"A good friend keeps your secret for you. A best friend helps you keep your own secrets."
-Lauren Oliver-
***
Galina Vetrova was playing ‘The Lonely Sheperd’ on her cello in the comfort of her living room. She had never been fond of playing inside a music room because it felt a little too formal for mere practice and she would much rather let her music flown freely wherever it desired to. She had always been fond of the cello. In a world filled with so many superficiality, she found her peace in the instrument.
As she played, suddenly her Ragdoll cat Maria jumped over to her lap and she stopped abruptly. She put away the instrument and went to pat her. The cat meowed gently at her, rubbing its nose on her fingers and clinging its head
"Love is an irresistible desire to be irresistibly desired."-Robert Frost-***It was a day Ana wished had never arrived, she woke up that morning feeling heavy, unable to move her body mentally from the bed. It was only until Alexander knocked on her door did she managed to head over to take shower and changed her clothes. Since it was a rather casual visit, she decided to settle with a pale beige pink silk top and some white trousers topped with matching beige coat that she would take off immediately once she was there because the coat did not match very well with her silk blouse. Once she was done getting ready, she walked out from her room to the dining room while Alexander was following her from the back like usual. That morning no one see
"If women didn't exist, all the money in the world would have no meaning."-Aristotle Onassis-***Alexander was watching from the round holes which was visible in the car as Ana played with the serval cats. It was a good blind spot for him because not only was the car not visible from inside, he could also see everything that was going on there in the garden. He found himself slightly agitated as he watched Anton walking around Ana like a predator. She was so busy playing she had not realized the man was staring at her with a silent desire which only another man could notice. Alexander swore he felt like his butt was on fire since he could not sit still anymore. Watching it made him feel slightly upset, though he was trained in the art of tranq
"I think it is possible for ordinary people to choose to be extraordinary."-Elon Musk-***The snow was starting to pile up in front of Mikhail Orlovsky’s penthouse building. He made a mental list to call the staff to clean up the road later. Right then he just wanted to be comfortable at the warmth of his living room. It was very rare for him to have a leisure time like that where he did not have to do or worry about anything. A luxury for a workaholic lawyer in high demand who always had cases to do and go through with. Dressed casually in his light blue shirt and jeans, he drank his first shot of vodka to warm himself up while being seated beside the window. From there he could see the view of the city at night with the light from the
"Someone who's never been exposed to it doesn't really understand that the family business is the moving force in the family."-Bernard Kliska-***Grigory was feeling slightly anxious when he received news from Anton that he wanted to meet him in private, just the two of them. He had no idea what had happened between him and Ana but he had asked him to meet at a private lounge at the center of the city, a neutral area for the two of them. Throughout the entire drive there, he had been thinking of the different possibilities, was he planning to cancel the engagement or did he not like Ana? Had he planned to cancel the engagement it would be terrible for the two of them. He needed to make sure that everything was okay. Grigory arrived at the plac
"Without that freedom to sin, there is also no freedom to love."-Peter Kreeft-***There were many reasons why someone would go against the authority and one of the reason was when their freedom was violated. In her case Ana found it difficult to just remain silent about everything when her father asked her to go on vacation alone with Anton, even made an agreement about it without her permission. She had previously wondered why her father would call her so early in the morning before breakfast, it was quite unusual that even Alexander was curious about it. She was still in her night gown when she went to visit her father who was drinking a glass of water in the living room. When she found out about the real reason she was beyond shocked. It wa
"Lonely people are always up in the middle of the night."-Nicole Krauss-***Galina was making herself some dinner when she suddenly heard a knock on the door. She took off her apron and lowered the heat of the stew before walking to answer the door. She was shocked when she opened it to find none other than her best friend, Anastasia standing there with a gloomy face and a small suitcase besides her.“Can I come in?” She forced a small smile and Galina nodded, reaching out her arms to bring her inside the house before closing it again. She speed walked to the kitchen and turned off the stove before walking back to the living room with a tray filled with two cups of tea for the two of them.“So, do you mind telling me what’s going on?” she asked with a concerned look on her face. She did not know since when Anastasia made it a habit to come visit her without prior informing but Galina was not
