Secretary | muke [c]

Nine

He showered and got into bed, not bothering with dinner as he tried to bring himself to sleep. But the more he tried, the more his mind reeled with thoughts of divorce, work, and Luke. Luke. That was what he needed, and although Michael was fighting the feeling in the pit of his stomach, he couldn't help but feel the slight butterflies at the thought of the blond. He made Michael feel good; not in a romantic way, but in a pure, genuine way. In a way that his thoughts were all silenced when Luke smiled and the only thing Michael could bring himself to think was: it's okay, I'm okay.

It was quarter past one in the morning when Michael finally gave up on trying to sleep. Usually, he wouldn't reach over for the phone on the nightstand and search through his contacts for the one number he wanted to find, but he really needed to listen to Luke's voice, at least to bring him the slightest bit of tranquility. He squinted his eyes as the screen showed his contacts, pressing Luke's name without hesitance before rolling back onto his back and staring at the darkness as he waited for Luke to pick up.

"Hello?" Luke mumbled into the phone, not even bothering to check the caller ID.

"Luke?" His soft voice instantly woke the blond up, his eyes shooting open as he shuffled into a comfortable position in bed. He had only answered the phone to tell whoever it was to piss off before hanging up, but knowing it was Michael made him want to stay awake.

"Mr Clifford?"

"Did I wake you up? I'm sorry... I guess I wasn't thinking when I called." Michael sighed as he rubbed his face, feeling stupid.

"No, don't worry, it's fine." Luke breathed. "Is everything okay?"

"Not really." Michael wasn't one to really ramble about his problems to other people, and at that moment, he didn't know if it was the fact that it was late at night or if it was the fact that it was Luke on the other line, but his one wish was to pour his heart out to Luke, to tell him everything that was on his mind and in his heart. "I really hate my wife."

There was a short silence, the sound of Luke moving around being heard from Michael's end of the line. He instantly regretting saying what he did, thinking Luke was most likely judging him. "I think everyone hates their spouses from time to time." Michael could almost picture Luke's small shrug. "There's a fine line between love and hate, after all."

"I guess it's more complicated than that." Michael clicked his tongue. "But I just... I don't know. It feels like I'm not me anymore when I'm around her. She tries to turn me into someone I'm not and now it's like she doesn't know who I really am."

"Do people really know others that well, though? Like, to know who you really are? I think everyone has things about them that no one really knows about."

"Tell me something about you, Luke. Something no one knows about." Michael could hear Luke's soft hum as he thought, the sound making the older man smile, imagining the tip of Luke's nose twitching as he tapped his index finger to his chin.

"I don't really like burgers." He said with a small chuckle.

Michael rolled his eyes playfully even though Luke couldn't see him. "Come on, Luke. Tell me something real. Something you'd like to share with people but are too shy to do so or something."

"Okay, you want to know something I've never told anyone about? Like, ever?" Luke's tone was almost mysterious, making Michael's entire body tingle at the thought of it.

"Of course I do."

"I like taking naughty pictures of myself in sexy lingerie."

"Fuck." Michael breathed, screwing his eyes shut as he tried to picture Luke only in lingerie. His body was beginning to burn up simply at the thought of it. "Would you send me one?"

"Maybe..." Luke teased. He knew he'd send all the pictures he had ever taken in a heartbeat if Michael asked for them. "So, was that the kind of secret you were looking for?"

"Yes." Michael replied after a pause. "That's a dirty little secret you've got there, Luke."

"If you really want those pictures, I'll be your dirty little secret, Mr Clifford."

~~~

ok. being a non-native english speaker, i have one issue i feel like i have to address bc this really really pisses me off when i read it in stories:

sometimes i'm reading a story and the author wants to say that the character does not care about something, using the expression "but he could care less" he could care less. that fucking means HE  CARES. "but he couldn't care less" people, please.

and "could of / should of" thIS MAKES ABSOLUTELY NO FUCKING SENSE OK. "could'VE / should'VE" as in "could have / should have" PEOPLE, PLEASE.

like i know i make plenty of grammar mistakes in my stories, but i feel like these two are so damn obvious that it makes me frustrated whenever i read them. PLEASE MAKE THIS WORLD A BETTER PLACE AND LEARN/REMEMBER THESE TWO THINGS.

okay, rant over, lol. i might not update for a few days bc i have a busy week next week so yeah. love you guys!!