Vasili
Edward had been weird.
Tuesday morning he walked in with his usual confident stride till he lay his eyes on me. I had woken up super early so I could stop by his favorite coffee shop; that he had mentioned the weekend he took me out for the party. I got him a hazelnut infused iced coffee with condense milk, since he seemed to love anything that screamed toothache and two bacon, avocado and cheese bagel sandwiches. It was my way of apologizing for what happened yesterday and at first I thought he was still upset.
"Oh morning Vasili. I was not expecting to see you so soon," he said rather shyly before giving me a fist bump which was rather odd since he was more of a handshake kind of guy.
"Yeah I know. I thought I'd get you these as an apology for yesterday. I felt rather bad for overstepping so I hope this will make up for what I said," I smiled staring down at the floor as he inspected the items on his desk.
He smiled softly and sighed. He took off his black suit jacket and hung it on the back of his chair then sat down, "thank you. I didn't eat breakfast so this is perfect," he opened up the takeout box, "would you like to share one with me?"
My head snapped up in shock. I had only been around him for the past few days so I had no idea if it was a norm for him to offer to share food. "I got it for you I don't want to intrude plus I have some work on my desk."
"Come on plus I'm sure the boss won't mind," he smirked devilishly as he placed a bagel on a napkin and pushed it towards me. "Plus I don't think you thought of getting yourself something as well."
I bit my lower lip. He read me like an open book, "fine but next time I'll treat you to lunch."
"Agreed," he chuckled and began eating. We did not talk about anything serious, just a few work things and how he wanted to learn Russian. I offered to teach him, but he was adamant on getting a professional tutor since he strived for perfection. He took learning the language more seriously than I did and it is my first language.
After our short breakfast I went to my office to start on the pile of floor plans I had to go over. Yavok had given me very clear instructions on what he wanted and more. After yesterday I really did not want to fail my brother. I had to make the most of the opportunity and who knew maybe Edward would teach me a thing or two about running a multi-billion euro company.
During lunch I decided it would be the best time to hand over the drawings to Edward since he did not have much meetings this time according to what Allison told me. Gently I knocked on his door before hearing a curt 'come in'.
"I finished the plans. I was wondering if we could go through some," I said looking down to the papers instead of him. You could imagine my shock when I looked up and found a tall beautiful woman casually sitting on his desk whilst he was still seated on his chair. Her hair was a wonderful dark brown that seemed radiant despite its colour. Her skin tanned and her eyes chocolate. She was dressed in a tight black dress that showed off her features nicely without looking cheap.
"Vasili this is Bethany. Bethany, Vasili," he said introducing me to her. Her name immediately clicked in my head and I tried my best not to frown.
"Nice to meet you," I smiled softly as I shook her hand.
"Same to you I've heard lovely things about you from Edward," she smiled and looked towards him. I could not tell if she was being sarcastic or honest.
It made me uncomfortable knowing they had talked about me. Did she know what I thought about their arrangement? If she did, I hoped she did not think any less of me because now that I had seen her I understood why Edward was excited. She was stunning. "Well I hope," I chuckled nervously, "Edward I can come back later I can tell you are busy," I smiled hoping he would let me go.
"No, Bethany was just leaving. Please just give me a few minutes whilst I walk her out," he stood up and put on his suit jacket before helping her off the table. She said her greetings kindly before they left with his hand on her lower back. He said something to her which caused her to giggle and I felt a wave of a foreign emotion overwhelm me.
How long had she been there for and why was she sitting on the desk? There were plenty of chairs in his office. Even a couch for Pete's sake. Even though I could she had a lovely personality I really hoped to never run into her again. There was something about being around Edwards fuck buddies that made me highly uncomfortable.
I decided to lay down on the couch as I waited since he had not returned after ten minutes. Maybe he had chosen to go off with her for one last kick before she left. Just as the thought swam around in my head the office door opened revealing a tired looking Edward. "Are you okay?" I sat up as he took off his jacket once again.
"Yes sorry I took so long. I was... ending things with Bethany," he sighed as he sat down next to me, grabbed one of the papers and looked through it.
For an unexplained reason I felt a bubble of excitement bubble in me. "Really?" I said it too quickly and that caught his attention as his eyebrow raised, but his eyes did not connect with mine. He had been avoiding eye contact a lot for the day and it was bothering me. Normally he had no problem with staring me down and now whenever our eyes met his face would flush then he would quickly look away.
"Try to contain your happiness Vasili. It just wouldn't work out," he rolled his eyes as I smiled happily.
"Of course not sir," I noticed how he looked at me sideways and his jaw ticked slightly once I called him sir. Someone did not seem to be a fan of that word. "Any who... are the plans okay? I followed what you said I should go for yesterday and the architects downstairs did a good job. I just tweaked a few things here and there."
He did not respond immediately as he scanned a few more pages, but nodded. "Did you send them to Yavok?"
"Not yet I wanted to make sure you were happy with them."
"Well I think their good. Make copies then send them to him," he handed me the papers and I quickly went to the printer room. After scanning and making copies I emailed all the plans to Yavok who was quick to call me as soon as the email was sent. I talked him through what we had changed and he seemed happy with my work.
When I was done I went back to Edwards office and found him staring out the window of his office. He had taken off his tie and unbuttoned the first few buttons of his white shirt. His arms were folded and he seemed deep in thought. I allowed myself to take him in. Even if you were blind you could tell he was good looking. His hair was not styled today, his curls were just all over the place, but it looked good. Even from the distance we were apart his hazel blue eyes still shone.
"Why are you staring Vasili?" His smooth voice caused me to jump slightly since I had been caught.
"I was not staring! I was looking out the window," I tried to defend myself, but my flaming hot face gave me away.
