Lights, Camera, Action!

Over the years I've grown to be one of the top stars. The show Dimitri and I worked on was canceled around a year after Dimitri told me he'd be leaving acting. The two of us would write letters, emails, or call every couple weeks, but we eventually lost touch with each other. Not that it really mattered. He'd grown rather annoying toward the last few times we talked. He'd constantly talk about what was going on at his school… Well, not constantly, but he talked about school a lot. It's not that I didn't like being educated, but I didn't like discussing it so much with someone who I considered to be my friend. I wanted to know what was going on in his life outside school, but every time I would ask, he would change the subject.

I didn't do much TV work anymore, just the occasional guest star role. I focused more on movie roles, like my mom. I didn't work as often, but I usually made multiple times more than I would on any show.

"Rose, what do you think of this?" my best friend, Lissa Dragomir, asked.

Lissa wasn't an entertainer. She was an heiress. Her father owned a line of hotels around the globe, kind of like the Hiltons. But Lissa wasn't a moron; she was the exact opposite, practically a genius, really. And she didn't go around dating anyone with a male anatomy. She had a steady boyfriend, Christian Ozera, and they'd been dating for about a year and a half. Christian, well, he's the son of a world renowned mobster. He kept everyone on their toes with the belief he'd take over the family business and become a mobster himself. Of course, Christian wasn't like that. He ironically turned out to be a decent human being. Just never tell him I thought that. He'd never let me live it down, considering we have the 'we're-friends-but-we-tease-each-other-constantly' type of friendship.

I tore my attention away from the embellished clutch purse to the pale green sundress Lissa was holding. It's not something I'd wear, but green didn't really suit my skin tone. Lissa, on the other hand, could pull off the ugliest green dress, thanks to the Dragomir green eyes.

I smiled at her. "You should get it. I'm sure your little pyromaniac will love it."

Lissa frowned. "He only caught his apartment on fire once, Rose, and that was due to faulty wiring. It wasn't his fault."

"So you're telling me he doesn't still have tons of candles in his apartment?"

"He's a romantic!"

I snorted with laughter. "Hardly. A romantic wouldn't threaten to have their dad put a hit on his girlfriend's best friend."

"When did he do that?" She was already looking for another dress. I'm sure she was thinking it was just some more of the classic Christian versus Rose bickering.

"Oh, you know…That one time when we were out with Adrian…at that one place…" Okay, so I was bullshitting my answer. What's the big deal?

"Rose," Lissa chastised, "why can't you and Christian just get along?"

I rolled my eyes. "Liss, your boyfriend and I have what I like to call a hate/hate relationship. It just wouldn't be the same if we were nice to each other."

She let out a sigh just as she picked out a pink dress, but she didn't push the issue further. Instead, she veered the conversation into unwanted territory. "Speaking of Adrian, how are things going with him?"

It was my turn to sigh. "We aren't dating. We had one dinner date, and that's all we'll ever have. The only time Ivashkov kisses me again will be if we ever are cast as a couple. What are the chances of that happening again?"

"The chances are low, but," she briefly glanced at me as she said this, "it does happen. You two could star in another movie."

I grimaced. "I hope not."

Truth be told, Adrian Ivashkov wasn't exactly my type. He was an actor who I met on the set of the last movie I worked on. He was also good looking and a nice guy, but his flirtatious ways were too much for me. I didn't mind him finding other women attractive, but a second glance at a waitress or whoever was rather irritating. No matter how many times I tried to tell him, though, he couldn't get it through his head that we were better off as friends.

Not too much later, Lissa and I both agreed that we needed a break from shopping. We went to go eat lunch at a nearby café. We discussed simple things like how her relationship with Christian was going and my new role.

"Can you at least give me a hint as to what the movie is about?" she pleaded. "Or who your co-star is?"

I tossed a fry in my mouth, avoiding having to reply for a few extra seconds. I glared at her. "You know I can't tell you. And I don't even know who the guy is yet. Last I heard they hadn't even auditioned anyone."

"Do you not have any say?"

