also didn’t appreciate him assuming things he had no idea about.

“Shut up, Sasha, it’s not even like that,” she said.

Luckily, Jessie changed the subject by asking her about the success of their shows and her untimely injury.

She was happy to talk about her trip in detail and take the focus away from Marat but Alex was relentless and brought the conversation back to him as much as possible.

As she was telling her friends about her birthday, he butted in and pointed out one piece of information she was purposely leaving out.

“Come on, Phia, you know your date didn’t just end after dinner,” Alex teased. “Tell us what happened when he went back to your hotel room.”

“HE WHAT?” all the girls screamed in unison.

She frowned at Alex and sighed. “Yes, ok fine, he came back with me to the hotel,” she admitted. “Not that it’s anyone’s business.”

She picked up her cup and drank her coffee to indicate that she didn’t want to say anything more.

“That is so not fair, Phia!” Nicola protested. “You have to give us something more than that. Don’t be so blasé!”

They all nodded in agreement while Alex chuckled knowing how Sophia didn’t like being put on the spot.

“I can’t give you anymore than that because nothing happened,” she said simply.

None of them believed her and continued in their protest to demand more information.

“I’m telling you nothing happened,” Sophia repeated.

“Please!” Alex exclaimed. “You expect me to believe that when I know he stayed with you the whole night?!”

She shoved him forcefully that he nearly toppled over his chair.

“You know, you are being such a big mouth today!” she lashed out. She brushed the hair off her face and composed herself.

“Look, if all of you really want to know, our relationship this time around hasn’t actually reached that physical stage yet.”

Her statement shocked them into silence and they stared at her dumbfounded.

“You mean you haven’t slept together yet?” Anna asked in a whisper.

“Well, that night in my hotel room we did sleep together but we didn’t “sleep” together,” Sophia revealed.

“But why? Didn’t you just want to jump into bed with him when you both decided to work things out?”

Sophia laughed. “We rushed into that way too quickly in the past. Now we’re taking things a lot slower.”

“On who’s insistence? Yours or his?” Alex inquired.

“He suggested it first but I fully agree with him,” she said nodding her head.

They all looked at her as if she was crazy that she could actually hold out on Marat. Secretly, they were all certain that if they were in Sophia’s shoes, they would’ve jumped into bed with him many times over already.

“Ok you’re staring at me as if I’m loopy but seriously, watching him taking it slow is really $exy,” Sophia told them. “It brings out the most sweetest and romantic side of him.”

Her friends sighed dreamily and could only imagine what she meant.

“Well, if you weren’t fooling around, what were you doing all night then?” Alex demanded, still very curious about what happened that night in her room.

Sophia hated discussing the intimate details of her relationships but she knew she would never hear the end of it from Alex if she didn’t at least give him something.

“I’m afraid it’s not even half the fantasy that you have in your head, Sash. We stayed up talking, ordered room service, watched some re-runs of a really bad Russian soap opera that he was trying to translate but he couldn’t because he was laughing so much…”

She smiled at the memory of it. That was one of the best birthdays she’d ever had. It wasn’t even because of anything they did in particular. It was simply because she had spent it with him.

“Next thing you know it was 4am and he was quite the gentleman, getting up to leave and all. But I thought what’s a few more hours together? I mean, he’d already spent the whole night there. So I asked him to stay with me and he did. He lied down next to me on the bed and held my hand until I fell asleep.”

Alex’s eyes were wide with surprise. Not fully convinced that their night together was purely innocent, he continued to pry.

“That’s it?” he asked.

“Yeah Sash, that’s it,” Sophia replied.

“You really didn’t sleep with him?”

“No Sash.”

“No kissing even???”

Sophia paused and suppressed a dreamy smile.

“Well, I said I didn’t sleep with him. I never said there wasn’t any kissing involved,” she offered with a wink.

Alex seemed to take that as an acceptable answer and with a triumphant smile ended his barrage of questions.

The girls gushed and were pleased that their idea of Marat being this incredibly sweet and super $exy guy hadn’t been tainted whatsoever by Sophia’s stories. If anything they were even more convinced he was the kind of guy that women all over wanted because of these stories.

Sophia said good bye to her friends soon after and headed back to her apartment to wake up the incredibly sweet and super $exy boyfriend.
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Her bed was big, cozy and warm. He could feel the cool breeze coming from the not too distant Sydney harbour entering from her bedroom window. Marat was too comfortable and content to get up. That delicious scent of hers was all over her sheets and pillows and it was making him crave her in the craziest manner.

He could’ve stayed in her bed all day had he not realized she wasn’t there with him. But there was a note saying she’d stepped out for a while and would be back very soon.

He thought if Sophia found him still in bed, she would join him and they could have a nice lie in together. So he remained snuggled up in between the sheets with a happy smile on his face.

Marat must have dozed off again because when he opened his eyes, Sophia had returned and she was hovering over him planting little kisses on his cheeks to wake him up.

“Rise and shine, my love,” she said softly in his ear.

He smiled liking that term of endearment she’d recently begun to call him by.

“Do I really have to?” he asked.

“Yes, you really do. It’s 11am!” she told him grabbing a pillow and hitting him lightly on the arm.

“11am doesn’t mean anything to me,” Marat said. “I no longer have any sense of time.”

He reached for her waist but before he could have her in a tight grip, she moved away and stood up. He shook his head amused that she always tried to resist him because in the end she always surrendered.

“Well, we need to go and watch your sister’s match,” she reminded him.

She took his hand to pull him up but his strength overpowered hers. He pulled her down instead and in a second he had her on his lap.

“It smells really good in here,” he commented.

“Yeah I made you breakfast. It’s waiting for you in the kitchen,” she said.

He snickered. “That’s not exactly what I meant but that smells good too.”

Marat kissed her neck and she quivered.

“Oh.” Sophia blushed unable to keep the ridiculous grin off her face.

If she didn’t keep her self-control at bay, she definitely would’ve given into him right then and there, forgetting Dinara’s match altogether and locking them up in her apartment for the rest of the day.

But she mustered up her strength and pushed him away gently much to his detriment.

“Come on, my love,” she said. “You don’t want to keep your sister waiting.”

“How long are you going to keep me waiting?” Marat asked trying to keep his voice even.

Sophia smiled at him. “I’m just…”

“…Playing by my rules, yeah yeah, I know,” he finished off her sentence in a bored tone.

She gave him a sympathetic look and kissed him passionately.

He was defenseless against her kisses and it made him temporarily forget about his frustration that she was taking her sweet time until that magical day when she would finally fulfill his desires.

Marat stood up carrying her in his arms. “All right then,” he said. “If we’re not going to make use of this bed, let’s go into the kitchen so you can feed me.”

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Later on that day Sophia, Marat and Dinara headed to the beach. Dinara had won the Medibank International and it was still light out after she had met all her obligations and still extremely hot. Sophia’s suggestion of celebrating at the beach was met with enthusiasm by brother and sister who could never fully get used to the Australian heat even though it was a place they’d been visiting for many years.

“How can you stand living here?” Dinara asked. “It is so hot! I can’t breathe!”

“I guess I’m just used to it,” Sophia replied. “If it’s any consolation, I almost froze to death in Moscow. Now THAT is torture. I would never be able to live there.”

She laughed as she watched them melting even though the air conditioner in her car was already on full blast.

The sun was about to set but there were still many people out cooling themselves in the water, surfers enjoying the big waves, women sunbathing with desperate hopes to get a tan, mums and dads with their kids building sand castles.

They settled themselves a little away from the crowd for the sake of Marat and Dinara’s privacy.

Dinara wasted no time in jumping into the water to find some relief from the heat. She dove in and waved enthusiastically, urging them to join her.

Marat took off his shirt revealing his beautifully tanned and built body. Sophia felt the temperature get a little hotter as she stared at him.

It was a good thing they were away from the rest of the beachgoers. She was certain he would’ve gotten many stares and hence recognized in a second with a body and a face like that if they had tried to blend in with them.

“Come on, let’s go in,” he said offering his hand to her.

Sophia took it to pull herself up and began to peel off her clothes one by one.

Whether she knew it or not, she was teasing the h3ll out of him.

It was something in the way she stripped off her top and her short denim shorts that he found very seductive and sensual. Then there was her two piece bikini that was too pretty and tasteful and only heightened Marat’s yearning for her.

He decided he would gladly move to Sydney and suffer through this terrible heat if he was able to see Sophia in a bikini every single hot summer day.

[audrey]

Chapter 39

A few days later they flew down to Melbourne to support Dinara at the Australian Open. Little sister was very excited about the presence of beloved big brother and big brother’s girlfriend in her player’s box at a major event. It was a welcome change to a usually near empty box that consisted only of Zeljko and her trainer.

Marat was slightly reluctant to attend her matches fearing the media attention he normally caused would take the focus away from Dinara.

When she met them upon their arrival in Melbourne, he casually brought up the subject and told her maybe it wasn’t such a good idea for him to show up at Melbourne Park and that it was probably better if he watched her matches within the confines of his hotel room.

Dinara blinked. She tried to look brave and unaffected by his sudden change of heart but she was devastated. Nothing meant more to her than having his support, more than having their parents’ and even her coach’s.

When he told her that he’d be there in the stands cheering for her with Sophia, she was over the moon. His attendance at her matches in the past were infrequent because of their conflicting schedules and his decision to support her in the background.

But now he had more time on his hands and he was in Australia, there was no excuse not to be there for her.

So when Marat indifferently said he was thinking about not coming anymore, Dinara was crushed.

Sophia was unaware he felt this way and turned to him with a bewildered expression.

Dinara may have been too respectful to argue with him but Sophia was a lot braver than her when it came to standing up to Marat. Besides she was looking forward to watching her matches live and she knew a thing or two about being let down by family members who would say they’ll show up to her shows and then not make it. In the name of sisterhood, she saw it as her responsibility to stick up for Dinara.

While his sister silently turned around and walked away to gather herself, Sophia took Marat aside to have a word with him.

“You can not do this to her,” she intervened with a gentle touch.

“Sophia, I’m only looking out for her best interest. When the media finds out I’m here, they won’t leave me alone and my sister will be ignored. I don’t want that for her,” he said with genuine concern.

“You watched all her matches in Sydney. What’s the difference?”

“That was a small tournament,” he explained. “I don’t think they even show the whole thing on tv. Plus by the time people found out I was there, it was already the last day.”

“But look at her, she’s devastated,” she pointed out.

They looked over at Dinara and it was obvious she was upset. Her head was hanging down, she was frowning and her sad eyes were staring into space. He did start feeling a little guilty when he saw this.

“Marat, honey, you can’t do this to her,” Sophia repeated. “She looks up to you so much and I know that you being here means a lot to your sister. She would rather be ignored and have you in her player’s box than have all the attention in the world but not have you watching.”

He continued to watch Dinara who was still staring at nothing, her eyes blinking non-stop.

He felt really bad now for upsetting her. The thing was he never would’ve known she was upset if Sophia hadn’t interceded on her behalf. It was like she had become his conscience, making him aware of his actions and their consequences.

In the past, he would have been annoyed had a girl tried to point out his faults and wrongdoings and he was quick to dismiss their observations. But with Sophia he not only found himself listening to her but also taking heed of her advice because if he thought about it long enough he knew it was always to help him be a better person and anyway of course she was always right.

“Ok fine I’ll go,” he decided.

Sophia smiled at him in approval which made him feel good inside knowing she was pleased.

“She’ll be happy to hear that,” she said giving him a slight push towards the direction of his sister. “Now you better go and tell her before she suffers a meltdown.”

“You two love sticking together, don’t you?” Marat observed with amusement.

“Against you, yeah we have to,” she teased.
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Marat had no idea how much fun the Australian Open could be without any pressure, curfews, early rises or late nights. Well, he and Sophia were having late nights every night but he couldn’t complain about those.

They’d made it a ritual to sleep in every morning after late nights of sightseeing Melbourne in the moonlight and ending each perfect day with a few drinks at a different funky bar which the city had in abundance.

Under the covers, they kissed and cuddled and talked and laughed for hours, their lips never tiring of each other. At first, Marat was sure he would struggle being so near Sophia and yet not be able to make love to her. But he surprised himself when he found that he was content just being in her presence and the wait was something he didn’t even think about anymore.

He loved just being able to hug her and kiss her lips and her face. It was enough in the meantime while she continued to abide by his rule. The way he felt when he was around her he knew it was going to be an amazing experience when it finally happened.

Content with this certainty, Marat would bring her in close before going to sleep, nuzzle her neck and hold her in his arms all night until the light of day came once again.

And his worries about the media attention he was going to receive were all in vain as the focus was more on Sophia. Besides making sure he didn’t take the limelight from Dinara, he was very good at keeping a low profile and it was hard to track him down. However, on the rare occasion he was discovered questions were mostly directed at Sophia because she was Australian and the Australian media loved nothing more than when one of their own became an overnight celebrity. They wanted to know every little thing they could about who she was and her relationship with him.

Marat didn’t need to tell her to be careful about what she revealed. She decided to remain tight lipped about her personal life all on her own. As far as she was concerned, she wasn’t a celebrity and she was a very private person with most people at the best of times, much less with the media.

The press were charmed by her nonetheless because she was never rude to them or impolite and at least brushed them off courteously with one of her sweet smiles.

And while she could’ve done without all the cameras, she never pushed the photographers away or hid her face from them. She simply walked as gracefully as always and pretended they weren’t around. She figured the less fuss she made, the less fuss they would make and eventually they would discover that she wasn’t an interesting subject at all.

In fact, it was Marat who couldn’t help himself and had proudly revealed how Sophia exactly fitted into his life.

“I’m here in Melbourne with my girlfriend to watch my sister play and see the sights that I didn’t see when I was competing because there was no time,” he had admitted to the press.

“And is your girlfriend the one who we’ve been seeing with you since you arrived?” one reporter asked.

“Yes, that’s her. She’s showing me around.”

“You seem to get all the pretty ones, Marat.”

“Well yes she’s very beautiful but she’s also one of the nicest people you’ll ever meet too which is more important to me.”

He announced Sophia as his girlfriend with absolute ease and a casualness that proved he didn’t want to hide her. He wanted the whole world to know they were a couple.

She had watched that footage in the news that night and her heart skipped a beat seeing the smile on his face as he mentioned her. It pushed her self-control to near breaking point.
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One night Marat and Sophia were having an early dinner at the famous Japanese restaurant, Nobu at the Crown Casino before they had to go to Melbourne Park to watch Dinara’s night match.

The place was frequented by many tennis players and their entourage during the Open but at that time, not many of them were having dinner yet except for another couple who were on the other side of the room. Marat would have said hello when he saw them walk in but he was engrossed in his conversation with Sophia as usual.

They were discussing his business plan which he really needed to get serious about because after his vacation in Australia, he was meant to have done all the background work already.

“It’s not that I don’t know what I want,” he explained to her. “I have great ideas in mind about what I want.”

“So what’s the problem?” Sophia asked innocently.

“Money. It’s always about money,” he said with a loud sigh. “I need a big investor who believes in my plan and is willing to fund it. So far no one has been interested.”

She furrowed her eyebrows deep in thought.

“There’s got to be someone out there,” she said with sympathy.

He shrugged his shoulders and rubbed his forehead with his hand. Sophia knew that was a sign that he was either nervous or irritated. She reached out to him and kissed his cheek.

“Hey, someone is going to come along who believes in you and your mind and your ideas and will give you all the money that you need,” she told him encouragingly. “I feel it. For all you know, they could be in this room right now.”

