It was a beautiful morning. It really was, especially in one particular house. 

"Good morning, Dimitri!" Rose chirped with the brightest smile, skipping into the living room as soon as he came in. Once she noticed the grim expression on his face, her smile fell. He was on his phone, talking rather seriously. 

"I'll be busy. I can't go," he said. "I already have plans. Bye." He hung up, slipping his phone into his pocket. He nodded at Rose and walked into the kitchen. The dark cloud seemed to loom over him instead. Rose followed him and asked, "Is everything okay?"

He gave her a tight smile and pour a glass of orange juice for himself and her. "I'm fine. I don't want you to follow me to work today"

She opened her mouth to protest, but Dimitri held his finger up. She pouted and listened.

"Please. Not today," he said with all the seriousness of the world. "I mean it, Rose. Not today."

She sat down on the tall stool and rested her chin in her hand with her elbow plopped up on the counter top. He emphasized every word, giving her his sternest look. Today really wasn't the day for him. He felt absolutely exhausted after one phone. Especially that kind of phone call.

He drank his juice and made his way into the living room. He swung his backpack over his shoulder and turned around, nearly clashing with a certain girl. She wore the expression of an angry little child. He sighed and said, "I won't be back until five in the morning."

She unfolded her arms and repeated, "Five?! Then what am I suppose to do while you're gone?"

Thanks for worrying about me, he wanted to say to her, adding a pair of rolling eyes.

"Yes, Rose. Five in the morning. You can play on my computer but try not to mess anything up, and I do have food in the fridge that you can co—" he stopped mid-sentence, looking at her with uncertainty. "You know what, I'm just gonna have someone deliver pizza to you."

Her eyes sparkled back to the fullness of life. She jumped up out of excitement. 

"With a lot of cheese?"

"Yes."

"And pepperoni?"

He gave her an unimpressed look and said, "Yes, Rose. All the things you like." That girl was definitely deaf to sarcasms today. He walked around her and out the door. Rose ran after him and stood by the door, watching him put his backpack inside his car. 

"Dimitri?!"

He looked up with his shades on.

She waved, smiling brightly at him. "Bye! Try not to get yourself killed without me!" she yelled.

He got into his car quick enough that she couldn't see the smile on his lips. She sighed and leaned her head against the door frame, trying to figure out what made Dimitri so silent today. Not that he wasn't silent before, but she did know him well enough to tell that something went badly. She let out a huff, crossing her arms. 

Why won't you tell me? she wanted to ask him.

***

Dimitri walked into the building and received a few good mornings. None of them were as cheerful as Rose's. No one could come up to her when it came to greetings. He pushed a set of door open and set his backpack down on the white table where his colleague sat.

"What are you doing here?" Mikhail Tanner asked, running his fingers through the pages of the book he was reading. 

"You know why I'm here. To work, of course," Dimitri answered, sitting down.

Mikhail raised his brow at him and said, "You're avoiding it again."

"No, I'm not."

"Yes, you are."

"I'm a busy man, Mikhail."

"Not that busy, man!" The book nearly flew out of Mikhail's hands at his little hand movement of throwing his arms up. Dimitri glared at him and said, "Stay out of it."

Mikhail leaned across the table and said, "Come on, Dimitri. How long has it been? Ten years?"

"Eleven actually and I intend on keeping it longer," he replied, fighting the urge to smack his colleague with the book. 

He pulled out his phone and saw the message on the screen. Not giving himself the chance to hesitate, he deleted the message and put his phone on silence. Mikhail sighed and said, "You can't avoid it forever."

"Then it's a good thing I live dangerously."

"You would rather die than go?" Mikhail asked, giving him a pointed look.

Dimitri shrugged and said, "I would rather do anything than go. End of discussion. You can keep trying but it won't work. I am not going."

"They're doing it for you."

"Doesn't change anything," Dimitri replied, looking at his watch and standing up. "And my shift starts. . .now."

Mikhail watched as his close colleague walked out of the room, shaking his head. 

***

Rose set the computer that had a bitten apple as its symbol on her lap which she found rather odd. She remembered what Dimitri taught her. She slid her finger across the very smooth surface called touch pad, still very fascinated with it. She often wondered if she could take one to Heaven when she returned. She could picture Christian's look of disapproval. Then a small tab popped up with a message. She immediately felt the bitterness in her throat. 

Tasha: Happy birthday, Dimka! I'm still hoping that you'll go.