I shrugged. "I do, but I told what's-his-face he could choose without me. That way my bias doesn't get in the way."

Lissa raised her eyebrows. "He said it's not up to you."

"Yeah, pretty much," I said as I tossed another fry in my mouth. "It's probably for the better. I have a feeling I would have lost my mind trying to choose someone who's hot and can act." I went to take a sip out of my martini, but there was nothing left in the glass. I slowly stood up. "I'm going to get a refill. Be right back."

Lissa mumbled a response, and took advantage of me walking away to take out her phone. I'm sure she was going to call Christian. I made my way to the bar of the café.

I hopped up onto a bar stool, ordered a second martini, and turned my attention to the TV. Lo and behold, some entertainment news was on and the movie I just signed onto was being mentioned. Go figure.

"…Rose Hathaway will be starring in another romantic comedy," the reporter said. Judging by her tone, I had the idea she either didn't care for me or she didn't like romantic comedies. "What's surprising is who her co-star will be. Remember when we were first introduced to the starlet on that one sitcom? Well, Rose will once again be working opposite then co-star, Dimitri Belikov!..."

I felt my eyes widen. There had to be some mistake. Dimitri said goodbye to acting twelve years ago. He'd gone off to college and got a degree in something…He wanted a normal life, have normal friends… They showed a recent picture of Dimitri on the screen and any negative thoughts left my mind. He had always been good looking, and yes, I had a crush on him when were younger, but…wow. The years had been good to him. He had tanned skin, shoulder length brown hair, and his brown eyes were intriguing and appeared so deep that I just wanted to dive right in. I was ecstatic to see him again…After twelve long years.

Sue me. I knew I could be shallow, and somehow, I wasn't surprised Dimitri Belikov would be my downfall.

"Rose, is everything all right?" Lissa's voice interrupted my hormone-driven thoughts.

"Fine, everything's just fine," I replied. Even to me my voice sounded as if I was in a daze.

"Are you sure?" She was now sitting on the stool next to me. "You looked like you were deep in thought about something."

I glanced at the TV, but the reporter was now talking about some new teen pop star whose career would probably be over within a year. "I was caught a little off guard."

"By what?" Her eyebrows practically knit together in confusion.

"I found out who my co-star was by way of television," I grumbled.

Her confusion quickly turned into excitement. "Who is it?"

"You will never believe who it is…" I shook my head as if to clear it. I may have been excited to see him again, but that didn't take away from the shock that he was back. Lissa wasn't saying anything, so I took that as her way of saying for me to go on. "Dimitri Belikov."

"You're kidding!" she gasped. I had to shush her to not draw any attention. She quieted now…a little. "Dimitri Belikov? As in the guy who left acting when he was fourteen? I thought he was trying to stay out of the spotlight. What happened?"

I tossed my hands up in the air in exasperation. "I have no idea. We haven't spoken in maybe ten years. For all I know he has a wife and kids!"

"I highly doubt that by what you've told me about him. Didn't it take months for him to have a full length conversation with you?"

"Well, yeah…" I thought back to when we first started filming. "It's understandable though. I mean, I even took a few months to trust anyone enough to talk with for more than a few minutes…" I leaned forward just a little. "He's quite charming from what I can remember. If he is married, it's not surprising."

"You can't overlook that it's been over a decade since you've seen or spoken to him. It's highly likely he's changed."

I gaped at her. "You make it sound like we're ancient…like forty."

"Hardly." She giggled. "You've both gone through the awkward teenage years and all that. People are bound to change…which was probably your issue when you two tried to keep in contact for that, like, year and a half. He, being older, started changing first and you probably never gave him a chance."

"Okay, Doctor Phil." I grimaced. "Did you get psychological degree and not tell me?"

"I took classes in high school," she replied almost robotically. "I understand enough to illegally diagnose an issue or symptom."

I glared at her. "Are you saying I'm mental?"

"Of course not!" she squeaked in mock-horror. "I'm just saying you couldn't accept the fact that he wanted to spend time doing other things than get to know what you were doing."

