It was 3 a.m. and Maks texted B. “What are you up to?”
Brandy: Nothing. You?
Maks: Whoa! I didn’t really expect you to text back, I thought you’d be asleep.
Brandy: Can’t sleep.
Maks: Uh Oh. What’s wrong?
Brandy: Who says something is wrong.
Maks: You’re up late sooo…something must be up. If you’re not at an event you’re usually in bed by 10.
Brandy: Well…I have a few things on my mind.
Maks: Like what?

Maks knew he was being nosy but his curiosity got the best of him. B was usually asleep at this time. For her to be up to be up she had to have some new project. Or maybe it was something with Syrai. He smiled when he thought of her with her daughter. Brandy was like a breath of fresh air. She was successful but still family oriented and funny. She saw beyond the superficial and most importantly she was very loyal. He was really honored to have her as a friend.

Brandy: Like what? Like you are way too deep in my business right now.

Brandy laughed. She knew she was being a little snappy but she wanted to keep her thoughts to herself. They had been all over the place lately. She knew that she could tell Maks anything, but he did not want to reveal too much.

Maks: Well. Sorrrrrrryyyy…
Brandy: No. I’m sorry Maks. I don’t know what’s come over me. I’m just tired.

At that moment her phone lit up. Damn. He was calling.

Maks: Ok Brandy , talk. You know you wear your heart on your sleeves. I know you and I know that it can’t be nothing.
Brandy: Maks.
Maks: Brandy. You are up at 3:30 in the morning.
Brandy: Well you’re up too. Why?
Maks: Brandy. ..Its’s 6:30 a.m. in New York.
Brandy: Oh.
Maks: Brandy?
Brandy: Well… Robert came by and he was talking some junk.
Maks: What? Did he hit you?
Brandy: No! No. Nothing like that.
Maks: Oh, because I was halfway to L.A.
Brandy: LOL. No need. That’s why I love you. Such a good friend. But no he’s just seen me on tv talking about love. He wanted to know if there was another …dude around Syrai.
Maks: I don’t think who you date is his business. He was out of line.
Brandy: Well…it is kind of his business.
Maks: Why? You’re not with him, right.
Brandy: Right.
Maks: You don’t want him. Right?
Brandy: Yeah. The romantic chapter is over but he is Syrai’s dad. He doesn’t want her around any and every body. I’m the same way.
Maks: Ok. I get it. You have to forgive me. I’m not a parent.
Brandy: Yeah…So basically he’s trippin on this finding love thing.
Maks: Yeah. And even though y’all are over no man want to see some woman he was in love with at one time, you know.
Brandy: Talking about Karina?
Maks: No.
Brandy: Erin?
Maks: No. I’m just saying in general . Yeah there were moments when Karina and I first broke up that were tough, but we don’t have any kids and with Erin…our thing was complicated. I really liked her and found her very attractive, but I needed more than she could give. Attraction fades and after a while it fizzles out. You and Syrai’s dad? Definitely more complicated than anything I’ve ever done. Maybe he’s just threatened.
Brandy: I just wish he would give me more credit. I never have Syrai around people I am dating. And if he’s threatened, tough shit. He needs to back off.
Maks: I do understand what he’s saying. There were times I was with you and you’d be smiling and flirting with other people and I would even get possessive. And we’re just good friends.
Brandy: Yeah. Best friends.
Maks: Yeah…
Brandy: Yeah?
Maks: (coughs) Well sometimes I wonder if its just friends.

As soon as it came out of his mouth he regretted it. It was a subject they both had a silent agreement to avoid. He knew they had a deep connection but it was more than that. He noticed everything about her. He could pick up on when she was sad, happy, how she looked down before responding when she was sad. And she knew a lot about him too, beyond his looks. He’d never forget how she looked at him in practice and called him out on his shyness.

******Flashback**********
Brandy: Maks. You are super shy. When people compliment you and talk about your looks you just put your hands in your pockets and look down. You better own that Maks, its powerful. Yeah, you are definitely fire hot, but once you let everyone know who you are…Its gonna be like “Maks is in the building.”
******Modern Day****

Brandy: Maks…

Her protest snapped him out of his thoughts.

