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Lubov Suka (Chapter 21)



Author: Dvizheniya
Genre: Romantic, Comedy, Drama

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Chapter 21


The hours until the big day for the preliminary decision of the Eurovision Song Contest went by quickly. One day after the Russiatour with Dima Julia had a photo shoot for the famous 'Top Beauty' Magazine in the early morning.
Afterwards she was looking for the right outfit for the upcoming performance some expensive Moscow's boutiques. Moreover the next day she spent some time with her family. The mother attended a small circus with her children on the outskirts of Moscow.
At six in the morning the alarm clock finished the subsequent short night of the singer. Once in the kitchen she greeted her grandmother with a warm hug who had already prepared the breakfast table. She inquired whether her granddaughter had slept well. Julia nodded, rubbing the eyes while yawning. She took the cup of the cooked tea and sat down at the table.

"You're still very tired. Did you play too much with your telephone again last night?" the grandmother asked with a smile.

Julia shook her head and laughed briefly about the fact that she still titled a smartphone as a telephone. The brunette took the cereal box, filled her bowl and poured some milk over it. With the spoon she poked dreamily around it.
When she took the first bite her grandmother asked if she is well prepared for this day. Julia nodded confidently and chewed her cereal with relish. She told about the preparation while she with Dima on tour and about the chosen clothing which was designed especially for the performance of a Moscow boutique. 

The petite woman showed a picture on her iPhone about the noble garment which was held in a plain black. The sleeves of the tight shirt and the leggings had strips of artificial crocodile leather. The shoulders were emphasized in an also in black coloured,  like an accordion bellow shaped cotton top, thus gave her the some chivalrous accents.

Moreover she also showed a little intro  which Julia had to shoot two days ago for the preliminary decision. The grandmother was really impressed by the video and about the atypical princely outfits of her granddaughter and reiterated that literally every piece of clothing would fit wonderfully in her.
Julia smiled modestly and scraped the remaining cereal from her plate before she finally went to the bathroom to take a shower. There the brunette enjoyed plenty last quiet moments of the day.

With some relaxing music in the car the singer was also able to calm her nervs while driving to the small concert hall where the upcoming preliminary decision will take place. After a nearly one hour trip through Moscow Julia parked her car in the parking space which bordered equal to the hall.

Before building the pop star got her personal VIP - ID. She put it clearly to the waistband of her jeans and stepped into the large entrance area. Numerous of guests, press and the participants had already gathered of the VIP area. By this view the nervousness slowly grew back. Despite the many people Julia found her partner quickly in the crowd. She contributed targeted to his team. As the singer looked into his brown eyes for the first time her heart started beating faster again. Although she had seen Dima three days ago it seemed like an eternity. The young man was also quite pleased to see her again. With a happy smile he took the female singer in his arms. Although the hug was briefly Julia enjoyed every second of its proximity and reached immediately for his hand. Dima gently squeezed her hand and winked with an eye.

"Nervous?" he asked with his mischievous grin.

Julia nodded wordlessly and clung herself even more against him. Dima pulled his hand off hers placed his arm carefully around her shoulder, taking her closer and was focused into the conversation of the team again.  
For the first time Julia had the feeling to be a part of the team. She was no longer just standing next to them, listened and followed their instructions. One reason for this changing was obvious Dimas affection in public.

But today the little romance between the singers was less in the foreground. The preparations for the performance were enormous. In order to consolidate the lyrics, they studied their lines together in the dressing room. On stage they were rehearsing one last time, improved their representation and trying to act more concentrated to let the common movements looking more serious. 
When they were dining in the late afternoon the duet could relax for a while. 
They chatted extensively with the team. Dima also couldn't stop with making jokes. Also known faces of the Russian show business who didn't wanna miss the tonight's performance joined the superstars at the big round table. The loosely atmosphere even let them forget shortly the nervousness.

