In Bad Faith

Chapter 21

I loved this dress. The pink fabric hugged my body in all the right places, and the fact that it looked like leather made it very elegant. I paired some white colored pumps with it and added a cute little bag that had the exact same color as my shoes.

I had to change my persona every now and then, and that also gave me the opportunity to change my wardrobe at the same time. I had to. As Nadya, I couldn't wear my Nadezeya clothing, and that was why they always gave me a budget to build a new wardrobe for myself. I wasn't complaining. Most of the time there were restrictions. One time I had to look cute and shy, and another time I had to try looking as sexy as possible. For Nadya, they gave me the freedom to make the decision for myself.

After I had applied a nude shade of lipstick, I popped the packaging back into my bag and checked my reflection in the mirror one last time. I didn't allow myself much time to get ready today, because we had to leave for dinner in a few minutes. A dinner with Misha's most important contacts, which made me very glad I was going to be there as well.

I walked back from the bathroom to our office, where Misha had already started switching things off. He closed his laptop, turned off his desk light, and he put his bag on his office chair, ready to take it with him. And even though we didn't really have the time, I decided to be making a little show out of my outfit reveal, since he was the one who chose it. "So, Mr. Zaveri, I hope you made the right choice.." I told him the moment I was standing in the door opening. He looked up at me, ready to make some funny comment, but he stopped midway as his gaze locked with mine. And after a brief moment of silence, he started visibly studying every inch of my body. As if he was allowed to do it, as my boss, as my engaged boss. But I let him, and I loved the way he made me feel that very second.

"You look beautiful," he then said, and I felt my pulse starting to quicken. Misha Zaveri called me beautiful. Sober this time. He then seemed to be realizing what he was saying, as he cleared his throat and looked away from me. It felt empty now his eyes didn't linger on my body anymore. "I mean, the dress. It's a very nice one," he corrected himself, but it was too late already. He said I looked beautiful, and I couldn't even stop the smile that started creeping onto my face anymore.

"Thank you," I softly smiled, as I walked towards my desk, where I had thrown my coat over the back of the chair. "You look very handsome yourself, Mr. Zaveri," I told him, crossing every border there was. But this was good, right? This was exactly what Floyd wanted me to do. "I mean, the suit. I like this one," I quickly told him, while teasingly looking at him over my shoulder. The worst decision ever, as his eyes darkened while he was staring at me. He had turned some of the lights off already, which made the lightning in this office a bit dimmer. It made everything different.

The tension between us was rising to a whole new level, and every nerve in my body seemed to be longing for this man. I put on my coat, not breaking eye contact, as Misha was also still looking at every move I made. "We should go," he told me, and this came out of nowhere. As if I didn't know we had to be at the restaurant in half an hour, and as if we weren't planning on leaving any minute now. Or maybe he had other plans in mind. I shook off these bad thoughts, and nodded as I walked toward him. "We should," I said, and gave him a small smile.

But then my gaze fell onto a part of his collar that was slightly crooked. Nothing major, but a perfect reason to make things a little worse. "Wait.." I softly spoke, after which I placed my bag on his desk. I walked around it, since he hadn't even taken one step from where he had been standing all this time. ".. you can't go out like this," I murmured and brought my fingers up to his collar to straighten it. I tried concentrating on doing just that, but I could feel Misha's gaze was focused on me. And that was exactly what I was trying to accomplish. 

I wanted to take this little game we were playing to a higher level, and I knew I was doing that now by the way his breathing started sounding heavier with every second I was standing this close to him. I then slowly let my fingers glide down the hem of his jacket, just for the sake of it. Wrong, wrong, wrong. I could feel his muscles react with every move I made. And I wanted to make him go crazy, but by doing so, I was slowly losing my self-control as well. And I didn't even care anymore at this point.

Our eyes met again, while I slowly pulled back my hand. "We can go now," I smiled innocently, as if it wasn't too late by now. Because as I looked up at him, and he looked down at me, his eyes darkened with this.. this hunger. Like I was all he wanted and nothing more. It was at this point that I knew. I knew we were done for. Not only because I saw his eyes drift off to my lips for a brief moment, but also because of the almost magnetic tension that seemed to be reaching new heights, making it impossible for me to look or move away. In fact, we only seemed to be moving closer. I had never been this close to him, and to say that it made my knees weak was an understatement.

Before I knew it, I felt the warmth of Misha's fingertips melt into my skin as he suddenly cupped my face with both of his hands. And after hesitating for a second, which felt like an eternity, he kissed me. He kissed me, and I knew I shouldn't do this in the position I was in, but there was nothing I wanted more. I allowed my eyes to fall shut, and instead of being able to look at him, I now just felt him. His soft lips immediately made me feel like they belonged there, and with no one else, while the way they seemed to merge perfectly with mine was enough for me to forget the sole reason I was doing this for. It was wrong, but it was real.

It wasn't long before I felt my back touch the wall that had apparently been very close behind me, as he longingly pressed his body against mine. And while his fingers started to tangle in my hair, I gave into him by putting my hands on his chest, grabbing the fabric of his blouse that I just so carefully straightened out. God, I wasn't even aware that I was capable of feeling this intense heat rushing throughout my whole body, as he seemed to know how to perfectly move his tongue around mine. I'd never been kissed like this before. And I knew that from this moment on, I was doomed to have the taste of Misha Zaveri forever lingering on my tongue, longing for more.

The kiss lasted longer than it should have lasted. It could've been seconds, or minutes. I had no idea how long my lips had been locked with his before the sound of a buzzing phone brought me back to reality. I was kissing Misha Zaveri. My boss, my target. The one person I shouldn't be kissing. After we slowly parted I looked at where the sound came from, and saw his phone flashing brightly on his desk. It was like the universe was playing some sick joke with us, because this was the exact moment she decided to call him. As if Maddison knew her fiancé was making out with his assistant at this very moment.

My gaze shifted to Misha, who was slowly letting go of my face, to look behind him at who was calling him. And then I saw it. I saw the instant regret flashing over his face. I knew it shouldn't, but it hurt.

This was wrong, in so many ways. Misha was engaged, and I was his assistant. And for me, there were even so many more reasons why nothing about this should've happened. Because this hadn't been part of my plan anymore. This was a possible reason for me to get fired from the job at MZ Global, and also completely lose focus.

After a moment of silence in which we both seemed to be regretting our decisions, Misha started moving towards his desk, where the phone was still buzzing uninterruptedly. He picked it up and stopped the call before putting the phone in his pocket. And then he looked at me. Really looked at me. I saw regret in his eyes, but also another emotion I couldn't quite place. And I, I was just staring back at him in complete silence.

The mood in this office seemed to have shifted completely. Misha looked at his watch, breaking eye contact, and he sighed. "We should leave," he told me, again. And I could just feel that things were completely ruined by this kiss. "Yeah," I softly spoke, after which I started moving, grabbing my purse from the seat I had just left it in.