Chapter 5

(Nikolai's POV)

Tristan threw the blanket back on the bed and I covered myself up and pretended to still be asleep. He could no longer stomach it, as soon as he left, I got up and locked the room and went to relieve myself.

I went to the closet and took out a blue bra and flinged it.

“What are all these doing here?” I asked myself, the box was filled up with colorful bras.

“Am I… omg!!”

“More than fifty?” I shouted after counting up to fifty and took out one of the brown bras and wore it, arranged myself and went to get breakfast.

I sat down and Mrs. Joyce came to me, smiling like something was amusing her. She placed the menu Tristan had laid out for me to follow in front of me, still smiling.

“Mrs. Joyce, why is he still at home, isn't he going for work?” I called her close and whispered to her ear.

“He took permission, he said he wants to stay with his lovely wife,” She muttered to my ear and blushed but that sounds irritating to my ears.

Grace passed with a cup of coffee and cookies and I collected them from her and told her to get another one for him and she left after bowing to me. Mrs. Joyce touched me to remind me she was still waiting for my order.

“I'll follow the menu.” I didn't want to talk much, so I told her and she left. Grace came back with vegetables and spicy ball rice and I ate them happily and ordered another plate then had to wait for her to prepare them again.

I kept distracting myself with the cutleries on the table, using them to play and speaking to them until my meal arrived, then I ate and went back to the room to sleep.

My phone peeped and I opened the voicemail from my mum, I dropped my phone on the bedstand and laid down, suddenly, the penthouse started freezing and I got out and went to turn the thermostat up and went back to the room.

A few minutes later, the room started freezing again and I went and raised the thermostat again and I went for the third time again.

“Did you touch the thermostat?”

“No,” I replied reluctantly.

“Nikolai,”

“The house is cold, Mr. Sinclair,”

“The house is perfectly comfortable, my wife”

“Thats for a penguin not a human being, what are you even made of?”

I left him with that question and went to the room to prove him wrong. I wore the first hoodie, then another hoodie with socks and started walking around the house so he could see how cold I was.

I went to the living room and wrapped myself in a blanket like a ghost then Tristan stared at me.

“What are you doing?”

“Im trying to survive.”

Tristan didn't utter another word and left, I looked at the dining and found Mrs. Joyce and Grace watching us and laughing, they left when they found me looking at them.

A ridiculous thought entered my head, I moved from the blanket and started placing several bowls of water around the penthouse and Tristan appeared behind me, he heard the noise.

“What are you doing now?”

“I'm conducting an experiment,”

“On what?”

“How long it takes water to freeze in your ridiculous house.”

He looked at me, then he noticed one bowl sitting beside his expensive leather chair and went close to it.

“Move this!!”

“Why should I?”

“Because it's going to spill,”

“Then I guess we'll find out.”

Tristan was now genuinely irritated, he got tired of arguing and left, thinking I've won, the house started freezing more and I followed him and changed it.

Tristan turned it on and I switched it off to the thermostat and he changed it back again. I was about doing my thing then he held my waist and lifted me up to the living room and dropped me on the sofa.

“You'll pay for this,” 

“You're just impossible,”

“And you're obsessed with getting me freezed.” he walked away with a smug little smile and went back to his study room and shut the door.

It was already night, the house was still cold and all the workers have gone down to their floor, I heard someone walking into the hallway, he walked into the living room and found me asleep on the sofa with the thermostat remote clutched against my chest and just stood there and I wasn't ready to say anything to him.

“You're sleeping with the remote now?”

I didn't even open my eyes,“you can't be trusted.”

He hissed and left after carrying out the bowls of water I had placed earlier. I got bored and started wandering around the house, I found Tristan back in his study and discovered his study has an automatic lock.

“Wow, this is amazing.” I joked about how ridiculous it is and started playing with it, surprised Tristan hasn't caught me. Then I accidentally locked him inside.

“Hell no.”

Tristan tried to open the door but nothing and he called me, I couldn't answer and left happy then switched on the thermostat.

I eventually came back with a snack in my hand.

“Open the door,”

“Why?”

“Because I'm inside, Niko,”

“I can see that,” I acted tough.

“Nikolai?”

“Maybe your study room door doesn't like you.”

Tristan was already getting increasingly irritated and I know it, I was enjoying myself. He reminded me the lock can only be opened from outside and then I realized I actually have the power to trap him inside.

“What do I get?”

“Nothing,”

“Then enjoy your study.”

I started walking away,“Nikolai.” he called me with a calm voice and I stopped.

“The heater will be on for an hour while we sleep.”

“Two”

“One, Niko,”

“Three, Tristan,”

“Deal.”

I finally opened the door and Tristan walked out looking murderous and I picked my pace and ran.

Tristan started chasing me around the penthouse and my socks kept making me want to fall.