Chapter 3: CHAPTER TWO

Tatiana pulled up at this fancy building with lots of people on the outside waiting to be let in, if I thought I looked indecent, these people looked, well…

"Tatiana, I don't think we're going to be able to get in there."

"Whyever not?"

"Just look at the queue. The place looks like it's packed."

"Don't worry your pretty little head about anything. Just watch and learn."

I reluctantly followed Tatiana up the queue until we got to security, Tatiana just muttered a "She's with me" to the bulky man, and just like that, we were in.

"How did you do that?"

"My boyfriend owns the club, that gives me some kind of exclusive rights."

As Tatiana dragged me along, I looked around the club, it was beautiful, the décor and everything. There were people on the dance floor and my eyes opened wide at the way they were dancing. They might as well be having sex right there because of the way they were grinding on each other, there was a bar and I could see everything from where we sat at our table. The drinks started coming in and Tatiana wasn't sparing any. When she was on her third drink, a really attractive man came up to her, pulled her into his arms, and kissed her right on the lips, when they finally pulled away from each other, the man whispered something in her ear which made her giggle. She picked up her purse and turned to leave.

"Arizona, I'll be back in an instant. By the way, this is my boyfriend I told you about, Dimitri, Dimitri, Arizona."

We shook hands and exchanged pleasantries and they soon disappeared leaving me alone in such an unfamiliar environment. I have never tasted alcohol before but as it was the norm here, I poured myself a glass of brown liquid from a bottle, it was strong and tasted unlike anything that I've ever had but I kind of enjoyed it, I poured more into my glass and began dancing on my seat.

"Hello, beautiful. We meet again."

I looked up at the voice and there was the Adonis I had bumped into my first day at school, I looked away and I could feel the color rising my neck and cheeks. He even looked more handsome in the neon lights, wearing a jean and a white shirt.

"May I join you?"

"Yes, by all means."

I moved so I could make space for him to sit next to me and even though the sofa could take two more people comfortably, it felt small with him so close but I didn't want to move away.

"You look really beautiful tonight."

"You look handsome."

He smiled at me and I saw that he had dimples, they made his smile cuter, swoon-worthy even.

"You ran off the last time we met, I thought I terrified you."

"No, no. I was terrified but it wasn't you. I have never spoken to a man so lovely before."

"I am Viktor. Viktor Petrov."

"You're Russian?"

"Yes, I am. Where are you from?"

"Pennsylvania, the united states of America."

"America, nice place. Been there a few times, absolutely lovely."

"It is, Russia's lovely too."

"What brings you to Russia?"

"I'm a student at Synergy."

"Ah, great school. What's your major?"

"What's your major?"

"Forensics."

"Wow, that is cool."

That was how the night went, us chatting and laughing and drinking and talking about random and not so random stuff. Then we were just silent, enjoying each other's company when the not so unexpected happened. He stood up and held his hand out to me.

"Dance with me?"

I looked from the hand to the man and just kept going back and forth which only seemed to amuse him…even his laugh was hot.

"I can't dance at all…like I can't dance to save my life."

"Come on, it can't be that bad."

"It's bad, it's really bad."

"You still have nothing to worry about. Just follow my lead."

I reluctantly slipped my hand in his and let him lead me to the dance floor, at first it was extremely awkward for me but as I followed his lead, we developed a steady dance and grind system that proved to be incredibly fun. It must have been the drinks in my system because I soon became very bold and began to grind my hips on him, slowly at first and then very boldly. I heard him mutter some colorful words behind me and hold on to my hips as I continued dancing and soon enough, he began to move with me.

"You have to be very careful, princess."

"What if I don't want to be careful? What happens then?"

"I might do something crazy…"

Viktor pulled me flush against him with my back to his chest and he began to run the tip of his nose up and down the side of my neck, sending tiny little shock waves going through my spine. I couldn't hold it in and let out a small foreign sound. I quickly slapped my hand over my mouth in embarrassment and to stop that sound from coming from my throat again, though I didn't know what it was.

"I'm sorry about that."

"Oh, there's nothing to be sorry for, if you keep grinding that ass on me you would make those sounds and then more before the night is over"

He turned me around and we just stood there, not dancing or doing anything just staring at each other. Our staring contest was interrupted by an impatient tug on my arm, I looked behind me to see Tatiana looking from me to Viktor while been in a heated argument with her boyfriend.

