Scarlett's POV
After Anastasia left, I felt overwhelmed. I went back inside where the chaos had started to dissipate. Even though I was still upset with Chris, I went to make sure he was okay. He was sitting on the couch, his girlfriend next to him wiping the blood off his brow, Elizabeth and the twins were giving him some water and the rest of the cast surrounded him. The other guests were spread out, murmuring about the whole situation. God, what a mess, I thought to myself. I don't agree with Chris and what he did, but I don't agree with Tia and Ekaterina either, violence is not the answer. It shocked me to see Tia this violent. Something is seriously wrong. I could see her anger, I could see she was anything but okay, yet I talked to her earlier and she was so gentle with me, so caring.
I know, I really do know and feel like she would never ever hurt me but it still scares me, I got out of a relationship with an aggressive man and neither I or my kid deserve to go through that again. It's.... it's so hard to think about fully letting go of Tia, I - I've never felt like this before and I don't want it to end, specially not after our talk, but I know I can't be with her if she continues like that. I hate to feel this way, I love her, I love her like I've never loved anyone before but I can't go through this again. I can't be with someone that is violent, not again. I don't know what to do and it's killing me. She's everything I ever wanted but she's also everything I should let go of. It's taking everything in me to not call her but I need to start think not only about what's best for me but what's best for Rose.
Third Person's POV
As the hours went by and nighttime came, the Russians sat in their hotel room waiting for Elizabeth. A knock was heard shortly after. Ekaterina stood up and went to open the door. The young actress was on the other side of the room with a smile on her face and some food. "Heyy, I hope you're hungry because I brought dinner", a cheerful Lizzie said as she entered the room. Anastasia was sitting on the bed, staring at her phone with such intensity that she didn't realize the actress had arrived. "You didn't have to, love", Ina gave her friend a warm hug. "Anastasia", the lawyer called her friend. The model didn't budge. "Anastasia!", she raised her voice a bit more finally catching her attention. "Да-да", Tia quickly stood up approaching Lizzie with a smile and open arms, "I'm sorry darling, my mind is elsewhere". "Oh, is everything okay?", Liz asked. Grabbing Lizzie's bags out of her hands and placing them in the table, Ekaterina replied "She's fine, Scarlett hasn't called or texted and she's been waiting all day long". "You gave her your number?", "I did but it doesn't seem like she cares much" the disappointment in Tia's voice was evident.
The three girls gathered around the table, each taking a seat. "I don't think so, I think she was... surprised, she's processing. Besides, I know she was pretty shocked about what happened back at my place, she seemed conflicted", Elizabeth spoke. "Conflicted?" Tia looked at the actress with a confused face. Exhaling, Liz got comfortable in her seat and began explaining "We haven't seen you in a while, neither one of you, you vanished. If it weren't for Ina I wouldn't know you were alive. You left, and came back but you changed, and I don't mean it in a bad way, but you changed. You seem rougher and I think it reminded her of... him. I didn't know you gave her your number but it makes sense because after making sure Chris was fine, she kept staring at it. She talked to RDJ and not long after she left, she barely said goodbye". "So she's afraid of me?" Anastasia asked, starting to regret the way she had behaved. In all honesty, she hadn't give it much thought, she knew her behavior was erratic at times, she knew her actions weren't "proper" but she was pissed off and Chris was being a dick so why make it such a big deal? At least that's what she thought at first, but now, she thought maybe she had messed up the only opportunity she had with Scarlett because of some asshole that couldn't keep his mouth shut. She knows I would never hurt her, right? The model asked herself. Unfortunately, she wasn't so sure of the answer. Lizzie quickly jumped in not liking where the conversation was going "No! God no. She knows you would never hurt her. I think- I know she's worried, and to be honest so am I. I get that Chris was being rude but you pinned the guy down and almost broke his face in the process". "I'm fine-". Ekaterina interrupted before she could finish her sentence "Bollocks". "Aren't you supposed to be on my side?" The model asked a bit annoyed at her friend's response. "I am" Ekaterina said looking at her.
