"Right now you seem so far away..

..So much confusion clouds my mind."

"I shall be your someone."

Three days passed since me and Mikhail became an official thing.

Marcus was gone to New York with Rafael to do some business, so he had no idea about the news he was about to be informed with. And I honestly couldn't wait to tell him. He would be very excited about it, that's just how he was.

Next morning, I was in the kitchen making breakfast for me and Mikhail.

He stepped in with a towel in his hand, drying his golden wet hair as he yawned exhaustingly.

My head tilted to him, and a sudden warm smile was shown on his pretty face. "Good morning, love."

Love.

My eyes were shut closed as I took a deep breath to restrain the aroused butterflies flying inside my stomach.

I turned around, holding a plate of pancakes as I dared meet his gaze. "Good morning."

He laughed a bit, reached for the table and took a seat.

Placing the plates on the table, Mikhail stopped drying his hair as his sharp, yearning eyes stared at me. "Eve..."

"I couldn't find enough chocolate to make you the waffles you wanted, so I made pancakes instead-" I anxiously informed him, reaching for my seat but I felt his hand slipping around my waist, pulling me closer to him.

"Chocolate waffles aren't what I'm worried about." his soft voice awakened all of my sensations, his warm breath brushed my neck, and I realized I was sitting on his lap.

"Then what is?" I could barely let words come out of my mouth, his long fingers were stroking my waist and the only thing I couldn't stop thinking of was the embarrassemnt I would feel once he notices my heavy breaths.

My breath that only became heavy whenever he was around-

The way I sometimes trembled just because he was looking at me.

All these things I wasn't able to describe- it was something between fear and safety, something not far from hatred and not far from love.

Maybe hatred was the only thing that couldn't stop me from loving him.

Maybe by hating someone, you come to the fact of realizing how much you valued them, and how much they'd mean to you later.

I wasn't sure if I fully loved him, there was a part of me that hated the way he got me attached, the way he always made trouble and couldn't keep control of his actions.

I hated the way he hid so many secrets I never solved or understood, how mysterious he was and how scared I sometimes felt whenever I thought of him.

But maybe everything I hated about him is the reason why I love him now.

Maybe in order to love someone, you should accept all the pieces of hatred you consume for them.

And just let them go.

"Kiss me." he commanded, staring at my lips and I think I was blushing a little bit.

"What?" I questioned with confusion.

"You seemed anxious while making breakfast." he glanced at the cooker, tilting his head. "Waffles or pancakes- I assure you there's nothing I crave more in the morning than the taste of your lips on mine."

A soft smile was accidentally shown on my lips. I glanced at the floor, unable to meet his gaze."You should brush your ugly teeth then-"

Mikhail's gaze froze at me, until I found him bursting into laughter.

It was the first time I noticed him genuinely laughing from his heart.

His eyes. His smile. They made him look even more beautiful.

"You really don't know how to keep a situation seriously," he grinned. "Do you?!"

I shook my head, wrapping my arms around his neck until our noses brushed. "We learn from the best."

Mikhail's smile disappeared as he let out a deep breath, eagerly staring at my lips. That's when I realized I was craving him as much as he craved me.

Closing my eyes, I couldn't help but collide my lips to his, slowly fading away the looming anxiety of our day.

He ran his fingers through my hair, slamming his lips closer to mine.

Slowly pulling away, I desperately rested my head on his shoulder, gripping on his shirt. "Mikhail..."

"Yes, love?"

"It's time I go back home." I sighed with sorrow, raising my head to meet his gaze. I found him frowning with frustration. "I need to study for exams-"

He tucked my hair behind my ears, "It was really fun having you around." he gave me a soft smile, "I guess I won't force you to stay any longer."

"I'd still visit you often, though." I playfully smirked, giving him a wink. "If you helped me sneak out of the house."

"There won't be any need for that." he claimed, "I'd make sure your parents know I exist by then."

I let out a sarcastic snort, as I got up and sat on the chair opposite him. "There's no way in hell they're going to like you-"

Mikhail crossed his arms at me, frowning with irritation. "Why not?!"

I grabbed some blueberries and stuffed them in my mouth. "I'm just letting you know." I rolled my eyes with a shrug.

...

It was already eight pm and I was resting on bed, watching boring reels until I go off to sleep.

Usually it was always me and Marcus playing videogames or chitchatting about some interesting stuff during the day, but because he was out of the city, I had no one to spend my time with.

Mikhail, on the other hand, was locked up in his bedroom, hardly working on his office. He told me he had an important case to investigate, and that he would be scolded by Rafael if he hadn't finish it in time.