"Come on Arizona, we're leaving."

And just like that, Tatiana was dragging me away from Viktor, I heard his voice distantly telling me to wait and asking for my contact or any means of communication but by then I was already too far gone. Perhaps it was for the best we never spoke again, in one night I have managed to break a lot of my protocols and would have broken more if I hadn't been stopped. It was also best mostly because he made me feel so many foreign things, strange things and I didn't know how exactly to react to that.

Tatiana dragged me out of the club and into a waiting taxi, it was when we were halfway through the ride, I noticed she was crying.

"Tat, what's the problem?"

She only began to cry harder so I pulled her close to me and rubbed her shoulders as she cried.

"Do you want me to stay with you tonight?"

Tatiana nodded her head slightly; she wasn't ready to talk about it just yet and I didn't want to push her so I just rubbed her back and kept silent until we got to her place. I paid the cabman and turned around to see one of the prettiest simple houses I've ever seen. It was a one-story house painted white; it had some pretty statues just hanging out on the lawn.

"Your house is so amazing, Tatiana."

Tatiana looked at the house as though she just realized that she lived there and began to cry.

"Dimitri bought me the house a few months back."

"Did you fight with Dimitri?"

Tatiana nodded her head and began bawling again, so I tried to distract her and told her about random stuff that happened to me at school the past week, carefully editing that I had nearly broken bones when I ran into Viktor. I didn't even tell her about Viktor. For some reason, I felt like she would make a big deal out of it.

About an hour later, when we had some good food in our tummies, had a bath, we sat in front of her Television watching Netflix with some popcorn in our laps when she popped the most unexpected question.

"Arizona, don't even think for a second that I didn't see you with that hottie on the dance floor. Who is he?"

I groaned and looked askance at Tatiana, but she gave me a 'spill the tea' look, waiting for me to give her sordid details about what transpired between me and hottie.

"Well…on my first day in school, on my way back I bumped into him, that was the first time we met. He tried talking to me but I ran, we met again at the club after you left and we talked for a bit and then we left."

I waited for Tatiana to say something but she just kept mute. I figured maybe she was trying to piece the story together or understand it.

"So that was it, you didn't exchange numbers or anything?"

"No…"

Tatiana groaned and began hitting the couch and the throw pillows with her fists and her head. That wasn't enough for her so she stood up and began to kick and shake the furniture with all of her might.

"Is your boyfriend still bothering you?"

"No, Arizona. I'm not angry because of my boyfriend. I'm angry because of you."

"What did I do?"

"How could you let him slip away from your fingers so easily?"

"I don't understand."

"You were supposed to collect his number or any other form of communication. House address, place of work."

Tatiana paused for a second and took a deep breath and looked at me, there was something in that gaze that I couldn't quite place, then she gently sat down beside me and took my hand in hers. I looked at our bonded hands and then at her.

"Arizona, I understand that this is new territory for you but you need to understand that this is your chance to live a little. I'm not asking you to go against what you've been taught your whole life, but it's a whole new world out here…and you just have to explore it."

"I know and I want to explore it but at the same time…I don't know."

"It's okay, you don't have to go too far with him. Just go out with him, have fun, see what been in an actual relationship feels like, okay?"

Tatiana was right, this was my chance to explore the new world before I had to return to my family and back to my boring life.

"Umm…okay. How do I meet him, where do I meet him? As you said, we didn't exchange numbers or anything…"

"Okay, chill. Where did you bump into him?"

"When I was leaving my lecture hall."

"Okay, so you wouldn't be going out of your way then. We have to make sure that the next time he sees you he wouldn't be able to take his eyes off you, and we're starting with your wardrobe. Come on…"

Tatiana stood up and I followed her to her room, she opened her closet and asked me to follow her in. She brought down a couple of her clothes and asked me to try them on and that continued for most of the night.

"Now that we know what works for you…"

Tatiana dragged me to her bed, sat down and picked up her laptop, went to an online shopping site, and began ordering similar clothes and shoes for me…with ridiculous prices.

"Tatiana, I can't afford these things you're ordering"

"Don't worry, just take it as my first gift to you. And we're done, they'll be here before Monday so you can slay!!!"

"What am I going to do with all my old clothes and shoes?"

"Whatever you want to. You could give them to an orphanage or burn them, your choice."

I heaved a sigh and lay on her bed, this was going to be my new life now, and I was kind of looking forward to it.