✍🏻 Little Matchmaker

38 - The Monday Curse

Sophie

I woke up in the warmth of my bed and snuggled in Yuzuru's embrace; the duvet softly rustling when I turned around, slowly opening my eyes to be met with his beaming smile.
I returned the smile to him but closed my eyes again as I wanted to stay in that moment just a little bit longer.
The moment of being still half asleep, in the safety and warmth of the bed and a cozy hug.
I had to admit, it felt kind of perfect.
At least much better than the aggressive scream of my alarm that woke me up every single weekday.
We stayed like that until it was time to get up, receiving from him countless soft pecks on my cheek and forehead, and I appreciated that the whole time he did not speak, letting me wake up peacefully at my own pace. Quite a change from Akira's approach of banging on the door and jumping on the bed.
It was a long time since I didn't hate a Monday morning.

I had to laugh when I made it out of the bathroom and Yuzuru was again drinking his kale smoothie, trying to pretend he likes it just so Akira gives it a try too.
But it seemed the trauma of the first attempt was still too fresh in Akira's memory and he only watched him with a grimace of disgust.

We did go through our usual tracklist of pop songs while driving to the rink and though Yuzuru was still reluctant to join in on our singing he was at least humming along, probably thinking I did not know that he absolutely cannot sing.

And when they were finally on the ice and I was sitting at my usual spot, laptop open in front of me, I could not help but stare. At him. He was so goddamn handsome and charming and most of all, anytime he looked my way, thousands of butterflies went right through me.
I was simpering back at him like an idiot, unable to wash my stupid smile off of my face.
Until my phone rang.
And the silly smile faltered within seconds.

****

Once I hung up with Trevor, I was immediately dialing Mike when Yuzuru suddenly appeared next to me and sat down at the table.

"What happened, Sophie-chan?"

I took a deep breath and before I could answer, Mike picked up his phone. I asked him to meet me at my apartment as soon as he can and received his typical stern, army confirmation that he will be there in 30 minutes. No questions asked, knowing that I would not call him like that if it would not be serious and expecting the full brief in-person only.
I hung up again and dialed Elliot trying to ignore Yuzuru's concerned gaze that was trained on me the whole time.
After Elliot was sorted as well, agreeing to come right away to the rink and take care of Akira's schedule for the rest of the day, I finally put the phone down, only now realizing my hands were shaking.

I began to quickly rub my palms against my thighs, pressing hard against the muscles to stop the trembling and focusing on my breathing to collect myself.

"Please tell me," Yuzuru said softly and took my hands into his, looking at me with a worried frown.

I sighed, and quietly whispered, "Trevor called. somebody has found out again that I am the author."

"Oh," he let out and moved his chair closer to mine, "but doesn't that happen from time to time? Don't you just....deal with them?"

"Yeah," I confirmed, "fairly often actually. They just always want money. Trevor deals with it together with my legal team, keeps the records, and briefs me once it's done."

"What's different now?"

"The money this guy is asking for and most of all..." my voice trailed off and I took my hands from him, once more slowly rubbing my palms against my thighs to calm down.

"How much?"

I hung my head and slowly shook my head in disbelief, "normally it ranges from ten thousand to one hundred. The most we ever paid was two hundred thousand."