"How a kidnapping ends depends to a large degree on who the kidnappers are."-Giuliana Sgrena-***Ana felt a strange vibration around her that had started to disturb her sleep, she felt the cold air from the AC falling right on her blanket covered chest. Unable to stand the uncomfortable combination any longer she slowly fluttered her eyes open and was immediately surprised when she saw Anton sitting on a chair right across her.She reflexively sat up from the bed only to find out that she was no longer in Galina’s bedroom, instead, when she looked around her she realized that she was inside of a private jet. She knew it was a private jet because she had been in one before. The jet had a built in bedroom inside which meant it probably belonged to Anton or one of his oligarch friend. It did not take her long to understand the situation. She pulled the blanket away and thank heaven she was still wearing the same pajamas she
"A child may not be able to articulate it, but children very quickly understand the dysfunctional unwritten family rules that exist in toxic families."-Gail Meyers-***Grigoy woke up that morning with a knock on the door, he did not know what could be such an emergency that they had to disturb him before the sun even rose but of course before opening up his door he always went to check who it was from the tiny hole in his door and found out it was none other than Alexander. Grigory had no idea what could he possibly want with him but he opened up the door and Alexander immediately apologized for the early disturbance.“What is it that you want from me at this hour?” Initially he thought the reasoning was going to be petty but when he re-examined the look on his face, he figured out that it had to be something serious. The man looked like he had just seen a ghost or something of the sort, it was quite rare for someon
"Anyone can have a once upon a time or a happily ever after, but it's the journey between that makes the story worth telling."-Chris Coffer-***It was a quiet and sunny Sunday afternoon, In the vast graveyard lane, Ana was dressed in a soft black gown with two bouquets of red roses in her hand. She slowly walked over to her parent’s graves and gently placed the bouquet on top of the tomb. When Grigory was murdered he was buried right beside his wife whom he loved so much so the two of them could keep each other company even in death. She found it quite touching and to this day, Ana still regretted the fact she could not be there during his burial, which was why every few months she would come and visit their graves and laid a bouquet of fresh roses in their memory while pouring her heart to them, knowing they were probably listening to it.That afternoon was no exception. She knelt down and touched her parent’s tomb
"My love for you is a journey, starting at forever and ending at never."-Anonymous-***Ivan and Mikhail agreed that before they make any decisions they needed to talk with Alexander because as men they prefer to get things out of the way in a straight forward manner without covering anything up. So at night after Ana was asleep, Ivan called him to the room and it was the first time since his arrival there did the three of them was able to gather together in a room.Did not take Alexander long to figure out Ivan wanted to discuss something serious sjuts from his facial expression alone while Mikhail who was the more even tempered out of the two made the perfect balance as a moderator for the conversation. That way there would not be any fights between the men because both were equally as fierce when it came down to their decisions. Although Alexander returned to a mere bodyguard status, the amount of respect he garnered was enou
"Bonds of love never make the wearer weaker, they give him greater strength."-Wonder Woman-***It had been a few days since Ana’s return to the manor with Alexander and they had re-hired him as her personal bodyguard and the relationship between the two of them had been closer than ever before. They were already like a couple even before the crazy incidents which had been going on lately but it became even more noticeable after their return from the countryside house and Ivan, as the head of the family who moved back into the main manor had been watching over her and could not help but feel slightly bothered by it.The relationship between Anastasia and Alexander bothered him so much that his wife saw him awake at night unable to sleep just because he was constantly thinking about his younger sister. He found it slightly disturbing how something that started off as a professional relationship could turn into something per