Marat smiled at her as she nodded with enthusiasm. It was hard to remain down when he was around her. She was ever the optimist and he needed her to save him from his cynical self. Just hearing her upbeat voice made him feel better already.
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Sophia was demolishing a green tea trifle mousse while Marat watched her when the tennis player who had been eating at the table across the room came up to them.

“So are you too important now to even say hello, Mr. Olympic Committee Member?” he joked shaking Marat’s hand.

“That’s not official yet. Where did you hear that anyway?”

“Everyone in the ATP knows about it and we’re all proud of you.”

Marat nodded, pleased to hear that his friends in tennis were behind him in his decision to take that job.

“Thanks Roger. How are you anyway?” he asked addressing Roger and his wife, Mirka.

“We’re good,” she replied. “We’re having an early dinner so we can go back to the room and put the twins to sleep because that can sometimes take a long time.”

Roger smiled at Sophia who smiled back politely but there was not a trace of recognition on her face. This took him by surprise because everyone knew who he was and when people met him, they stood there in awe.

But she just continued to sit there in silence happily devouring her dessert while listening to their conversation.

Marat noticed Roger’s startled expression and suppressed a laugh. Leave it to Sophia to ignore the world’s greatest tennis player.

“Sophia, this is Roger and Mirka,” he told her.

“Hello, nice to meet you both,” she said to them with a big, warm smile. But the names still didn’t register.

Roger coughed awkwardly. “Well, we better go,” he said. “Good to see you, Marat. See you around. I’m sure we’ll be seeing great things from you.”

An idea suddenly hit him and the words came out of his mouth before he could stop himself.

“Hey thanks Roger. I actually have a business proposition I wanted to discuss with you. Can we set up a meeting?” Marat blurted out.

Roger had always been fond of Marat ever since they played in juniors together. He was saddened when he heard he was going to retire and genuinely wished for him a lot of success in his life after tennis. He was glad to offer any help he could to make this happen.

“I don’t have any time while I’m here but why don’t you give Mirka a call when we’re back in Europe and we can talk then?” he suggested.

“That’s great!” Marat exclaimed. “There’s no pressure or obligation but I think you will support my idea.”

Roger was the perfect investor. He had more money than he knew what to do with it, he was an ambassador of the game of tennis and was always interested in finding out different ways to promote it. Plus he was also very big on providing more for those who were less fortunate.

“I’m sure I will,” he grinned at his friend. “See you later. Nice to meet you, Sophia.”

“Bye!” she said with the same warmth as before and also with the same cluelessness.

Marat shook his head at her when they were alone again. “You do know that was Roger Federer and his wife, don’t you?”

“Was it?” she said with surprise turning around to catch one last glimpse of the couple. “He looks different in person.”

“I don’t think he was very happy that you didn’t recognize him.”

Sophia shrugged her shoulders non-apologetic. “He doesn’t interest me.”

Marat looked at her unconvinced. “Come on, he’s everyone’s favourite tennis player,” he said matter-of-fact.

But she simply shook her head and placed her hand on top of his. “No, honey, not everyone’s,” she said to him with pure adoration.

He smiled and swelled with pride.

[audrey]

Chapter 40

They were back in Sydney by the time Marat’s 30th birthday had come. Dinara made it all the way to the semis but was eventually beaten by Jelena Jankovic. It was a match she could’ve easily won but her lack of confidence let her down. Her coach was pi$sed off with her performance and wouldn’t stop hassling her. In the end, Dinara could no longer take his rants and instead of going back to Spain with him to train, she opted to stay in Australia for an extra week to get away from him. Besides, a big part of her also wanted to be there to celebrate her brother’s 30th and help Sophia plan something special for him.
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Marat was lying in Sophia’s bed alone. He was smiling as he listened to her humming softly in the kitchen. He knew she was humming the tune to the next dance she was rehearsing for and that she was practicing the steps in her head. Any minute now and she would also try out a move right there on the timber floor. Sure enough, he suddenly heard her feet shuffling as if she was doing some floor work followed by silence then the quiet thud of her pretty little feet following one of her graceful jumps. He was surprised at how quickly they had learnt each other’s habits in the short amount of time they’d been under the same roof.

He got up and headed for the kitchen where he found her setting the table and swaying her hips as she danced to the music playing in her ipod.

When she saw him standing there, she gave him a smile that lit up the whole apartment. To Marat, that had become his most favourite part of the day – seeing her first thing in the morning and that beautiful smile she always greeted him with.

She was already dressed ready for the day ahead. It was still early but they could already feel the heat and she was dressed appropriately in a flowery summer dress, her hair tamed in a braid. She looked positively sweet and even at this early hour, Marat’s desire for her was well and truly alive.

“Happy birthday, handsome boy,” she said cheerfully, wrapping her arms around his neck.

She was barefoot and was so tiny next to him. But she definitely had a way with her legs and when she went up on her tiptoes, he was surprised at how she could make herself look so much taller.

Marat kissed her at first holding back. But once his lips touched hers, he couldn’t stop. Not when she looked so good and tasted like honey. There was a sense of urgency in his kisses and when Sophia suddenly found herself against the wall, she decided it was pointless to fight against his strength. She was so ready for him! And plus it was his birthday. It would make a nice present for the both of them.

Since getting back together, she was adamant about sticking to the rules until he was emotionally ready and felt secure in their relationship to believe that she wanted nobody else but him.

Deep down he had always known but the feeling of betrayal he felt in the past caused a bitterness inside that made him impulsively enforce some ridiculous rule and now they were both being tortured by it.

He didn’t know when that feeling disappeared. All he knew was that she had done above and beyond what she needed to do to show him how much she loved him. He had no more reservations or doubts. It was a fact of life – she loved him and he loved her.

And he was ready too.

He noticed Sophia was kissing him back just as urgently and as much as she tried to hide it, he knew she wanted him bad.

“I want you,” he heard her saying with a breathlessness that turned him on.

They wanted the same thing but seeing as she was willing to wait this long, Marat thought he would give her a taste of her own medicine and decided to play her game.

“You know how long I’ve been waiting to hear you say that to me,” he said in between one of his passionate kisses. “I want you too.”

He kissed her again that sent her reeling. He could feel her getting so tense and desperate.

“You wanna do this now?” he asked kissing her clavicle.

“Uh-huh,” she said quivering.

So consumed was she by his touch that she didn’t even see his evil grin.

“But I’m hungry. I think we should eat,” he said, trying to keep a straight face.

He suddenly let go of her and sat down at the table helping himself to the delicious food Sophia had prepared.

For a second she just stood there unable to speak. When she found her voice, she looked at him in disbelief and said, “Are you for real?”

“What?” he asked feigning innocence.

She snatched the fork he was holding away from him.

“I’m here giving myself freely to you and all you can say is you’re hungry, we should eat?”

“But I am,” he said seriously.

However, Sophia caught the small smile that he quickly tried to hide by biting into a strawberry.

“Ohhhhh, I get it,” Sophia said. “This is payback time for making you suffer. Fine, have your little fun. Let’s just see who can hold out the longest. I have more self-control than you.”

He laughed heartily shaking his head. “This coming from a girl who if I remember correctly woke me up in the middle of the night every night I was with her to make love to her because once was just never enough?”

Her cheeks turned pink with embarrassment and she sat down next to him with her arms crossed mumbling something about how it wasn’t just her who wanted it seeing as he consented every time.

He smiled endeared by her sudden timidness. He reached out for her hand and she reluctantly gave it to him.

He kissed her again but this time she took control of him. Marat felt all her desire, yearning and desperation for him in that one kiss and he realized he was stupid for turning her down. Then as usual, she stopped just in time and she was once again the one who had all the power.

When she let go of him, she carried on as if nothing just happened and agreed that she was pretty hungry too. She winked flirtatiously as he sat there shaking his head marveling at the control she held over him with one tasty kiss and one $exy look.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

They spent the morning on a boat cruising around the Sydney harbour. It was another perfect, sunny day. The water was sparkling blue and glistened so brightly as if it was trying to impress all the tourists out and about to prove just how beautiful she was.

Sophia and Marat were sitting by themselves on the top deck having a debate about who’s hometown was better.

“I’m not saying Sydney’s not nice. Just that Moscow’s better.”

“Pleeaassee!” Sophia exclaimed rolling her eyes. “We have everything here within an arm’s reach. From where I live, it takes me 20 minutes to get to the nearest beach and less than two hours to get to the mountains. You practically live in your car just to try and get to the next city in Moscow.”

She had a point. The traffic in Moscow was getting worse as time went by.

“And your weather is ridiculous,” she continued trying to win her case. “How can you function in minus degree conditions for months on end? I get depressed when winter comes and it doesn’t even snow here.”

“But we have much more history,” he argued. “We have centuries and centuries on you. Our buildings, our landscape, our culture…they can’t compare.”

Sophia frowned knowing he was right. She had to admit that she found the buildings in his city a lot more beautiful because of their history. She was amazed by what they had been through and how they had survived even after so much destruction in the past.

She looked out into the water and gazed at the impressive Opera House radiating against the sun. It urged her to continue her argument and put Marat in his place.

“But look at that,” she said to him pointing at it. “How can you compete with that?”

Marat simply smiled and shrugged his shoulders not having a reply.

He knew he was never going to win this debate. Because while he still regarded Moscow as the superior city, there was one thing Sydney had that Moscow didn’t which was enough to make him change his mind.

It didn’t have Sophia.
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After lunch, Marat was surprised when Sophia led him to a restaurant. Surely a girl of her tiny frame could not eat so much?

“We just ate on the boat,” he said. “I can’t eat anymore, Sophia.”

“We’re not here to eat, silly. My parents are at this restaurant today and I need the keys to their house for the next thing I have planned for you.”

Sophia’s father was one of Sydney’s top restauranteurs and owned a number of five-star restaurants in Sydney and Melbourne focusing on Spanish and Mediterranean food. It was how they had become very well-respected in the country and welcomed into Sydney’s high society.

It was little wonder why Sophia was such a good cook and loved to eat so much - she’d grown up around food her whole life. In the hope that she would one day change her mind about pursuing a dance career and take over the business instead, her dad always made her watch him as he cooked when she was younger.

Marat was loving the surprises she had in store for him. The whole day was a complete mystery. The only thing she said was they would mostly be by the water and she told him to wear something comfortable. He was dressed in a plain white shirt and a pair of board shorts. He could’ve almost passed for a local if he didn’t have his distinctive accent to blow his cover.

Her parents greeted them at the door. Isabel gave them both a big hug while Rafael kissed his daughter on both cheeks and gave Marat a firm but friendly handshake.

They approved of Sophia’s new boyfriend and knew from the start that he would be a much better man for her than Tristan. Like everybody else, they had been tricked into thinking Tristan was the perfect guy in the beginning. When they found out he had been unfaithful to her the first time, they started to doubt him. But all the warnings they gave Sophia were ignored and they could only watch as he let her down time and time again. When they broke up for good, it was a welcome relief for them because they knew it was for the best.

At first Sophia became depressed then the depression turned into anger. They wondered when her suffering would end. She threw herself into her work and they were grateful for dance for saving her.

Then one day Sophia called them from Moscow more chirpy than usual. When she told them about Marat, they’d never heard her sound so happy.

They remembered him as Sophia’s nice young friend in Valencia who was there for her when Rosa died. It was Tristan who was meant to be comforting her, but he had gone home and instead it was Marat who filled the role.

Sophia’s parents knew then their friendship was special as they watched her rely on him for strength and him offer all of himself to her. Whatever she needed, he provided and he never left her side for a minute.

From that moment on, they knew it was only a matter of time before their friendship blossomed into something more. When that day finally came, they were extremely delighted for Sophia and hoped she would find true happiness with him. Having been a witness to the kind of perfect love Rafael and Isabel and her grandparents shared from an early age, they knew she wanted the same kind of love for herself.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Dinara told Sophia that her brother loved the water so she decided to take Marat jet skiing and took him to her parents’ house to pick up her dad’s truck and the jet skis.

Their place was pretty impressive. They lived in Sydney’s northern beaches and their massive house was tucked away in a quiet, secluded street surrounded by houses that were equally big and beautiful. It was airy and bright with tasteful but simple décor. The living area had a large balcony that overlooked the beach and each of the five bedrooms also had views of the water. It had a pool and a spa at the back, a separate guest house, a well maintained garden and a four car garage that housed the truck, two other very expensive cars and a boat.

Marat realized her family was a lot more well off than she had let on. She never spoke of leading an affluent life and wasn’t the kind to show it off. In fact her whole family was very unpretentious and modest when it came to their wealth.

“What are you smirking at?” she asked him seeing the amused look on his face.

“Who knew that you are one of those spoilt little rich girls?” he answered as he helped her load the jet skis onto the truck.

Sophia put her hands on her hips and frowned. “Take that back…I’m not a spoilt little rich girl.”

She hated being labeled as such because her parents’ money did not define her.

She stepped up to him and looked him directly in the eye trying her hardest not to smile.

“I’m serious, take it back,” she demanded.

She was inches from his face and it was all Marat could do not to kiss her. He thought it was so $exy whenever she tried to stand up to him.

“Ok I take it back,” he complied with a grin. “I was only joking. I know you’re not like that which is why I….”

He stopped himself in time realizing he was about to cross a major line that he wasn’t sure he should cross just yet.

Sophia gave him a funny look when he stopped talking mid-sentence.

“Which is why you what?” she asked cautiously.

He turned away and concentrated on the jet skis.

“Which is why I never would have believed it if someone told me you were, that’s all,” he quickly made up.
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She took him to a secluded beach close by her parents’ house. Not many tourists came to the northern beaches in Sydney preferring Bondi Beach in the east instead where they all flocked to.

They rode the jet skis way out into the water with Sophia leading Marat the whole time. He thought she’d never stop as she went further and further out. But finally she slowed down and spun around to face him.

“Are you kidnapping me or something?” he joked. “We’re in the middle of nowhere.”

She flashed him a cheeky grin. “Are you scared?” Sophia giggled.

“No,” he said defensively.

“We’re not that far out. Let’s head to that little bay over there.”

She turned around and she was off again leaving him behind. She rode another few kilometers out until she reached the sand on the bay where she parked the jetski and waited for him.

When Marat caught up to her, there she was again stripping out of her mini boardshorts revealing a very cute pair of red and white striped bikini bottoms to match her halter top. She had no idea what she was doing to him. Or maybe she did and she was doing it on purpose to make him suffer just a little bit more.

He wanted to take her. They were alone, she was looking extremely hot and all he could think about was in one swift movement, he could easily remove her bikini so that she was stripped down to absolutely nothing and he could make love to her right there in that soft, white sand.

But it seemed she had other plans in mind.

“What are you up to now?” Marat asked seeing her take something out of the compartment of her jetski.

“Here put these on,” Sophia instructed handing him a snorkeling mask. “We’re going to swim out and check out some fish!”

Believe it or not but Marat had never snorkeled in his whole life before so this was a new and exciting experience for him.

Sophia took him by the hand and together they swam out to sea. She led him to an underwater haven full of colorful fish and beautiful corals. Marat found it so peaceful down there. It seemed like he and Sophia were the only two people in the world, exploring the sea and discovering these sea creatures together.

They were down there for a long time, completely at ease in each other’s company in the absolute silence of the water. Occasionally, they would go off on their own when something caught their eye but for the most part they swam together with their hands intertwined.

“That was amazing,” he remarked when they finally came up again both breathing hard.

“I’m glad you liked,” she said beaming at him. “Not many people know about this place so you are now one of the privileged few.”

“You know that was the first time I ever snorkeled?” he informed her.

“Really? Well, I’m honoured that you experienced your first time with me,” she said grabbing on to his neck as he swam back to shore.