Brandy: You know you shouldn’t have gone there. It’s a disaster. And you know I live a very simple life. I can’t keep up with you!’
Maks: (Ignored her) So come visit me.
Brandy: I can’t. Family Business…Syrai has school…
Maks: So I’ll come see you. I have some business to clear up in LA.
Brandy: (trying to play it cool)Really? When?
Maks: When do you want me there?
Brandy: What?
Maks: (repeating it more firmly) When you do you want me there?
Brandy: Oh…um…no rush.
Maks: So Saturday
Brandy: Ok. Fine. See you Saturday.
Maks: By the way. When I can’t sleep I watch our vids on youtube too.
Brandy: What?
Maks: Your tweet last week.
Brandy: Ah…
Maks: Good night Brandy.
Brandy: Good night.

Brandy hung up. She was so nervous. The night they were eliminated was so confusing. She was upset that her time was over. Terrified that she has disappointed Maks. Then Maks threw her for such a loop when he cried and blamed himself for their loss. Seeing him break like that cut her like a rusty switchblade.
Maks was strong. He didn’t cry. Not even when his grandmother passed. He held it in until he was with his family. Now that he was in tears she wanted to console him and assure him that he was not to blame. That’s how it started and it ended with him in her bed. They didn’t do the deed. She just kissed his face and held him the entire night.
It was frustrating having him there. It had been some years although not quite six since she had gone there, but it wasn’t the right time. She could feel him against her though. All of him, so she knew he was feeling it too. Still, she knew they had done the right thing by holding back.

Maks couldn’t understand why Brandy had pulled back that night. He knew she hadn’t had sex in a year or so and that she was so guarded because of Syrai, but none of that mattered because of their connection. He trusted her and she, him. But that night, when there was a slight opening he saw her fear and he didn’t cross the line. They stayed in friend zone and tried to act as though it was just “the moment”, even though they knew it was more than that.

All these thoughts were drumming through Maks’ mind as he strolled about LAX looking for Brandy. She had agreed to pick him up and drop him off at his hotel but he did not see her anywhere. He scanned the crowd and eventually spotted Brandy standing behind the baggage claim. Their eyes connected and she ran up to him and hugged him.

Brandy: Maks! I missed you!
Maks: I missed you too! And you have braids now.
They embraced for what seemed like forever before Brandy broke the silence.
Brandy: Ok. We better get you all saddled up so we can get out of here.
Maks: Fine by me.
They walked out to Brandy’s truck and he dumped his things in her car. He hugged her again relishing in how good it felt to once again hold her. He breathed her in, she smelled like lilac. She had to be one of the best smelling women he had ever known. He wanted the moment to last forever, but he also didn’t want to draw unwanted attention. He stepped back and opened Brandy’s car door and allowed her to climb in and then ran around to the passenger side to hop in himself.

Brandy: Ok. So where am I taking you?
Maks: The Chalfont.
Brandy: OOOH…Fancy.
Maks: Well, I can’t stay in our LA spot because we leased it. (looking over at her) You look good you know.
Brandy: Boy! You better stop! You gonna have a girl thinking she’s special! She laughed, exaggerating her facial expressions to indicate her facetiousness (but mostly her discomfort).

Maks: I’m not joking. I can see that somebody has been keeping her word on working out. Not that you were ever bad looking or anything and the braids make you look even younger, if that’s possible.
Brandy: I want you to say that again, so I can record it and play it back on my bad days !
Maks: Ok… somebody as been…
Little Wayne’s Going In Blasted through the car. Maks pulled his phone out of his pocket and looked at the screen.

Maks: Sorry , that’s my phone. I have to take this.
Brandy: Sure, sweetheart. Go ahead.

As Maks talked on the phone she thought back to her feelings. Discomfort. That was putting it lightly. The issues with her sleeping had nothing to do with Robert but more to do with her feelings for Maks. He was so sexy he made her lightheaded. Not for the obvious he’s so fine way, but on a deeper level. But a guy like Maks would never like a girl like her and he only wanted to be friends. So she kept her feelings in check and played up the friendship factor. Even if she could only be his friend she enjoyed having him in her life, but since she could only have part of him that joy was bittersweet. His early comments and excessive touchiness earlier were kind of confusing her. She shook it off as him teasing her.