After a hearty dinner both singers went back to their dressing room to get changed back for the show.
Once there Julia took her clothes from the clothes hook and put it carefully on a chair.
While taking off the top and trouser she couldn't take her eyes off her singing partner.
Dima also unddressed for the performance. For the first time the woman discovered the side of his vanity. He posend in front of the mirror while checking his hairs several time. In between times she was repeating his parts of the song 'Back to her future' in all octaves he could sing.

He buttoned up of the blue colored shirt until the end of the collar was sitting immaculate around his neck.
However, on the other hand for Julia it was too unattractive. She made some steps toward him and took his elbow. No sooner she had turned him around Julia opened the last button of his shirt again. His glance wandered down to the female body in front of him which was just covered by a black bodysuit.
She gave him a beguiling smile while her hand slide down over his chest. When she returned wordlessly back Julia dedicated to her own outfit. Dima grinned mischievously and told that he's kinda dissapointed about the fact that she won't perform just in her skintight bodysuit and that i's actually not necessary to put on even more clothes. She pulled the black leather gauntlets over the arms and gave him a quizzical look.

"The Eurovision is ​​less suitable for a scandalous performance ..." whispered Julia and continued tugging on the gauntlets.

"You're not naked. A bodysuit is quite sufficient," Dima added, thrusting his arms into the white colored jacket.
Julia took wordlessly her leather high heels and sat down on a chair.

"So you would like to have a performance which includes scandal?" she asked in surprise.

Dima shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly.

"I guess we can't avoid it. It's probably not possible. In the end you are the professional person for a worldwide scandal."

Julia then declared her point of view during the years of scandal with t.A.T.u.
She told that not the group, but the media and the people where the ones who spread the scandals. The band was ultimately only the reflection of the society and the truth is often hard to bear. She tried unstoppable to justify herself. Meanwhile Julia had taken the makeup from her purse. She stood in front of the mirror and emphasized her eyes with a matching color of her dark clothes.
In the meantime he had taken up a chair and smiled at her endless declaration on the global scandal with her band. The petite woman was about to put some pure energy into the subject and it was obvious that it was very difficult to interrupt her in this situation. In addition he was completely baffled how Julia was able to master some make up on her face while the little energetic presentation.

Evgeni came into the dressing room and informed the duo that the opening  will begin in fifteen. No sooner he had spoken aloud his sentence Evgeni devoted back into a new announcement with the handheld radio and closed the door. Julia and Dima looked at each other and took a deep breath at the same moment.
There was briefly silence in the room while the two singers clearly returned to their  preparation for the last time. In the corridor bustled countless of people; from the press to the VIPs. The media operation gave just a little imagination of how important this evening was for Russia.
The superstars finally made their way hand in hand to the backstage area where the remaining participants were also waiting already.
The opening began with the presentation of of the individual artists. With a hand sign of Evgeni who was still busy with the handheld radio; he shown that they were next on stage. The cheering audience became audibly louder when the most famous duo of Russia entered the stage for the first time.

Dima and Julia smiled proudly at each other about the joy of the audience and the following stunning applause. They left the stage again and took place to their reserved seats in the VIP area.
When all participants of the evening were presented the show started. Julia started to be a bit more nervous when she noticed the continuing skeptical glance of the jury while each individual artists was on stage. Although the singer loved the talent of the many newcomers the jury seemed to be less impressed.
Meanwhile Dima's tension was written on his face. His gaze was completely fixed on the stage and his eyes blinked rarely.
A very unpleasant picture for Julia when the usual cheerful and funny Bilan started to be feverishly and appears more tensed. The brunette couldn't remember the last time when she was so restless before a performance. One reason was certainly that she didn't want to disappoint Dima. He had reached so much in the Eurovision Song Contest. But this years competition seemed to be harder than ever.

The young woman was busy with her doubts that she even forgot about the actual time. It was like an adrenaline shock when Dima suddenly stood up and showing his waving hand to make her following him. In order to be able to calm down herself she grabbed quickly for his hand. The duo snaked through the narrow passage between the audience of the VIP area.
Suddenly Julia felt a tug on her free hand. She turned frightened around. The Russian rapper Timati, who was probably the biggest competitor of the evening wished her success for the performance.

