Diamonds Dancing

Ten

Vera Ivanov was nothing like her brother.

She was kindhearted, funny, and oh so sweet, she was the type of woman who generated beauty from within. After spending a hefty amount of time getting to know one another at the lavish lunch spot, she had come to understand that the mystery sister was twenty-nine years old, working in a regular IT job and had no desire to be in the public eye, hence her absence from all the blog pages.

Outside the restaurant windows, nonstop bustling from the busy streets of Manhattan seemed to fade away as twinkling forest-green eyes danced with merriment. She let out a boisterous chortle, as raw authentic laughter rattled out of her slim body, forcing her shoulders and her glossy blonde locks to bounce. "You poor thing!" She sputtered out as the nanny snorted. "Tell me you at-least made it to the beach..."

It was Rika's turn to giggle, and that she did. The sight of empty plates surrounding them indicated the success of their luncheon.

In a knitted two-piece set, courtesy of Ruth's assistance, her long hair was pulled back in a high ponytail, the sleek updo and eyeliner made her eye-shape appear more feline. "Oh, we made it alright, it ended up being a great day out." She smiled, shaking her head to stop the memories from flooding back in. "The girls had so much fun, they wouldn't stop talking about it on the drive home."

Vera had a clear and pragmatic outlook that matched her own attitude. She found herself glancing at her profile and found that her elegance was something that she thought highly of.

"You know I actually like you, Rika. A lot."

That made her fidget in her seat out of anxiety, "Thank you?" She responded awkwardly, unsure of how else to reply.

Vera laughed at her uneasy reaction, "You treat the girls fairly, you deal with my overbearing brother. And most importantly, you have a beautiful outlook on life. What's not to like?" She winked at the blushing girl, flirting in a way she could not discern.

"I like you too." The innocence of her statement didn't go missed, causing the air around them to lighten up.

"More than my brother I hope?" Her tone teasing and full of spirit.

How did she even go about answering such a difficult question?

"I mean I don't think anyone terrifies me more than your brother does, he's, um, a very serious guy." Attempting to say her truth in the least insulting way she possibly could.

And as expected, the topic of conversation had veered off to the one person they both had in common. Three guesses who?

Playfully rolling her emerald eyes, the blonde licked her lips to moisten them. "Oh please, sure it takes him a while to open up, but once he does, he's not so bad trust me. It was only the two of us growing up, so he's always had a harder time trusting new people." She expressed calmly as if she hadn't shared a snippet of his childhood so easily.

She ceased to a halt, "I had no idea..."

Fluttering her hand, she reached over to pick up a piece of bread that was leftover on Rika's plate and put it into her mouth. "It's nothing major really, our parents were unstable assholes that cared more about their next high than they did us. We were in foster care until Slate reached eighteen." Her heart started to race at the similarities of their stories, how was this the first time she was hearing about this.

"He barely slept back then, trying to get his beats out there, but it all paid off in the end. We were able to make it out of Russia thanks to him, hell if he didn't pursue music and make it his passion, we would never be able to live our lives as comfortably as we can now." Laughing it off, she lifted her glass of fancy wine to her lips.