Chapter 7

Mikhail

"Good morning, my love. Can you forgive me for yesterday? I don't know what came over me, I completely lost control, got carried away by anger and a clouded mind." Cristina woke me up with kisses, damn it, I shouldn't have fallen asleep like that.

"I... we'll talk later, Cristina. I have to go to the office now." She looked incredulous, unable to believe what I was doing, always giving in to her desires was exhausting me. I can't let Miss Hardin leave, especially now that the last administrator resigned. "How about going out with your two friends? Or visiting your mom?"

I entered the bathroom and closed the door, blocking her access. I took a quick shower and headed straight to Cyndi. As I entered my office, I bumped into a woman next to Ella. Her bag fell to the floor, she bent down to pick it up and apologized, even though I was at fault.

"Where were you? You kept us waiting for almost an hour." Ella subdued me with her gaze, and I was able to regain my composure. "Miss Donna Hardin, this is Mikhail Kurtz, CEO of Cyndi."

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Kurtz, it's a pleasure to meet you in person." She seemed distant, it's not like meeting me in person is such a big deal, there are much more important things than me.

"Ella will show you around the company, I hope you like it. Good luck, Miss Hardin. Welcome aboard." I left her in Ella's hands and hurried to my office. I need to send a file to my lawyer today, I need to find out who's behind the embezzlement that has been happening over the past few months. They happened right under my nose and I didn't notice a thing.

Donna

My legs were trembling, but I can't freeze now, this is the job of a lifetime.

"Let's go, I'll show you to your office." The office was well-organized, with expensive paintings decorating the walls. "You can decorate it however you like, feel free to make it according to your tastes."

"Thank you!" I replied, looking around, but all I could think was how, out of so many people in the world, it had to be him as my boss?

"If you need anything, my office is next door. Again, welcome aboard." I thanked her again and Ella went to her office.

I immediately messaged Jess, I can't call, but I can send a message.

"When you see this message, respond to me! You won't believe what's happening."

It seemed like Jess was waiting for me to speak, she responded immediately.

"I'm here, spill the beans."

"The CEO of Cyndi is none other than Mikhail. That guy from that party that day, Dominic's father." I cut straight to the point, I was anxious and nervous about everything that was happening.

"Oh my God, what are you going to do now?"

"What else can I do besides work here? The guy didn't even recognize me, do you think I'm going to go up to him and say we have a child? That makes no sense, Jess."

"You still have that photo, right? Show it to him, he'll surely recognize you and then you can say you had an affair that night it happened."

"Jess, for God's sake. It's been over three years, the guy must have a life settled here. We'll talk later, I need to work now."

I hung up and put my phone back in my bag. Jess doesn't know what she's talking about, and I'm not sure what to do either. Everything was fine, I had resigned myself to never seeing this man again in my life and now... now I'm working for him, destiny is full of surprises.

It was finally lunchtime, I had already taken care of some things that had been pending for a long time. I was ready to go down the stairs, since I'm still afraid of elevators, when Mikhail, or rather, Mr. Kurtz, was coming towards me.

"What do you think so far?" It was the first time we were talking and... damn it, my mind is a mess.

"I'm liking it." "Please, don't try to start a conversation now." I looked at him and started down the stairs. His expression turned confused, surely anyone would opt for the elevator, but I'm not anyone. "I have problems with elevators." I said without looking back, continuing to descend faster.

There was no conversation, Mikhail answered his phone before saying anything, from what I just heard, he is engaged and from what I understood, his fiancée is not very understanding. I have no idea where to go, but, like an enlightened being, Ella was coming towards me with a smile from ear to ear.

"Are you going to lunch?" I nodded and she continued: "Come on, I want to introduce you to a great restaurant around here, I eat there every day. What do you like?"

"Um... I like anything that leaves me satisfied." Except sushi, that's certainly what Ella likes. "I just don't really like sushi..." She looked at me sideways and made a dissatisfied face, not believing what I was saying.

"Look... you're very lucky that I like you, because if not, I would take you to the city center and leave you there alone." Ironically, I know how to use GPS and it wouldn't be too difficult to get here, or would it...

"I have nothing against it, but the taste doesn't agree with me, I don't like raw or undercooked things. But I love seaweed, they're perfect with rice and chicken."

"You Americans are really strange, that's why I have to go there someday." Curiosity was poking at me, I wanted to ask more about Mikhail, but how do I do that naturally? I feel so confused right now, it's going to be harder than it seemed.

"Speaking of Americans, is Mr. Kurtz from here or did he come from somewhere else and settle here?"

"Actually, he has dual nationality, his father is Russian and his mother is French. He lived in France for a few years, but he was still a child and then his parents separated, he chose to come and live with his father who currently lives in a mansion here. While his mother preferred to stay there, both lead perfectly good lives." Ella seems to really know about him, to the point of knowing about his parents, she must know many other things. "I've been working for Mikhail for eight years and in all these years I've never worked with someone as nice as you. Let's place our order? I'm starving."