Go where? Rose thought bitterly. Is there a place that he would go and I wouldn't know? And birthday? Today's his birthday?

She smiled at the thought of celebrating his birthday, but he didn't look so happy this morning, though. But it was his birthday! Everyone should be happy on their birthday. She looked back at the message and the little red lettering that read: Delete had never been more attractive. She swallowed. Was Lady Natasha going to take him somewhere? Where? She looked away and closed the laptop, setting it on the coffee table. She stood up and started pacing back and forth. 

She already told him. She was not the one. When will he realize that? she asked herself. She really thought it was over. He had not spoken of her for awhile. Now this? Lady Natasha was definitely planning to take him somewhere and celebrate his birthday. It was not fair! She sacrificed so much more than Lady Natasha. 

Well, she just had to make sure her idea was good enough to make him stay.

***

The oven.

That was all she knew about it. Dimitri said it could make cakes, but it wasn't making one now. She felt frustration growing in the pit of her stomach. She wanted to make it, but she didn't know how. She had never felt so stupid in her entire existence. Deciding that it wasn't worth the risk, she turned away from the oven and imagined the most beautiful cake she could think of.

On the count top, a cake appeared. It was not just a regular cake. This cake was decorated with edible silver frosting, of course. It was the kind of cake that could win any cake competition, even Heaven would be pleased with her. She smiled and with a swipe of her hand, silver moonflowers appeared on the cake, sparking and gleaming in the light. She was sure he was going to like it. But she was missing something.

She made her way back into the living room and flipped up the laptop screen. She opened Safari and looked up the best present to give. Dimitri was definitely up for a real surprise. 

***

His phone buzzed, ending his overtime shift. He was tired enough and the constant messages he kept receiving was close to driving him insane. Had he not been clear and absolute? He sighed and quickly made his way back home, praying that it was still in one piece. Two boxes of pizza should be good enough to keep her occupied.

He opened the door and stopped moving. The silver strings and garlands hung gloriously from the walls. Then she appeared in front of him, making him stumble back, but quickly regained his balance.

"Why didn't you tell me it was your birthday?!" she asked, her blood boiling.

He could imagine steam coming out of her ears. He massaged the bridge of his nose and said, "It's just a birthday, Rose. I don't usually celebrate my birthday or anything that is related to it."

She narrowed her eyes at him and said, "Well, I already did all of this. Don't put it to waste." He believed it. It was not everyday that an angel would decorate your house with silver things. He nodded and replied, "Alright. This is very beautiful, Rose. Thank you."

It felt strange to be celebrating his birthday now, especially with her. She huffed and rolled her eyes at him, grabbing his wrist. She took him to the kitchen where they usually ate. There, the most beautiful cake he had ever seen, placed on the counter. He really appreciated its beauty, but something was bugging him. . .

"How did you make this?" he asked, raising his brow at the being beside him. 

She titled her head and said, "Don't you dare look at me like I'm a naughty child. I didn't break anything. I used my power. I think this what a cake would look like if it was made in Heaven." 

Before he could reply, she pushed a small box into his hands. He looked at it and asked, "What did you get me?" The real question was, how. 

She smiled, bright enough to light up the whole universe. "Open it!" she said, looking more excited than him.

He opened it and his heart stopped. He looked up and asked, "You got me a Rolex watch?"

She nodded as if nothing bad happened. She really didn't understand. "H-how?" he asked again.

"Through Safari. I thought it would look good on you and the reviews were great. It was only $8000!—"

"Oh my gosh," he deadpanned. "You just put a dent in my credit card."

"It was so easy. The. . .um. . .right. . .auto-fill helped me a lot—"

"I hate auto-fill."

"They were so many watches. I couldn't choose one, but I really think this one fits you best," she said, and noticed the dreadful look on his face. "Dimitri? Don't you like it?" She really did her best to choose the right one.

He swallowed, feeling the tiredness catch up on him. "I love it, but it's really expensive, Rose. $8000 is not easy to come by," he explained.

Her smile dropped and she asked, "Are you going to return it?" 

After seeing her face, he took out the watch and tried it on. 

"No, I think I'll keep it," he said, giving a small smile. And try not to think about the $8000.

The smile returned to her face and she threw her arms around him, whispering. 

"Happy birthday, Dimitri!"

I entered GUARDIAN ANGEL to the Wattys2018. The chances of winning is very slim. But it never hurts to try, right? I hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as I did, writing it. 

Please don't forget to leave a comment! I would love to know what you think!

Best wishes,

Iris