"You're serious? My whole issue from ten years ago was jealousy?"

"And you're stubborn." Lissa flicked her wrist and began examining her nails. "It's not uncommon, you know. I have a feeling the two of you will get along just fine once you get over your respective grievances."

I wasn't kidding. Lissa was no moron. Even when she used the simplest of terms she made my head ache. I exaggerated my annoyance with her by feigning a twitch. She gasped and smacked my arm. I smiled sadly.

"I hope you're right," I said. "I kind of do want Dimitri back in my life…"

Lissa and I spent the next few hours shopping some more. We avoided the uncomfortable topics, such as Dimitri and Adrian. I would occasionally tease her about Christian and she would chastise me for not even trying to befriend him, which led to me saying that was a lie. Just like our conversation earlier. At the end of the day I was glad to have a best friend I could joke around with.

A few weeks passed and it was time for rehearsals. I took every chance I could to look over my lines, even when I went out to eat with either of my parents, Lissa, or whoever. I wanted to make this my best role to date. I hadn't even spoken to Dimitri yet, but if there were enough good reviews, maybe, just maybe, we'd work together in the future.

I sat in the back of a limo, fiddling with the Internet on my phone. My mom insisted on being there on my first day of filming, which wasn't a first, but it was very rare for her to do. She was going on and on about the days when Dimitri and I were on the show. Eventually, curiosity got the best of me. I searched Dimitri's name on a search engine to see if they had any updates on what he's been doing for the last eleven years or so. Sure enough, one site did briefly cover his life. He'd gone back to Russia for school and college. He only recently moved back to Los Angeles to pick up where he left off.

Way to be specific, comrade, I thought with a roll of the eyes.

"Rosemarie, are you listening to me?"

I quickly closed the browser on my phone and looked at my mom sitting across from me. Her eyes narrowed in the slightest as she waited for me to reply.

I nodded. "Of course I was."

"Then what did I say?" She raised an eyebrow.

I felt my face heat up both at her question and frustration at not being capable of raising one lone eyebrow. "How Dimitri and I used to get along…?"

"No," she deadpanned, her face falling into a scowl. "Could you please focus on something other than your phone for more than five minutes? I want to talk to you."

I lightly tossed my phone to the side and leaned back. "Okay, fine. What do you want to talk about?"

She smiled gratefully. "After you're done filming this movie, what do you think about going on vacation? A family vacation," she quickly added.

"Does that include Baba too?" I wasn't angry or anything. I kind of wanted to spend some more time with my dad now that I didn't have to worry about my parents getting involved in a legal dispute against each other.

"Of course," she breathed, her Scottish accent was more evident than usual. "And if there's anyone special in your life right now, they can go with us. You're seeing Adrian Ivashkov, right?"

I groaned. "No, I'm not. I'm not seeing anyone right now, actually."

"Well, what happened to Adrian? He seems like an all right guy and—"

"He's too much of a flirt for me."

"Are you really one to point fingers when it comes to flirting?"

"Is that your subtle way of calling me a slut?"

"Rosemarie Mazur!"

I flinched. My mom may have been around half a foot shorter than me, but she could be downright scary sometimes. And she only ever used my real name when she was pissed off. I did my best to hide I was intimidated by her. "What? It sure sounded like it."

She scoffed. "I would never call you a slut, directly or indirectly. You get the flirting from your father, but I know better than anyone that you're not nearly as bad as Abe."

"I probably would have guessed that. He hooks up with nearly every female co-star he works with. I think that's only happened to me once and it's never going to happen again."

"I wouldn't say that. For all you know something could happen between you and Dimitri while filming. I may have been busy throughout majority of your childhood, but I wasn't oblivious to your little crush on him in the last year or so you two worked together."

"But—"

"Hey, I'm just making an observation. If you two get along even half as well as you used to you just may have someone to join you on vacation."

"Speaking of, where are we going anyway?"

"Colorado." She grinned mischievously. "To ski. Your father and I agreed that it's the one activity we haven't competed in against each other. I'm pretty positive I'll win this time."

