(UNDISCLOSED DESIRE) __open__

[Vladimir Borislavov Rostislav]

There had been a thought lingering in his mind for the last couple of days. He wanted to see her again, and as much as he wanted to step onto the streets and look for her he hadn’t done that as of now. He was ready to dive into the sea of nothing and see if he could catch a glimpse of her again. The last time he had so, he had felt a little guilty. A feeling that didn’t suit him well, and which he pushed to the back of his head as soon as he realized he was feeling it. He was a strong man, one that wasn’t afraid for his own feelings, knowing that he was capable of being great. He was a lawyer, one who loved to twist and turn phrases and words so that he was right. He was always right. He never made a mistake; if he did it was because he knew he would gain more by losing than by winning. He loved his work, and that was why he could do what he did. His work was like a simulation of his personality. He, himself, was tricky as hell. People should know who he was before they dealt with him, if they wanted to be prepared. Most of them weren’t which made it easier to win. That was always more fun, the joy of being a winner was a feeling that was highly appreciated by Vladimir. It was a feeling he learned to appreciate as his father made it as a golden medal or Olympic gold. His father had always done the best for Vladimir, wanting him to be strong so he could take care of himself, make sure that the breed of strong people –as he liked to see himself- could continue.

He was a winner from nature. That was why he couldn’t help it but loath the moment when he lost a battle for the first time in his life. It was when he worked for a company. His boss fired him, the reason was out there somewhere but he had no intention to recall all of that again. It wouldn’t make it right, or better. It was as it was, and the man would pay for what he had done. That was the general intention. He flung his canon camera around his neck and tucked his knitted sweater. He knew that the winter was coming, but she hadn’t show herself in all her glory yet so he dared to go out with a sweater, which was made out of eighty percent of lamb’s wool. It wasn’t as if he was going to die. He felt in his pocket to make sure his wallet was in there, you never knew right and to find his keys. When he gathered all these he stepped out of the door. A fresh cool autumn breeze welcomed him. He smiled, he wasn’t a fall kind of person, but being outside did him good. He shoved his hands deep inside the pockets of his demin colored jeans. He wasn’t unsure, as most people thought when a man sauntered over the streets like that. He was as confident as a king, if not more. It was just the perfect way to think, then he didn’t need to keep his head up, and he could just look at the ground, let his features tell the rest of the world to back off and he could just keep on walking.

That is what he did now. He walked out of his own street, and he kept on walking till he felt that there were eyes on him. The village wasn’t crowded, not like a city did. The city was something he had enjoyed for the days he had roamed there. Now though, he was more into this small town, merely because he had a little mission, one that could only be fulfilled in this little town. He hadn’t thought about how it would be when he came here. That wasn’t important, what was important was that she was here. Only she seemed to matter. And she did. Now though, he was here for a few months, he started to think how he enjoyed himself here. He had found some piece of mind. Something he thought he already had, so he never had missed it, till he found it again. That happens with other stuff like a shirt you bought but never put on, and then when you start to clean out your closet and find it again, you wonder where it had been all this time. Well that idea he had with the feeling he had with this town. He kind of loved it, but it didn’t feel like his now. He could recall the feeling he had when he was in New York. New York felt like his, and only his. The city of dreams was his fairy tale. He learned quickly he was wrong; therefore he was a little cautious right now. He didn’t want to make the same mistake as he had in the city that never sleeps. His walking slowly turned into a soft saunter as he got to the main street. He took his hands out of his pockets and lifted his camera. He narrowed one eye as he looked through the lens. He stood still for just a second and shot some pictures. The canon camera, he hold with both his hands made a sounds that could be best explained as the sounds you get when you place a card between the spokes of a bike and made them rotate. He smiled as he looked at the tiny display to see what he had captured. He hoped the people around him didn’t mind him taking photos of them.

