A New Chapter// Ivana Romanova

Remington had decided to go to the park, he needed time to think. Things were going well then it turned around very quickly. He had been engaged to Winter Mills, but that ended. It wasn't anything messy or upsetting. She just explained to him she didn't want to be tied down at the moment.

He understand and told her it was all right. That happened a day ago. He hadn't been home or at work. He just needed to think. Right now he was starting a new chapter in his life. He wasn't sure how he was going to deal with being around Winter without being able to call her sweetheart, dear and a number of other pet names. Things were going to have to be different between them. He wasn't going to be able to call her my kitten anymore, because she wasn't his anymore. He was going to have to figure it out now. Remington  walked around  for a bit. Then he saw a young woman who sat on a bench, he decided to throw caution to the wind. He walked up to her.

"Hello is anyone sitting here?" Remington asked.

Ivana was going through a difficult time in her life, with all the suddenly-coming-to-London thing and having to adjust all by herself to this new lifestyle. It was hard for her to understand what was going on and it had taken her a long time to realize what she had to do. She had managed to rent an appartment and buy some expensive clothes, but she knew that the money she had were not going to last forever, which meant that she had to find one of those job things. But she had no idea who would hire her, because she had gone from hero to zero, from being a princess in Russia to being no one in London.

Slowly dragging from her cigarette, she raised her eyes to glance at the young man who had approached and had talked to her. "Do you see anyone here? No," she replied, just as cold as before. She simply couldn't get rid of this bad habit of hers of looking down on people, and that often made her look like a bad person, even though she was not one.

outfit.

Remington listened to her voice it was cold. He wasn't sure exactly what to think. Maybe she was just having a bad day or an off day. He would let it slide.
"Is it okay if I sit here then?" Remington asked. He was going to be polite. Right now he just needed to be away from everything for a little while. He didn't know what the young woman was going to say. He wondered what her story was.

Ivana was not a smoker usually, but she had noticed that this was a pretty usual habit in those days' London, so she had tried it a few times. She didn't particularly like it, but she could sense the way it seemed to relieve pressure, and there were times when she needed that badly. Sighing softly, she raised her bluish eyes once again, just to notice that the man also seemed to have many things on his mind, so a fussy attitude of hers was not going to help.

"Please," she nodded, motioning to the empty spot near her. She glanced at her half-smoked cigarette once again and wrinkled her nose, letting it slip through her cold fingers and get to the ground.

Remington sat down beside her after he watched her dropped the cigarette which fell to the ground. He did mind that at all.

"You seem like you having a bad day, do you want to talk about it?" Remington asked her.

Ivana's blue eyes remained stuck to the ground, as a dry chuckle left her reddish lips. She hadn't got someone to talk to since she had got to London, and that made her feel very lonely. She had never been lonely, she had always had everyone around the castle talking to her, that at times, she even got bored of them. And now, she would have killed just to have some of her old servants to help her or scold her because she was not ready to receive the visit of God knew what lord or prince.

"I would've never thought I would say that, but I do want to talk to a stranger about it, no matter how insane he will think I am afterwards," she replied, then slightly turned to look at him again. "You don't seem to feel too well yourself."

"If we talk we could be friends. I would like that. That is if you want a new friend." Remington said. Then she made mention of he did look to well himself. He knew she was right. She was very observant.

He did think she was pretty.Friends would be a good thing right now. It would detract him from his current predicament.
"I would like to hear what is going on with you first, then we can discuss what's going on with me." Remington said to her.

Ivana's eyes remained almost stuck on the man's face, as she carefully listened to his words. Just as she had expected, he was not in a good shape either, so that may have turned out alright. Strangers in the night, she liked that. Maybe they could even be friends, as he had suggested; who knew?

"Okay, okay," she replied, straightening her back and tucking a blonde lock of hair behind her ear. She then crossed her arms over her chest, gently crossing her legs as well. "Do you promise not to think I am completely crazy after I tell you this?" she asked.

Remington looked over at her. He could see she was serious about not thinking her crazy. He really didn't mind if she was a bit eccentric. He watcher her crossed her arms over her chest and did the same with her legs.
" I promise I will keep an open mind about anything you tell me." Remington said to her. He didn't know what she was going to say. He was prepared for it to be out of this world.

Ivana fixed him with her piercing blue eyes, nodding slightly when she heard his reply. After all, he had come up with this idea, to open their hearts in front of each other, so he had no right to comment on anything she was going to say. This was what troubled her and she hadn't talked to anyone about this matter before, so he should have understood.

"Good," she replied, turning her eyes towards the empty alleys of the park. "I am Russian, you have probably figured it out already, because of the accent. I've got here not long ago and in a really unexpected way. I don't know exactly what happened either, if you ask me."

Remington listened. He did from her accent figure out she was Russian. As for her not knowing how she got there puzzled him. He in his mind went over the day there was rift activity.
"Exactly when did you get here, if you don't mind me asking?" Remington asked her. If her date coincide with one of the other dates then he would investigate it.

Ivana started gently chewing on her lower lip when she heard his question, trying to remember how long had passed. She had been so confused these days that she was not even sure how much time she had spent in London and if she was ever going to leave this place.

"I don't know... About a month ago," she replied, her eyes still stuck on the empty alley in front of the bench they were sitting on. "But that's not the most important thingy here."

He watched as she chewed on her lips. Then she gave him the answered he needed. He would go back to work or home and see if he could star the search to find out how she came to be here. Then he was pulled back she n she said that wasn't want was important. He looked over at her.
"Exactly what is the important thing here?" He asked he had a feel she might need help to get herself caught up with the time here.

