Hello my lovelies!
I hope you all had a great holiday if you live in the US!
I took some time to spend time with my mum since it was just her and I for the holidays (second year without my daddio since his passing, and my sister is in my home country Kenya visiting family) so I hope y'all understand the little hiatus.
Of course, in true fashion, I got back and started revising all that I wrote lol, so this chapter is indeed necessary but also a bit of a filler.
No worries though, it's a good lead up to what's to come!
I hope you all are taking good care of yourselves
I love y'all to bits,
xoxo
P.S. check below for incredible art by one of my readers!! TouchLiit
John
Though I may have tried denying it in the past... there was literally no denying it now.
I was falling mad fucking hard for Derek.
And not like in a graceful dainty fall sort of way, I'm not even referencing the fall people do in horror movies after tripping over shit that simply didn't exist. I'm talking about a belly flop from ten thousand stories high onto straight concrete type of fall. That's how hard these feelings hit me when I woke up to this man in my arms the next morning.
I had found myself just watching him sleep in the early hours. His body was completely curled into mine, his legs entangled with my own as his head rested on my chest. My eyes glanced only briefly past his, to the now empty pint of southern butter pecan ice cream that Derek and myself just about annihilated in bed during the night, whilst I asked him more about his comic series and how it was coming along.
I chose not to tell him about reaching out to Marty just yet. I still hadn't heard back about whether Onyx would be interested in the pitch or not, and I didn't want to relay half baked information.
Derek looked so peaceful now. Those long lashes moving only slightly whenever his eye lids twitched. It reminded me of the first time I had found him sleeping, when he spent the night on my couch. God, that now felt like ages ago.
I wanted to think it's because Derek and I had spent so much time together, but really, work was starting to stretch these week days out and cram the weekends in. It felt like I was sucked into a black hole sometimes whenever I reviewed statements and got a glimpse of how Christian was running things before.
Though I'd given Christian shit in the past for almost always getting off scot free because of his affluent background, this was one of the moments where I had to admit I might've been wrong. At least with my reasoning.
Christian was just somehow, someway, lucky as all fucking hell.
And I genuinely meant this.
I hadn't seen the extent of things with my previous visits to Ivanov Corp, so this partnership sure has been eye opening.
I'd done my best not to think of work all weekend, and my phone was still sitting on Derek's dining room table, taunting me with the pain and misery it would surely bring.
Really, I was more or less avoiding thinking about returning to NYC.
Truth be told, I was missing my office and staff... hell, even the fucking food. Though I loved to cook, I appreciated the delicious hot and ready menu the big city offered. Plus cooking for yourself gets pretty old pretty quickly. The only thing I wasn't missing, was the one thing that wasn't in New York...
Derek.
And though he was but one man, he was the person that was singlehandedly making me fall in love with all the things I thought I grew tired of here. He was adding purpose to things I didn't think I had the capacity to care for, and by god whatever this man was doing to me was terrifying me.
Hell, he had me looking at office spaces around the area within the company's budget.
My eyes cast from Derek's lashes, to his sharp nose... down to his lips... The way he completely relaxed into me made me want to stay in this bed forever, but I knew deep deep deep down, that I couldn't do that.
I thought it would've been hard to separate Derek from my body, but this man didn't even flinch when I slowly peeled him off me. He snored very very softly, honestly it sounded more like a purr than anything, and that was the only indication I had that the man was even still alive.
It didn't take long to gather my things and get clothes on, especially considering all of the clothes were now on the floor. Between the oral sex, the cuddles, and Derek wanting to show me a wrestling move he used on a classmate in the third grade that got him suspended for a week (the sugar rush from the ice cream was at full peak here), not even the comforter stood a chance.
I slipped on clothes, then made my way to my phone in the dining area. I had switched it off right before Derek led me to his bedroom, so once that baby powered up, I was immediately assaulted by emails, texts, and phone calls. Mostly from Don, but that was no shocker there.
The last thing I did before I left, was leave a note for Derek. It simply said:
I miss you already.
Then I drew a little cheese slice next to it with a smiley face.
It was by far cheesier than the state of Wisconsin, but it accurately echoed my sentiment of both last night and this morning. If I didn't have a cat I needed to take care of before I left for New York, this note wouldn't even exist right now. I would still have Derek cuddled into my side, his shorter arms around my torso while his soft hands mindlessly caressed my skin.
He'd do that a lot actually, even when he seemed to be in the deepest of sleep, and I fucking loved it.
But alas, I had cat dad duties. And I guess a company to run.