[Katerina Nikolaievna Patruski]

Katya had been living on cloud nine for the past couple of days. She had never been so content in her life. She was so comfortable with where she was with Grant that she was actually going to quit dancing. The thought had never crossed her mind before. All she had ever seen herself doing was dancing for the rest of her life until she physically could not carry on, but the thing was, she had never thought about factoring in someone she cared so much about. Katya never thought that there was going to be anyone like that in her life so she had never thought to consider it. Now that Katya had experienced which she was assuming to be the love of her life, she couldn't even think about leaving Grant. The look in his eyes when he told her that he had been waiting for her even though he hadn't known it, that had pretty much been the thing that sealed the deal. As much as it would pain her to be away from her beloved Russia and her family, especially her father, Katya knew that her place just had to be with Grant. She could go no father with ballet and she had met him while in the last leg of the tour. It was all fitting in so nicely, it was fate. Everything in their relationship was due to fate. It was a little joke of theirs and something that would never get old. She had never thought that of all the things that she was going to be basing a relationship off of that fate would be on the list yet there it was and it felt oddly right. A lot of things hardly made sense when it came to her relationship with Grant, but it wasn't as if she was going to question it. Katya wasn't that stupid.

It was because of Grant that she was all over the town today. She had come by to see him at his office at work. It was just a little bit of a surprise. She wanted to brighten up his day and make sure that he wasn't going to eat junk food yet again because she knew that he had probably gotten some sort of drive through breakfast that was just going to take off years of his life if he kept eating that way. She was going to start leaving his lunch on the counter or something. True he was active and she probably didn't have to worry or anything, but she couldn't help it. She wanted to make sure that Grant was going to be with her for an incredibly long time. While at the office she was talking to the secretary trying to find out things about Grant that he might not want to tell her. Nothing major, but she wanted to know about how he was normally when she wasn't around and things like his birthday which was always an awkward enough question. Katya however did get that little tid bit of information. Katya hadn't realized that his birthday was so soon, but it was, and now she needed to come up with something to surprise him with. She had continued her little chats with the secretary until she finally came up with an idea that was going to leave Grant totally speechless. Now Katya was going all around town getting things to prepare. She went to the sporting goods store, the food store, and she had talked with the travel agent. She had to make sure that she had everything perfectly in place. Now she was just calling different camping resorts.

Standing outside the travel agency, Katya began to call the numbers that she was given. She called her favorite venue first. She hoped at least one of these places had an open cabin for Grant's birthday week. It was last minute notice but she was confident that she was going to find some place if she had just put enough effort into the search. With all the ideas of what she and Grant could do while up in their own little cabin in their own little world it had definitely sparked her efforts. "Hello I vas vondering if you had any cabin's open for zhe veekend of October de 23rd . . . Da. I vill hold." Katya sighed as she waited for some sort of answer. Really how hard was it to look up a single date. It shouldn't have been that hard to enter the date into a computer and see if they had any open cabins. "Just for de veekend. Ve vill be leaving Sunday evening. Friday aftertoon. Around twelve if possible. I vould like to make dis a long veekend." Katya was really beginning to lose her patience. "My phone number is . . . " Katya gave the lady her number and name and hung up her phone. She put the electronic device back in her bag and looked up to see a familiar bronzed hair man walking on the sidewalk. The smile on her face couldn't have gotten any bigger as she saw Vladmir walking down the street. At first Katya thought that it had to be someone else. She decided to do walk up to him anyway though. "Vladimir," Katya said excitedly and through her arms around him to greet him with a hug. "Vhat in zhe vorld are you doing here?" The last that Katya knew was that Vladmir was in Russia. She had never expected to see him in Walten.

[Vladimir Borislavov Rostislav]

Sometimes you look back at your life and you have the feeling as if you are watching someone else’s story. I am not sure if you ever felt like that. But Vladimir did experience such a thing. It mostly happened to him when he was pondering over what had happened to him in the past. Sometimes he indeed felt guilty over what he did to other people. Not that he would ever be able to left behind his proud and tell them he was sorry, that wasn’t Vladimir. However, the past did teach him he couldn’t be only blamed for who he was. His past had formed him, how could he forget what had happened. That would probably mean forgetting Russia, while that was one of the most important memories. Russia was more than the land he was born in. He assumed Russia with his mother. Now, let the woman rest in peace, that may be weird, but Vladimir did miss her. More than he missed his father. That was probably because his father was far more demanding than his mother, and Vladimir was a lot like his old man. He sometimes was a little ashamed by that, as I state before.