Not to mention Mikhail was the kind of dude who would never waste a second without benefiting it with work.

Sometimes I wished if he would stop working his ass off and actually have a quiet peaceful vacation, to be able to do fun things or maybe go on a road trip together.

Anything to let him have the rest he deserved.

As time passed, I decided to grab a book and read it.

Wandering my fingers through each letter of each word, sinking deeply into the fantasy of my creation, Mikhail entered my room after knocking on the door twice, slipping me back to reality. "What's up?" he grinned, and I think my heart melted.

"Hey!" I grinned back, throwing away the book.

"I see you're bored.." he rested on bed next to me, running his fingers through his hair.

"I mean," I yawned, stretching as I leaned closer to him. "My boyfriend has been busy working on a case all day long. Not giving me even a little bit of attention." I pursed my lips with a shrug. "Wouldn't that be obvious?"

He chuckled, looking down as his hair ruffled. "Let's fix that."

"How?!"

"Come on." He got up, offering me his hand. "I wanna show you something."

...

Mikhail took me to his bedroom, and I noticed a beautiful dark red evening gown with short fluttered sleeves covering his whole bed. A pair of black high heels rested right beside it.

I turned around with a big grin on my face. Mikhail was already gazing at me, as he leaned his shoulder on the wall. "You bought that for me?" I asked with fascination.

"Couple of weeks ago..," he shoved his hands in his pockets, reaching for me. "You were supposed to wear it for the masquerade party. But–"

"But what?"

"It was too late for me." He frustratedly pursed his lips, looking down. "Adriano was already going with you."

I sighed, the type of sigh that gave a realization for how stupid I was, still am. Mikhail has always wanted me this whole time, I was always the first person he thought of whenever he needed a partner for parties, crimes, chaos.

He has always been choosing me. He was just waiting for the right moment to show it.

And I was never patient enough.

"You were never late." My fingers traced the edge of his soft hands, and my breath already tightened in a rush. "I was always impatient."

He chuckled, holding my hand in his and he stroked it. "I guess we got all the time in the world now, don't we?"

All the time in the world.

That was a consoling thing to hear.

It kind of gave me hope. Comfort.

Knowing that no matter what happened, we'd always have the whole time to fix it. To forever be together.

Which reminded me with the anxious feeling of grieve. Loss.

Because If I had him, I might also lose him.

And that rather terrified me than made me relieved with his existence.

"Eve," I heard the soft tone of his voice say, his fingers grabbing my chin to meet his volatile gaze. "Will you go on a date with me?!"

My shining eyes wandered through his passionate features. "Lik-..like right now?!"

"Like right now." He nodded, seeming as eagerly excited as I was. "I know the dress might seem a bit too much for a fancy dinner date, but I feel that I need to spend more time with you and—"

"Yes." I cut him off, desperately needing to spend that time with him already.

"I'll go get dressed." A warm smile was shown on his face. "And I'll wait for you."

...

We were having dinner at a very fancy, yet simple looking restaurant. Mikhail booked us a table overlooking the dark ocean.

The moon's reflection was pretty shining all over the crystal clear water. "This is the most beautiful view I've seen this week." I said with a grin, gazing at the twinkling star.

"I wouldn't say the same thing." Mikhail rested his back on the chair, crossing his arms as he wandered me.

"Why?!" I turned to meet his gaze, frowning.

"Because for me, you're always the most beautiful view I ever see." he said with a soft tone, still gazing at me.

"Oh, shut up." I threw him a hand, while the other covered my blushing face.

"No, but seriously." he chuckled, leaning closer as though he was about to spill a secret. "You look so beautiful."

I uncontrollably smiled, covering my mouth as I let out some giggles.

"Don't cover your smile, please." Mikhail requested, tilting his head. "I wouldn't wanna waste a chance of seeing how happy you are right now."

I couldn't help but smile wider. I've always felt insecure about the way I laughed and smiled. I'd always hid them by covering my mouth.

But hearing him say he liked watching me being all happy and excited when I'm around him, made me feel less anxious about wanting to smile more.

I leaned back, raising my eyebrows at him. "You should stop staring at me and start eating your food." I crossed my arms, and narrowed my eyes with irritation.

"Don't mind me, love." his eyes dropped to the food, as he picked up his knife and fork. "I can't get enough of you."

"Is that so?" I giggled, focusing too on my food, cutting my well done piece of meat. "You didn't seem like it when you were investigating your important case."

"Alright, Evelyn." He cocks his head backwards with a sigh, dropping down the fork. "I get it, you're angry."