Maks: Well. That’s not good.
Brandy: What?
Maks: The Chalfont accidently gave me an adjoining room. There are no other rooms. Some big wedding tonight. I can either take that one and they can change me out into a single for Saturday night. Or I can take my money and go somewhere else.

Brandy: Well…finding another hotel in LA on a Friday afternoon…
Maks: Yeah. I know. I guess I could call Merv. Sleep on his couch.
Brandy: Well…you could stay with me. I’ve got a big house to myself. Its Robert’s weekend.

Maks stared at Brandy. Didn’t she know that this arrangement could lead to problems? Why does she think he booked a hotel room? Right, because with the two of them alone he would have a hard time being “brotherly.” Not that he didn’t respect her because he did, but he’d been dying to kiss her. Being alone with her all weekend in close intimate quarters, but not being able to touch her like a man touches his woman would be torture.
Brandy on the other hand took Maks’ silence as a rejection. “Too much Brandy. Too much.” She silently scolded herself.

Brandy: Or you could stay with Ray?
Maks: Oh . I could do that. Yeah…
Brandy: I’ll call Ray now.
Maks: No. Brandy. I … meant I could stay at your house. .. I don’t want to be an imposition.
Brandy: It’s fine.
Maks: I will be on my best behavior.
Brandy: You’d better because if not I’m gonna put you out on the freeway…OKAY? She laughed and snapped her fingers.
Maks: OK.
Brandy: Good thing I cleaned up the other day.
Maks: You? Clean? Jeez you’re right. It must be my lucky day.
Brandy: Its also your lucky day because you are gonna pay for luch!
Maks: Wow! You sound like Erin, now! You wanna call me your Russian?
Brandy: Brandy flipped her hair and gave him her best Erin face. “ That’s never gonna happen …that is unless you’re gonna beg.”
Maks: You do a very good impression of her.
Brandy: I try. You know I gotta give you a taste of your own medicine like I do with Ray J.
Maks: Well we do have the same birthday. What is it that he always says? Keep it 100?
Brandy: My my my…aren’t we cool.
Maks: Well. I try.
Brandy: Well try to think of somewhere to eat. I’m hungry.
Maks: You haven’t changed a bit.
Brandy: Should I ?
Maks: Never.

He looked at Brandy square on when he said it. Brandy wished Maks wouldn’t look at her like that. When he got those intense looks it scared and excited her at the same time. She didn’t know what he was thinking when he did that and while part of her always wanted to ask him, her wiser self decided not to.

Brandy: Thanks maks. She squeezed his leg. You shouldn’t change either.
Maks sucked in his breath. Brandy’s touch was meant to be endearing, but the sensation actually electrified him. He instantly stiffened and tried to think of anything else at that moment put the proximity of her hands.
Brandy was not picking up on Maks’ cue and began rubbing his leg vigorously trying to put him at ease, but it did just the opposite.

Brandy: So where do you want to eat? She lowered her voice and put on her Erin stare. “My Russian.”
Maks shifted uncomfortably in his seat and silently exhaled. Brandy was a sweetheart but sometimes she really needed to be careful with the hands. It got down right hard to concentrate on pure thoughts. And if she kept rubbing his leg like that he was going to say to hell with being a gentleman and tell her to pull over so he could act on his illict thoughts. Instead, he thought it better to respond to her question.

Maks: I don’t know. How about Cilantro?
Brandy: Cilantro?
Maks: Yeah, it’s a new venture by one of my friends Sergei Khrupinov.
Brandy: He’s Russian and has a restaurant called Cilantro?
Maks: Yeah. It’s a bistro style mexican restaurant. Funny, I know because he doesn’t speak one lick of Spanish. If you want Russian though , we could go to the Tea Room.