Russia also reminded him of a time in which he met a girl. It was the girl in his dreams, the one who made him get up in the morning. Katya was that girl and secretly still was. Vladimir always tended to crave for something he couldn’t have. Like with Katya he seemed to get the kick out of it. As if he wanted to show that he could have everything. He was always told he could, he was learned to believe it by his father. He only had to fight for it, the man told him every night before he let young Vladimir of to bed. After hearing it so many times, he actually believed it. At this cause he started to act like he ruled the world, which was the cause of many dislikes among others. It may be a little naïve, but that was only when he was a little younger. Vladimir is twenty-five now and the time has come to be down to earth and face reality. In some way he had, he knew he couldn’t rule the world. What he could do was try and be the most powerful man in the world. It was a long way to go, but you always had to fight to get what is rightfully yours. The same goes with Katya. He knew they were right for each other. He didn’t just fantasize it. It was the truth and even though she didn’t see that quite yet, she would in the end. Even if he had to force her, she would.

Their first meeting was one Vladimir would never forget. He didn’t say much, as he was a little shy at the time. It was before his mother had died and his father rules over him and made him what he was now. There was a business party of Katya’s father. One the entire family was invited to. That didn’t happen often, because these parties were merely for those who actually had some saying in the company business. Vladimir still knew what he wore that night. It was a black tux, one made for children. He was, give it or take it, ten years old. His bronze colored hair was redder because for the white shirt he wore and it was neatly brushed, so that he had a separation. It was his first party he attended to, and it wouldn’t be his last. It was the first time he laid eyes on Katya though. All he could remember of it was her face. It had something angelic, it was soft and her smile was to die for. His father introduced his family to his boss and that was the moment in which he told her hello. It was a shy hello, almost unnoticeable if you didn’t pay attention to the little Vladimir.

The memory wasn’t completed but he couldn’t complete it as he was ambushed by someone who called him Vladimir. At first he froze, because he had no idea who the person was who was hugging him, but when he finally mended the pieces together he eagerly wrapped his arms around her. How could he not have seen her coming? Also, if he had listened correctly he could have told who it was. He and his camera, once he was taking pictures and he wasn’t focused on Katya yet, he was so drawn into his memories it was hard to get out of it. He smiled, but he didn’t want to let go just yet. He knew that at some point the hug would be a little awkward, so therefore he did loosened a little, and let his hands glide to her waist here he hold on her. He was still in her personal space, and he wasn’t sure if she would be okay with that. She could simply step back and they would be fine, but Vladimir didn’t want her too. Though he could understand she would like to. Anyway, this wasn’t planned. Or maybe it was. He didn’t know just yet. All what he did know what that he wanted to be close to Katya, and there was one reason why he wanted that. It wasn’t because he his heart longed for her, to be honest he wasn’t that romantic, not anymore. He wanted her to become a brick between them.

He smiled upon her. It was indeed long ago. The last time they met it was in Russia, and Vladimir didn’t even know when that was. All he what he did know, was that it had to be after his mother died. Anyhow, he had to explain to her why the hell he was in Walten. It wasn’t that you could become really powerful in a village like Walten. He figured though, that he could start somewhere, and someone would be better small, and that was indeed Walten. Of course that wasn’t his main reason to come here. But he wasn’t going to tell Katya that. ”Katya!” he said with a deep harsh voice. That was something that had changed over the years. The boyish voice he had, the high voice, was now deep and harsh, raw if you like. ”I’m working around here as a lawyer now.” He said, there was a slight hint of him being a Russian. He had studied at Harvard where he had taught himself to speak English and without the accent. It took him more than a few years to master it, and he still hadn’t perfected it. Like Katya, he had still the v sound in his speaking. He tried to limit it, but he couldn’t help it all the time. ”But, vhat are you doing here?” That had always been a mystery since he got here. Why would she saunter Walten?

[Katerina Nikolaievna Patruski]

Growing up with a father who was in international business was certainly something that was interesting. She had been brought up in a world of fancy parties and appearances. It was certainly not the place to bring up a child, and Katya could attest for that. The world had just bred a whole batch of spoiled little kids who had grown into a group of entitled adults who didn't know how to function without the help of mommy and daddy's money. That was saying something too seeing as Katya was twenty five years old. One would expect that at twenty five one was able to function in society and not need to rely on the money of mommy and daddy. However, it just didn't seem like that was so. Out of all the people that Katya had grown up with, very few of them seemed to be able to function. Even fewer seemed to have a job or a career. Katya had both. She was a dancer and she made it a career. She had gone as far as she could and now that she could go no further, it seemed to have lost it's shine to her since meeting Grant, but that was ok with her because she now had Grant to help her figure out what was happening next. Vladimir seemed to be the only other person she knew who went against the grain and started a business for themselves. She had heard that he was starting as a lawyer but she didn't think it was going to be here of all places.

