[vicky7]

Hi Guys! Having finally been able to get into the forum I am going to start posting my first ever fanfic. I have been posting it on tatu.us but I have been dying to post it here because this is the first place I read fanfics which have inspired me. I would really love to read any feedback you might want to give me especially from fanfic writers. There are 5 chapters so far which I will put into separate posts. Enjoy!

Chapter 1 – New Home, Same Old Mother


Lena looked around her apartment a wide smile spreading across her lovely features. She finally had everything she had ever wanted – a first rate degree, the job of her dreams, the perfect boyfriend and now her own place. Things couldn’t get any better, she thought as she tiredly flopped down on the brown leather sofa.

She ran a hand through her long curly red locks and wiped the sweat off her brow. She had set the alarm early this morning so she could move the last of her furniture into the apartment. She had then dashed to the shops to buy some bedding for her new king sized bed. Also, she cleaned the spare bedroom, the ‘guest bedroom’ as she now would call it and had set about preparing food for the romantic evening she had planned for her boyfriend Roman.

Roman was an investment banker who travelled the world to glamorous places like London, New York and Paris and who unfortunately she rarely saw. They had met through a mutual friend, a psychologist who worked at Lena’s practice, Mikhail Bogdanov. Mikhail was a nice enough guy, if a little dull but having introduced her to the gorgeous Roman she would always be eternally grateful to him.

They had met at the Passion nightclub in town after Lena, Mikhail and a whole crowd of the younger psychologists from the practise had escaped their older, stuffier colleagues at the Christmas party to partake in the drinking, dancing and mating rituals that were so synonymous with Christmas. However, it wouldn’t have mattered when and where she had met Roman she would always have fallen deeply in love…

Lena was suddenly broken from her revere by the harsh shrill ring of the phone. She jumped up and grabbed the receiver. “Hello”

“Lena, its your mother, I just wanted to see if you were still alive.” Her mother, Inessa said sarcastically.

Lena pulled her face, holding the phone slightly away from her ear, the sound of her mother’s voice grating on her brain. “Mum, I’m sorry I haven’t been in touch, it’s just that...” Inessa cut her off mid sentence, the volume of her voice steadily rising and the ranting Lena was so glad she no longer had to endure on a daily basis beginning with aplomb. “I don’t care how busy you are Elena Katina, how long does it take to call to let me know how you are? I only brought you into the world, fed and clothed you and gave you the best education money could buy, all in spite of that useless man who sometimes calls himself your father.”

Lena had wondered how long it would be before she brought her father into it. Admittedly, Sergey Katin wasn’t the father of any girl’s dreams but he was the only father Lena knew. The fact that Inessa constantly sniped about him felt like someone constantly picking at an old wound, never letting it fully heal. It was bad enough that the day he left them haunted her to this day.


The past

Sergey had left Lena and Inessa when Lena was seven. She clearly recalled the smashing plates, the shouting and her mother’s anguished wails. She had crept out of her bedroom that unforgettable night, her tired little body carrying her slowly, her green eyes clouded over with sleep. She had hid behind one of the armchairs in the living room listening intently as the two adults she depended on fought like animals.

“Inessa” her father had said in a calm voice “calm down, you’ll wake Lena.”

“CALM DOWN, YOU’RE LEAVING US FOR SOME WHORE WHO’S HAVING YOUR BABY AND YOU’RE ASKING ME TO CALM DOWN” Inessa’s voice broke as she sobbed incessantly. Lena bit her lip, trying not to cry, unable to believe what she was hearing. Her Daddy, the man who read her stories and sang her to asleep was leaving? Why? What had she done wrong? Why did he want another baby?

She heard footsteps as her mother and father moved their slanging match into the living room. Lena could only remain frozen to the spot. “You’re going now? What am I going to tell Lena? That her Daddy doesn’t love her enough to stay?” Inessa wailed.

“Inessa, we both know this has nothing to do with Lena. You and I shouldn’t be together anymore, you know that…” Sergey said in a tired voice. Lena could see her mother’s pained expression, her face white, her eyes ringed red, mascara clogging heavily with her tears. Her shaking hands were covered in blood making Lena sick to her stomach. She hated blood. Whenever she cut herself her father would always scoop her up, cover the wound and start singing to her. Only then would she forget the blood as Sergey cleaned the gashes. She loved him so much. If he had to leave she wanted to go too.

A few seconds later, Sergey came into her line of vision. He too was covered in blood, his face scratched, seemingly the work of Inessa’s fingernails. Blood oozed from the wound mingling with his dark beard, his deep-set green eyes portraying a man who had grown tired of living the lie of a loveless marriage. In his left hand he was carrying a large black suitcase. He really was going to leave Lena.

Her mother broke the silence, her sorrowful expression replaced by a sudden calm. “Well Sergey, if you don’t want me, you don’t want your daughter. If it’s the last thing I do I will NEVER, EVER let you see her again.” Her voice shook with anger, her bloodied hands clenched into white balls of fury.

At that Lena could no longer conceal her presence; she couldn’t let her father go. If she never saw him again it would kill her. “NOOOOO, DADDY! DADDY, PLEASE DON’T GO! I PROMISE I’LL BE A GOOD GIRL, I PROMISE” she wailed, throwing herself at her father’s mercy, clinging as tightly to his legs as her little hands could possibly grip.

“Hey, hey, Lena sweetie, you’re always a good girl, my good girl, always.” Sergey said softly. He bent down to Lena detaching her from his legs and raised her in his arms gazing lovingly into her eyes, his eyes.

“Lena, I have to go sweetie, but it doesn’t mean I don’t love you. I love you so so much, please don’t ever doubt that.” He said throatily, kissing her forehead and wiping the wells of tears streaming from her eyes. “I will see you all the time I promise, nothing will change, its just sometimes Mummies and Daddies can’t live together forever because they make each other unhappy. You don’t want me and Mummy to be unhappy do you?” Lena shook her head, her rumpled red curls flying wildly about her shoulders.

“Can I come with you Daddy?” she questioned.

“Lena, you need to stay with Mummy and look after her, she loves you so much.”

“But I love you more. I need you Daddy.” Lena pleaded. He put her down, “I’m sorry darling, stay with Mummy, she needs you, I really have to go, I’m so sorry.”

With that he lifted his suitcase and hurried out the front door without a backward glance at the broken family he had left behind. From that day on Lena suspected her mother never forgave her for wanting to leave with her father. Things had never been the same between them and since that night she had seen her father only eleven times, she had counted.


The present…

“Yes mum, I know what you’ve done for me and believe me I am soo grateful. I promise I’ll phone you tomorrow and we’ll arrange for you to come round and we’ll all have dinner. Me, Roman, you, Boris and Katya, ok?”

Inessa’s voice dramatically changed at the mention of Roman. “So how is that lovely boyfriend of yours?"

“He’s great, he’s been in Paris for the last two weeks, he’s flying in at 6 O’clock tonight so I’m gonna go and meet him at the airport.”

“Well, you’d better make yourself presentable before you go and collect him, you have to work hard to keep a man you know Lena.” Inessa chided.

Lena rolled her eyes. Her mother was unbelievable! If she hadn’t been on the phone ranting and raving, Lena could have jumped in and out the shower and applied her makeup by now. What a woman! “Right then mum, I’ll go and shower now and will speak to you tomorrow.”

“Promise?” Inessa questioned.

“Yeah, promise”

“Bye Lena”

“Bye Mum” Lena replaced the handset and glanced at the clock above the fireplace. Sh*t, it was 4:30pm! She had about half an hour before she would have to set out for the airport. With that she ran into the bathroom stripping her clothes off as she went.