Brandy’s eyes lit up. Maks stared back at her in awe of what had made her so animated.
Brandy: Maks. I have a confession. I’ve always wanted to go there! We have to go! What’s the address? I can type it into my GPS?
Maks gave her the address while trying not to smile. He was truly surprised by Brandy’s interest in the Tea Room. He’d just kind of jokingly thrown the Russian option out there, but Brandy had jumped on the opportunity. The fact that she was interested in his culture confirmed his feelings that she wasn’t some random chick, but that she was indeed special.
They traveled in a comfortable silence all the way to the restaurant, only breaking the silence when Brandy whipped into the parking lot at a relatively quick speed. They entered the restaurant and were chauffeured to the back corner of the restaurant.
Brandy: Wow this restaurant is so pretty! She marveled.
Maks: Yeah. The atmosphere is really good. Very authentic. If you like it so much, you’ll have to go to Russia and see it up close one day. Well…Ukraine. Russia. Same thing.
Brandy: Maks I want you to pick a dish for me. I don’t know what to get. There are so many options. And you know what I like.
Maks: Ok...but if you don’t like what I pick I don’t want to hear one word!
Brandy: Ugh…she said blowing out air in fake disgust. I guess!!!

Maks smiled. For the second time today Brandy impressed him. The best part about it was she didn’t know that she had. She was just being herself.
Maks: I think I’m going to start you off with the veal dumplings and then if you’re in the mood for more, we will take it from there.
Brandy: Veal?
Maks: You said you were going to let me choose.
Brandy: Ok. Ok… So tell me what’s going on with you.
Maks: Whew. Well a lot. I’m leaving in a few days to…for Ukraine. He changed his response thinking it best to avoid “The Loner” talk.
Brandy: Yeah…so tell me about the show.
Maks: Mmmmm…not going to. Its kind of complicated.
Brandy: Try me. Remember, Ray had his own dating show.
Maks: True. Ok. I guess. Here goes. I was approached by ABC and generally asked how I would feel doing a season of Bachelor. I didn’t want to do it because you know its pretty much staged and honestly I do enough for ABC on dancing. But then I got approached about doing the Ukraine version and I was going to say no, but my mom thought it’d be a good idea.
Brandy: Why?
Maks: Well, I’m the oldest and she expected I would have been married by now. I haven’t because I haven’t found the right girl yet and my schedule is very busy. I also explained that these shows are fake but she thought it might be different because in Ukraine they don’t really know much about the show or me. And she thought it would be an added bonus if the woman I’m with is Ukrainian.
Brandy: So what’s the problem?
Maks: Well , I know I won’t find love on a show and I never wanted to make my life public. I also want to please my mom and I feel doing the show will make her happy. So I’m doing it, but I don’t want to.
Maks wanted to add that he didn’t want to be on the stupid show because he was kind of interested in Brandy, but he didn’t.

Brandy: Sounds like a text book case of being stuck between a rock and a hard place.
Maks: What?
Brandy: You know, when no matter what you do, you're screwed.
Maks: Yeah, tell me about it…and then I’ve got to start worrying about the people around me and their motives.
Brandy: Yeah?
Maks: Yeah.

He didn’t want to tell Brandy about his fractured relationship with Dennis. How he was pissing him off trying to talk to Brandy all the time. How he was worried he was trying to use her for gain. And use him too.

Brandy: Maks this business is brutal. Its hard to know who to trust in this industry, but you get to a point where you’ll realize what you need to do to make yourself happy. Once you realize that the people who love you will love you no matter what you decide, then you won’t hesitate to act on it. And as far as the bachelor thing, what harm can really come from it? You’ll make your mom happy and you may even meet a girl in the process. And if nothing else, you’ll get a break. You can visit family in Odessa and make some money. It might even be a jumping point for your individual career-it definitely helped Ray-J. The possibility of new projects and offers are endless.