Taking a deep breath, Ivana straightened her back once again. This time, she turned her blue eyes towards the man, suddenly having a feeling that he may understand and he may not look at her as if she was the most insane person on Earth. She quickly licked her dry lips then, started talking.

"Okay... You can't make a face, comment or react in any way. I was born at the beginning of the 18th century," she said, strongly hoping that his face was not going to show disbelief, amusement or God know whatever else.

That wash' surprising to him, if she had came through the rift…for all he knew she could have been from another planet.
"The 18th Century, hmmm..this must be a shock for you. How are you handling things. Do you have some where to stay or work? " Remington stopped at those question, he did not want to overwhelm her with firing off questions like a machine gun.

Ivana felt nothing else than relief when the man didn't look shocked and didn't look at her as if she was prone to being thrown in an asylum. She had no idea if it was only her imagination, but he actually seemed to believe her, something she had never thought would happen in this weird modern-day London. She had never thought that she would be talking to a stranger about this either, but there she was.

"Yes, I do have a place to stay. Back in Russia, I was... Let's just say that I was rich," she explained, not wanting to give everything out from the beginning, how she was the Tsar's daughter and the world lay down to her feet. "That night, I had fled from home and thankfully, I had enough money on me to adjust to this whole new lifestyle. So yes, I have rented an appartment and I bought clothes and food and everything I need. But I don't have where to work. I mean, I don't know how to do anything... Who would hire me?" she said, shrugging gently, her blue eyes getting once again stuck to the pavement.

Remington listened to what she had to say. So she was from Russia. For now she did not have a job. Remington thought it would be nice to help someone else.
"Do you know how to clean a house? Like washing dishes, straighten a room, clean a bathroom. If you do I am looking for someone to help me keep my house clean." Remington said. He did not mind helping her out, who know what may come of him helping her out with a job.

Ivana had enough money to live for another while, but she knew that those would be over at some point, and her father was not there anymore to support her financially and buy the best clothes for her, the best foods, carriages or animals. She had to live on her own, because it did not look as if she was going to return home soon. Maybe she would never return home, after all. It was needles to say how scared she was, because she had no idea how to survive without hundreds of people around her. Running from the castle had been one of the worst ideas that had come to her mind, and she had had many bad ideas before.

Hearing the man's words, she turned her big blue eyes to look at him. That was rather nice, helping a stranger in need. She had no idea why he would do it, but she was not going to miss such an opportunity. At first, she thought of lying by telling him that she did know how to do all those and that she would be more than happy to help. But she quickly realized that that was not one of her best ideas, so she sighed softly.

"I have never done it," she admitted, gently tucking a lock of blond hair behind her ear. "Servants used to do it for me. But I want to learn, I do! I have seen them doing it a couple of times. I know it is not enough, but... I can try. I still have money to live with for a while, but it will be over at some point," she mumbled, slightly raising her shoulders.

Remington just watched what her reaction was to the news. She didn't look at him like he was crazy or something like that. So he was glad for that. He could see she was thinking over the proposal. When he her explanation, it made him think she was royalty, before he could say anything she told him she really wanted to learn. Remington was happy with that.
"Okay,I will help you out. I have a few days to show you the ropes. If you catch on quick them we could decide if you want this job long term or if you want to move on to other job opportunity." Remington said, as he gave her a smile.

Ivana didn't even know if it was a good idea to tell this stranger her story; but thinking over it, it was probably better this way. He had to know what he was getting himself into, it would have been unfair to him not to. She was happy that he wanted to help her, and however low class this job seemed to her, she was aware of the fact that she could not live for long if she kept doing nothing for herself.
- Okay. Thank you so much! I... But I think you should know who I am. I mean, I don't know who you are, you have no idea who I am. So it may only be fair if we change that, she explained, looking right into his eyes.

"You're welcome." Remington told her. He knew the break up with Winter was still fresh and he probably wasn't going to get into it with her, but he would make sure it was a topic they wouldn't discuss. Remington shifted his weight to his right foot. He looked at her. He was sure she would have asked to see where she was going to be working, but it wasn't like that. He was glad she wanted to talk first. "I would really like it if that happened."

Getting a job was something that Ivana had never thought she would have to do. She had been raised as if she had been the most important person on this Earth, despite the fact that she had so many brothers and sisters. Maybe her father’s attention had mostly been on her because she was the youngest – she did not know. Unfortunately, it was true what they said, that you only realize how much you love and need something when it’s gone. She had had her freedom back in Russia, unlike many of her siblings, but she kept craving for more. This foolish attempt had made her simply vanish from her beloved kingdom and arrive here, where she had no idea what she was supposed to do, how she was supposed to act towards the people she met. She kept slapping her mentally for everything she had done and she kept praying that maybe one day she would manage to return where she belonged.
But until then, she had to make efforts to survive in this urban jungle, and this stranger was the only one who seemed eager to make this happen.
"I... know there is a chance you won't want to talk to me again after you find out, and I understand it, really. It's just that you deserve to know, I cannot lie to you," she said, then took a deep breath. "My name is Ivana Romanova. Pyotr Romanov, the Tsar of Russia, is my father. Or used to be... I don't even know anymore."

Remington watched her, he knew everyone had a past not all past were nice and neat. He wasn't going to not talk to her or want to see her again just because of her past. He did listen to what she had to say.
"I have to say I do like the name. Nothing bad about your name….don't see why that would warrant me not talking to you again." Remington said