Herold was quick to remind me of what he thought of my disappearing act as soon as I entered my humble abode. So much had happened yesterday, I had almost forgot I cooked. The pleasant aroma still lingered in the home, which made me smile. My mind immediately went back to Derek, and the look of sheer bliss when he took that first bite of salmon.
Fucking fuck John, please.
All roads could not lead back to him. Some had to lead back to my workload, before Don tore into me this week.
Surprisingly, he wasn't the first person I called when I got back. Instead, it was Brad.
"I don't want to be dramatic or anything, but if you're calling for work related shit, I'm hanging up right now." Was the first thing out of Brad's mouth when he picked up.
"Hold on!" I stopped him before I could hear the line go dead. "I'm actually calling to check in man. It's been a while since we last did one of these."
I heard a bit of shuffling on the other end before Brad cleared his throat. "God, it has hasn't it? Works fucking up my perception of time."
"That makes two of us." I chuckled, holding the phone to my ear with my shoulder as I squatted down to scoop food into this impatient cats food dish. "But for you it must be different. I still can't believe you're fucking off to Russia for a while."
There was a pause before Brad replied. "Yeah there's a lot that... well we probably shouldn't discuss everything over the phone, but there's a whole lot going on there."
I nodded, forgetting I was on a call before I said "right, no absolutely. I get it."
I'd known these brothers for almost a decade now, but the secrets the Ivanov family kept still managed to surprise me. I wanted to tell Brad that whatever was going on couldn't possibly be that bad, but considering Brad was literally going to fucking Russia for it, I don't think my words held any weight.
And with Slav stepping down as COO to have Brad take over, honestly I wasn't sure how much I wanted to know about this supposed mess of a situation.
"I just-" I continued into the line. "I want you to know that I'm here for you. Whatever you need."
Herold started nipping at my hand because I wasn't moving fast enough, so I had to nudge the damn furball away. All I heard was his battle cries of protest while I continued the conversation.
"You need me in Russia? I'll go. You need Joan? I'll send her on my private. You need connections? Well your family are the only Russians I know so I'm useless on that front, but I know a joke or two in Russian that might get you through a few more sophisticated doors."
Brad laughed at that, which made me smile. Making Brad laugh was always an achievement. "Hell, I'm still trying to figure out how I'm supposed to leave Joan."
I was really about to say I know how that feels, but I stopped myself short thank god.
First off, I was going to NYC for a week, not Russia for a month or two. Second, I still didn't even know what the hell had pulled Brad there in the first place. And I couldn't even pry about that one because something told me that conversation wasn't meant to be carried over the phone.
"I know she wants me to ask her to come, but I know she knows that I can't. I need to do this one on my own." Brad continued, hinting at just how personal this trip really was for him.
"Do you love her?" I asked Brad randomly, unsure of where that question had even come from.
This wasn't usually Brad and I's kinda conversations. He liked to keep things brief, yet supportive.
But without a single hesitation, Brad replied with "yes." There was a bit more rustling on his end before he continued. "I mean I'm not even sure I can put into words how much I love that woman, man."
I was about to tell him he already put it into actions...
By getting freaky with Joan in the company's back stairwell and subjecting the rest of us to an insanely platonic workplace environment...
But I held my tongue.
Brad deserved to let loose like that every once in a while. He went cold Turkey on his reckless vibes right after his first four years of college, and I still to this day don't think that was healthy. Quitting anything cold Turkey is bound to have some consequences.
"Like I know I called Christian absolutely batshit for marrying Alex so soon, but damn. Maybe when you know, you do just... know. You know?"
I chuckled at that. "You must really know, cause Joan's turning you into a whole philosopher."
It was Brad's turn to laugh. "I mean, a Great Value philosopher at best, but yeah I'll take it."
I could practically see the curt nod he must've gave over the phone.
"It's kinda funny actually. I first fell for her because of her maturity and capacity for chaos, but now it feels like I'm falling in love all over again. She's got this charm to her that you've got to work for. One that you've gotta earn. It's like I miss her and I haven't even left yet. She just gets my humor and personality so fully, I would've popped the question weeks ago if Joan actually believed in marriage."
That got a good chuckle outta me. I kept it casual over the phone, but best believe my smile was reaching my ears now. This had to be one of like four deeper conversations Brad and I have ever had about his love life.
"She's making this whole process easier, and I'm not sure how I can thank her."
"Well for starters," I replied, "you can make sure you come back." I said that first part jokingly, but there was some truth there. "Business always seems to dictate the lives of this Brady bunch." I added.
There was a slight pause before Brad replied. "Love forces a whole new approach on how one handles business... And I think that might be the beauty of it."
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Thank you so so so much TouchLiit