"More like disgruntled." I twitched my mouth, looking away.

"My job is nothing but complete seriousness, Eve." He pointed out, his tone darkened. "And I've always been working my whole life. I don't know what a day off is, I don't know what is it like to have a normal vacation. And I definitely don't get breaks."

"But it drains you out, Mikhail!" I frowned, concerned about his health. He's always seemed exhausted, and I started to feel that he didn't get enough sleep because of it. "You need to let go of that unbearable stress!"

"It is bearable." he stated with such confidence.

"No, it's not!" I knitted my brows. "I see you everyday, doing nothing but work, every freaking minute you do not hesitate to waste but on work. And I maybe started noticing that when we began to date, which is the time when I need you to be around the most."

He ran his fingers through his hair, and then I heard him laugh ironically. "I can't believe you want us to argue about that on our first date!" he glared.

"I never said we were arguing Mikhail. But if you see it that way, then I think it's your problem." I blurted out, and he gritted his teeth.

Believe me, I never wanted to fight with him. But it began to be out of my control, seeing him living his life as a working machine made it impossible for me not to argue about it.

As I wandered his eyes, I found him upset about what I said. He was blankly staring at his plate, empty of appetite. Empty of emotions.

I let out a sigh, running my fingers through my hair. "Look, Mikhail." I pouted, reaching for his hand as I stroked it with my thumb. "I don't wanna piss you of, okay? I just want you to enjoy your life a little bit more than that. I want you to be happy. You deserve it."

Thankfully, his frown was replaced with a genuine smile as his eyes narrowed with warmth. I smiled back at him with relief.

"I know, Eve." he held both my hands. "How about we try to enjoy our lives together? You and me." he glanced at my lips.

"That sounds perfect." I warmly gazed at him. He leaned in and placed a kiss on my cheek. I knew that he was no longer upset.

Moments later I got up and went to the bathroom. I needed to fix my make-up, maybe add more red layers of lipstick. It really suited well with my dress.

As I was fixing my hair, I heard a notification popping up my phone. I picked it up from my purse, and I realized an anonymous number sent me a message. It said 'You better stay away from Mikhail, or you will cause yourself to be killed.'

I gasped, covering my mouth with horror. I quickly turned off my phone and dropped it back to my purse.

A terrifying feeling of disgust shivered down my throat. I took few more deep breaths to calm myself down.

That message didn't specifically had to be sent from Don or Adriano. Maybe they were a third side of the story who just wanted to warn me for my own sake. Maybe. Still not surely.

I got out of the bathroom, trembling a bit as I cleared my throat.

The moment I turned around, my whole body started trembling even more.

It was the Alexander's family, having some sort of business dinner with a certain sales team, as though they were making a deal.

And Liam was sitting just between them.

He suddenly noticed me, and I gasped again.

"Evelyn?!!!" Liam called my name with fright yet enthusiasm in his eyes.

I quickly turned around, as he got up from the wide table, about to follow me until his father stopped him to shrug off the suspicious looks shared between the sales team.

I let out a sigh of relief, and quickly rushed for Mikhail. I needed to get out of that restaurant as soon as possible.

Reaching for our table, I forced a smile once Mikhail's gaze met mine.

I proceeded to have a seat, rubbing my forehead anxiously.

"What took you so long?!" Mikhail questioned, narrowing his eyes at me.

"Nothing–" I cleared my throat, trying as much as I could to keep eye contact. "The bathroom was just-..very busy."

He nodded, taking a sip of his drink.

I played with my fingers, realizing how fastly my heart was pounding.

"Can we leave now?" I knitted my brows, questioning with pursed lips.

"Are you not enjoying the view?!" he asked, his face looking pretty miserable.

"No-no. It's just that-" I played more with my fingers, and he narrowed his eyes again with suspicion. "I get too bored easily, you know. Maybe I could use some cuddles when we get back home?" I tilted my head with a nervous smile.

Thankfully, he bought that as he took his last sip, smiled and got up to offer me his hand.

I took it and I gripped tightly into it.

Walking down the stairs, Mikhail froze with shock, we crossed by someone we weren't supposed to meet with, especially at a special night like that. A night that could possibly ruin Mikhail's whole mood just by getting to see that person.

His mother.

_________

[Meraki] (v.) : to do something with soul, creativity, or love; to put something of yourself into your work.

...

Who do you think sent Evelyn that anonymous message?

Is it a threat or a warning?

And what is Mikhail's mother doing at the restaurant?!

Don't forget to vote and comment!

xoxo <33