"You don't need to talk to me if you don't want to, I don't want to force you but I am worried. You seem more aggressive, and I'm saying this because I love you, but that's not you. And Ina, you are that voice in her heard that keeps her grounded, letting her do those things doesn't exactly help her case" Elizabeth scolded both girls. Anastasia giggled at how much the actress cared, it was nice. "You're right" Anastasia finally spoke, taking a deep breath and looking down at the table. "We have been through a lot. These past months were tough and I did things that I am not proud of. I lost myself when I lost her and I let it affect me so much that I ended up neglecting my closest relationships including you, and for that I will forever be sorry. I am not the same Anastasia I was when I left, hell I don't think I'll ever be that Anastasia again but I would never ever do anything to purposely hurt you or her" , Volkova moved closer to the actress and held her hand, "You mean so much more to me than you'll ever know and no apology will ever be enough for my actions but I do hope you know love, that I will try to spend my life being better for you and for her". Elizabeth was speechless. She still didn't know what had happened but Anastasia is an excellent talker and a very charming one, those words took her by surprise. Mostly, those words made it hard to not want to jump on her arms again and kiss her. Lizzie knew she meant every single one of her words and it moved her. In all reality, Anastasia did mean it, she meant it all. The model wanted to be better for Lizzie, for Ekaterina, for Scarlett, even for herself but there was a part of her that knew that it doesn't matter how hard she tries, she will always be just evil. The monster she was raised to be... but at least it's worth trying, with or without Scarlett she must go on, otherwise her decisions may put at risk those who she loves the most. Use the evil inside of her to do something good.
Anastasia had a mission: find, interrogate and kill those who caused her pain. To never let them do what they did to her to more people. She was raised to be a monster but it doesn't mean others should be too, no one should go through that type of pain, unless deserved. "What would we do without your scoldings, darling?" Ekaterina spoke with a smirk on her face. The lawyer too agreed with everything the model said, although her motivation was still sitting right across her. She knew she had been careless too, power consuming her, she had to be better for Anastasia. The model deserved better. In another life, I would've been her love, in another life, I would've given her everything she would've ever wished for, a simple life, a family, my unconditional love but at least I succeeded at one of those things. In this life, and in any other I will follow and love her with every cell of my body, the lawyer thought, smiling at her everything, at her Anastasia. "You're right, we had been through a lot", Ekaterina said standing up and walking towards the mini fridge. "But we will be alright, as long as we have each other, we will always be alright. That's how we've gotten so far", Ina voiced.
Time passed and as the night settled down, the girls continued to talk. Overall, they chatted about what had been happening in the past couple of months they were apart. Elizabeth wanted to understand and help her friends while Ina and Tia wanted to explain the reason behind their "sudden" change in behavior. Around 1am, they all decided Elizabet would sleep over. Scarlett never called and as disappointing as that was, Anastasia understood why. She knew it was easier that way despite the fact it still hurt to think that relationship was finally over.
— The next day —
It was early the morning, 9am to be precise. Everyone was awake, getting ready to leave. The Russians would be going back to Switzerland later in the evening since they had no business left in the States. Even though Lizzie felt sad, she knew her friends had to go back home at some point. Nevertheless, a part of her felt hopeful, hopeful because they had agreed on visiting each other, staying in touch and keeping each other updated. The models had also invited Liz to Ina's home and she would be going only a month after their departure.
Once they were all ready, the actress said her goodbyes and gave both her friends a big hug before leaving. She knew she would see them before they went to the airport; they promised to go to the studios to say goodbye one last time. Anastasia and Ekaterina would have breakfast somewhere nearby and after finishing some work, then they would go see Elizabeth to lastly go home.
