The next morning, Nikolai awoke with the loud sounds from outside, his enhanced senses too strong to hear the housewife's chatter, and the distant monorail and train lines passing by his apartment made him realise just how much he wanted to move.
He rubbed his eyes slowly, yawning as he sat on the edge of the dirty sofa. 'Is that why Selene lives in such an apartment?'
The question echoed through his head, his thoughts lingering on the distant sounds of the city coming to life. It was only a few hours after he arrived home, yet his body felt amazing, better than sleeping eight hours in the past.
Nikolai smiled to himself, standing and stretching, the muscles in his back feeling great as he stretched, with a light crack from his bones.
He then checked his phone and saw the messages and notifications for today's deliveries: his new bed, one for his dad and various other items.
'Thankfully, she paid extra for them to carry it to my room, install it and then remove the old items.' He thought, smiling at the idea of the cute woman from Verface and wondering if he should get her help when buying things for his new apartment.
"Oh... dad, you didn't message after that single good job? Damn old man, tell me you are doing well from time to time!"
After spending the next few minutes checking his notifications and sending a quick message to his father, Nikolai spent the next hour cleaning and tidying his apartment.
He was not the kind to keep a messy home, but he couldn't allow a guest to enter without cleaning the place first. Not to mention, the old furniture and fridge were older than ten years and looked horrible even after he scrubbed them twice.
"Well, can't help that..." Nikolai then heard a woman's voice from outside the window and realised it was her.
"Where is it... um... Oh? That's it! Let's give him a call; though he spent so much, why does he live in such a rundown place? Maybe he's only just come into money and is yet to grow... I should try to become friends with him, at least."
The voice came from the beautiful blonde, Sarah Maddison. A twenty-five-year-old virgin who helped him the other day. She had come here to drop off the last few items Nikolai needed, though he knew this and didn't rush to the door.
"No, no... I can't do that. What if he isn't there? Let's call!"
A moment of silence as he watched her topless from the window, amused while drinking an iced coffee.
Brrr! Brrr!
Nikolai's phone began to ring while he watched her painting her lips with more gloss, adjusting her neat blouse to show her explosive cleavage and push it up further.
However, she wanted to become friends.
Sarah wouldn't mind something more, though Nikolai he would never date her—there was already too much bullshit in his life and no offence to her. She couldn't compare to Nikita's maid, let alone the little beauty of herself.
Though maybe he wouldn't be against a one-off thing, Nikolai believed that would be unlikely.
'A business relationship or friendship would be fine.'
"Hello?"
"Ah, Mr. Nikolai? It's Sarah from the other day. You asked me to help arrange your furniture and various insurance documents, and I have brought them to your apartment. By chance, are you free right now?"
While she was speaking, Nikolai pressed the buzzer and unlocked the door, though he didn't change his clothes and instead sat on a spare chair because the enormous truck arrived to pick up and deliver his new things. He could hear them mention his name from their cockpit.
"Ah, the door is unlocked. I will be waiting here."
He ended the call and waited, watching as she stepped inside the building, wearing a short white skirt and a large black shirt.
'Well, she really is going for a powerful impact... a tiny bit smaller and less volume than Selene, bigger than Nikita... not bad.'
A minute later, Nikolai could see her stepping out of the elevator and into the corridor, her long blonde hair pulled back in a ponytail with a fringe hanging down her face, though the smile she had made her appear innocent and sexy.
'Oh, her notes changed?'
[Notes: Desperate to rise with the help of her newest customer, interested in his wild charm but understands he doesn't seem interested in her that way. Decided to settle for a friendship or business partnership and earn his trust. After his rejection, she realised she should value herself more and swore never to act in such an unfitting manner.]
'Well, that was a fast turnover, not sure how I feel about this... though she's not a bad girl.'
Sarah walked towards his door and knocked twice, her small knuckles tapping lightly on the wooden surface.
Although the place was horrible, with dirty and rusted walls, the paint peeling off the ceiling, and a strong smell of moss, Sarah's heart skipped a beat when Nikolai opened the door, wearing nothing but a pair of tight black shorts.
'Oh no, what is this? How did he get so handsome, and how can a man make a pair of shorts look so sexy!? Is he stuffing... or is that real?'