Katya had known Vladimir for a few years. Quite a few actually. She had lost track of the years as their friendship aged. It was a frienship that was born out of necessity but it turned into a genuine one. She had originally become friends with him becuase she needed to get the hell away from Derek Taylor. She had found someone who would work just as well to make her father happy and to get away from the senseless barage of hints about how she would one day be Mrs. Derek Taylor. When you were that young boys had cooties, and Katya hated having to speak English. So Vladimir was the ideal friend and it was great that they ended up being friends even more then just out of necessity. They were an unlikely pair the fun, light, and bubbly Katya and the darker quiet Vladimir. What was the best part of the whole friendship was that it was pissing of Derek more then anything because Derek simply could not understand why she would want to be friends with Vladimir who was so quiet and so different then Derek was himself. The two were always seen together when put into the same social setting due to their parents. There were the times though when Katya was forced to spend time with Derek but it was never as fun as when she was with Vladimir.

Hearing his voice without an accent took Katya by surprise. She looked him like he had two heads. It was too weird for her. "You voice. It sounds so veird." Katya said being honest with him. It probably didn't sound nice. But he didn't even sound like he was from Russia minus for the way he pronounced the word what. How long had he been here for that he had lost his accent? "You're a lawyer now? Officially and finaly? Dat's amazing!" Katya said hugging him again happy for her friend. "Oh I was in the dance troupe but that's coming to an end. I found something vorth staying for zhough, so I am going to stay here now. I met somevone," Katya said unable to hide the look on ridiculous grin on her face. "I zhink dat he vould even again your approval." Katya said smiling at Vladimir. "He's a lawyer like you, and he's just . . .amazing." Katya had no other words for her Grant. She was still in that honey moon phase of her relationship with Grant and the mere mention of him would make her grin like a fool. "I have a few zhings to get done in town. Vould you join me and ve can get coffee or drinks or somezhing aftervards?" Katya really wanted to catch up with her friend but she was going out of town soon and she wasn't going to have time to this weekend.

[Vladimir Borislavov Rostislav]

Some would call him a disturbed. He was weird actually, but weird was cool and so was he. He was a smart, he knew perfectly well what he was doing and when he was doing it. Though, now there was a complication. There happened something he hadn’t foreseen. Something that he would like to call unfortunate in a positive way. He wanted to see her for so long. He had been away for a while. There this business trip to Florida. He had to go, and he did, as he had always been a good and loyal employee. Something that didn’t actually suite him, even if he said it himself. Of course, there was something in it for him as well. Why else would he agree on going away and making it hard to be close to the one he craved. He had been away for eight days, working them all, without a break to be honest. Course there were the usual lunch breaks and the coffee breaks. Other than these though, he hadn’t the time for a little sightseeing. In which he had no interest in at all. He was a men acted only if he gained something, he was very practical in that way. Maybe it was the best if he acted like that. It made his life easier. His father had been different. More compelling if you want to name it so. He wanted to fight harder, gain more. His plans had been bigger and more ignorant if you may. No men could rule over the world. You could dream about it, even secretly dream about it, but never try to fulfil that dream. Only a fool would.

He had to smile. It was a dark kind of smile one that he portrait only to seem nice, but he didn’t actually like her comment. He knew it was weird for most the Russian people to hear him talk like he did. Though it took him more than a few years to gain a speak as he did. He had paid a great deal for it too. As he studied here in America he wanted to fit in as best as he could. Blending in meant he could grow, he could be better. That was his goal, for which he would do just anything to gain. ”And yours is still the same.” his deep harsh voice was one out of a million. Many women seemed to like it. As if it made him more of a man than he already was. He smiled as she seemed to be genially happy for him. Though he could his threat when she hugged him. He couldn’t resist but wrap his own arms around her and let the hug consist a little longer. He let go of her as she went on with her story. He didn’t want to make it all awkward. That would be weird for her, and she might even got angry about it. Something he didn’t want, he wanted a different emotion. He probably would never get what he wanted that was just how thing were, though he would fight for it. He would do everything in his power to get to her. This meant something else than as if a prince on a white horse said these words. Vladimir wasn’t like a prince, he was the king. Devious and prepaid for almost everything. Almost.

