It was quite an odd happening. First the letter, then the threat, and then Ivan appearing out of thin air. I was not even sure who my so-called lover was but needless to say, I was terrified of whoever this person was. The fact that he dared to threaten Liza's life, chilled me to the bone, and I felt truly helpless.
It occurred to me that it could just be a silly prank by someone, but something felt really odd. Everything felt so confusing and consuming. Like I was standing in the eye of the storm with debris all around me, moving in a circular motion.
After that strange meet up with Ivan, I decided to call him in. Especially because Liza had no idea about what happened at the weekend when she was at Max's house. The more secrets I kept from her, the more I felt out of breath, as if two invisible hands were smoldering me.
"You didn't tell me you had a boyfriend, Rosie. I didn't expect this." She made a pouty face and served some cheesecake on a plate to Ivan.
"Ladies, being a genius Casanova, I know I should not be interrupting a cat fight, but I have to. You see Liza Cassandra, your friend here is just my girl-friend, not girlfriend and as much as I would love that, I am afraid I don't suit your friend's taste. So, if you will excuse me, I am having a romantic date with my cheesecake and I don't plan on diverting my attention anywhere else." He licked his lips like a devil and attacked the cheesecake with his fork.
"Phssssssst"
I turned my head around and saw Liza peeking out from the doorway, motioning me to come towards her.
"What? Is something wrong?" I whispered to her while Ivan was too busy gobbling up the cheesecake with apple eyes.
Liza pulled me towards the living room and started whisper-yelling at me.
"Why didn't you tell me you knew him? Why didn't you tell me that there were two people in our house who stayed at our place over the weekend? Why didn't you tell me that he is so inky hot?"
I sighed and looked at her with my tired eyes.
"I tried to tell you, but things came up, and you were busy too, and I don't know, everything is so confusing. I just did not know what to say about all the things happening around."
"Well, you could have just shared it with me, hun. Just don't stress out. You know that I am always with you, right? No matter what, just remember that there is a girl who is stuck with you for the rest of your life, and you cannot get rid of her even if you do black magic. I will be there by your side even when you will have your honeymoon." She whispered again.
"Can you tell me why we are still whispering? Ivan clearly can't hear us from all the way back in there."
"You are whispering too! Don't blame me." She quirked an eyebrow and looked at me with a funny expression.
"Okay, okay. Let's just head back, I bet Ivan has already finished his cake."
We both went back to the kitchen only to see Ivan sneaking another piece of cheesecake on his plate with the help of a knife. Liza cleared her throat, startling Ivan, who dropped the knife on the floor.
"I swear to God I did not take another piece of cake. I was just serving you guys. This cake is so delicious that I could not keep my hands away from it, but I promise I did not intend to eat another piece. You guys were so generous that I wanted to return the generosity by serving you the cake, although I did no-" he just kept on rambling all kinds of stuff but was interrupted by Liza again.
"Hmm, so are you going to serve us the cake or just gawk at it with drool on your mouth?" Liza smirked at him.
Ivan reluctantly handed us the plates with cheesecakes and puppy dog eyes.
****
My eyes slowly opened and blinked a couple of times, after which I realized I was very cold. My hand tried to pat its way towards the comforter, but found none.
"Ughhh"
I used my hands to sit upon the bed, only to find the cover bunched up in the foot of the bed and the bedsheet in total disarray.
I crawled up to the end of the bed and was going to pull up the comforter when my eyes spotted the calendar on the far side of the left wall. A big round red circle was marked on the date twenty-two, which was a Friday.
Friday.
My eyes widened at the reminder that today was the day. Today I am supposed to go to Mr. Dimitri's house. Each part of my brain advised me not to go to the devil's lair, but I had to.
Something was definitely not right with him. His conspicuous stares and actions somehow lost my trust in him. I am not good with men, but it does not mean I am poor at understanding them.
I lost my motivation to go to school and decided to stay back home. Liza had already made up her mind to ditch the outside world for today. It was very cold outside, and just the thought of stepping out of my bed made me feel lazier. I pulled up the fluffy covers to my chin and decided to doze off.
*****
Sticky snow underneath my boots stuck to the soles, making them lose their grip. Somehow, I got out of my car and managed to reach the front door to knock on it.
It was six past fourteen minutes in the evening when I reached Mr. Dimitri's home. It was a vintage yet modern house with slanted roofs and snowy glass doors and windows. Large trees with their scary long branches loomed along the driveway and the soggy iced soil was covering the graveled path towards the house. I tried to shake off some of the snow, but they were too stubborn to leave me alone.
The door opened instantly, but as soon as I stepped my foot inside, I slipped and fell...
I fell into the arms of my teacher.