Marat smiled back at her. Yes, it occurred to him that he was experiencing a lot of first times with Sophia and there was no one else he would rather experience these first times but with her.
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In the evening, he was pretty wiped out from all the activities of the day. He wanted nothing more than to stay in with Sophia, put his feet up and relax.

“Ok, you are really starting to show your age talking that way,” she teased him. “I’ve planned a nice dinner with you, me and your sister.”

He couldn’t ever say no to her so of course he obliged. While he waited for her to finish getting ready, he made himself a couple of drinks before preparing one for Sophia, too.

“Wow, you look nice!” she complimented him when she came out.

He was dressed semi-casual in a dark blue collared shirt and black tie with a dark coloured vest, his favourite pair of jeans and loafers.

“Am I dressed ok?” he asked doubtfully. “I wasn’t sure where you were taking me.”

Sophia kissed him on the cheek.

“You look great,” she commented. “Very handsome. And you’re dressed perfectly. My parents insisted we have dinner at their new restaurant.”

“Sounds good. What’s it like?” he enquired.

“I haven’t eaten there since the renovation but it’s got a new look, a new menu and a new chef. It’s received some great reviews so far,” she revealed.

Sophia peered at the glass Marat was handing to her.

“If that’s vodka, I’m only having one because there is no way I’m going to get drunk on that poison again.”

He laughed remembering her drunken antics.

“Ok just one,” he agreed.

She raised her glass to propose a toast.

“Happy birthday, my love,” she began. “Here’s to many more. May your life be always blessed with love and happiness.”

He kissed her on the lips before they both swallowed the shot. If he could always feel the kind of love and happiness he felt when he was with Sophia, then his life would always be blessed.

Sophia wasn’t sure if it was his kiss or the vodka that made her feel dizzy. She shook her head to think straight.

“Hey before we leave, I want to give you your present,” she said taking out a small box from her bag and holding it out in the palm of her hand.

Marat smiled at her and took the box opening it carefully. When he saw what was inside he stared at it in shock.

“You didn’t have to get me this,” he said.

“Don’t be silly!” she exclaimed. “It’s your 30th birthday! I wanted to get you something special.” Her eyes were dancing with excitement.

He looked at the watch she had given him. Dinara must’ve told her it was the watch he’d been obsessing about for a while now.

It was a fine dress watch, understated yet classy which was just how he liked them. It was a great addition to his already impressive collection.

“This is expensive, Sophia,” Marat stated. “You shouldn’t have spent so much money.”

Sophia rolled her eyes.

“I’m spoilt little rich girl, remember?” she joked. “Now can I put it on you already otherwise I might just wear it. I have a thing with men’s watches at the moment, you know.”

She took the watch out of the box and slipped it around his wrist. She closed the clasp, laced her fingers around his and kissed him.

“I love you, Marat,” Sophia said suddenly.

He gave her a small smile but didn’t say anything. He felt himself go warm all over.

“I love you,” she said again. “I can’t hold back from telling you anymore. And you don’t have to worry about getting hurt because I’ll tell you that I love you forever. That’s something that will never change.”

She gently placed her hand on his chest and kissed him on the cheek. It was a gesture to let him know that whether or not he said it back to her, she would still feel the same way.

Sophia pulled back but left her hand on his chest.

“Your heart,” she said softly. “It’s racing.”

Marat gazed at Sophia lovingly and told her, “That’s what happens when I’m around you.”

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By the time they arrived at the restaurant, Dinara was already there chatting happily to Sophia’s parents.

She was unusually boisterous and giggly and it didn’t take them long to find out why. Before they sat down, Rafael informed them that she had been drinking since she got there and kept referring to her coach as a tyrant who made her lose concentration during the match that she lost at the Aussie Open.

“How many has she had to drink?” Marat asked concerned.

“Only two,” Rafael replied, pressing his lips together to stop from laughing.

Her brother shook his head in disapproval.

“Sorry, Mr. Martinez,” he apologized. “My sister doesn’t normally drink so two vodkas is already enough for her.”

“Don’t even worry about it. She’s been keeping me and Isabel entertained. And please, call me Rafael.”

When Dinara spotted Marat and Sophia, she stood up and ran towards them pulling them in for a tight squeeze.

“Happy birthday, Maratik!” she yelled. “Hi Sophia!”

“Hey Dinara,” they both said with amusement.

“Maratik, you need to catch up,” she told him. “Have a drink with me. You too Sophia!”

She dragged them to the bar where she demanded a round of vodka shots for the three of them.

That was how dinner started off and Marat sensed his sister wasn’t just drinking to celebrate with him. She was slurring in no time and became quite vocal about her frustration on her recent loss. He could tell she was really suffering so whenever she insisted they have another drink, he drank with her. After all, he couldn’t leave his sister to get drunk by herself.

“Marat, I just want to win one grand slam. Just one!” she whined raising a forefinger right up to his face. “Is that too much to ask?”

He shrugged keeping quiet. He’d given her all the advice she needed before and now he preferred to just lend an ear.

Sophia looked at Dinara with sympathy and was holding her hand for comfort.

“Dinara, sweetie, don’t stress out about it,” she said. “You’ll win one. You just have to be patient.”

She turned to Marat with a helpless look and he nodded slightly to indicate she was saying all the right things.

“And you’ll win one when people least expect it,” Sophia continued. “Look at your brother. No one thought he’d ever win anything and he went on to win two!”

“What the…” Marat frowned at her when he realized she was teasing him.

Dinara laughed and looked at them fondly. “Awww, you guys are the best!” she gushed. “You are so great together!”

They smiled at her and at each other. She had annoyed them individually to no end before about getting back together so even in her drunken state, they knew she was being genuine.

“You should get married! Then we can really be sisters, Sophia!” she cried out.

Just as she said that, Rafael came to their table to bring their entrée.

“Something I should know about, Phia?” he asked as a joke.

Marat looked away while Sophia laughed nervously. “Very funny, dad,” she said with sarcasm. “I’m never getting married. Not after the whole Tristan fiasco. The whole concept of marriage is a sham.”

The two men glanced at each other quickly, both in shock by the pessimism that was so out of character for her.

Marat couldn’t quite believe it. He’d always been the cynical one when it came to marriage and was never really convinced that two people needed it to prove their faithfulness. He was the unbeliever.

But Sophia…she had been romanced by the idea of being in love and professing that love publicly in front of God, family and friends. She had trusted in the sacredness of marriage and all that it had to offer.

She couldn’t wait to be a married woman and was the epitome of a perfect bride and a perfect wife. Her belief was so much so it nearly had Marat convinced that maybe marriage wasn’t such a bad thing after all. If he could make a woman eternally happy the way Sophia had been by agreeing to say I do and signing a piece of paper, then he would gladly do it.

Now she sounded as skeptical as him. Marat cursed Tristan and disliked him all the more for tainting Sophia’s hopefulness and ever optimistic mind which was something he loved so much about her.

“You’re serious?” he asked wishing she wasn’t.

Sophia nodded with absolute certainty.

“It’s bull$hit, Marat,” she said. “You just set yourself up for disappointment if you get married and then something goes wrong. You don’t need to get married to prove that you’re committed to someone.”

She got up and left Rafael and Marat standing there dumbfounded.

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Sophia’s dad had extended an invitation to everyone they knew to come for a free meal at their newly furbished establishment. It was a great marketing tool, using family and friends to rave about the place and spread the word.

By pure coincidence, Alex turned up at the restaurant to take up Rafael’s offer that night for dinner, too.

It wasn’t the relaxing and peaceful dinner Sophia had hoped for. Besides Isabel and Rafael fussing over them and Dinara sulking about her tennis career, Alex took the time as an opportunity to bond with Marat.

When he found out it was his birthday that was to be the end for any hope of a civilized evening because Alex then proceeded to buy him drinks for the rest of the night and had Marat very much inebriated by the time their last course was served.

For once she was the sober one. Sophia could only watch with resignation because Marat was enjoying himself and she realized he was even funnier when he was drunk.

“Sash, I think you’ve given him enough drinks for the night,” she said.

“Phia, leave him alone. It’s his 30th. Look at him! He’s like having the best time,” her best friend pointed out.

They looked over at Marat and he was laughing hysterically with his sister as he told her a dirty joke.

She walked over to them and he grabbed her so that she was on his lap.

“Hey, pretty girl,” he said. The smell of vodka was heavy on his breath. “Thank you for today. I’ve enjoyed every minute of it.”

“I can see,” Sophia remarked with a giggle. “I’m glad though. I know you wanted to celebrate back home.”

Marat shook his head and kissed her.

“It doesn’t matter where I celebrated. I just wanted to celebrate with you.”

“I’m here, baby. I’ll always be here,” she promised.

“I know.”

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The rush hour for dinner was over and Sophia was finally able to talk to her parents for five minutes. She left their table for a while to thank her mum and dad for organizing everything for Marat’s dinner.

“Food was great, Dad,” she remarked.

“Sweetie, you have your dad’s new chef to thank for that,” Isabel said.

“Oh, well I have to meet him. Where is he?”

Rafael leaned back to look inside the kitchen.

“Hey Carlos, come out here!” he shouted. “Our most ruthless food critic is here to meet you.”

He smiled at his daughter who smiled back sarcastically.

Carlos came out looking exhausted, his hair disheveled and his chef’s uniform stained with sauce and other remnants of the food he’d cooked at dinner.

When Sophia saw him appear from the kitchen, her face lit up with recognition.

“Carlos Mantua?” she asked doubtfully.

He gave her a bashful smile and a small wave.

“Do you two know each other?” Isabel asked.

Sophia nodded.

“Yeah, we went to high school together. Wow, it’s been a long time. What have you been doing with yourself, Carlos?”

She touched him on the arm lightly and she could swear that she saw him blush.

“After high school, I travelled to Europe and went to cooking schools in France and Spain,” he replied.

He had a really quiet voice especially against the noise inside the restaurant. Sophia had to strain to hear him.

“Then I came back to Australia after six years and worked for different restaurants. Now I’m here working for your dad as his new head chef.”

“Well, I think my dad made the right choice in hiring you. Your food tonight was amazing!” Sophia raved excitedly.

Carlos smiled at her again rather shyly. He was a great chef but sometimes he still doubted himself and he was way too humble to accept compliments.

“And I hear you’re quite the prima ballerina these days,” he mentioned changing the subject.

Sophia gave him a funny look and rolled her eyes at her parents who were nodding with pride.

“I hate that term but if you mean I’m a principal dancer at my ballet theatre then yes I am,” she said. “Have you been keeping tabs on me?”

She only meant it as a joke but Carlos blushed again and began fidgeting.

“No!” he stammered startling her. “I mean, my little sister is into ballet and I’ve seen the theatre’s website. You’re all over it.”

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Across the room, Marat noticed Sophia talking to Carlos. He watched the guy step a little away from her as if she intimidated him and the way he spoke not quite looking at her directly in the eye. Then he saw Sophia touch him on the arm with familiarity. If he wasn’t so drunk the scene might’ve affected him differently. But for now, it just made him laugh.

“Sasha!” he called out to his new friend. “Who is that guy talking to Sophia?”

Alex observed Carlos appreciatively and saw exactly what Marat saw.

“Never met him before,” he admitted. “But you should find out because if I’m not mistaken that guy has the hots for your girlfriend.”

Marat waved his hand dismissively but stopped laughing and turned to them again with unsteady eyes. But Carlos had already stepped back into the kitchen and Sophia was left with her parents as she said good bye.

“Hey, forget about him and have another drink will you?” Alex demanded seeing right through him. “Sophia is with you and she loves you. Now drink up before she comes back and stops the party.”

Marat smirked and took the shot.

“Yeah she does, doesn’t she? She’s the best girlfriend,” he slurred. “I don’t think I deserve her.”

He saw her coming towards him and his heartbeat sped up immediately. The look of concern on her face made him melt. When she reached the table, she sat down next to him and took his face in her hands.

“Let’s get you home, honey,” she said gently.

“Yeah, ok,” he complied with a silly grin.

“Dina, it’s time to go,” Sophia instructed. “I’ll drive you back to your hotel.”

Dinara was only slightly more sober than Marat and was at least able to walk on her own. She wobbled ahead of them to Sophia’s car.

Meanwhile, Sophia helped Marat get up slowly and put his heavy arm around her shoulders. Considering her tiny frame, she had the strength to support him though she did struggle and found it difficult to walk with all of his body weight on her.

While they stumbled, Marat blabbered on which was something he tended to do whenever he got absolutely wasted.

“I had a great day today,” he said.

He held on to her tighter to keep his balance making her stagger even more.

“That’s good, babe, I’m glad,” Sophia told him.

“Did I ever tell you that you are the best girlfriend?”

He gave her a big kiss on the cheek that made her giggle.

“No, not lately,” she said.

“I haven’t? Well, you are,” he declared. “And you’re beautiful and kind and perfect.”

She rolled her eyes and pursed her lips.

“You should get drunk more often. I don’t get as many compliments like this when you’re sober,” she joked.

They’d just about reached her car when he suddenly pulled her back.

“Sophia, wait,” he said.

She looked at him expectantly and patiently.

“What is it?” she asked. “Are you going to throw up?”

It seemed like forever before he spoke again. He stared at her for the longest time with his hazy eyes and touched her hair softly. Then he hugged her tight and breathed in her scent which made him even more drunk.

“I love you,” he said.

He kept his tight grip on her and didn’t let go.

Sophia stood there frozen and stunned. He was intoxicated and clearly not in the right frame of mind to make such a statement. If he wanted to tell her that, he would’ve said it when he wasn’t drunk.

She laughed nervously before patting him lightly on the back.

“Ok you boozehound, you’ve clearly had way too much to drink,” she said leading the way again and deciding not to make anything of his drunken declarations of love.

“When we get home, I’m going to put you to bed and you’re going to fall asleep and tomorrow, I bet you won’t even remember saying that to me unless you mean it.”

She unlocked her car and Dinara jumped straight in the back taking off her shoes. She leaned against the window and dozed off almost immediately.

Sophia put Marat at the front, stretched his legs out and buckled his seatbelt.

“I mean it,” he insisted. “I’ll remember. You’ll see.”

She kissed him and caressed his hair.

“Ok, honey, we’ll see,” she indulged him.

By the time she walked around to the driver’s seat, Marat had already passed out.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The next morning in bed he stirred and with great difficulty opened one eye to find Sophia on the floor tying her shoelaces.

“Good morning,” she said crawling next to him to kiss his warm cheek.

“Where are you going?” he asked.

“I was going to go for a run. I didn’t want to wake you,” she answered heading towards the door.

He sat up with even greater effort.

“I’ll come with you,” he said.

“Are you sure? You’re not hungover?”

Marat nodded slightly. If he moved his head anymore he was scared it might explode.

“Oh yes I am but the run might be good for me.”

They headed out and jogged together in silence. Marat noticed that Sophia was concentrating on her breathing so he left her alone.

Besides, he was also in a world of his own and needed some peace and quiet to gather his thoughts.

He started off well but within ten minutes of pounding the pavement, he was exhausted and sapped of all energy.

He slowed to a brisk walk and it was a while before Sophia realized she’d left him behind. She jogged back and started walking next to him all the while shaking her head.

“I didn’t know I had such a weakling for a boyfriend,” she teased.

Marat smirked amused by her competitiveness.

“First of all, I’m hungover as you know,” he stated. “Secondly, I’m a little out of shape, I admit. I haven’t done any fitness in a while.”

She walked him to the nearest park bench where he sat down and waited for her until she finished her run twenty minutes later.

It was a good time for him to have a good think about what was to happen next in his relationship with Sophia. He knew the ball was in his court and his next move would determine whether or not they were finally going to fully commit to each other.

Before she returned, he decided he was through playing games.