The singer was touched by the unexpected kind words and the mischievous twinkle in his eye.
Before her hand slip off Dima's she stroked quickly over Timatis shoulder and wished her longtime Russian business colleagues also luck. With bouncy big steps she followed Dima until she was beside her Duetpartner again.

Behind the stage some workers checked one last time the microphones which the singers got handed afterwards. Julia frowned when she noticed that Dima hadn't the white microphone in his hands. She immediately asked about it and he shrugged. The fact he needs to sing with another microphone in this special performance affected him. He told that his mic was broken and needs to be repaired.
A fateful moment a few minutes before the performance. The belief in this lucky charm was interacting after all of his compelling narratives about his personal white microphone which clearly brought luck and success in his career. Even though Julia wasn't superstitious some positive courage just fade away.

"We will do just our best ..." he smiled in a strained facial expressions and stroked his singing partner briefly along the back.

As the melody of 'Back To Her Future' resounded through the hall the excitement rose. As usual Dima seemed to have the complete control of himself. His voice was powerful and concentrated.
In the beginning Julia's nervousness had spread on her voice. But she tried to calm down with deep breaths and to be more focused on the steps of the rehearsed performance.
It didn't take long when Dima was able to force his transfer his self-conscious into the female singer. It was a overwhelmed  feeling stand beside him on stage. She hadn't even experiences such enegy and charisma during a concert with t.A.T.u..

Dima was born to be on stage. He lived literally in and with the music. It was noticeable and very impressive. Julia already knew that she'll never forget this breathtaking experience and shown how much she appreciate it. The more she found herself in the song, the more powerful and emotional started to be the performance.
Both superstars reflected the dramatic message of the song in the symbolic performance and they got a huge applause of the audience.

No sooner they had left the stage the singers were inundated with countless of questions from the press. Numerous reporters of the best known television channels of Russia were around them to get more informations about the duet. After all the singers were lika a mascot for their native country. Neither during the interview nor in the small photoshoots for the press the duet didn't avoid from physical contact. Julia clung her head lovingly against Dimas shoulder which was actually an ordinary picture of young woman. But her dreamy glance to the young man threw out questions not only for the reporters. Paparazzi photographed the Russian Duet in the most ambiguous moments until they had enough material for the upcoming day to start a wave of hysteria in the newspapers. When the questions became to personal they went back hand in hand to the VIP area to watch the left participants of the show. Julia and Dima were accustomed by the storm of the press and paparazzi so they could easily ignoring all questions which had nothing to do with the preliminary round of the Eurovision Song Contest.
The Russian singers were watching the show with full enthusiasm of the talented competitors. Also the audience was literally swept away by the Eurovision fever and it brought a breathtaking atmosphere in the whole hall.

All performers gave their best on the stage and the time was approaching when the votes were counted by the jury and the television audience. In the meantime the last minutes until the final decision were very exciting and it felt as if the ceremony will never end.
Not only the tension of the successful duet grew. Also the other singers who sat also in the VIP area of the audience were visibly nervous and everyone was swept on its way in and hoped for a win in order to be allowed to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest.

The scoring was initially clear. Dima and Julia owned many points and started being far from their competition and seemed almost unattainable. For several weeks there were many speculations to read in the media about Timati and Dima who fought with their female singing partners for the win.
Now the victory was obvious. The biggest competitor Timati got impressively discarded with the numerous points. When the points for the 'Buranowski babushkas' unexpectedly rose the joy was short-lived. The grandmas catapulted the successful duet within minutes even to second place. A glimpse of Yana was enough to be able to read the bitter disappointment in her while the voting slowly came to an end. Even Dima was stunned. He played continuously with the ring on his forefinger. His eyes were fixed on the large screen on the stage wall on which you could read the points chart.