He chuckled and shook his head, "whatever you say. I have to head out for a meeting for an hour. Would you like to accompany me?"
I felt my breathe hitch as his eyes connected with mine. What the hell was wrong with me? "Um yes."
"Alright go grab your things and meet me by the parking," he gently patted my thigh then stood up to pack his bag. I just sat there in wonder for a few seconds before snapping out of it.
"So are you going to work with him?" I asked Edward as we drove to my penthouse after the lunch meeting we had with a fellow businessman.
"No. He seems like a loose canon and that publicity will not be good for the company," Edward did look incredibly annoyed during the meeting probably because the man was so narrow minded it was shocking.
"That's true," I chuckled as he parked his Ferrari next to the Porsche I had gotten over the weekend. "Do you want to come up?"
His cheeks flushed for a fraction of a second before he hurriedly nodded. As I said before, strange. My penthouse unlike Edwards was not huge. Everything was on one level with three bedrooms with their own ensuite, living room, kitchen, dining room and study. It had a very industrial New York loft feel about it and I loved it. It was the first thing I had chosen for myself in a very long time. Your first few steps in one immediately smelt the lavender diffuser I had for the house since it was one of my greatest obsessions.
"It suits you," Edward smiled as he scanned the area. I suddenly felt a bit self conscious about it as he stood in the middle of my living room. The space felt so much smaller now that he was here with his authority and dignity. At that moment I really regretted buying a pink sculpture of a cat that he had not noticed yet. "Would you like something to drink?"
"Juice will be fine," he responded as he sat down on the couch. I quickly disappeared into the kitchen and got us both orange juice. "Thanks," he smiled and took a sip. My eyes focused onto his plump pink lips and I wondered how any man could be so perfect.
Without thinking much I rested my head on his broad shoulders and felt him tense slightly. He relaxed after a few seconds. "Sorry I'm just super tired. I'm not use to office work."
He did not say anything for a minute, but when he did his arm wrapped around me and pulled me closer. "I've been doing this for nearly ten years and I myself still can't get use to it," he chuckled.
"Don't you ever take breaks?"
"Only during festive season. Otherwise I'm always working no matter which country I'm in," he sighed. To others it may seem like being a billionaire was all fun and games, but the man must have been exhausted. He did not do much for himself and when he did it technically revolved around work.
"Well now I'm here I'll make sure you take a break once a week. We don't want you running yourself into the ground," I smiled softly looking up at him.
His eyes seemed darker as he looked down towards me, "Will you now? You'll have to be flipping special to draw me away from my work."
"I have my ways," I scrunched up my nose and teasingly poked out my tongue.
"And what will that be? Kissing my neck like you did the other day," I knew he was only teasing, but I felt my face become scorching hot. I had no idea what was going through my mind that day, but I really hoped he would forget about it all. It seemed I lost all sense when I was around Edward which was extremely irritating. I was a sensible strong willed man. No one ever managed to derail me. Not even Mary and I was confident she was the apple of my eye.
"Kill me," I groaned and hid my face from him by burying my face deeper into his chest. His scent was addictive, the strong lavender with a slight musk was always a warning he was near by before I even lay sight of him.
"Hey don't worry. It's what friends are for right, to abuse their necks whenever you see fit," he burst out laughing as I glared at him. I instantly pulled away from him leaving a good ruler length between us. "Come on Vas. I'm just fooling around," he smiled and pulled me back to him. I wanted to complain, but when he wrapped his warm arms around me I instantly melted. How could a person give off so much body heat?
"I don't know how I'm going to survive the next few weeks with you."
"I don't know either," Edwards voice was awfully soft as he looked down at me. His eyes seemed to become darker as his other hand crept up behind my head. His fingers played with my platinum hair and gently massaged my scalp. My eyes focused onto his lips which always seemed perfectly glossy. Subconsciously I licked my own as he tugged my hair gently. A gasp left my lips as I felt his warm breathe get closer to my neck. My mind was screaming for me to stop whatever was going on, but another part of me was so terribly curious.
"Ed," I whispered softly as his soft lips met with the skin of my neck.
"Hmm," the vibration his lips caused onto my skin left my hair standing in excitement. With the pace of a turtle he gently kissed my neck leaving me breathing heavily and left my hands clutching his biceps. His tongue gently lapped onto my skin as his teeth gently nibbled which caused my head to spin. I had no idea for how long this had happened or why I never stopped it.
Just as things were getting better Edwards phone rang disturbing the atmosphere that had been created. He pulled away from me and stared at me for a hard few seconds before standing up and walking out the living room to answer the call. Once he was gone I felt the full weight of what had just happened. I allowed him to kiss my neck in the most pleasurable way. It felt like I could not get one straight thought through as I touched my neck in shock. What the hell was that?
"I have to go," Edward spoke from the door way causing me to jump in shock. He walked like a flipping ghost.
"Uh why?" I felt rather disappointed he had to leave so soon. Then I realized he might have taken it that I wanted to continue our activities from moments ago, "not that I care or anything," I quickly added. I wanted to slap my forehead with how foolish I sounded.
He gave me a traffic stopping smile as he chuckled, "emergency at the office," he bent down so his forearms were resting against the top of the couch just a few inches away from my face. "How about we have dinner tonight? There's this really nice restaurant I love close to here."
For a second it seemed I had forgotten how to speak as I stared at him dumbfounded. "Yeah. Yeah," I nodded slowly.
"See you later bestie," he winked and simply walked out of my apartment like he had not just left my neck bruised. As I stood up to walk to the kitchen he quickly opened up the penthouses entrance door. He peaked his head in and said, "now we're even. With the whole neck kissing thing." And just like that, he was gone again.
"What the fuck?" I whispered and leaned against the wall.
Edward Coleman must have been the strangest man I had met.