Sophia joined him on the bench to catch her breath and stretch.

“You look deep in thought,” she observed. “What’s up?”

She felt uncomfortable with him as he stared at her. She was fully aware that her chest and face were shining with sweat.

“I look hideous, Marat, stop looking at me,” she said turning her back to him.

He stood up and walked over to her so they were facing each other.

“You could never look hideous,” he said.

She smiled at him shyly and continued to stretch her legs.

“So I was just thinking about last night,” he began.

Sophia stumbled slightly but remained poised.

“Oh yeah,” she said casually. “What about it?”

Marat cleared his throat and rubbed his forehead with his hand.

“I drank a lot, didn’t I?”

“Yeah, you did,” she replied giggling. “You were quite the chatterbox. You said a lot of things last night.”

He gave her a small smile.

“I know. And I know there are some things I said I can’t even remember saying.”

Sophia nodded and Marat heard her let out a small sigh. She shrugged having nothing to say.

“But I do remember at least one thing,” he continued.

She gulped and he saw her tremble slightly. She bit her lip as she waited nervously for the next thing he was going to tell her.

“I meant what I said last night,” he said.

She tried to look away but he gently held her face firmly in place with his hand on her chin.

She looked at him anxiously and was breathing hard.

“I love you,” he murmured in her ear as he hugged her.

She didn’t think it was possible for him to recall that he had declared his love for her the night before.

But he did and now he was saying it again with certainty in his voice and complete conviction in his eyes.

Sophia grinned and bounced lightly in his arms unable to contain her joy.

“Are you really ready to say that? You know you can’t ever take that back,” she said smiling at him and gazing into his eyes full of love.

“I don’t want to take it back,” Marat replied. “And yes I’m ready. I’m ready for you and me. For real this time.”

“Really?” Sophia gushed.

He laughed and kissed her passionately before he answered her.

“I love waking up next to you every morning,” he admitted. “And knowing we are together, you know how happy that makes me? I know this is the right time and we’re both ready.”

They smiled at each other realising this was to be a huge turning point in their relationship. It was unspoken yet they both felt this time their feelings were in tune, their love for each other had never been stronger and it was all going to work out.

They went back to Sophia’s apartment after that jog and the wait was over. They wasted no more time in making use of her bed over and over and over again.

[audrey]

Chapter 41

Marat was back in Europe in Switzerland for his first business meeting with Roger. They were in Roger’s office inside his big palatial home. He wasn’t surprised that Mirka was also present because she handled all of Roger’s affairs but he did find it a little disconcerting that it was she who he had to impress and give the sales pitch to.

He had brought with him his old business manager, Allon. The idea was for Marat to provide the basis for the discussion and Allon was to do the rest of the talking.

“Just give her one of your charming smiles that all the women love and we’ll have her eating at the palm of our hands,” Allon had joked before the meeting.

But Mirka wasn’t buying it. While she smiled politely when she greeted them, she was now all business. She sat stony-faced and stiff behind Roger’s big wooden office desk with a pen in her right hand ready to take notes. Roger sat beside her on the edge smiling easily at Marat and Allon.

“So Marat, you’re here to talk business,” she began. “We should get started as we have another engagement in an hour.”

“We can miss it if we go over time,” Roger suggested.

Mirka shook her head and turned to him with a frown.

“No, we can’t. We need to attend that function,” she replied firmly.

She slowly faced the guests again, a signal to Roger that it was the end of the discussion. Roger sat back in his chair defeated and looked sheepishly at the ground.

“Marat, please, let’s hear your proposal,” she urged.

He sighed feeling the pressure all of a sudden.

When he spoke to Sophia that morning, she had hyped him up so much and he felt energized and ready to take on the world with her words of encouragement. He was relying on those excited emotions to give him the confidence to get through the meeting.

But sitting there opposite Mirka with her blank, expressionless face brought back the nerves. He had a whole speech prepared with big words and impressive business terminology but he suddenly forgot it all. As he glanced at Mirka who was waiting with growing impatience to be impressed, he remembered something Sophia said to him.

“Just be yourself,” she had said. “Coz you know why?”

“Why?”

“Because everyone loves you and who you are and this idea comes from that great mind of yours so it’s that person who thought of it that they want to see.”

He smiled and with this reminder he decided to scrap the pretense that he was some knowledgeable businessman. He was a tennis player first. No, he was a man first and a tennis player who came from humble beginnings second. They needed to understand where the passion for his cause came from and why it was so important to him. In order to do that, he needed to show them who he was.

“I need money to build more tennis centres in Moscow,” he said directly.

“Excuse me?” Mirka remarked, appalled at having been so bluntly spoken to.

Allon cleared his throat and stepped in for the not so tactful Russian who was not at all impressing Mrs. Federer.

“What Marat is trying to say is that his business plan involves establishing a number of state-of-the-art tennis centres in Moscow,” he began to explain. “This will not only raise the profile of tennis in the country but also help the community by creating jobs and helping the kids who will be the future of tennis. If it all goes well, we want to expand and make it a nationwide project.”

Mirka smirked and Marat was sure she was going to reject their idea but just wanted to drag out the meeting long enough to see their desperation.

“How much more profile does tennis need in your country? More than 50% of the top ten in women’s tennis right now are from Russia,” she stated matter-of-fact, ignoring Allon and looking directly at Marat. “That includes your sister who is number two. Surely such success has done a lot for tennis in Russia.”

This woman has some balls, Marat thought. She controls everything, even Roger himself.

Before Allon spoke up again, Marat stopped him to take over the discussion. He gave Mirka another one of his foolproof drop dead gorgeous smiles but he might as well have been smiling at a brick wall. She was inscrutable.

“Yes, what you’re saying is true,” he conceded. “But the Russians you see on the tennis circuit had help one way or another by an investor who was not Russian but someone from another country. That’s why you ask any of them and they’ll tell you they left Russia to train where? Spain, America, Australia. We don’t have the proper training facilities to train our tennis players at home that’s why they go somewhere else. I want to build these tennis centres to change that so that these kids who see tennis players and say they want to be like them can go somewhere at home and develop their skills. They don’t have to travel so far to find a place that has proper facilities and equipment.”

Marat took a breath and it occurred to him he was almost shouting. What the hell? This was important to him and he needed to be heard.

He looked at Mirka who still showed no sign of being blown away by his argument. She actually looked bored. He was almost scared of her because he knew her answer would be his make or break.

She’s going to tell me to f*ck off, he thought when he saw her about to speak up.

“How is this going to make money?” she asked instead.

He silently breathed a sigh of relief before he answered her.

“Well, we will start small and employ only a few coaches to provide the clients with quality coaching and personal attention. That will keep the costs down. We will also charge minimal rates only to attract the clients. Good training, low fees…that will hopefully win some customers in the initial stage. The more customers we gain, the more money we earn.”

“Alirght so if we invest, and I’m not saying we will, where will the rest of the money come from?” Mirka inquired writing furiously on her notepad and not bothering to look up. “You will certainly need more than what we would put in.”

“Government funding,” Marat replied. “I’ve already had talks with the minister of sport. They won’t commit to providing 100% funding but if I can get one big investor and after a certain time when they’ve assessed that it’s a success, they assure me they will be on board. Once we have government backing, it will be easier to gain sponsorships.”

She nodded and looked away contemplatively.

“And what’s in it for us? What kind of return should we expect?”

“I assure you, there will be significant financial gain,” Marat said. “These calculations will give you an idea.”

He signaled for Allon to present the figures to the couple. Mirka glanced at it with no comment but Marat saw her blink a couple of times which made him think maybe he did have a chance after all.

How could she say no? They would need to be patient of course but the business would repay them many times over according to the financial forecast Allon drew up. He saw this as his opportunity reel her in.

“Apart from the financial aspect, Roger will be loved even more when people find out he’s the main investor putting in money to build these tennis centres for kids,” he continued.

He knew the Federers would love this part. They loved anything that boosted Roger’s profile as a genuine philanthropist.

Mirka finally let out a small smile escape. She put down her pen, leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms. She knew a Safin-Federer partnership would be great publicity. The public loved seeing them on court competing with each other. How much more if they were actually working together for a common cause? Just the idea of it would generate a lot of money.

But while she was starting to see the advantages in his plan, she still played it cautious.

“Marat, the Federer empire is huge,” she said. “You don’t need me to go into the details of its success rate.”

Marat could barely keep from rolling his eyes. Yes, he was well aware of its success and he was admittedly a little envious of it.

“Everything that is stamped with the Roger Federer brand never fails,” Mirka continued. “And that’s because we work tirelessly to make sure we have all the bases covered in terms of potential losses. With this project of yours, we would play the silent investor. We won’t have anything to do with it except invest the money you need. It will be you doing all the work. The failure of this project would jeopardize our business relationship and you would risk the invested money being pulled out. How then are you going to ensure it’s not going to fail?”

Marat concluded this must be what a job interview must be like. He shook his head knowing exactly what she was implying. She didn’t trust that he would take his role as a businessman seriously. He forced himself to bite his tongue so that he didn’t lash out on her. After all, she was a potential business partner. He couldn’t very well pi$s her off when they hadn’t even shook hands on anything yet.

“Mirka, I’m not trying to disrespect but don’t believe everything you hear,” Marat said politely.

“I didn’t say anything,” she replied.

“But you’re thinking I just party all the time and that I’m going to waste my time and my money and your money and neglect to take care of my business,” he accused, his voice getting loud again.

Allon and Roger shifted in their seats uncomfortably fearing a nasty exchange was about to take place between the two.

Mirka didn’t even look embarrassed that Marat had caught her out. She simply shrugged her shoulders and stared at him wearily.

“Well, it’s hard not to believe the stories out there when there are so many,” she explained.

“But none of them are true!” Marat insisted. “Look, this is too important to me and I’ll take my job very seriously. I have money from my own personal account going into this! My plan is to make this a successful business venture, not to fail. How the f*ck can I do that if I’m going to be partying all night every night like they say I do?”

Marat startled them all by his inappropriate choice of words.

“Sorry,” he apologized realizing he had just sworn in front his prospective associate and retreated in his chair.

But if they were to have any working relationship at all, she needed to be able to trust that he wasn’t going to treat this lightly.

“Mr. Safin,” Mirka said with a sigh.

Mr. Safin? Marat thought. He looked around the room thinking his father had appeared. But no, Mirka was definitely addressing him. I came in and she called me Marat. Since when did I start being called Mr. Safin?

“My job is to protect all investments that we are involved in,” she told him. “And if that means asking personal questions to make sure I do my job properly, then they will be asked. I make no apologies if people are insulted by them.”

Marat smirked and looked at the ground rubbing his forehead. His past dealings with Mirka were merely kept to the tennis courts and parties held by the ATP. She’d always played the role of the quiet and reserved girlfriend but she’d never displayed this icy demeanor before.

She glanced at her watch and closed her notebook to signal the end of the meeting. She stood up and held out her hand.

“Thank you for coming today,” she said to Allon and Marat. “We’ll talk it over with our legal team and let you know what our decision is.”

Marat shook her hand. “Thank you for meeting with us. When can I expect a call from you?”

She gave him a small smile. “When we’re ready,” she answered with a shrug.

She came out from behind the desk and smoothed down her black pants suit before walking out of the room without another glance back at the gentlemen.

Marat and Allon both sighed loudly from relief that she was finally gone. Marat noticed even Roger became more relaxed after Mirka’s exit.

“I’m glad that’s over,” Allon commented. “I think we blew it.”

Marat patted him on the back.

“Thanks for your confidence,” he said sarcastically. “Roger seriously, how did you think it went?”

“Well personally, I love the idea,” Roger said raising Marat’s spirits a little. “Your presentation was honest and straight to the point. If you didn’t notice, Mirka is a busy woman. She doesn’t have time for the warm and fuzzies. She wants the facts up front and that’s what you gave her. I’m sure she appreciated that.”

“Really?” Marat asked doubtfully. “She didn’t look impressed at all.”

“That’s just Mirka putting on her poker face,” Roger revealed. “Don’t worry. We’ll talk more about it tonight I’m sure and we’ll come to a decision very soon.”

“So you’re in?” Marat tried not to sound too excited but failed.

“I’m definitely interested to get on board,” Roger told him. “I think what you’d be doing for the sport is great and what you’ll be providing for the kids and anyone who wants to take tennis seriously is priceless.”

“What about Mirka? Wouldn’t she have the final say?”

Roger shook his head and smiled at Marat.

“Don’t worry about her. She’ll be on board too.”

Marat wondered how Roger was going to convince her when it was she who controlled everything.

As if reading his mind, the Swiss added, “It may look like she’s running the show but at the end of the day I make the final decisions.”

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Sophia smiled as she listened to Marat giving her a full account of the meeting as soon as he separated from Allon and was back at his hotel. He sounded like a little boy on Christmas morning getting everything he ever asked for.

“That’s fantastic! I’m so happy for you,” she said with delight.

“Thanks,” Marat replied. “I feel like celebrating. I wish you were here with me.”

“Me too but don’t you think you should wait to celebrate until you know for sure that they’re going to invest?” Sophia suggested.

“Yeah I know. But I’m too excited to just stay here in my room.”

“Then go hang out with Allon.”

“He’s Skyping his wife and kids.”

“Looks like you’re stuck with me then, boyfriend,” Sophia said.

“Looks like.”

Marat didn’t mind at all. He missed her and he couldn’t quite believe himself that he would rather stay indoors talking on the phone than be out at a bar having a drink or two.

“So how are you?” he asked.

He’d been talking all this time about the business meeting that he hadn’t even bothered to find out how she was.

“Besides going crazy from missing you? I guess I’m fine,” Sophia told him.

“What are you doing? In bed naked thinking about me?” he joked.

She laughed and blushed at the same time even though no one was watching her.

“Marat, don’t start,” she warned. “I’m at the theatre waiting for this meeting to begin. Juliette is going to announce who gets the lead in the next production.”

“Why do you need to be there? You know you’re going to get it,” he said confidently.

“I wish,” she muttered.

“Huh?”

“I don’t know about that, honey,” she admitted. “I have to go. She’s just arrived.”

“Ok, well I still think it’s pointless you’re there because you’ll get the lead,” Marat stated. “You should be in bed naked while we’re talking instead.”

Sophia shook her head and smiled. “Bye, Marat. I’ll call you later.”

She got off the phone, tightened the strap on her foot and walked in to the conference room to hear Juliette’s announcement.

[audrey]

Chapter 42

Sophia was meant to be having a day off but she was called in to teach a class at the academy.

The students that day were a group of 14 and 15 year olds at the intermediate level of the juniors preparing for the exams that would take them to the advanced level if they passed.

Sophia couldn’t really complain. It would be an easy day for her. She’d merely follow the class plan already organized by their regular teacher and supervise the students, making sure they were performing their routines correctly and watching out for any wrong techniques.

She was informed there would be a new student which would pose as the only challenge for her because she wasn’t sure how capable the person was of keeping up with the rest of the class. She would have to pay her a bit more attention if she wasn’t up to scratch.

Slowly the ballerinas started trickling into the studio. They were delighted to hear that Sophia would be their teacher for the day as they favoured her over their usual teacher and were always excited whenever the academy’s prima ballerina was in their midst.

Just before they were about to begin the class, the new girl arrived. She came in with someone, a minder, who had driven her to the studio and wasn’t too bothered when asked to escort the girl inside because she was a little embarrassed coming in as the new person. They looked alike, both tall and skinny with dark brown hair. They stood there with an endearing shyness that made you want to take their hand and protect them. The older one’s eyes wouldn’t stop moving, surveying the room cautiously as if searching for someone.