— 4:00pm —
Anastasia's POV
Ina and I had just arrived to Warner Bros Studios. She needed to talk to some executive about business he had with her before leaving, I, on the other hand, told her I would go looking for Lizzie to spend a few extra minutes with her. As I walked through the familiar trailer area, someone bumped into me, a kid. She hit my leg with her side and held her head, she must have hit me with her head by accident. "Ow!", the kid whined. "Are you alright, sweetie?", I asked the little girl, making her look up at me. The second she laid eyes on me her little face went from annoyance to embarrassment. "Woah", she said blushing. I smiled at that, it was cute. "You're very beautiful", she said while sizing me up. Now that made me chuckled. I kneeled down and told her "Well thank you sweetheart, so are you". She blushed shyly. "Woow, you have a big scar", she pointed at my face. Her actions made me self-conscious. Kids tend to be scared of me when they see my scar, they think I'm a villain or some sort of monster... I guess I am. At least, I still had my sunnies on. "Sorry I didn't mean to scare you", I told the little girl trying not to look at her. "You're not scary, you're very pretty, lady", her soft voice declared. "Oh, you're not scared?", I asked surprised. "Why would I be?". Such an innocent question, yet it resonated in me. I smiled once again, "Is your head okay? Where are your parents, honey? They must be worried". "My momma works here and my head is good. Look, I don't feel nothing", she replied touching her head. "Good. Do you need help finding your mom?", I asked about her parent again, thinking they were probably worried sick. "Why is your scar so big? Did your momma not take care of it? My mom always takes care of me when I hurt myself, that's why I have no scars", the little girl completely ignored my questions and made questions of her own. "Darling! Where are you?", "Rose!", "Rose, come!", I heard a couple of familiar voices approaching. I knew those voices too well to not recognised them. Scarlett, Chris and RDJ. The girl kept talking to me while I continued to hear the voices getting closer. "What's your name, sweetie?" I asked wondering if they were looking for her. "Rose! You?", she said happy that I was once again interacting with her. I was about to reply when I saw the trio standing only a few meters away from us. "There you are, honey", I could hear the relief in Scarlett's voice until she saw me. "Mommy! Look, I made a new friend!". I see it now, the kid in front of me was Scarlett's. Paying more attention, she does look very alike to the woman standing in front of me. "This is my friend ehm... what was your name again?", she asked looking up at me. I had stood up by now. "I'm Anastasia darling, but my friends call me Tia", I winked at her. "This is my friend Tia!", Rose proudly announced. "Rose get over here, now", Chris said with a cautious voice. He still had a very fresh wound on his brow. Scarlett just stared at me, not saying anything. "But we are talking, uncle Chris. She was telling me about her cool scar, you should see it, it's very cool", Rose said. I could see he was scared I would hurt her but what made me sad was the look in Scarlett's eyes, she was hesitant, almost fearful. I couldn't stand it. "You should go with your mom, Rose", I kneeled down once again to speak to the kid. Pouting she looked at me "but you never told me about your scar". I know she wouldn't let it go so I took my sunglasses off and showing her my whole face I replied "Well darling, as you see my scar is very big. It would've been very hard for it to go away". "Even after your mommy kissed it better?" she asked confused, as if the love of a mother cured it all, even the worse scars. I took a second to think about my reply since I knew the others were listening. "You see, little Rose, I grew up without a mommy". "Mhm", she thought hard for a minute. "What about your daddy? Did he kiss it better?", she asked. Looking down I replied "I grew up without a daddy too". "Why?" she asked not really understanding the extent of her question. "Rose, darling, that's a very personal question. Anastasia may not want to reply it" Scar gently told her daughter, speaking for the first time since she had seen me and walking towards her kid. Not wanting to lie to the kid I answered "My mommy and daddy didn't want me so they gave me away to some people. Those people raised me".
I had never spoken about my parents or where I was raised to Scarlett. I had always been very reserved with that and she never pushed me but I noticed my answered had really surprised her. She didn't expect it, at all. "Were they nice?". This kid is going to give me an anxiety attack. I think Scar realised I didn't want to reply to that because she told her kid "Honey, mom needs to go back to work and I'm sure Anastasia has things to do". Rose seemed sad but she nodded at her mom before looking at me "It was really nice meeting you". "And it was really nice meeting you, sweetheart" I said back with a small smile on my face. She was about to walk away when I said "You're very lucky to have a mom who loves you and cares for you so much", she smiled at that and with a proud smile on her face she said "I know, I have the best mommy in the entire universe!". I could see Scarlett smile from the corner of my eye. "Go with uncle Chris, baby. I'll be there in a minute" Scar instructed. RDJ smiled at me before walking away with Chris and Rose, leaving Scarlett and I alone. "Sorry about that, she's still learning that her questions can be a bit intrusive for others" the actress said in an awkward voice. "It's alright, she's a smart kid". "She is", Scar smiled thinking of her child. I began speaking "I should probably g-", when she interrupted me "You never told me... about your parents". I knew she would be curious but I hoped she wouldn't inquire about it. "Because there's not much to say". "They gave you up for adoption?", her soothing voice asked, trying to not sound hostile. "They sold me, for a couple of roubles", I bluntly replied, disgust could be heard on my voice. "But don't worry, I wasn't going to tell your child that", I added sounding angrier than I meant to. "I- I'm sorry that you had to go through that". "It's fine, I got used to it". "The pain?". "Being treated like an object". She just looked at me with those green sad eyes, and before she could continue speaking I quickly say goodbye and left to look for Liz. I couldn't continue that conversation, especially not with her. She clearly didn't want to have anything to do with me or she would've called. I get it, she has her reasons and I don't blame her but I can't be all vulnerable with her, not when I'm still this gutted.