'This is bad; her eyes are full of desire... Haha, bless, well, let's get dressed and go inside.'
"Come inside, sorry. I only just woke up and didn't dress properly."
'Ah~ don't dress, let me enjoy the moment of heaven and save it to my V drive for later tonight!'
"Ahem, it's fine; you are the owner and can wear what you like."
Although she was struggling to hide her burning desire, her eyes lingered on his bulge until the moment he turned away, and then she ogled his rear.
Sarah did a good job of keeping a straight face, even though the moment she entered, her nose seemed to sniff; the scent of Nikolai differed from two days ago; now it was like Nikita's pheromones and in such a high density made her feel dizzy with the delightful scent.
'I can hear her little heart racing; if I were in danger of Blood Frenzy... she would be an ober eat's delivery!'
Nikolai laughed in his head as he led her to the kitchen table because he cleaned it spotless. However, he didn't offer her a drink and instead stood by the counter, leaning back and watching her place the paperwork and a large bag of items on the table.
"If you want a drink, there's tea and iced coffee in the fridge; feel free to take what you want, Sarah."
'Ah, so he does remember my name? No, he wouldn't have answered the phone otherwise, though is he trying to get me to make him a drink?'
She hesitated for a moment, her cheeks blushing, and then shook her head, recovering from her gaze at his fleeting figure—she watched his room door and saw he didn't close it... swallowing her spit, she walked to the fridge to open the door. "Focus, Sarah... focus!"
"Oh? It's cold; did you buy these recently, or did you make them?"
"I made them myself, the beans are my dad's favourite, so I practised over the past decade on them. How? They're not bad, Right?"
"Wow, they taste great. It's sweet and fresh... and... refreshing, the taste can easily be those new coffee drinks from Xian Corp!"
"Haha, calm down. Flattery will get you nowhere."
"Oh, no, no, no. I'm not lying! These are really good!"
Nikolai smirked, "I know, I was joking with you."
'Ah, I did it again! This man, why is he so charming and strange? I have to be more strict!' Sarah scolded herself before the doorbell sounded; she froze in the middle of drinking because the front window could see her from the kitchen as the delivery men all waved at her.
'Do I answer his door?'
"Oh, the furniture is here."
Nikolai's calm voice made her nervous; she didn't understand why she was reacting this way, though it was the first time a man like him had ever appeared in her life. "Can you open the door and let them in for me? They are taking most of our old stuff; I replaced it all for my dad; since he refuses to move, I'll make this place nice before I leave."
'Wait, he's moving? When? Where? And he's not staying?'
Her thoughts were all over the place, her chest tightening, and her breathing quickened, though Nikolai pretended he didn't notice and instead continued messing around in his room while she finally sighed and walked to the door, closing the top buttons of her shirt.
'This small service is for Nikolai only.' She told herself, though Nikolai didn't know that.
"Thank you, Sarah." Nikolai sat against his window while looking at the beautiful city with a feeling different from before; he listened to the delivery men speaking to Sarah.
"Are you Mrs Volkov?"
"Huh? No, no, I'm just a friend helping him."
"Oh, well, we are here to dispose of these items and replace them with the ones purchased. Can you confirm and allow us to enter the premises."
Sarah looked at them for a moment before Nikolai heard a funny question, "May I see your identification first, just in case."
'This girl...' Nikolai could only laugh, and felt surprised by her intelligence and management of the situation with how dangerous it would be if these were someone else or con men. He would have to thank her for her caution.
"Sure, I'll show you."
While they were taking out their identification cards, Nikolai put on a t-shirt and then left his room and entered the hallway, smiling at Sarah as he stepped between her and the delivery men. "Let me see, I'll sign; otherwise, the poor girl might die of stress. Cheers, you're free to enter, thanks."
He signed and then smiled, handing the electronic pen back to the tall man with a muscular build. Nikolai's smile was dazzling, causing the man to feel slightly jealous, though the rest of the delivery men ignored him, favouring Sarah.
"Sarah, let's talk about something I wanted your help with in the kitchen," Nikolai added, his hand wrapping around her waist as they left the room.