Sophia looked behind her through the mirror and saw the newcomers. When she turned around to greet them she recognized the person who came in with the new girl. It was Carlos playing big brother.

“Hello!” she said with a big smile. “Come inside. Welcome!”

The two returned her smile shyly and followed Sophia into the studio. Carlos tripped over himself and his sister shook her head embarrassed by his clumsiness.

“So is this your younger sister?” Sophia asked taking a step back to walk beside him.

“Yeah, this is Cristina,” answered Carlos.

“It’s just Cris,” she mentioned holding out her hand politely. “I’m really honoured to meet you.”

Sophia wrinkled her nose and giggled finding it bizarre whenever people were thrilled to be meeting her.

“That’s really sweet, Cris. It’s nice to meet you,” she said shaking her hand. “Congratulations on getting into the academy.”

“Thank you. It’s been my dream to get into the academy my whole life!” Cristina squealed, unable to contain her excitement any longer.

Sophia smiled pleased by her enthusiasm. She knew what it was like getting accepted into a school that you hope to get enrolled in. Granted her experience happened a very long time ago and she could barely remember it but the happy, ecstatic and nervous feeling that first day had always stayed with her.

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Her talent for dance was evident at a very young age. A scout from the academy saw her dancing in a talent show at the school where her daughter also attended. She had a good eye for rising stars and dancers who could make a career out of their gift. She believed Sophia was both. She was very advanced compared to the rest in her age group and had a love for dance that showed in her face and her movement when she was up on stage. Sophia was five at the time and was taking ballet classes at a small, local dance school. The scout spoke to her mum about the academy and asked her to think about getting Sophia to audition.

“She has to audition?” Isabel had asked incredulous.

“Yes,” the scout replied. “The academy only accepts the best even at this early age. All potential students have to pass a rigorous audition process for us to determine if they’re cut out for the academy at all. Please think about it. If Sophia’s interest lies in dance and she really wants to pursue it, the academy has the necessary resources to help her.”

Isabel wasn’t sure if she wanted Sophia to be put under such pressure at five years of age. She spoke to her husband about it and though they recognized her special talent they were wary of her being trained to make a career out of it. They knew it would come at a price of her childhood.

“But she’ll be going into our business when she’s older,” Rafael had said. “That’s where her future lies.”

Isabel rolled her eyes at her husband and laughed.

“That’s your dream for her, darling. She may not even want to go into the family business. I think we should speak to her and ask what she thinks.”

“Of course she will want to go into the family business!” Rafael was adamant. “And she’s five, Isabel. Her opinion will be this one minute and something else the next.”

But it seemed Sophia had very strong opinions at the age of five already. That night when Isabel and Rafael sat her down on her bed and explained what the scout had said, her eyes lit up and she beamed lighting up the whole room.

“Oh please, Mama! I want to audition!” Sophia pleaded, her hands clasped together as if in prayer and her eyes shut tightly.

Her parents chuckled and watched her with amusement as she scooted off the bed and curtsied in front of them.

“You’re not scared about dancing by yourself for a lot of big people?” Rafael asked her.

“No,” she replied.

“And you know the audition doesn’t mean you’ll get into the school. What about if they say you didn’t get in?”

“Oh but I will, Daddy, I will!” she cried jumping up and down and clapping her hands. “Didn’t you see me today? I was very good, wasn’t I, Daddy?”

“Yes, Phia. You were very good,” Rafael admitted giving her a big squeeze.

They allowed her to audition and she impressed the whole panel that the decision was unanimous. She started taking classes at the academy the following week. Isabel and Rafael agreed they would let her continue dancing for as long as she wanted to. If the time ever came when she wanted to do something else, then they would simply take her out of the academy, no pressure.

When her parents saw her joyous face entering the studio for the very first time, they had no regrets. What was most important to them was her happiness and she was simply over the moon being inside this big school where there were lots of people to make friends with and where she would be going every afternoon to dance her little heart out.

On her first day, she practically ran into the studio, started chatting to her classmates immediately and picked up all the instructions from the ballet teacher with ease.

It was like she understood that a door had been opened for her and this was where she would be honing her skills as a dancer. She was dedicated to her craft right from the beginning.

But though she may have been the best, it wasn’t always easy. She worked very hard to become the principal dancer of the academy complete with blood, sweat and tears. There were many times when she wanted to give up and follow a different career path. But she never did because she needed dance the way she needed air. It was her life.

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Back to the present, Carlos cleared his throat and spoke up.

“She’s pretty good at ballet,” he stated referring to Cris.

Sophia nodded her head.

“I don’t doubt that,” she said smiling at Cristina. “We only accept the best in the academy.”

Cris beamed, swelling with pride at having been complimented by her idol.

“Carlos, we’re about to start the class but you’re welcome to stay and watch, though I don’t know why you’d want to,” Sophia offered cheekily.

“Umm, yeah, no, I don’t really want to,” he said scratching his head and looking down at the ground.

“Ok, well pick her up in an hour. It’s good seeing you again.”

Carlos waved at Sophia and glanced at Cris who had her eyes locked on his and gave him the slightest hint of a mischievous smile.

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The class went well and Cris enjoyed her first day. As the rest of the students filed out of the studio, she stayed behind wanting another opportunity to speak to Sophia again on her own.

“Umm, Sophia?” she approached her tentatively not wanting to be a bother.

“Hi Cris! Good work today!” Sophia exclaimed as she stretched her back.

“Really?” She was secretly jumping for joy that she’d received another compliment from her.

Sophia noticed the excitement she was trying to contain. She was so in awe of her that Sophia could have said anything and she would’ve been all giggly.

“Yeah, you’re really good, Cris,” she reassured her. “And anyone will tell you the same thing. It’s not just me.”

“Wow!” she said in astonishment. “Thank you. You’re as nice as I imagined you to be!”

Sophia suppressed a smile.

“I’m probably not as nice as you imagine,” she remarked looking at her upside down as she bent over to stretch her lower back, her legs out wide and her head nearly touching the floor.

But Cris merely shook her head to disagree.

“Is your brother here yet?” Sophia asked changing the subject.

Cris looked at the glass window on the door and saw Carlos peeking in. She waved him over but he refused to come in.

“Yeah he’s outside by the door,” she replied.

Sophia came out of her stretch and turned towards the door. She saw Carlos’ eyes through the glass for a split second before he suddenly disappeared from view. She shrugged her shoulders and walked out of the studio with Cris.

“So Carlos said you went to school together.”

“Yeah, we were in the same year,” Sophia said.

“But you guys weren’t friends were you?”

“Well, we didn’t hang out in the same group but I had a few classes with him so we did talk every now and then,” she admitted.

He’d always been shy as far as she could remember and smart. He always had the top grades in the classes they shared together.

“He said the same thing,” Cris told her. “He was….” She paused trying to find the right words.

“He was pleasantly surprised when he saw the website of the company and found you there.”

“Is that right?” Sophia said amused.

They ended the conversation because they had reached Carlos and Sophia was going in another direction for rehearsal with Alex.

Sophia winked at Cris before gently patting Carlos on the shoulder.

“She did great,” she commented as she passed him. “Tell your parents. I’m sure they’ll be pleased.”

Carlos watched her walk away in silence while Cris stared after her in awe.

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As Marat had predicted, Sophia did get the lead in the academy’s next big production. She was paired up with Alex once again and they couldn’t have been happier.

Rehearsals were going great although Sophia was struggling with a few moves which surprised her partner and their choreographer because they weren’t particularly difficult and she’d performed them many times before.

Alex shrugged it off and teased her about lacking in concentration because she was missing Marat. And she was. Her days were consumed by thoughts of him and even she was finding herself a little bit pathetic. They hadn’t seen each other in months as they were both busy with their own separate careers.

Sophia threw herself back into her work to keep her mind off him for at least part of the day. But the mistakes she kept making were causing her endless frustration and the only thing that could calm her down was to think about Marat.

One afternoon, Sophia and Alex were sitting together in the waiting room of the academy doctor’s office. All the dancers at the academy had to attend routine check ups to ensure their continued health and wellbeing and to address any identified health concerns.

Sophia listened to him talk about some date he went on the other night but she wasn’t paying much attention because she was distracted by something else.

“I can’t wait to travel again for our shows,” Alex exclaimed.

“Mmm, me too Sash,” Sophia agreed.

“We are going to kill our performance!” he said with confidence. “Well, once you perfect your part of the routine.”

He nudged her playfully hoping to get a laugh out of her but she didn’t even crack a smile.

“I’m sorry. I’m just really tired,” she explained reading his questioning look.

“Aww, too tired thinking about lover boy?” teased Alex.

That made Sophia smile.

“Yeah Sash, I’m definitely tired from thinking about him,” she agreed.

His appointment was first and soon the doctor called his name. He came out 15 minutes later and announced he was fit as a fiddle. He had a date to go to but offered to wait for Sophia as was their custom since they became partners.

“It’s fine Sash, you go ahead,” she told him. “I have to visit my dad’s restaurant afterwards anyway so I’ll just see you tomorrow.”

She walked in to the doctor’s room nervously. These appointments always made her anxious.

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There was an hour left before the dinner service started and Sophia entered ‘Casa Martinez’ to find Carlos writing the day’s specials on the blackboard.

“Hey Carlos,” she said putting her bag down on one of the bar stools and helping herself to a glass of red behind the bar.

“Where’s mum and dad?” she asked sipping her drink nice and slow.

Carlos explained they were still in a meeting with their wine distributor.

“Oh right,” Sophia said cheekily. “Better not disturb them then. Wine is a VERY important subject after all.”

She took another sip and giggled. He nodded and smiled shyly at her.

“Did rehearsals finish early today?”

He was standing next to Sophia with his back leaning against the bar. He noticed her eyes were tired and something else but he couldn’t quite work out what.

“Yeah, it’s a pretty tough routine so we’ve been advised not be as grueling with our rehearsals as we normally are,” she answered.

He shook his head in wonder. “How do you do it?”

Sophia looked at him at amusement. “Do what?”

“I mean, how do you condition yourself to go through so much pain and perform all those really hard moves and still have a perfectly functioning body?”

She shrugged and her tone turned serious.

“Trust me, I’ve had a lot of injuries because of dance,” she revealed. “But we just push through the pain you know? If I couldn’t dance anymore, I think I’d die.”

She put her wine glass down that was already empty and drummed her fingers on the bar.

“How about you?” she asked to keep the conversation going. “How did you become a chef?”

“Well I could’ve done anything I wanted after school. I had really good grades,” Carlos said without a trace of arrogance. “But being a chef pays ok, especially working in a really good restaurant. And cooking for other people is something I love doing.”

Sophia smiled. She never failed to be inspired by people who were passionate about what they did.

Speaking of passionate, it occurred to her that she hadn’t spoken to Marat all day. She really needed to speak to him. She checked her phone and he hadn’t called. She decided she would Skype him when she got home. After a particularly hard day, seeing his face always made things better.

“Good for you, Carlos,” she said.

She began drumming her fingers again and fell silent, lost in her own thoughts.

Carlos felt an obligation to entertain her because they were the only ones in the room and he couldn’t very well leave the owner’s daughter bored and alone.

He put his hands in his pockets and spoke up again in his timid voice wanting to break the silence.

“Are you hungry? I can make you something,” he suggested. “Anything you like.”

Sophia’s eyes brightened at the thought of food. She didn’t realize she was hungry until Carlos mentioned it.

“Really?” she challenged. “Anything I like?”

“Yeah try me,” Carlos replied back with a confidence that came from where he wasn’t sure.

She thought about requesting a really difficult dish but she couldn’t be that mean and in the end asked for a generous serving of paella valenciana which she knew was on the menu.

Carlos scoffed saying it was one of his specialties and sure enough when he served it to her 15 minutes later and she had her first bite, she didn’t think she’d tasted anything better other than Rosa’s dearly missed cooking.

Sophia praised his culinary skills and he accepted it with great humility.

“Wow!” she said when she finished her meal. “That’s a great way to get the ladies. You must have them falling at your feet when you cook for them.”

He turned bright red at her comment and mumbled that he hadn’t had a girlfriend in a while and was too busy to even go out on a date.

“Hmmm, shame,” she said looking at him thoughtfully. “We girls love a guy who knows his way around the kitchen.

Carlos looked away and scratched his head. He was thankful her parents finally emerged from their office and joined Sophia in the dining room to catch up wher. He quietly made his way to the kitchen to prepare for the dinner service.

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“Phia, look at your legs!” Isabel exclaimed. “They’re black and blue!”

Her daughter gave her a satisfied smile.

“I know, isn’t it beautiful?” she said proudly examining the dark spots caused by repeated falls, drops and slides on the hard studio floor.

“My god, Phia! They look awful!” continued the exasperated mother.

She kissed Sophia’s cheek and gave her a big hug. Rafael shook his head and frowned as he sat down next to her to work through some paperwork.

“Honey, I know you love dance but what happens when you get married? You’re going to have to choose between dancing and your husband. You can’t be married to both,” Isabel stated matter of fact.

She watched Sophia scrunch up her nose and shudder.

“What did I say?” Isabel asked confused.

“I’ll always be married to dance, Ma,” she replied. “I’m not getting married to anything or anyone else.”

Her dad pretended to still be distracted by his work but he was listening intently.

Isabel looked at Sophia in shock. Last time she checked, Sophia hadn’t been opposed to marriage. She was going to marry Tristan for goodness sake! Then again, they hadn’t really discussed marriage since the break up so perhaps her views might’ve changed dramatically.

But Sophia’s defunct wedding was something they had enjoyed planning together as mother and daughter. She had hoped to one day have another opportunity to do it all over again for a wedding that would happen and it would be perfect and beautiful.

“Wait...you’re telling me you’ve gone all cold on marriage?” Isabel blurted out. “Meanwhile, you’re with someone who is in love with you and could very well propose one day.”

Sophia choked violently. She had to drink a full glass of water to regain her composure before she could speak up.

Rafael and Isabel were both speaking loudly in Spanish agreeing their daughter had gone ‘loco’ for dismissing marriage and their opinion that Marat may one day propose to her. They had spoken about it before and they were both of the same mind that he was good for Sophia. As far as they were concerned, he was already a part of their family because he was so important to her.

“People, people,” Sophia yelled calling for order. “Calm down! I can tell you right now that Marat is not going to propose any time soon. We’re not ready for anything more than what we have and frankly we don’t want anymore either.”

Her mum pursed her lips and her dad put his head down once again to pay attention to the documents in front of him.

“Besides, marriage is no longer on my agenda,” she went on spitting out the word marriage as if it was poison that left a bad taste in her mouth.

Her mother looked at her worriedly wondering how she had become so cynical.

“Oh honey, Tristan and Marat are two completely different people,” Isabel reminded her. “I just don’t believe Marat would treat you the way Tristan did so don’t be scared if you start to feel that you want something more out of your relationship because he’ll probably feel the same way.”

Sophia sighed and looked away to remain calm in this ridiculous argument.

“I know that, Ma,” she said keeping her voice even. “Can we just drop this conversation? Marat told me before…he doesn’t believe in getting married.”

“How long ago was that?” Rafael inquired.

“When he found out about Tristan,” she answered. “He’d never purposely try to influence anyone’s choices but he didn’t shy away from expressing his strong opinions against marriage either.”

“That sounds like a long time ago,” was Rafael's only comment.

Sophia frowned. She hated it when people put things in her head which had made her act stupidly and impulsively and gotten her into a bit of trouble in the past.

“See, how do you know he hasn’t changed his mind since then?” Isabel persisted.

“I don’t know,” she said defeated and Isabel couldn’t help but break out into a triumphant smile.

“But…”

“But what?”