"Death is not the greatest loss in life. The greatest loss is what dies inside us while we live."-Norman Cousins-***Maria was sitting in her house drinking tea while reading one of her favorite book by Dostoyevsky while relaxing. It was late in the afternoon and she had finished her work for the day, there was nothing she wanted to do more than to just relax and enjoy herself for a few days before she had to go to Italy for a friend’s son wedding. She did not expect much noise to happen for the day but suddenly one of her maid knocked on her bedroom door and informed her that a man came to look for her.“Does he say where he’s from?” The maid wished she could help more but she shook her head. Maria sighed as she put down her book on the table. Who could possibly come to her house without prior notice? Grabbing her robe from the shelf, she put it on and walked out to the living room where she saw one of
"Being vulnerable is the only way to allow your heart to feel true pleasure."-Bob Marley-***Ivan arrived at the house to find Ana being hugged by Alexander who was making an attempt to calm her down. There was a gun on the floor right in front of them and Ana was sobbing uncontrollably. It was her first time shooting someone and she was not sure how she was supposed to feel. She was scared but Alexander comforted her, saying that everything would be just fine. Ivan was speechless as he saw Anton corpse laying cold on the ground.“Alexander, did you just take these men out yourself?” Ivan asked. Alexander did not reply, instead he focused all his attention on Ana. Ivan noticed her sobbing and approached her as well, asking her what was wrong, but she did not reply. Instead, she buried her face on Alexander’s chest.Ivan did not understand the whole picture yet but he gave an order to his men to clean up
"The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun."-Wayne LaPierre-***It was not even dawn yet when Alexander woke Ana up. She was still in a deep sleep when she felt him shaking her body with a noticeable force before actually opening her eyes. She always hated one of those scenarios where she did not wake up naturally but instead had someone to wake her up, forcibly and so early. She was still in a daze but the stern expression on Alexander’s face meant something serious was actually happening and she knew it was not the time to be sleeping. She had asked him what was wrong and Alexander seemed upset to even have to announce the news but they had no time to waste.“Listen carefully Ana, Anton has found out your location and he is planning to come here soon with his men. We can’t just move because he’s already coming close and the chance of death on the road is much higher. So, I
"Thinking will not overcome fear but action will."-W. Clement Stone-***The sky had turned dark and rain was pouring heavily from the sky. There was a loud sound of thunderstorms which appeared almost as if it was trying to barge into the room. Ana had only finished dinner and was about to go into her room when another loud thunder sound made her jumped from the ground instinctively. Her heart was racing and she quickly ran to the room and hid under the sheet.Ana was not easily scared but if there was one thing she feared it was the sound of thunderstorm, because he once almost got hit by it when she was on vacation and ever since that she was scared of being attacked by a lighting. Hence why, each time there was a thunderstorm outside she would stay in her room and hide under the blanket, this habit had always been repeated over and over again and even to her adulthood she had not managed to overcome her fear. No matter how h
"In all the world, there is no heart for me like yours. In all the world, there is no love for you like mine."-Maya Angelou-***It had been a week since she lived with Alexander in safety, she had gotten herself used with the quieter life although she was yearning for the day when she could return safely to her house. No matter what she was still a city woman, there was no way she could survive living in countryside because there were just too much things she enjoyed doing that only the city could offer her. That morning she woke up wearing her cotton gown and walked out from the room to see Alexander making breakfast like usual. It was only since she stayed with him did she know he actually had amazing cooking skill, not on the same level as some professional chefs, of course, but generally his cooking tasted quite good.She started to remind herself of the household dynamics they had been having for the past weeks. Things had
"Family is not who's blood is in you, is who you love and who loves you."-Jackie Chan-***The coffin where Grigory Orlovsky was closed for the last time and the funeral staff buried him on the ground as the people who dearly loved and respected him stood around the soil watching as the one feared mafia leader was no longer with them. In their heart they also silently knew that his death would create a ripple of chaos for everyone. Ivan and Mikhail along with their wives were present and they were standing closer than anyone to the ground. The staff quickly covered it up with soil and they placed his tomb stone above it. The men were not crying at all but inside they were devastated by their father’s death.Although considering their field of work, he would be considered lucky enough to live that long, the way of his death was still unfair to them. He could have died of anything but instead he was killed by the men ordered by his supposedly son in