Edward
I walked into my office building feeling a bit excited today. Probably because I was going to see Vasili. I was also slightly nervous as well. Last night I could not stop smiling as Pablo and I hung out for the rest of the night. It was obvious that he was slightly suspicious, but he never intruded much. There was no way I could tell people about us when we were still in the fragile grey area. Plus I had suggested we take things slowly. By going around running my mouth I would have taken leaps forward instead of building whatever foundation we had up.
When I got to the top floor I found Allison talking to Vasili. They were laughing softly as she showed him something on her phone. Seeing Vasili smile like that always made my breathe hitch. His bright blue eyes just seemed to shine with joy and his soft lips always so beautiful. When he smiled he was honestly stunning. There was nothing fake or forced about it. That was what made it all so special because he was not one who easily showed his emotions to strangers.
They both noticed me walk in and instantly Allison greeted then left to make me my morning coffee.
"Morning Ed," he smiled softly approaching me.
"Morning Vas," I returned the smile, "join me in my office real quick." He did not question me, but simply followed suit and closed the door behind him as if he could read my mind. Just as I dropped my briefcase onto the table he quickly came to me. I gently held his face and pressed his lips to mine as he wrapped his arms around my waist.
"I couldn't stop thinking about it last night," he chuckled as he kissed me again.
"Me too," I knew it had only been a few hours, but I could not stop thinking about him. About us. Tomorrow we would be leaving for my yacht for the week and I was excited. I knew we could not show much affection in front of my brother in laws and friends, but I was ecstatic. Before we could carry on we heard a knock on the door and we separated quickly. I sat down on my chair whilst Vasili sat down on the chairs opposite me. Allison quickly dropped off the coffee and handed me the schedule for the day, luckily it was not going to be a hectic day since I had pushed all my meetings in one day yesterday.
"I should probably get back to work. Yavok gave me a long list of things I need to sort out with the architects downstairs," he rolled his eyes playfully.
"Well get going," I chuckled. He stood up turned around to walk away, but quickly faced me again. I arched my eyebrow in wonder, but when he leaned over to quickly press his lips against mine I was smitten. With that he left my office leaving me to read through a few contracts and to have a few virtual meetings with clients.
The way I was so swarmed with work I had barely noticed it was lunch time already. Figuring Vasili was hungry I walked over to his office. When I walked in I found him typing away on his laptop. "Oh do you need me to do something?" He peaked up instantly focusing on me.
"No. I was wondering if you wanted to go out for lunch if you're not busy," I shoved my hands into my pockets hoping he would say yes.
"Yes I'm starving. Just give me a few minutes to finish up here then we can go," he grinned. I simply nodded and walked out.
When I passed Allisons desk she looked up to me with a smirk on her face, "I'm glad to see the besties are besties again."
"Oh shut up," I rolled my eyes and chuckled.
"Shit was so fucking depressing with you two. The tension was unbearable," she sighed dramatically and threw her hands in the air.
"Well you don't have to worry about that anymore," I shook my head at her foolishness.
"Good because next time I'm pulling a Parents trap on you two."
"You're mad," I chuckled and went back to my office. I responded to a few emails whilst I waited for Vasili. Soon he walked in and we were off to a seafood restaurant since I felt like having sushi today. I had reserved a table for us in advance in a more private area of the restaurant.
"So who can I expect on this trip?" He asked looking through the menu.
"Well Marco, Amandas husband. His second brother Arsenio and his third brother Leonardo. Sasha, Amandas best friend and Pablo who you had the pleasure of meeting yesterday."
"Is Marco really as hectic as they say? He has the reputation of being quite intimidating."
"He can be, but he is a really nice guy. I've known him since I was nineteen and he normally isn't hard on people I'm close to so you have no one to worry about. Plus if you can handle me you can definitely handle him," I chuckled. Marco had a very strict reputation about him when it came to the business sector, but he was honestly such a kind man. He took the greatest care of Amanda and I could not trust anyone better to marry her. We had been good friends since high school and even went to the same university together. We knew each other very well.
"Well that's good. You know I don't react well to bossy people," he smiled. Vasili barely reacted well to humans in general.
"I'm sure you will have fun. We have been planning this trip for months now. It's the only time of the year we can all get away us men. Plus the wives love it. They normally go away on some ridiculous trip to France or Dubai. So it's a win win situation," I shrugged. The waiter came soon after to take our orders and our drinks arrived shortly after. Vasili and I continued chatting about general things since we were just getting use to one another once again.
Yet I could not help, but feel like something was slightly off. At times he would seem super shy and closed off then force himself to be normal again. It was not that he told himself to do that, but there was some underlying issues I surely did not know about him. He seemed comfortable with me, yet slightly scared. Often his eyes would search around the room as if he was expecting someone to burst through the doors and take him. One would have not noticed if they did not pay attention, but I was very good at noticing the little things.
I wanted to ask, but one never knew if it would trigger him or not. So I chose to play it safe for now. To be honest it also felt different to be here with him. We both knew we had feelings for each other, but we were no where near to making it official. Plus now I had to deal with my own sexuality in the mix and it drove me mad. All my life I had known I was only attracted to women and here I was staring at the man in front of me like he was the most beautiful person I had laid my eyes on.
I thought I had strong feelings for Selena, but this topped it by far and we were not even together yet. I wondered did Vasili feel the same way about me and Mary. He had barely mentioned her since yesterday and I could tell it had upset him. He was not fond of people who lied to him and she had been using him for years without him noticing. The cease and desist order I had put against her was approved and she was not even allowed to utter my name in public or I would sue her for more than she was worth.
It upset me how two faced she was. During dinners she would be such an angel, but behind closed doors a manipulator. The fact she had hurt Vasili pissed me off even more and I had insisted he press chargers against her, but he simply let it go. Even now his left cheek was still slightly bruised, but at least it was not swollen anymore. Allison at first thought I was to blame, but Vasili quickly told her what happened. She was utterly mortified that someone with such a sweetheart face was capable of hurting someone she allegedly cared about.
After lunch we went back to the office and I continued with work. Vasili went home before me since he wanted to start packing. Which left me alone upstairs, since it was six p.m and most of my employees had left. Normally this never bothered me, but today the air felt different. Slightly tense even. Deciding I had had enough for the day I packed my briefcase and went into my elevator. As I walked through my private parking I heard a loud crash behind me yet when I turned around I saw nothing. Maybe I was just tired.
Hurriedly I climbed into my car and as I pulled out of the parking I noticed a figure standing by my elevator. I had no idea who the person was, but it was visible it was a man. He barely moved as he stood there just staring at me. Due to the distance I could not make out his face, but I was smart enough to know to not get out of my car to talk to him. I had had my fair share of crazy fans, but he did not seem like a fan. There was an aura of danger around him and I immediately called John. He sent security quickly and they soon emerged from the building.
The man simply faced them and immediately broke out into a run. He ran past my car and disappeared downstairs as the security chased him down. Even though it was utterly intriguing I had no time to waste by tracking him down. It was not the time to start a crazy goose chase. Not yet anyway. Not when things were finally starting to look up for me.
Only if I knew what was in store I would have tracked him down. I would have stopped him before things got worse...