“But I just know he doesn’t ever want to get married, ok?! And I don’t either!”

She was shouting by then out of frustration with her parents and the whole discussion itself. She left the restaurant soon after leaving her mum and dad shaking their heads at her stubbornness.

She didn’t even get to tell them what she was there for. Sophia regretted ever visiting them that night.
-----------------------------------------

The deal was done. The day had finally come when Marat and Roger were to become business partners. It was a long process but well worth every meeting, every journey to Switzerland or wherever Roger happened to be at the time and every argument he had with both Roger and Mirka. Marat was afraid they would end up having a falling out because of their disagreements but it just cemented their friendship and proved they could still work well together even if they didn’t always see eye to eye.

Once the last legal document had been signed by both parties, they smiled at each other and shook hands. This meeting was one of the latest issues he had argued with Mirka about. While he wanted it to be a private affair between two businessmen, she wanted to make a spectacle out of it and invite the media and hold an official press conference ‘to gain immediate public interest’ she had said.

But Marat was incensed about the whole idea and they had both turned to Roger, each with murderous looks, to await his verdict on who he was going to side with.

He looked at Mirka, sweet, tough cookie Mirka and understood where she was coming from. A press conference might just be what they needed to get everybody talking about the business.

Then he looked at Marat. The charismatic, larger than life Russian. He was surprised when he realized he envied him in some ways. Yes, he was wealthier than him. Heck, he was wealthier than most people. And he was sure as hell a better tennis player than him.

But Marat wasn’t interested in the fame or the opportunity to be recognized as a do-gooder. Of course money was important to him. He needed a way to support himself after all. But more than that, the guy was simply in it because he believed in the game and he believed in the kids and he believed in what he could provide for them. Regardless of whether it was a good deed or not was irrelevant to him. He was always so self-assured about his actions never mind what other people thought. Simply put, Marat didn’t give a $hit. He was his own person. Roger respected that about him. He and Mirka had too many things to consider to ever try and be the same way and their decisions were always based on what was best for his image and his empire.

In the end Roger agreed with Marat much to Mirka’s shock and dismay. It was Marat’s business first and foremost and he explained that he should have the freedom to run it as he saw fit.

“Ok, well first order of business then is to finalise this deal behind closed doors,” Marat had announced, grinning at Mirka who glared at him with deadly eyes.

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Marat and Roger decided to celebrate. They were in Paris where Roger was competing in the French Open. Mirka stayed back to attend to the babies, a decision both men welcomed. Roger didn’t have much time but he allowed himself a couple of hours freedom from the wife and the opportunity to be just one of the guys. He thought it would be nice to round up some of Marat’s friends from the tour and invited his Russian compatriots, Novak Djokovic, and Tommy Haas. They were all grateful for the distraction and looked forward to seeing Marat who had been too busy of late travelling, working on his business and having a girlfriend he was crazy about.

Dmitry offered to organize the boys’ night out to give him something to do as he was already out of the tournament.

Marat agreed but told him ‘to keep it clean’ because he knew all too well the kind of wild and crazy nights Dmitry could plan.

However, his instructions fell on deaf ears and after following the directions Dmitry had sent by a text message, the boys found themselves in the middle of the red light district of Paris standing in front of the Moulin Rouge.

“It’s just dinner and a show!” Dmitry promised when Marat looked at him disapprovingly and asked what the hell he had planned.

Still not convinced, he went in anyway with the rest. As soon as they entered, they were met by a group of can-can girls who were heavily made up, heavily perfumed and dressed in barely there costumes.

“I like the way you think, Dmitry!” Novak commented, his eyes ogling at the red-headed one who linked her arm through his and kissed him on the cheek.

They were led to a private room where they were to be given their own show. Before the performance started, the men were treated to drinks and an entrée of parfait and escargots.

While Novak, Dmitry and Tommy lapped up the attention being lavished on them, Roger, Igor and Kolya though polite were a little more wary of the flirtatious women sitting on their laps and batting their eyelashes at them. They were faithful men and were not interested in the company of other women regardless of how harmless their actions might be.

Marat however was somewhere in the middle of acceptance and wariness. He quite enjoyed the flirting and didn’t turn the women away but he knew where to draw the line. If anything, being around the can-can dancers just made him think of Sophia all the more because the smell of their heavily musky fragrance was giving him a headache and he wished he was able to breathe her in instead.
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The boys watched the private dance performed especially for them with appreciation. The alcohol being consumed had started to make them quite loud and boisterous. They clapped wildly and shouted out words of approval and admiration.

After the dance, the ladies got off the stage and one by one proceeded to approach their tennis player of choice to keep them company.

Marat found himself surrounded by three of the dancers.

He had to admit, they were all pretty sexy but he couldn’t help finding their flirtatious ways amusing. They were trying too hard to impress him not knowing that anything they did would have no effect. Nevertheless, they were persistent.

One of them was sitting on his lap with her arm around his shoulders, another was standing behind him leaning over his chair her cleavage fully exposed while the third sat next to him with her hand planted firmly on his thigh.

He was starting to feel suffocated but didn’t know how to tell them to go away. So he simply switched off and took out his phone hoping they would get the point that he wanted some privacy.

“Monsieur Safin, who are you calling?” one asked in English tinged with her French accent.
“Are we not good enough company for you?”

She batted her mascara-painted eyelashes. The other two watched him expectantly. Marat looked at them all and tried not to roll his eyes.

“Sorry ladies, can you excuse me? I need to call my girlfriend,” he said.

It was almost as if he could hear the disappointment in their sighs upon hearing he had a girlfriend and he wanted to laugh. Their attitude towards him cooled immediately and two of them slowly turned away and faced Novak instead who was still enjoying all the female attention.

But the one on his lap didn’t move. Instead, she caressed his face and gave him a knowing smile. Out of the three, she was actually the one he liked best. He didn’t mind that she was still on his lap. She was pretty but had too much make-up on.

Was she pretty or had he just had too much too drink?

“Oh oui,” she replied in understanding. “Your girlfriend, ‘l'Australienne’.”

Marat was surprised she knew about Sophia.

“I’m a big tennis fan,” she explained reading his mind.

She waved her hands to correct herself.

“Pardon, monsieur. I should say I am a big fan of you.”

He nodded and instantly felt awkward. Some of his female fans really scared him and he started to wonder if she was one of those really obsessed ones that knew every little thing about his personal life.

“Monsieur, it is a very strange time to be calling Sydney. It is very early in the morning there, oui?”

He shrugged his shoulders.

“She wakes up early,” he revealed.

Marat motioned for the girl to stand up and she did with a bit of reluctance.

He walked across the room and found a dark, quiet corner away from the boys and the women.

While dialing Sophia’s number, he looked over and saw the girl watching him anxiously. He turned his back to her so that she couldn’t see his face.

Sophia’s phone rang out. He hung up and dialed again. Sometimes he had to call a few times because she could never find her phone in time in those big bags of hers to answer or she simply misplaced it.

But after four separate calls, he figured she must still be sleeping. It was a shame because he really wanted to share this moment with Sophia. He had sealed the deal with Roger and she had been there supporting, encouraging and urging him on all the way. Plus she had put up with his bouts of mood swings that came out from all the stress. She had been really understanding each time he snapped or had no time to talk or seemed too distracted when they were on the phone. This was as much of a win for her as it was for him.

He saw the girl approaching him already as soon as he put his phone away.

“No answer?” she asked as if she didn’t already know. “It’s ok. I can help you forget about her.”

“I don’t think so,” he mumbled inaudibly.

Marat sighed in the mood all of a sudden to indulge this blonde. He didn’t know what came over him. He missed Sophia like hell but then he was spurring this girl on to continue in her quest to seduce him?

“What’s your name, mademoiselle?” he inquired ignoring her question and her last comment. His French was really bad but she seemed to find it cute.

“Madeleine,” she replied with a grin under the impression he was finally starting to show some interest in her.

“Ok Madeleine. Do you want to join me for another drink? I could really use one,” he told her.

She nodded enthusiastically and took his hand leading him to the bar. He let her but all the while knowing it was probably a bad idea.

[audrey]

Chapter 43

Sophia walked into the studio ready for another grueling rehearsal. Alex greeted her with boundless energy and he made her tired just watching him. Again he was raving on about the date he’d been on that he didn’t even notice her somber expression.

They started practicing but it wasn’t long before Sophia had to stop and ask to start over because she’d already made some mistakes.

“Come on, Phia,” Sasha encouraged. “Pick it up.”

He squeezed her shoulders affectionately and it was only then that he really looked at Sophia’s face and saw she may not just be making these mistakes because she missed her boyfriend but because she was physically in pain. He could see she was trying to keep from wincing and she was taking very deep breaths to get herself together.

“Sh!t, Phia, are you ok?” he asked anxiously. “What the f*ck is wrong?”

But she didn’t answer him. Instead, she walked up to the choreographer and asked her to stop the rehearsal altogether. Everyone at the academy knew about Sophia’s work ethic and for her to stop a rehearsal meant something was seriously wrong. Everyone in the studio were alarmed at once.

She needed to speak with Juliette immediately and brought Alex with her to Juliette’s office.

By the time she walked through the door, she could no longer stop herself from crying. Alex still didn’t know what was wrong but he held her all the same, caressing her arm to try and soothe her.

Juliette came around from her desk as soon as she saw Sophia in a state of distress and sat down next to her holding her hand.

Though well respected in the dance community, the artistic director was publicly known as a tough, fearless and intimidating businesswoman. But while the dancers at the academy couldn’t deny this, they knew she also had a soft side that not many people saw. She cared very much about each of her dancers and treated them as if they were her own children.

She was especially fond of Sophia and had a special connection with her because it was Juliette who found her all those years ago in that elementary school talent show. She had watched Sophia grow from a bright-eyed, giggly young dancer to this beautiful, elegant and undeniably brilliant prima ballerina who was now in her office crying silently, her tears falling freely to the ground.

Alex and Juliette waited patiently until Sophia was ready to speak. When she finally did, they were stunned to say the least.

“I’m sorry, but I think I may need to quit ballet,” she announced with each word coming out heavy and burdened.

No one knew what to say. All they could do was continue to comfort her, to encourage her to explain her shocking decision.

“My back injury from Moscow hasn’t completely recovered,” she elaborated. “I’ve been doing physio and all of that and I’ve been able to just get on with it. But lately, it’s been getting harder and the pain is getting worse even with painkillers.”

The hurt evident in her eyes and in her voice affected Alex greatly and he too started to cry. He of all people knew how much ballet meant to Sophia and he couldn’t even imagine how much this was killing her.

“That’s why I haven’t been performing my best during rehearsals because it just hurts,” she explained hating herself she couldn’t give her best and for not being able to be the perfect partner Alex deserved to have.

This upset Alex even more. If only she had told him earlier, maybe he could’ve helped her in some way and he wouldn’t have teased her so much about Marat because clearly, the mistakes she was making had nothing to do with him. He felt bad her problems were a lot more serious than that and he had no idea.

“I was hoping that if I ignored it, it would just go away but I can’t ignore it anymore. My appointment with Dr. Wilson yesterday confirmed everything I’ve been afraid of.”

“What did he say? If there is anything wrong with any of the dancers, he knows I’m meant to be told about it immediately.”

This was the first time Juliette had said anything since they came in and she wasn’t pleased that a serious injury had not been brought to her attention sooner.

Sophia shook her head. “No, please don’t be mad at him,” she begged. “I asked Dr. Wilson not to say anything because I wanted to tell you myself.”

She took a big breath to give her strength to continue.

“I had some x-rays and scans done before I saw him and they showed a fracture in my lower back that hasn’t healed since Moscow,” she said in a shaky voice. “And the back problem has also caused muscle problems in my thighs and my feet because it’s affected my whole alignment. So it’s very serious and I’ve most probably permanently damaged my back. If I continue to dance, I risk damaging it even more.”

Sophia was a mess. She sobbed uncontrollably and leaned into Alex who hugged her tight all the while crying with her.

Juliette needed to remain composed although she too felt like she could cry. Not only could she feel Sophia’s pain but she mourned the potential loss of her precious talent that she may no longer be able to share with others.

“Did you discuss the option of surgery?” she asked.

Sophia nodded sadly. “Yes and my condition is bad but it’s not considered bad enough for surgery,” she said sniffling. “If I let it get worse, I could make it so bad that it’ll be beyond repair. I can’t win, Juliette! Either way I lose!”

She burst into tears again feeling broken and hopeless. If she didn’t have dance, she had nothing. Her world was falling apart and she never felt so lost as she did then.

“I’m sorry Juliette, this is a really hard decision which I’ve thought over these last 24 hours but I’m going to need to step down from my role in the production and take some time off from dance indefinitely,” Sophia announced in between sobs.

She heard Alex gasp and Juliette sigh. She couldn’t look at them so she dropped her head and stared at the carpet through her blurry eyes filled with tears. But she really didn’t have any choice. As much as she loved dance, she couldn’t risk a more serious and debilitating injury.

“Of course, Sophia,” Juliette said sympathetically. “You have to do what’s best for you and your health.”

The broken ballerina nodded knowing her decision was the right one even though it killed her to make it.

“You take as much time off as you need and I’ll speak to Dr. Wilson more about what options we have. But we can not lose you ok? So in the meantime, I hope you will agree to at least continue to teach classes here. The girls all love you and you know you can’t stay away from us.”

It was the first time Sophia actually let out a smile. Juliette was right – even if she couldn’t dance, she could still maintain her connection to her art form and the academy by teaching. It was a small consolation to an otherwise devastating turn of events.
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Dmitry was at the airport with Marat shaking his head recalling the previous night. They were on their way home and were both waiting to board separate planes.

“Stop shaking your head, it’s annoying,” Marat demanded, his arms crossed and his head leaning back on the head of the uncomfortable airport chair as he stared blankly at the departures monitor.

“I just can’t believe it, you know,” Dima said. “Who would’ve thought you had it in you?”

Marat groaned and rolled his eyes sinking deeper into his seat at the thought of his ridiculous behaviour.

“You’re going to lose some major credibility,” Dmitry continued in his mocking of his very irritated friend. “No one could believe what you did. I mean, you’re with Sophia…”

“Yeah, I know Dima. I remember everything that happened last night, you don’t have to remind me,” Marat snapped.

Dmitry shook his head and chuckled. Madeleine the French can-can dancer who was smitten with Marat never in her wildest dreams imagined that the night would turn out the way it did. She left the Moulin Rouge with mixed emotions and was determined to tell people all about her memorable encounter with Marat Safin.
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Dinara was at the practice courts hitting a few balls with her coach to prepare for her match later on the day. She arrived early so that she could practice in peace but more players were starting to arrive. Among these players were Novak and Tommy who were out with Marat at the Moulin Rouge and were discussing the boys’ outing loud enough for Dinara to eavesdrop.

She also heard enough to get an idea about what had happened and couldn’t wait to get a break so she could call her brother and find out what kind of mess he’d put himself in. She was fuming. By the sound of things, Marat had done something really stupid again. Sometimes she didn’t know who the older sibling was between them. It seemed she was always scolding him for one reason or another.

“Marat!” she yelled into the phone leaving him a rather angry voicemail. “Were you kissing some girl last night? You slime! Call me back as soon as you get this!!! We need to talk! I just heard Novak and Tommy talking about your boys’ night out and they mentioned something about you and some French girl who was all over you and…”

Dinara was cut off and couldn’t finish her rant. She threw her phone back into her bag and tried to put her concentration back on the remainder of her practice. But she could no longer take her mind off what she had heard earlier and hoped her brother wasn’t stupid enough to do anything to hurt her good friend Sophia.
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If there was a more fitting time for Sophia to speak to Marat, it was the day she made the decision to drop out of the theatre’s upcoming production as the principal dancer and assess the future of her dance career.

