Third Person's POV
It had been a day or two since Scarlett had parted from her hometown, New York. Anastasia had dropped her off at the airport to make sure she made it safely there for her L.A flight. The actress and model had stayed in touch ever since and fortunately, nothing extraordinary was happening for the moment. Elizabeth, Ekaterina and Anastasia were staying together. They were having a really good time, the three of them.
The trio was sitting on the couch in the living room in Tia's place. They were watching a movie, and were all cuddled up together. The bodyguards were on the sides of the huge couch, all in their pjs. It was quite a cute scene to watch. Ina had paused the movie when one of her bodyguards had told them he would go to the bathroom so, in the meantime, people started chatting. "So you and Scarlett are working on the same project, right?" Ekaterina asked not fully remembering what the actresses would be working on. "Yep, right. I'll be leaving this Thursday because I start filming the following day" Elizabeth replied. "It's a shame you'll leave us soon" Anastasia joined in the conversation. "Ugh, I know, I don't want to, that's partially the reason why I'll leave until Thursday, to spend as much time with you two as I can" the actress hugged the two girls. "Good thing you'll catch us in L.A" a happy Lizzie said thinking her friends would be traveling not long after to L.A to work. "Actually..." Anastasia began with a sad tone. Lizzie looked at her expectantly. "I won't be coming to L.A., only Tia will go" Ina finished the sentence. "Oh, I thought you were both coming" Lizzie looked at Ina before giving her a big bear hug. "It's okay, I'll see when I can visit" the Russian lawyer said, while still hugging Liz. Lizzie turned to look at Anastasia, and this one seemed quite upset her friend couldn't come. "Hey, it's alright. We'll miss her but she'll visit us, besides you'll be plenty busy with me and Scar" Liz tried to cheer her up. The thing is, the actress didn't know what Ekaterina's departure meant. "I know, I'm just sad Ina will leave" Tia said looking at the girl that she considered to be her everything. "Leave? What do you mean?" Lizzie wasn't following. "She'll go back to Europe, her work here is done. She'll leave and I hate it when she does because I barely see her after" Anastasia said not breaking eye contact with Ekaterina. The latter taking the other's hand in hers. "Oh" the mood changed. It was one of sadness. "You know I'll visit you both whenever I can" Ina smiled trying to reassure them. This trip to the States wasn't like any other, this one was different. She had made friends which was rare, and mostly, she had seen her Anastasia find love. That was a first. Unfortunately, Ekaterina couldn't help but feel worry, worry for Anastasia, worry for her friend's anguish to be true; but that's one of the reasons why she's leaving. The only way she can figure out what's going on is by getting as much information as possible, and doing it on the phone in the United States wasn't going to do that. So, she would go back to Europe, the main network of the Institute, the place where she can get as much information as wished and the place where she can get the protection for her and Anastasia, if necessary. "I know" a weak smile appeared on Anastasia's face. Before the conversation got any sadder, the bodyguards tried to intervene and make some lighter conversation "Oui besides we could use some days off. Having to follow you two around is worse than following the president" one of Ina's guys said with a very thick French accent. The girls laughed. "We do give you guys a lot of work" Anastasia replied. "See, my guys need a break too, it's only fair. And you know, I'll always be there if you need me" the blonde model mentioned. "I know" Anastasia said one last time.
A few minutes passed and they all resumed to watch movies. The rest of the night was pretty light-hearted, happy. As the days passed, the girls hung out, had tons of fun and talked, a lot. You know those long talks that you have with your best friend where you talk about everything and anything? They had a few of those talks. They were pretty happy and simple days. Ekaterina felt sad that she had to leave soon but had trust that with Scarlett and Elizabeth, Anastasia would be alright. Even though Scarlett was across the country, Ekaterina made sure to talk to her and Elizabeth about her friend. To ask to keep an eye on her and take care of her. The girls didn't take it too seriously at first, but when Ina explained that even though the young model acted all tough, she always needed someone to keep her calmed. It was the first time Ekaterina opened a bit about her friend and told the two actresses that they had a hard past (no specifics, of course) and Anastasia struggled with it, even herself struggled with it at times.
Thursday arrived and the girls went to drop off their friend at the airport. They said their goodbyes and there was a special hug for Ekaterina from Elizabeth's part, knowing that it would take a few before they could see each other again. Ekaterina would be leaving the next day while Anastasia would be going to L.A on Monday.
