Rejected: A love story-Chapter 133: First real date

The heavy oak door swung open, and Viktoria stepped out, Nikolai was taken aback, she was looking so stunning without her usual heavy makeup and lashes.

Her dress was a deep emerald green that hugged her curve perfectly, and her hair was let loose, she was breathtaking.

"Viktoria," he said rather quietly.

She stood at the top of the steps, her gloved hands holding a tiny purse. "Is this... too much?" she asked in a soft voice that seemed almost hesitant.

"No," he said quickly, shaking his head. "You look... perfect."

She smiled slightly and went down the steps. As she reached his side of the steps, he opened the door of the car.

Before she could get inside the car, her father appeared in the doorway.

"Nikolai," he said in his deep voice. "A word"

"Of course, sir."

Viktoria’s mother joined her husband.

"The entire city is still new to her ." Yelena started. "You understand what that means, yes?"

"Yes, ma’am," Nikolai replied.

"She can’t possibly get lost, and you have to promise to keep an eye on her."

"Yes, sir. I understand." Nikolai said, nodding firmly.

Viktoria, still standing by the car, rolled her eyes. "Papa, I’m not a child," she said, though her tone was more amused than annoyed.

Her father’s stern expression relaxed somewhat when he looked at her. "You’ll always be my little girl," he said, his voice softer now.

Viktoria smiled, then looked at Nikolai. "Can we go before they start planning my wedding?"

Nikolai chuckled, stepping back to let her into the car. "Of course."

As they pulled out of the driveway, he looked at Viktoria, who was looking out the window, her fingers fiddling with the clasp of her purse.

"Are you okay?" he asked after a moment.

She turned to him, her expression soft. "I think so," she said. "It’s just... strange. This is my first date since..." She trailed off, her eyes falling to her lap.

"Since the accident," Nikolai finished.

"Yes," she said. "I don’t know exactly how it’s supposed to feel, but I think I’m nervous."

Nikolai smiled, his hands on the steering wheel easing slightly. "That makes two of us."

Her eyes grew slightly wide. "You’re nervous?"

"Yes," Nikolai said, looking at her. "We’ve never really been on a real date before..."

"Really? Why?" She Asked.

"You were always hanging out with your friends and well...you loved going to the park alone, so I’d always be there waiting."

Viktoria turned away, not knowing why she did that. First, they never kissed in two years, and now they have never hung out alone.

"It’s not like it ever impacted our relationship, I’m sorry—I shouldn’t have brought that up." He added that quickly, noticing her mood.

"Of course not, I’m glad you did. I didn’t treat you well in the past, I guess this is the heavens’ way of letting me make amends." She smiled at him before turning away again to look out the window.

☆▪︎☆▪︎☆▪︎☆

Victoria looked around, studying the unfamiliar place.

’This is where they have the best pelmeni in Moscow?’ She thought to herself.

"What’s a pelmeni?" She asked.

Nikolai chuckled, pulling out her chair. "You’ll see. But only if you let me guide you. There’s a system to eating pelmeni, you know."

She arched an eyebrow, intrigued but skeptical. "A system?"

"Trust me," he said, and signaled to a waitress.

In no time, their table was loaded with a variety of food; dumplings glistening with butter, dark rye bread topped with salty herring, and golden pirozhki stuffed with earthy mushrooms. A small bowl of sour cream was placed in the center, and Nikolai gestured to it like a magician revealing his greatest trick.

"First, you take the pelmeni," he said, spearing one with his fork. "Then, you add just the right amount of sour cream. Not too much, not too little."

"Let me guess," Viktoria said, leaning forward with a grin. "If I do it wrong, I’m banned from Russia forever?"

"Exactly," Nikolai said playfully, and then he laughed.

Viktoria followed his instructions, and when the buttery dumpling melted in her mouth, she had to admit that he wasn’t exaggerating. "Okay," she said, pointing her fork at Nikolai. "You win this round."

After eating, they stepped back out into the cold, as they walked towards Red Square.

Viktoria shivered, but before she could complain, Nikolai removed his jacket and wore it on her shoulder.

"You’re hopeless," Viktoria said with a smile. "You’ll freeze."

"I’ll survive," Nikolai said, his breath visible in the chilly air. "Besides, you look better in it."

She could only stare at him, how did she manage to get him to fall for her? Because this man was madly in love with her.

They strolled through the square, stopping to look at the lights and the large trees that loomed over the crowd of people. Viktoria stopped to take a photo of the scene, and when she turned back, Nikolai was looking at her, his eyes more gentle than she’d ever seen.

"What?" she asked, slightly embarrassed.

"Nothing," Nikolai said, trying to sound casual by stuffing his hands into his pockets. "Just... you look happy."

Viktoria did not know how to answer that, so she simply smiled and continued walking.

Their last stop was the frozen Moskva River, where a pop-up skating rink had been installed. Viktoria stood at the edge of the ice, watching the skaters glide effortlessly across the frozen surface. "I’m telling you," she said, "I’m sure I’m terrible at this."

"Don’t worry," Nikolai said, putting on his skates. "I’ll teach you. I’m practically a professional."

Viktoria eyed him doubtfully, but let him take her out onto the ice after wearing her skates. At first, she clung to his arm, staggering around like a newborn deer. But soon she found her balance.

Meanwhile, Nikolai was showing off, he wanted to impress her. So he did a backward spin and he landed on his back.

Viktoria couldn’t hold her laughter, she laughed so hard she was clutching her sides. "Professional, huh?"

"Truce," he said, groaning as he stood up. "No more showing off."

They warmed themselves with mugs of sbiten from a street vendor. It was sweet and soothing.

"You know," Nikolai said, breaking the comfortable silence. "This is the best night I’ve had in a long time."

She looked up at him, her cheeks pink probably from the cold—or maybe from sitting very close to him. "Me too," she said softly.

He suddenly started laughing and she looked at him confused.

"What?" She asked. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

"Your cheeks are red." He continued laughing and she frowned.

"Coming from a professional who fell on the ice." She teased and he laughed harder.

"Ok, I think I might have over done myself on that one." He stopped laughing and stared at her, her eyes were beautiful to behold.

"Why would you want to impress me?" She asked softly not breaking the eye contact.