Once Upon A Lie

Thirty-two:

Thirty-two:

There was a car coming after her. She glanced over, and she saw that Aleksander was following her. "Go away," Alina shouted at him.

Aleksander was hanging out of the car. "Come on, Lina. Let me give you a ride."

"No. Absolutely not. This is all your fault, you know. You gave them the idea about this whole arrangement thing in the first place."

"I'm sorry," he apologized.

She kept on walking, and he kept on driving slow enough to keep up with her. "Did you ever stop to think about me when you came up with your little plan? Because when you put that idea in my father's head, he decided it was a good plan for my future. What happens if he actually does decide to marry me off to someone else?"

Aleksander shook his head. "He won't."

"Don't tell me that you're going to try and get the arrangement put back on again."

"No, I'm just that confident that you and I are going to be together."

She glared at him. "Why are you so confident about that?"

"Because I'm always going to be in your life, Alina. I'm going to inherit our parents' company. We're always going to be around each other. Anyone else that comes, they're just a passing ship. Even Mal won't be around very long."

Alina crossed her arms over her chest. "You make it sound like you're going to make him go away."

Aleksander laughed. "I wouldn't go that far. Although I could. Come on, please get in the car. It's not safe for you to be walking all alone."

Alina glanced down the street then back at him. "I don't want to go to school today. Everyone's going to stare and whisper and ask me a million questions about what happened."

Aleksander smirked. "Want to play hooky?"

Alina crossed her arms over her chest. "I shouldn't even be around you. If my parents find out, they'll probably kill you."

He rolled his eyes. "Your parents won't kill me. I'll get them to come around eventually."

"I hate that you're so confident."

"It's part of my charm. Comes with the trust fund and the nepotism that entitles me to inherit my father's company."

She rolled her eyes. "You're infuriating."

"You love me for it. Get in, and we'll go some place that we can get away from everything."

"What did you have in mind?" Alina asked.

"It's a surprise. You'll only find out if you get in."

What she should have done was gone to school. She should have done what her parents asked her, and stayed away from him. But she was tired of always doing what her parents wanted her to. Truthfully, she was tired of doing what Aleksander wanted her to. But she couldn't help it.

"Okay. I'll come," she relented.

Aleksander smiled, and Alina got into the car.

"What are we going to do?" Alina asked.

"Something you've always wanted to do."

"Kill you?" she suggested.

Aleksander laughed. "No, because that wouldn't be any fun for me. Just sit tight, Princess. You'll like what I've got in store."

She glanced at him. "How can you have something in store? You didn't even know that this was going to happen today."

He shrugged, and ran a hand through his dark hair. "I planned this a while ago. I just wasn't able to do it because of everything that happened."

"Is it legal?"

He glanced over at her. "You really think I would do anything to put you in jeopardy?"

Alina glanced back at him. Even after their fight on the bleachers, she still knew the answer. "No. I don't think you would. Not intentionally, anyway."

Aleksander nodded. "Damn straight. Never forget that, Princess. Whatever happens between us, I'm always going to do whatever it takes to keep you safe."

He put the music on, and he drove for a long time. He sang softly to himself, something he almost never did. Alina was surprised when she realized that they were going to theater district.

"Where are you taking me, Aleksander Morozova?" she asked.

"It's a surprise," he told her, "keep your patient pants on, okay? We're almost there. You'll understand when we get there."

"Aleks----"

"Relax."

He pulled up to the old Ravkaan Opera House then.

Alina looked over at him, shocked. "I don't understand. Is there a ballerina that you're fucking here?"

Aleksander chuckled. "No. I'm not sleeping with anyone."

"Okay. Then why are we here?"

The two of them got out. He took her hand, and they went into the opera house. There was a man in a suit waiting for them.

"Ah," said the man, "you're here. I was beginning to think that you weren't going to show for the day."

"You know I call if I don't come. Also, I had a thing called school. It's early morning."

"Still. You might have been a piano protégé as a child, Mr. Morozova, but that doesn't entitle you to use the opera house whenever you want."

Aleksander glared at him. "No, but my family sponsoring half of your ballerinas and being on the name of the place does."

The man---who Alina recognized as the director of the opera house-----bristled at Aleksander's gaze. It was the same one that Eric had. She had seen it over the years many times. "Right. Of course, Mr. Morozova." The director nodded. "Miss Starkov, it's lovely to see you again. Can we expect your family to be at the opera this Spring?"

"Always, Mr. Bo Yul-Bayur."

The director of the opera left them alone. Aleksander pulled her into the opera house. There was a piano on the stage. Aleksander sat her in the front row, right in the center. "This is a one time only performance," he told her, "don't get used to this."

Alina rolled her eyes. "Fine."

Aleksander went up on the stage, then sat at the piano.

Alina stared at him, uncertain about what was happening. "Aleks...what are you doing?" she asked.

He looked up at her from the piano. His hair was doing that thing where it fell across his forehead, and it took everything in her power not to run up and wipe it out of his eyes as she had done so many times before. "I wrote you something. It's a little rough around the edges, but I had a lot of time recently, so...."

Alina gasped, and he started playing. It was a haunting, beautiful, classical-style piano piece.

When he finished, all Alina could do was sit in silence. Stunned.

He ran his hand through his hair. "So, um. It's called Sunlight. Because you're the sun."

Alina took a deep breath.

"Are you okay?" Aleksander asked.

She went around and walked up the stage to where he sat on the piano bench. Alina sat down next to him. She took her hand in hers, then she kissed him.

"Alina," Aleksander whispered huskily, "Alina, Alina, Alina...."