Nothing much had happened, things seemed to have calmed down. No one was being followed, no strange things happening, although they were cautious. Friday arrived and it was only Anastasia and Ekaterina. Just like the old times, Ina thought to herself. The girls had gone out to a restaurant, they were having lunch, enjoying their last day together. "Завтра ты уедешь в Европу... (So you'll leave for Europe tomorrow...)" Anastasia said while taking a bite of her food. Ekaterina replied with a sad smile "Я тоже не хочу тебя бросать, но ты знаешь, что я должна. (I don't want to leave you either but you know I have to)". "я знаю. (I know)" Anastasia paused for a second before asking "Ты вернешься к своей? (Are you going back at yours?)". Ina chuckled knowing Tia wanted to get as much information as possible, like always "только на несколько дней. (Only for a few days)". "Куда ты потом пойдешь? (Where will you go afterwards?)" Anastasia continued to ask. Ina now laughing said "Ты же знаешь, я не могу тебе сказать. (You know I can't tell you)", "С тобой не весело. (You are no fun)" Tia smiled and stopped the inquiry, knowing Ekaterina wouldn't break. "я буду скучать по тебе. (I'll miss you)" Ina took her friend's hand in hers. "Не так сильно, как я буду скучать по тебе. (Not as much as I'll miss you)". In a flirty manner Ekaterina got closer and gave Tia a kiss on the cheek while saying "Знаешь, если бы ты не встречалась со Скарлетт, я бы, наверное, отвела тебя в твою квартиру, поцеловала бы тебя и попрощалась с сексом. (You know, if you weren't seeing Scarlett, I'd probably take you back to your flat, kiss you and have goodbye sex with you)", Anastasia laughed remembering how that was their "usual" way of saying goodbye every time one of them left for work. "Это были хорошие времена. (Those were good times)" Volkova replied smiling. "Держу пари, я чертовски хорош в сексе. (You bet, I'm fucking good at fucking)" a proud Ekaterina spoke, joking around she looked at Tia saying "Я поражен, что ты не влюбился в меня. (I'm surprised you haven't fallen in love with me)". "О, я сделал и мы все знаем, как это было. (Oh, I did and we all know how that went)" to that, both girls started laughing. "Для протокола, ты второй лучший секс, который у меня когда-либо был, и ты был отличным любовником. (For the record, you are the second best sex I've ever had and were a great lover)" Anastasia informed. "ВТОРОЕ!? Пфф, я оскорблен. (SECOND!? Pfff, I'm offended)" the lawyer said with a surprised look. "Прости, Скарлетт действительно знает, что делает. (Sorry, Scarlett really knows what she's doing)" the brunette smirked. "Shut up" Ina rolled her eyes.
The bickering between the two continued, they had so much fun. They visited a few places during the day, and at night, they went to a bar to have some fun. By the time it was 2:00am, they decided it was time to head back. They went to bed together, cuddled and fell asleep. The next morning they woke up early as usual; they decided to train together and sadly, around 11:00 am, Ekaterina was all set to go to the airport and leave.
Both girls were standing in front of each other and Ina's jet was right behind her. "Так вот оно что. (So this is it)" the brunette said with a sad smile and her hands in her back pockets, "Позвони, если что-то понадобится, я пришлю сюда еще парней, просто в качестве предостережения. я люблю тебя. (Call if you need anything, I'll send more guys here just as a cautionary measurement. I love you)" Orlova replied going in for a hug. "Я тоже тебя люблю, детка. (I love you too, babe)" hugging back tightly, Anastasia said. Some time later, they let go and just like that Ekaterina was on the jet on her way back to Germany and Anastasia was driving back to her temporary place in New York.
Anastasia's POV
I'm sad, I won't lie. Seeing Ina leave is always hard. Mostly, because I never know when I'll see her again. Things have been better lately and having her with me again made it so much better. I miss her already and she hasn't even been gone for more than an hour, I'm pathetic. On the other hand, I'll be distracted, I have work to do, I have to pack and I have to make a few phone calls to make sure everything is ready for my arrival in Los Angeles. I'm happy about spending more time with Scarlett and Elizabeth, those two make my life less lonely. I just hope things remain simple, if I disliked New York, I dislike L.A even more because of the paparazzi. I don't want my face all over the Internet and I'm sure it won't be easy since Scar and Liz have been getting a lot of attention due to Marvel. Let's just hope I can live in peace while being there.
— 3 days later —
Everything is set for the trip. I'll be leaving today. Ekaterina called as soon as she left and informed me she had notified my assistant to send 3 of my guys down here to accompany me to L.A. They arrived yesterday so, now it's Dimitri, Alexei, Ivan, Marko, Viktor and I. We're quite a group. I missed seeing them all together, they can be quite annoying but they've worked for me ever since I moved to Switzerland and we're all a big family. Of course, the rest of the staff is back home and I miss them but I'll go back soon enough.
Unlike Dimitri, Alexei and Viktor, Ivan and Marko are Ukrainian so it's always fun to see them make jokes about us, Russians. There's a little bit of a rivalry, personally, I have more of a neutral stand but it's still amusing to hear them joke around.
We would be arriving in L.A around 11:00am today. I haven't texted Scarlett since Ina left, she's been quite busy and on set quite a lot. Lizzie, on the other hand, has been texting me a little more, she's still busy but not as occupied as Scarlett. I hadn't exactly told them when I would be arriving, they knew it would be this week but not when. So, as soon as I land at the airport, I will go to the Warner Bros Studios, talk to a few people for the campaign I will be doing and go surprise them afterwards.
Hollywood here I come.