"You said that about surfing last year. Look how that turned out."

Her eyes practically glazed over as she remembered the day when she wiped out while catching a gigantic wave. Despite being divorced for nearly twenty years, my dad and my mom couldn't help themselves and had one of their numerous out of wedlock escapades. I cringed at the memory.

When she smiled I couldn't help but gag. I lightly kicked her shin. "Mom! Mom!" She blinked out of her daze and stared at me questioningly. I frowned. "I do not want to think about that, especially right before I have my first day of filming." After becoming mentally scarred for life by the memory of my mom and dad running away from the beach, I grabbed hold of my phone again. This time I distracted myself by looking through my calendar. Anything to avoid the new mindset of my mom.

When we arrived at the studio, I stumbled out of the limo. Whether it was to get out of hearing distance of my mom on the phone with my dad or it was anxiety in seeing Dimitri for the first time in years, I wasn't sure. Maybe it was both. For a moment I wanted my best friend with me to decipher whatever was going on psychologically with me. I quickly decided against calling her.

As soon as I entered the studio, I hurried over to the refreshments table. I woke up late that morning, meaning I missed breakfast. My mouth nearly watered at the sight of the dozens of donuts on the table. I reached to grab the last glazed donut, but someone snatched it just before I could. I scowled. "Unhand the donut and no one gets hurt."

The person laughed and his laugh was almost like a caress to me. I looked up and there was the source of my anxiety: Dimitri. It felt like my stomach did a flip. The picture on that news broadcast did little justice to how he looked in person. He looked absolutely amazing, even if there was stubble along his jaw. It added to the mysterious vibe he gave off. And that image on TV was just a portfolio shot; in person, it was clear that he's spent his time keeping in shape. He wasn't buff or anything, but the muscles were evident, despite he was wearing a basic white button up shirt.

"Roza?" His face fell into a frown. The look didn't suit him and I wanted nothing more than to reach up and smooth out the lines in his forehead. "I know it's been a while, but I haven't changed so much over the years. As for you…" If he were someone else—say like Adrian—I would have thought he was checking me out by the way his eyes traveled up and down my body, but I'm pretty sure he was seeing how much I've changed over the years. He smiled. "You look great. I've seen most of your movies, but it's completely different to seeing you in person."

"I could say the same." He stared at me in response, so I quickly added, "I've seen some recent pictures of you, you know." I quickly took in his appearance and I realized that he towered over me now. "Have you always been so tall?"

"No, I went through a growth spurt between ages thirteen and nineteen, just like every other teenager did and does."

"Smartass," I muttered. He laughed again, making my stomach also do that little flip again. I smiled at him. "So after all this time, I don't get a hug? Should I be offended?"

Before I could say anything else, he pulled me into a hug, picking me up and spinning me around a few times. When he set me back down, he rested his hands on my shoulders. "Are you offended now?"

"No. But," I said as I rubbed my arms, "you nearly left me with no feeling in my arms. You should cut back on the steroids."

"Or you could eat something," he retorted.

"I think the time apart has impaired your memory. I've always eaten a lot." It amazed me that I had yet to collapse from our close proximity, for which I mentally high-fived myself. I may have been pushing my lucky, but I really enjoyed the confidence I got for not letting my hormones completely take over. "Speaking of eating, how about we catch up over dinner tonight?"

He eyed me skeptically, and then he scanned over the room. "This isn't one of your pranks is it?"

"One of my…" I harrumphed. "Of course it's not. I know we ended things on a bad note, but I…I don't know. I think maybe we should start over."

"You make it sound like we were dating." Never before did we have any awkward tension between us. At that moment, it wasn't awkward, but it wasn't comfortable either.

I've never been one for silence, so I had to say something. Who knows when he would have said anything again? "At least think about, okay?"

He curtly nodded. "That I can do."

With that, he walked off. I heaved a heavy sigh and turned back around to grab a donut. I grimaced when I was reminded of Dimitri taking the last glazed one. "Stupid Russian," I muttered as I chose a donut with chocolate icing and sprinkles instead.