They kept missing each other’s calls and Marat never logged on to Skype when she tried to reach him.

Sophia was desperate to hear his voice and needed his reassuring and comforting words to convince her that despite her unfortunate circumstance, things were going to be ok.

If anybody knew about niggling injuries and how to cope with them, it was Marat. Although Sophia had been through her share of injuries, none of them had ever been serious enough to potentially end her dance career.

But Marat had been there. He’d been to hell and back and was then able to cinch a second grand slam plus make his way back to the top 20 of men’s tennis.

So apart from the aching longing Sophia had for Marat, she wanted to seek his advice on what she should do and how she should deal with the frustrating and scary emotions accompanying her injury.

While she waited impatiently to get in touch him, she visited her parents at their restaurant and delivered her bad news. To say they were upset was an understatement. Lots of tears were shed and warm hugs were given to comfort one another.

Rafael had initially been hesitant to allow Sophia to pursue a dance career when she was younger. But he knew how exceptionally good she was and how much dance meant to her that he felt it a crime for her not to share that gift with the world. Finding out she had to stop performing for an indefinite period of time broke his heart for his daughter.

After discussing other possible career options for her, they reassured Sophia that they supported her no matter what happened next.

“You just take your time, sweetie,” Isabel told her. “Whatever you decide to do, we’ll be behind you all the way.”

“That’s right. Maybe now you can consider my offer seriously about coming to work for me,” Rafael added half-joking, half-serious.

Sophia rolled her eyes at her dad’s persistence. “Sure Dad, I’ll think about it,” she answered, indulging him.

She saw Carlos by the open window of the kitchen listening to their conversation. When he realized he’d been caught, he averted his eyes and pretended to be sharpening his knife.

“Hey Carlos,” Sophia called out.

He looked at her apprehensively afraid she might be mad at him.

“Whatever you just heard, please don’t mention it to your sister,” she requested. “A formal announcement is going to be made tomorrow at the theatre and the academy.”

He nodded obediently breathing a sigh of relief.

“I’m sorry you’ve had to drop out,” Carlos offered. “Is there anything I can do? Can I cook you something to cheer you up a little?”

He realized this was why she didn’t seem herself the night before when she came to the restaurant looking for her parents.

Sophia smiled at him. “Is food your answer to everything?”

He shrugged his shoulders and replied, “There’s not a problem so far that hasn’t been solved by my famous double chocolate fudge brownie. It makes everything better.”

Sophia’s eyes brightened. His offer was too good to refuse. How could she say no to something so tempting?

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A little while later her phone rang and she answered it with her usual cheerful voice. Carlos was right. His brownie was the answer to all her problems, at least temporarily.

At that moment she wasn’t injured, her career wasn’t at stake nor was she depressed.

She was in heaven, enjoying the sweet, soft, fluffy, rich chocolate dessert that was sending her into a state of euphoria.

Sophia heard a stranger’s voice on the other line.

“Am I speaking to Sophia Martinez?” the stranger asked in a mysterious tone.

“Yes, who’s this?” she inquired suspiciously.

“Miss Martinez, I’m a reporter from The Buzz magazine. Can you confirm if the story out there is true?”

Sophia froze up. Since her relationship with Marat became public knowledge, she’d been able to maintain a relative sense of privacy.

But she noticed how much the profile of the dance theatre and academy had been raised in the media. She herself was getting a lot more publicity than she cared to have even in publications not remotely related to the dance community such as The Buzz which reported on entertainment and celebrity news.

The number of applications to join the academy had also increased in recent months, especially from the age group between 18 to 25. Everyone had come to the conclusion that the mere association of Marat with the academy as simply being one of its dancers’ boyfriends was the cause of the increasing interest in the establishment. Sophia laughed at this theory and particularly when Alex described it as Safin Fever. What did people think? That they would see him wandering through the halls of the building socializing with the dancers like he had nothing better to do?

Sophia was surprised and annoyed that her very recent departure from the academy had already been leaked to the media…and to The Buzz no less! She decided to play dumb because she didn’t want to elaborate on anymore than what they already knew.

“What story?” she asked. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. And how did you get my number?”

“Sophia, it must be hard being so far away from Marat, especially during times like these,” the reporter commented, choosing not to reveal who her source was.

Sophia wanted to agree but she wasn’t going to admit that maintaining a loving long distance relationship was hard work.

She responded with a sigh. She knew better than to discuss something so personal such as her love life or her uncertain career with a pathetic and ridiculous excuse for a publication.

“So how do you feel about what’s just happened?” the reported probed, still trying to fish for any juicy information.

“I really have no comment, I’m sorry,” Sophia replied.

“But Miss Martinez, you must have something to say about Mister Safin’s wandering eye and his trip to the Moulin Rouge the other night in Paris with some friends from the tennis circuit. What can you say about the reports that he was seen in a rather compromising position kissing a blonde woman?”

Sophia stopped chewing and gulped. She wasn’t expecting that.

“Wait…what?” she said in disbelief.

The reporter realized she had put her foot in it because it was evident from her answer that Sophia had no idea about the events surrounding the boys’ night out. She felt awful that Sophia had to find out this way.

“Oh Miss Martinez, I’m sorry. I thought you already knew,” she apologized sincerely. “I’m sorry to be the one to break it to you but there are reports out there that Mister Safin was with another woman last night and I just wanted to see if I could get a statement from you.”

Sophia breathed in deeply trying to remain dignified and composed, trying to make sense of it all.

“You have my word, Miss Martinez, I won’t even mention that you didn’t know,” the reporter assured her. “You and Marat are so good together and you look so happy. I can’t believe he has done this to you.”

“We are happy,” Sophia answered, more to convince herself than anything else. “If you need to write something for your magazine, write that. Goodbye.”

She ended the call and covered her face with her hands resisting the urge to scream with all her might.

“Can my life get any worse?” she cried out instead to no one in particular.

At the same time, Carlos came out of the kitchen to hear her verdict on his creation.

“So what do you think?” he inquired with quiet confidence certain she loved it.

He had watched her take the first few bites and almost cry out with pleasure.

Sophia uncovered her face and he saw her looking angry, sad and completely exhausted. She bitterly pushed the plate of brownies away from her, no longer in the mood to eat.

“I’m sorry Carlos but food is the last thing on my mind right now,” she said getting up to leave.

She was already at the door when a surge of guilt hit her telling her not to take her frustration out on someone who was just trying to cheer her up the best way he knew how. She turned around and saw him staring dumbly after her.

“It was the best, Carlos,” she said more gently this time. “Thank you for feeding me again and for helping me take my mind off things even if it was just for a while.”

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Because the theme of the day seemed to be that things were going from bad to worse, Sophia was anticipating more bad news was on the way.

The next time her phone rang she dreaded to answer it. But then she saw who the caller was and it was imperative she took the call. She’d been waiting for this phone call all day but now the importance of it was for entirely different reasons.

“Hello, beautiful. Finally I get to speak to you,” Marat said in his sexy, irresistible voice.

Sophia, even when she was mad at him, always got a little excited whenever she heard that voice of his. His accent, the deepness of it, the mumbling he does that only he could make sound sexy.

She rolled her eyes thinking how ridiculous she was that she could get so easily distracted by him when she was dealing with a really serious matter. She was meant to be pissed off and annoyed, not aroused! She told herself to get it together. It wasn’t the time to be thinking about him whispering naughty little things to her with that voice.

“Hi,” she said shortly.

“I’ve missed you,” he mumbled. Oh geez!

“Really?” she asked skeptical.

“Yes,” he answered undoubtedly. “Haven’t you missed me?”

“Yes,” Sophia mumbled, though it didn’t sound half as sexy as when he did it.

“So why are we only speaking now, huh? We keep missing each other’s calls.”

“Well, I’ve had a really bad couple of days and you seem to have had quite a busy time in Paris,” she said.

“I was busy,” Marat confirmed. “I need to tell you all about the closing of the deal.”

“Oh really, is that all?”

Sophia’s remarks were starting to sound more and more scathing. Marat noticed but he made no mention of it.

“Where are you?” he asked. “Can you get online? I want to see that beautiful face of yours and you can tell me why you’ve had a bad day.”

She sighed then practically growled at him.

“Oh cut the crap, Marat!” she blurted out. “Is that really all you have to say?”

He was confused and didn’t know why she was blowing up at him.

“Am I supposed to say something else?” he inquired innocently. “Apart from I love you, I miss you, I want to see my beautiful girlfriend.”

Sophia was trying to assess how genuine he was but failed to see it in her moment of anger.

“Were you at the Moulin Rouge the other night?” she interrogated.

“Yeah, how did you know about that?” he answered amused that she already knew his whereabouts without him having to tell her.

He marveled at how women had the uncanny ability to know exactly what their men were up to.

“And that was a boys’ night out, yes?” she continued ignoring his question.

“Umm yeah,” he admitted. “It was a really good night.”

That just incensed Sophia even more.

“I’m sure it was,” she spat. “You creep! You’re not even slightly remorseful!”

Now Marat was really confused. He’d shared plenty of stories with her before about previous boys’ nights out and she never had any problem with them.

“Did you know that I just had the worst day of my life yesterday and today is just as shitty?” she asked rhetorically.

“No I didn’t,” he replied. “Tell me…”

“I didn’t need you to answer me,” Sophia interrupted. “But of course you didn’t know. Because while my life was falling apart, you were out in the town, cavorting with god knows what kind of trash!”

Marat finally realized what she was talking about.

“Wait, I wasn’t cavorting with anyone,” he argued. “Whatever cavorting means. Sophia, please, can you just tell me why all the drama.”

She really hit the roof then full of resentment that he could be so cavalier as to call her major life crisis a drama!

“I needed you!” she yelled. “And you didn’t answer any of my calls! I needed you and you weren’t even there.”

“Sophia!” Marat yelled back. “What’s happened?”

“Did you or did you not meet some blonde at the Moulin Rouge during your boys’ night out?” she asked spitefully.

Marat shook his head in disbelief. “Yes I did. But how did you find out about…”

“It doesn’t matter,” she said loudly talking over him. “Tell me, did you or did you not hang out with said blonde that night?”

He could see where this was going and wanted to offer an explanation because Sophia has blowing it out of proportion.

“Yes I did but…”

“And did you or did you not kiss said blonde? And don’t lie to me!” she shouted.

She wasn’t going to give him the chance to speak. She was too fired up.

Marat shook his head defeated. It rarely happened but he knew when Sophia was fuming nothing he or anyone else said could calm her down. But an admission to her question would not help things. He was in a lose/lose situation.

“Yes,” he admitted meekly. “But…”

Sophia groaned and shut her eyes tight in shock that he actually did kiss somebody else. She was really hoping the reporter was wrong and that when she asked him that question he would deny it. She didn’t even care if he got mad at her for asking as long as he told her that he didn’t kiss another woman.

But he did and she was crushed.

…Sophia,” Marat said softly.

“No,” she said firmly. “That’s all I need to know.”

“Sophia, I need to explain,” he implored.

“No!” she said again. “I don’t want to talk to you right now! Creep!”

She hung up on him with a small sense of satisfaction leaving Marat on the other end of the line fumbling to redial her number. But he wasn’t quick enough because she had already turned her phone off.

[audrey]

Chapter 44

It’s been a week since Marat had spoken to Sophia and got a blasting from her which he believed wasn’t necessary.

He was frustrated with her now. No matter what time of day it was, she was offline and her phone was never on. He thought she was being very immature and this just added to his annoyance because they had always been able to discuss things in a civilized and mature manner.

If she could just give him a chance then he could explain everything and maybe she wouldn’t be so upset anymore. But then again there was that kiss. He understood where she was coming from. If someone else kissed Sophia he’d be just as pissed off.

This fight with her put Marat in such a nasty mood and made it hard for anyone to deal with him. Whoever had the pleasure of talking to him became victim to his wrath.

He had rented some floor space in a building to use as an office and he was sitting at his desk reviewing a contract when Roger called him.

“Hey Roger, what’s going on?” he mumbled.

“Hi Marat,” Roger replied. “So are you trying to sabotage my tennis career or something?”

Marat couldn’t see the joke and frowned.

“Why do I keep getting blamed for everything lately?” he barked.

“Relax Marat, I was joking,” Roger laughed. “But every time you and Mirka talk you get into an argument so she tells me to talk to you instead when I should be focusing on my game.”

“Sorry Roger,” Marat apologized sincerely. “I don’t mean to interrupt.”

“So you want to tell me what you were arguing about earlier?”

She was a nice enough person, she really was. But ever since Marat became a business partner with the couple, she just got on his nerves.

“First of all, she shouldn’t be running to you every time we get into a small disagreement,” he complained.

“Agreed,” Roger said surprising his friend who thought he would side with his wife. It caught him off guard momentarily.

“Second, she promised she would stay out of the business and this morning she rings me up to make sure my proposal is ready and I’m prepared for my meeting.”

“Hmmm, Mirka is very thorough,” Roger explained patiently. “And whether you believe it or not, she cares about what happens to you so I suppose ringing you up is just her way of finding out that you’re doing ok and you’re not drowning.”

“Well I am ok,” Marat grumbled. “She doesn’t need to check up on me.”

Roger trusted Marat’s head for business 100% but he was concerned about him as a friend because he could sense he was still distracted and annoyed.

However he didn’t need to mention anything because it was Marat who confided in him first.

“Roger, when Mirka gets angry at you because you’ve done something wrong, what do you have to do to be forgiven?” he asked curiously.

Roger laughed knowing Marat was in trouble with his girlfriend. That night at the Moulin Rouge he headed back to the hotel before he was a witness to any wrongdoings.

But it was the topic of conversation in the locker room the next day and the guys filled in the blanks for Roger.

“I feel for you,” he sympathized. “But you have to get her to listen to your side of the story. She needs to hear it to understand. Have you tried, I don’t know, sending her some flowers to calm her down?”

Marat scoffed. “Come on, what do you think I am? Of course I have! And by the way, do you know how hard it is trying to send flowers to Sydney when you’re on the other side of the world? I don’t recommend it.”

Sending flowers to Sophia was a gesture of love and not guilt. Marat had been sending a beautiful bunch of yellow tulips to Sophia’s apartment the same time everyday for the past five days and still no word from her.

“Well, my friend fortunately I’ll never have that problem because Mirka and I live in the same city,” Roger joked.

“Good for you,” Marat mumbled sarcastically. He wished he and Sophia had that same luxury.

“Marat, this is your area of expertise, you know - making girls fall in love with you, fighting with them and making up, I’m sure you’ll figure it out.”

Yeah in the past maybe, Marat thought. Other girls had been quite easy to charm and make up with. In fact, he wondered if they purposely fought with him just to make up. But Sophia was one stubborn woman. As much as she found his charm irresistible, it had no power if and when she was angry with him.

It was time to take drastic measures. Marat wasn’t sure what he was going to do but he knew he had to act now to stop this whole thing from dragging on any longer.
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Since he had no luck getting in touch with Sophia, Marat decided to turn his attention in the mean time to the other woman who was also mad at him and who he also had to answer to. Dinara would be much easier to break down.

“What do you want, slime?” she said by way of answering his call.

Marat grimaced. He was being subjected a lot of name-calling lately and he was getting tired of it.

“What is this?” he said annoyed. “You call me a slime, Sophia calls me a creep.”

“Creep, good one,” his sister approved. “How about slimy creep?”

“Dinara, look, can you just listen for a minute so I can explain?” he asked impatiently. “You’re going to be taking all of that back once you hear my side.”