Maks: But I don’t want to meet anyone…
Brandy shrugged her shoulders.
Brandy: Then don’t. Make this situation work for you.
She reached across the table and touched his hand.
Brandy: What’s really wrong? 25 girls throwing themselves at you on all expense paid trips shouldn’t be a hard deal to pass up. Maks when was the last time you did something just for yourself? Or had a vacation?
Maks: Can’t remember.
Brandy: Exactly. This could be good for you. And it will put distance between you and your issue with Dennis.
Maks’ face registered shock.
Maks: How did you know…
Brandy: I know a lot more than I let on. Call it intuition.
Maks: Ok. Fair enough. But I don’t want to run from the issue with Dennis. I don’t run away.
Brandy: Not asking you to. He has been a good friend to you up until now. It will give you time to clarify things.
Maks: Ok. Ok. But distance won’t just be with Dennis, but it will be with everyone. You included. How do you feel about that?

Brandy: Me? Wow. Well of course I’d miss you, but we could still talk every day. Pretty much like we do now.
Maks: Yeah, but if I wanted to I couldn’t just hop on a plane and see you.
Brandy: Maks. You will be fine without me. We’re just friends.
Maks leaned into the table and looked Brandy in the eyes.
Maks: Are we?
Brandy: What do you mean? You don’t think we are?
Maks: I think you know what I think about that because deep down its what you think too.
Brandy: Huh?
Maks: We have avoided talk about this loner thing. About our friendship. About why we both watch YouTube of our dances when we can’t sleep at night. At what point are we going to be honest?
Brandy: Honest about what? Maks, I…
Maks: Brandy. I am honestly going to miss you while I am away. It’s going to torture me to be away from you for so long. It’s not going to bother you?

Brandy: Of course it will, but you’re going no matter what I think.
Maks: Not if you tell me not to.
Brandy: Maks don’t be silly. You’ve signed a contract.
Maks: Don’t worry. I’m the bad boy of ballroom.
Maks gave her a wink.
Brandy: Maks. As much as I don’t want you to leave, you have to fulfill your contractual obligation and the promise you made to your mom. My head is swimming with the prospect of me being an integral part of the equation, but I think that you being away will crystallize what we are. Absence supposedly makes the heart grow fonder.
Maks: And this is what you want?
Brandy: No. I want you here, but we can’t always have what we want. Might as well be mature about it.

Maks: I’m telling you that if you say the word, I will be here.
Brandy: No.
Maks: You are being stubborn and you’re being afraid. I don’t get why you just want to push me off to a whole other continent unless you don’t want me. Is that the case?
Maks was trying to keep his voice down but he was getting upset. Brandy winced a bit at the sharpness in Maks’ tone and her eyes started to water.
Brandy: Maksim. I’m trying to do what I think is best for us. Of course I want you. Yes, I want you here. I want you in LA when you’re in NY. I want to be in NY with you when I am in LA. But we have separate lives on separate coasts. So, Ukraine is an extension of our situation here. And yes I’m afraid. There are a lot of hurdles to a romantic relationship between us. You know that. I’m not going to pretend they don’t exist just because I want to be with you.
Brandy was struggling to keep her voice from cracking. She loved Maks and wanted him to stay , but everything was moving too fast.

Maks instantly softened when he saw Brandy tear up. He hated seeing her upset. He hadn’t meant to respond so harshly, but he was frustrated. Now that he put the cards on the table and it was revealed that both of them wanted a relationship, he wanted to make that happen immediately. But he also knew Brandy was right. They had a lot to overcome and if they rushed into it, it might not work out.
Maks: Ok. Ok. I’ll back off. I’ll go to Ukraine. We will keep in touch and when I return we’ll go from there.
Brandy: Just promise me you will tell me everything. Don’t hold back because you think I won’t be able to handle it or like what I hear.
Maks: Brandy. I could never keep something from you like that. I promise. I’ll do you one better. I also promise to call you everyday.
Brandy: Everyday.
Maks: Everyday.
Brandy: Ok. I’ll hold you to it.
Maks: And you. Don’t think you can go around picking up guys while I’m gone either.
Brandy: Ha! You’re going to be “dating” 25 women on TV and you want to put restrictions on me? Fat chance, Maksim C.
Maks couldn’t help laughing.
Maks: Fine. Fine. No restrictions, but if something happens…
Brandy: You will be the first to know.
Maks: Good. Now that that’s settled, where the hell is that waiter?