For Julia it was personally only an unmatched opportunity for the perfect start of her solo career. In contrast her fears were huge to dissapoint Dima and he could even regret the duet with her. Even now he wasn't accessible.  In his eyes was longer seen clearly hope of a victory. For the enumeration of the last points, the winner was obvious. The 'Buranowski Babushkas' had won unexpectedly and will promote Russia the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest in Baku.
A bitter setback of the actual successful singer. Dima lowered his head to the ground and buried his face in both hands. Julia was stroking his arm gently.

While the audience cheered with enthusiasm she spoke some warm encouraging to him.
Dima looked once again up to the point chart and his eyes wandered one last time just over the maximum of the score before he left his place wordlessly. Julia followed him immediately.
It was hard for her to keep up with his big steps when he was about to go back in the wardrobe.
She didn't expected that a defeat would pull him down so much. To see Dima in this state hurt in her soul. As soon as Julia had reach him she grabbed his elbow and forced him to stop.
"Dim!" she said anxiously and tried to cheer and even to motivate him for celebrating with the winners on stage.
But the singer didn't listen. He stood in the corridor like a stubborn child while his shoulders hung limply down along his body and the gaze was directed to the ground.
Dima reluctantly his mood as Julia tried to explain in detail that he should take this defeat as  a lesson for his - almost always successful solo, career. He knew that she was right and noticed how difficult it was to deal with the unexpected failure.

However she could cheer Dima a bit up with her words and convinced him to go back on stage. It will better to celebrate the success of 'Buranowski babushkas' instead of swimming in self pity.
Julia took his hand carefully. On the way back to the hall she gave him a comforting smile again and ran the thumb over his hand back.
When the duet was back on stage they congratulated the older ladies. Each of them was very pleased to be received by the major superstars and through this also increasingly Dima's mood changed. It was obvious that the young man was fighting with his honor but he also end up being happy about the victory of the unusual group of seniors.

Julia was so happy when she could see a smile on his face again. Until late into the night everyone was celebrating. The mood of the audience and also of the other participants was breathtaking.
When Julia had taken later her clothes out of the wardrobe she left the hall with Dima they walked across the parking lot. He accompanied his colleague to the car in which she laid carefully the clothes on the back seat.
No sooner when Julia turned around he apologized about his initially defiant behavior. The brunette tilted her head to one side when she looked into his shamefully embarrassed faceial expression. The petite woman stroked over his arm until she took the hand and pulled him closer.
In a soft voice she demanded a promise that he should stop to see this evening so subjectively.
Julia explained  that he should enjoy the moment and waste less energy when things went wrong in life. Dima nodded encouraged with a smile. He raised his hand to indicate that he will not break the oath.
In these moments the young woman had always the right words. There weren't many people which Dima knew who were able to convince him within seconds and change his opinion and mood.

He was fervently thanksfull and his thumb stroked over the flushed cheeks of the young woman what made her heart beaten faster. Julia closed her eyes about to enjoy this loving affection for a second. His fingers slide under her chin and this made her lift the head. When she opened her eyes she was looking straight into his equally dreamy glance. Julia was practically forced to watch into it and melt literally due to its sensitive devotion.
Dima put his hand around her neck; pulled the head gently  closer to give a quick kiss on the lips as his fingers wiped over her face back to the chin again.
"I'll see you on Sunday in the studio ..." he whispered softly. His hand slid from the neck down her back. Julia nodded pleased. It was hard for her to come back to reality and to control the fast heart beating and emotions.
After this common exciting day she would have liked to give Dima intimately a goodbye kiss. But his fleeting kiss was a sign that he distanced hisself back to her because of the meanwhile accumulated people at the parking lot. He didn't want to risk any rumors in the press on which they will report days later. But his unexpected romantic gestures told more than an intimate kiss.

"Good night ..." whispered Julia and couldn't resist the persistent smile. One last time she stroked his hand back.

"Good night," Dima replied, also in a soft voice and followed each of her movement as Julia went back in the Porsche and drove off.


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