Mike seemed to catch himself because he quickly shook his head and smiled slightly. "Well, look at me going on about nothing," he said. "You have yourself a good day, Mr. Archer."
I managed a nod and shut the door. I had no doubt that Mike would be staying outside the door like Nikolai usually did. It was strange that while I still felt safe knowing Mike was there, it was a different kind of safe than when Nikolai was the one standing on the other side of the thick wood.
It made no sense.
I let my thoughts drift to Mike’s comments about Nikolai. From my initial research, I’d figured out that Nikolai lived at an address that was part of the same building as his family's bakery. I wasn't sure if that meant he lived with his family or not. I hadn't really done much digging beyond the basics, but Mike’s comments definitely left me curious.
The growing pain in my head had me stumbling to my bedroom where I sought out my migraine medication. I swallowed a couple of pills and then climbed into a hot shower in the hopes of relaxing my brain a little. I spent a good twenty minutes under the hot spray of the shower and then crawled naked into my bed after drawing the curtains in my bedroom closed. I tried to think about nothing at all, but thoughts of Nikolai kept drifting back into my mind. Mainly, I wanted to know he was okay. I wanted to know what those damn personal issues were. I wanted to know why I gave a crap.
At some point, I drifted off because when I next awoke, it was late in the afternoon. My head was still throbbing, but not so badly that I couldn't move. I climbed out of bed and pulled on a pair of sweats before making my way to the kitchen. As much as I wanted a cup of coffee, I knew caffeine wouldn't do me any good so I settled for a bottle of water instead.
The much-needed comfort I'd been seeking the night before began to seep back into my bones as I drew from my surroundings. Things were exactly like they always were and that never failed to soothe me. I considered trying to do some work but decided to take Cliff’s advice from that morning and just take the rest of the day off. I returned to my room and pulled on my running shorts and shirt along with my sneakers. I pulled open the door expecting to see Mike there but found Nikolai instead. My heart jumped in my chest at the sight of him.
"Oh, you’re back," I managed to say, though I wasn't sure how I could even speak because it felt like I couldn't breathe.
Nikolai looked perfect. Completely unharmed and okay.
"I’m back," he muttered. He sounded almost… angry. It didn't make any sense because I hadn't seen the man all day, so how could I possibly have angered him? Not to mention I'd been well behaved when it’d come to dealing with Mike. I opened my mouth to ask Nikolai if everything was okay when he suddenly let his eyes drift up and down my body. I held my breath in the hopes of seeing something there, some sign that he found me attractive. But all I saw was disdain.
It was a punch to the gut.
"Will you be spending the evening at home after your workout, Mr. Archer? Or do you have other plans?" Nikolai asked, his voice almost a sneer. It hit me then why he’d looked at me the way he had. He was assuming that I’d gone to see Cliff the night before for some kind of booty call and either he was disgusted by the fact that I was meeting up with someone of my own sex or that I was hooking up with someone who was both my employer and considerably older than me.
I berated myself for thinking that Nikolai might somehow be different. That he might not be a bigoted asshole who jumped to the same conclusions as everyone else.
Well, fuck him.
Cliff had asked me not to make waves with Nikolai, but that didn't mean I needed to be nice to the man. I didn't need to be anything at all with him. Childish or not, it didn't faze me in the least to revert back to giving him the silent treatment.
I turned my back to Nikolai and locked my door before heading for the elevator. Had he not been such a dick, I would've given him the opportunity to change into more appropriate clothing for a run but screw him. Hell, I'd make him feel every one of the five miles I was planning to run. Maybe I’d even push it to seven miles today. Let the man suffer a bit. He deserved it.