She started to ramble, and Vladimir showed a soft smile as she enlighten him with her story. During her story however his smile seemed to fade slowly. Not in total. Of course not, that would make him obvious, ignorant even. He wasn’t like that. He could control his own emotions better than anyone he knew, but then again, he abandon everyone who was a little better than Vladimir. He would try to destroy them. He would do everything what he had in power to make sure he would still be on top of the world. Metaphorically speaking. She had something to stay for, other than the dancing she loved so much. That could only mean one thing and one thing only, and he knew he wasn’t going to like it. His stomach seemed to twist as she spoke the words. He had think fast and smile genuine, not force it too much. Though most people could probably tell he wasn’t liking it, or that he wasn’t as happy as Katya was. It was a man, a man who was a lawyer like him. An easy competition. He would destroy that man, he would take him down and burry what was left of it. While he thought of this he was still focusing on Katya, keeping his posture as he didn’t want to make it obvious he wanted her. He hadn’t told her anything about how he felt towards her, and that he wanted her. ”It would be a delight to meet him sometime.” His voice didn’t shake but it was a little harder, colder than before. ”I will love to. It seems we have a lot of catching up to do.” He had to get to the bottom of this.

[Katerina Nikolaievna Patruski]

The thing about being in love was the fact that one tended to turn a blind eye to things. Things like how your friends were really feeling. Normally Katya would have been able to pick up on the subtle physical differences in his face and body language. She would have known to stop talking about Grant and to change the subject, but she simply didn't pick up on it. It was like she had lost all sense of her tact and social skills. It was so unlike her but she simply couldn't recognize it. She was sure that if she were back home with her mother and grandmother that she would have been scolded the second they saw her. Maybe at least she would have gotten out of this love drunk stage. "Amazing! We can go get dinner somewhere or maybe you could come over and we could have dinner at out place," Katya said trying to figure out what would be the best way for the two men to meet. She was sure that they would get along and she was excited that Grant would be able to meet one of her friends for once. She was always meeting his friends and while she loved John and Sara and the rest of them, she still wasn't comfortable around them yet they didn't give her the sense of home that being around one of her friends would. This whole idea was just making her so excited. She was going to cook traditional Russian food. She was going to spoil them both.

Katya linked her arm with Vladimir's and continued on the way that she was going. She couldn't remember just what she was doing before she was stopped by seeing her good friend. It was like seh didn't have a mind anymore and that was just a little bit unnerving to her. She didn't like that. It drove her insane. She wasn't sure what she was going to do if things just stayed like this. She was getting things to prepare for the capming trip that was right. "Have you ever been camping?" Katya asked him as they walked towards the outdoors store. Katya honestly had never been camping. It wasn't something that her mother or grandmother enjoyed at all so the family never went on camping trips. When Katya found out about this other side of Grant that he tried to keep so well hidden, she was a little scared at first. After all, what if she wasn't able to camp with him? Would that be a nail in the coffin of their relationship? She didn't want to lose him for no good reason. "I'm going camping soon and I have no clue vhat I need in order to go camping." Katya said somewhat lost in her own thoughts. She felt more confident going with Vladimir. Before she felt like she was going to be taken as a fool by the people at the store who were probably going to try and sell her more things then she actually needed just because she wasn't sure what she needed and she was just going to listen to whatever they told her because they were supposed to be the experts on the manner. Katya was incredibly adament on making sure that she didn't look like a fool in front of Grant. He meant everything to her.

Walking into the store, Katya immediately felt like she was lost in a whole other world. All the things that were on the walls and in the ailses. It was making her feel a little overwelhemed. The only thing that Katya knew was that she was not going to need a tent, but she did know that she was going ot need more outdoorsy clothes. Fine silk and chasmere was not going to work out in the middle of the "Vhere do I start," Katya said looking at everything. She had tried to find his camping things in the house. John said that he had some, but Katya had no clue. Maybe he had them in storage somewhere else. Either way, Katya had a list of some suggested things from John to help guide her in the right direction. "Ooh a smores kit," Katya said getting distracted a little bit. That would be good to have as she picked up the box. "Ok so you must tell me all about how you made your vay here. Vhy not stay in Russia? I'm sure dat my fazher could have needed somevone as brilliant as you," Katya said still wondering why he would want to leave and come here when he coudl have stayed home in Russia. Katya had left because she was in a traveling dance troupe, but she had never intended on staying here either. Things happened but it seemed like things were changing everyone including Vladimir.