There was silence as Dinara considered his request. If there was one thing she was sure of, it was Marat’s honesty. She could trust that he would tell her the truth even if he did something wrong.

“Ok fine but you seriously only have a minute because I’m about to get my hair re-coloured at the hairdresser.”

Marat sighed with relief. If there was one thing he was sure of, it was Dinara’s inability to remain mad at him for too long and her belief that he and Sophia belonged together. With this in mind, he finally knew how he was going to be able to get Sophia to talk to him.
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In Sydney, Sophia’s friends picked her up to go to the movies.

When Nicola and Alex walked through the door, their hearts melted at the sight of Marat’s flowers displayed all over Sophia’s apartment in separate vases. The last delivery had just arrived and this one she placed on the table next to her bed.

“Phia, these are the actions of one desperate man,” Nicola stated opening the small envelope attached to the flowers. The note inside contained three little words – I miss you.

“You need to speak to him,” Alex urged. “Stop being so childish.”

He picked up another note and giggled excitedly behind it with Nicola when he showed her what was written on it – I love you.

“How can you be so heartless and not be affected by this?” he asked incredulously. “The guy is being so f*cking sexy and romantic and you have no reaction. What is wrong with you?”

Alex shoved the last note he gushed over into her hand forcing her to read it.

Sophia stared at the note and let out a tiny smile. She then turned to her friends with a conflicted look in her eyes.

“I do want to speak to him,” she admitted. “I miss him so much. I’m just scared to hear what he’s going to say.”

“Phia, you owe it to him to at least listen to his side of the story,” Nicola advised wisely. “Even if you don’t like what he has to tell you.”

“I’ve heard too many lies in the past,” she said. “I can’t take it if Marat lies to me too.”

“Come on, you’ve been with him for a while now and you’ve been friends even longer. Do you really think he would lie to you?”

Alex couldn’t agree more. “Besides, he’s not a coward. He’s the most honest person I’ve ever met,” he added. “…and the sexiest and the most delicious looking…”

“Ok stop Sash! I get it,” Sophia interrupted him before he took it too far.

He was right though. Marat was brutally honest. Whenever she asked or confronted him about anything, he had always been very upfront with his answers.

“He’s nothing like Tristan,” Nicola reminded her.

“Yes! He’s hotter and way nicer and he adores you,” Alex piped in. “I’m sure there’s a perfectly good explanation for him locking lips with someone else.”

Sophia shuddered at the thought of Marat’s lips pressed against another woman’s. Her initial reaction to the controversial news had worn off. She was still somewhat mad it happened in the first place.

But now her anger has been replaced by a feeling of being betrayed and she wasn’t sure she was ready to find out why Marat could be so deceitful.

In Sophia’s eyes he was perfect even with his flaws. His flaws were a part of who he was and she accepted them as equally as she accepted and loved his good qualities. But he’d gone and kissed another woman and it ruined that perfect image she had of him.

Another thing she couldn’t understand was as far as she was concerned they were happy and in love and were still very much crazy about each other. But was he really if he sought the comfort of someone else? It pained her too much to think he no longer felt the same way.

“Promise you’ll speak to him next time he calls?” Alex insisted.

Sophia shrugged non-committal. “We’ll see,” she said. “Let’s just go and watch this movie ok? I really need a good laugh right now.”

“Fine,” Alex said. “But wait, let me just double check the session time online. Can I quickly use your computer?”
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After a night of being in the company of her friends and watching a great comedy, it took Sophia’s mind off things and she was in a better mood than she had been just hours before.

When she came home, she changed into her favourite nightie, prepared herself a home-made facial and sprawled out on her couch with her eyes closed waiting for the mud pack to set on her face.

But barely five minutes had passed when her laptop came alive with an alert to notify her someone wanted to chat to her on Skype.

“Damn it Sash!” she shouted remembering he’d been the one to use it last and she figured he messed about with it. No wonder he took so long to come out earlier.

Sophia groaned not wanting to move from her cozy position or talk to anyone at that moment. Besides there was a reason why she hadn’t been logging on Skype which had something to do with a certain someone she was trying to avoid.

She reluctantly got up to answer the persistent alert and really hoped it wasn’t him. When she saw it was Dinara she relaxed. She welcomed the distraction and eagerly took the call.

“Sophia?” Dinara peered into the camera. She looked fearful which alarmed Sophia at once.

“Dinara, what’s wrong? Are you ok? Is your brother ok?” she answered uncertainly.

After her recent bout of bad luck, she was paranoid that every phone call she received was more bad news.

Dinara coughed. She nodded which gave Sophia some comfort. She noticed her look away briefly and reveal a faint little smile towards something Sophia couldn’t see.

“We’re both fine,” Dinara confirmed. “My brother’s ok…considering.”

“What does that mean?”

“I was on your side about the whole boys’ night out but then he finally called me and explained everything.”

“Did he put you up to this?” she asked suspiciously.

Again Dinara coughed and looked away. Sophia smirked. She should’ve known he would use his sister to get through to her.

“So let me guess, you believe him?”

Dinara nodded and smiled. “I have to, he’s my brother,” she said. “There’s more to the story than what you’ve been told.”

Sophia looked away at a loss as to what she should do. But Dinara was persistent as always and now that Marat had her in his corner, she knew she had lost her ally and Dinara wouldn’t stop until she and Marat had achieved their goal of getting her to speak to him.

“Do you trust me?” Dinara asked knowing very well that she did.

“Yes,” Sophia sighed with resign.

“Ok so trust me when I tell you there’s nothing to be worried about. It’s not as bad as it sounds.”

After a bit more convincing from the obedient little sister, Sophia finally relented in part to please her but also to hear the truth once and for all.

“Fine, Dinara, I’ll call him now and talk to him,” she agreed.

Dinara beamed then cleared her throat. “Well actually, you don’t have to call him,” she said. “Because he’s right here.”

Sophia rolled her eyes and groaned. Great, so he’d been listening the whole time.

“I’m sorry Sophia but he’s practically got me hostage here,” she explained. “He won’t let me out of his sight until you’ve agreed to speak to him.”

“Fine,” Sophia said through gritted teeth. “I’ll speak to him now.”

She watched as Dinara gave her one last peculiar look. She then stood up and stepped away from the webcam. She could hear brother and sister’s muffled voices. He was taking his sweet time to come around and sit down and she looked around what she recognized as his study while she waited for him. In the distance she could spot a photo of them three from his most recent birthday. It hit her all of a sudden how much she missed both of them and how she wished they didn’t live so far away.

Finally she saw Dinara leave the room and Marat emerged. He took his seat and looked into the camera and just stared at her. He wasn’t smiling or frowning. He was just staring.

Sophia could see he hadn’t shaved in a couple of days. He was ruggedly sexy with the short stubble around his face. She imagined being able to touch it and it made her blush just a bit.

“What?” she asked self-consciously as he continued to stare and not say anything.

Marat’s mouth twitched. “Ummm, what’s that on your face?” he asked.

At first Sophia didn’t know what he was talking about until she instinctively touched her cheek and realized the mud pack was still on her face and it had started to crack.

“Oh my god!” she gasped backing away from the computer. “Hold on!”

She cursed herself and ran to the bathroom to wash her face clean. No wonder Dinara kept giving her funny looks! Why the hell didn't she mention anything?! Marat could hear all the commotion and couldn’t resist the urge to laugh. When she returned though he stopped because he saw her flawless glowing skin and it caught him off guard. Did she get more beautiful every time he saw her? Was that possible?

“Better?” she asked jokingly.

“Much better,” he replied with a smile that made her go weak in the knees but not enough to make her lose focus.

“Let’s cut to the chase Marat,” she told him firmly. “Tell me what happened at the Moulin Rouge and why you ended up making out with some blonde. If you cheated on me, I at least deserve to know why.”

Marat frowned at her and shook his head. “You think I cheated on you?” he asked as if it was the most ridiculous thing he’d ever been accused of.

“If I wanted a boyfriend who cheated on me, I would’ve just stayed with Tristan,” she continued.

He sighed loudly and rubbed his forehead with irritation.

“Unbelievable,” he said. “You really think I cheated on you.”

Sophia crossed her arms and said nothing more waiting to be proved otherwise.

“I wish people would get their stories right before they open their mouths,” he complained. “I don’t know which idiot told you about that night but they don’t know what they’re talking about. I never cheated on you.”

She gulped feeling a huge relief. But she remained impassive because he wasn’t going to get off that easy. She still wanted to hear exactly what happened.

“It’s true there was a can-can dancer Madeleine who I met that night and she kept me company,” he continued.

“A can-can dancer?” she sneered. “Very classy, Marat. Don’t tell me…she was wearing bright red lipstick, heavy eye makeup, fishnet stockings, trashy lingerie and cheap perfume?”

He raised his eyebrows, amazed at how spot on she was. She rolled her eyes at his reaction knowing she was right.

“Anyway,” he said with his voice raised trying to get back to the story. “All I wanted was to speak to you and tell you how everything went that day but you must’ve been asleep. I wanted to tell someone about it and Madeleine wouldn’t leave me alone so I asked her if she wanted a drink because she’s a fan and she said yes. We sat at the bar where everyone could see us and hear us so you can ask any of the guys and they’ll tell you the same story.”

“Oh for god’s sake Marat, you are not that stupid,” Sophia butted in. “It’s fine to be nice to your fans but treating them, in particular the women who are into you, to drinks and paying them that much attention by inviting them to talk to you is just teasing them. They will think it means more than just your genuine kindness.”

There she was again putting him in his place and he could say nothing because she was right. He knew all this. He’d known it was a bad idea because he saw in Madeleine’s eyes that she wanted him but he asked her to join him for a drink anyway.

“Or maybe you are that stupid,” she mumbled.

Marat heard every word and he was starting to get annoyed.

“You know you could have a little more faith in me,” he pointed out, his voice getting even louder. “I really resent that you think I cheated and you call me a creep and you say I’m stupid. But yes ok maybe I am stupid for being so in love with you.”

Sophia wasn’t expecting this and she was startled. For once she had no come-back.

“Do you want to know what I was doing with Madeleine all night?” he asked.

“I was talking about you,” he said without waiting for her answer. “All f*cking night and she got so bored with me going on and on about you she wondered if she’d even get a reaction if she did something outrageous in front of me.”

Sophia sank in her seat with her fidgety hands on her lap like a disobedient child who was being chastised.

“That’s when she kissed me,” Marat said. “She kissed me to shut me up and it worked for about two seconds. When she let go, do you know what I said to her? That my girlfriend kisses so much better than her and that’s when she finally had enough and left. But not before yelling to the whole room that I was a loser because I turned her down and I would much rather cry about my girlfriend who was so far away than be with someone that night who was right there.”

“I got so much $hit from my friends after that for being soft!” he cried out. “They’ve been teasing me since that night saying I’ve been pretending all this time to be this ladies’ man when all along I’m just this guy sick with love. And so maybe I am…I don’t care! I didn’t create that label for myself in the first place. The truth is, I’m not going to hide that I love you because I want everyone to know. And if that makes me soft well then I’m soft. ”

Sophia’s mouth opened and closed, unable to say anything. She had gotten it all wrong and she realized she needed to learn a few more things about how to handle the media when stories like this came up.

“Oh.” It was the only thing that could come out of her mouth. God she had to do better than that for someone who had done nothing wrong by her. He’d stayed faithful and he'd remained the pefect guy she believed him to be.

“Honey I’m really sorry,” she tried pathetically knowing this wasn’t going to be enough for him.

“Oh so first I’m a creep, now you call me honey,” he said spitefully. “Why is it that a girl can get so insecure if a woman comes into the picture even if this other woman is so insignificant and means nothing to the man?”

“Well maybe that’s because the woman is just protective of the man,” Sophia answered defensively.

“Protective or possessive?” he challenged.

“I’m not possessive!” she cried out haughtily. “Marat, I know there are thousands of women out there who are in love with you and would love to get their hands on you. And I don’t care about that because I know exactly how they feel. I'd be one of those women if I didn't have you.”

“So what made you think I would cheat on you?” he asked. “I never cheated in tennis, I never cheated on my ex-girlfriends. You’re more important than those two put together so why would I ever cheat on you?”

That made Sophia feel extremely guilty for having no faith in Marat. She had no excuses other than being scarred by Tristan’s cheating ways but she needed to get over that because as people told her over and over again, Marat was nothing like her ex. She couldn't continue punishing him for something another person did.

“I’ve been an idiot and a complete bitch,” she admitted. “I haven’t been very fair to you and I’m really sorry. Thinking I could lose you made me act like a crazy woman.”

She looked at him apologetically and Marat couldn’t ignore her remorseful eyes. He missed her too much to continue fighting with her. Besides, there was nothing else to fight about. They'd talked everything out. Now it was time to make up.

“You are crazy,” he said. “But I’m crazier because I love you anyway.”

Sophia smiled. “Does this mean you forgive me then?” she asked uncertainly.

“Depends. How are you going to make it up to me?”

He gave her a mischievous look and one sexy smile that made her think of a number of ways she could make it up to him that she was sure would grant her instant pardon.

“I have a few ideas in mind,” she said flirting with him with her eyes.

“Ok well I’m looking forward to them. But now can we be serious for a second?” he requested. “I want to know what you’ve been up to. Tell me everything that’s happened lately. I want to know why my beautiful girlfriend thinks her life is falling apart.”

Sophia let out a big sigh and began telling him about her crisis. After sharing it with him she felt the weight being lifted off her shoulders because with Marat she knew she didn’t have to go through it alone. He gave her advice when she asked for it and said all the right things at all the right moments and Sophia was eternally grateful that she had someone in her life who just got her.

Marat empathized with her pain. He’d been through it all and was actually glad that part of his life was behind him. But whereas he got to bounce back and still continued to have a decent career after his knee injury, Sophia may have to give up her career altogether. In her situation, she didn’t really have a choice.

But wherever her life took her, Marat reassured Sophia he would never leave her side and he meant it. With their recent fight and the agonizing week long non-communication that resulted from it still fresh in his mind, he came to the conclusion that he couldn’t stand being away from her. It was bad enough they lived on opposite sides of the world and it seemed so stupid to waste time and energy fighting. He wanted to live a life with her that didn’t involve webcams and voicemails, time differences and flower deliveries to a different country that cost hundreds of dollars. He wanted them to just live a nice, happy, normal life together.

Was Sophia someone who he could spend the rest of his life with? Marat thought she was and the idea didn’t make him feel uneasy like it did in the past with previous girlfriends. He was surprisingly at ease with the thought.

But this was something he couldn’t share with her just yet. She was in a vulnerable state and had a lot of things to deal with. She was very content in their relationship and she didn’t need the extra pressure of taking it a step further at the moment.

For now, she was just thankful that he was there to make her feel better and as a thank you she thought she would start making it up to him for being the ungrateful girlfriend that she’d been in the last week.

She started by unbuttoning the buttons of her nightie very slowly. Marat watched her and was aroused in an instant.

“Nice shirt,” he commented. “It looks familiar.”

She smiled. “It should. It’s yours.”

He’d left it in her apartment during his trip down under and for the longest time Sophia didn’t wash it, preferring to let the scent of his cologne linger and rub off on her skin as she wore it to bed over and over and over until the scent was finally gone and was replaced with her own.

She continued it to wear it though and it had become her favourite sleeping gown because it was a part of him and when she wore the shirt, it was almost as if he was there with her.

He smiled back at her cheekiness. “It looks better on you,” he told her.

“On me or off me?” she asked when the shirt was all unbuttoned revealing a half-naked Sophia with nothing else on underneath but a pair of low-cut black lace panties.

Marat smiled at her again and shook his head. So for the time being, maybe it wasn’t too bad living a life that involved webcams.