In Bad Faith

Chapter 56

When I'd woken up this morning, everything that happened yesterday had seemed like a dream I was waking up from for a second. But as soon as I opened my eyes and had seen the sharp rays of the rising sun reflect on Misha's face next to me, I'd known it had all been real. Everything about last night had been amazing. That dinner, the way we completely opened up to each other at a starlit beach, and the great sex we had afterward. It had put us both to sleep immediately after because of how tired we'd been. Luckily, we still had two full days together, in which we had more than enough time to catch up on all the things we wanted to do to each other. Which had started just after we got up, in the shower.

And when Misha told me to pack for a day at the beach before we left, he didn't tell me that a few hours later, I'd been sitting on a small yacht, and that he'd be the captain. Yes, this man had casually told me that had a boating license. And I don't think I'd ever seen something more dreamy than him standing behind that steering wheel, just wearing some swimming shorts and an unbuttoned blouse.

I was sitting on the large, comfortable seat that reached all the way to the uncovered part of the cockpit, as Misha was slowly stopping the boat. We got to a place surrounded by nothing but azure blue sea, and a view of beautiful cliffs topped with greenery in the distance. This couldn't be real. It felt real, since I didn't think I had ever felt this alive, yet it was hard to believe that this was happening to me. And yes, I've been to pearly white beaches before, and I've seen a lot of luxuries during my job. But the deep connection I felt with Misha, especially after last night, was what made it feel almost magical. This whole thing made me realize that for the last few years I'd been living on autopilot. I had just been working. And I knew for sure that this one was going to hit hard when returning to New York.

"Good spot," I said, looking up at him after he let go of the wheel now that we'd completely stopped. The sound of the engine had now made room for the sound of the waves softly crashing against the sides of the boat. "It is," Misha answered, while he let his gaze glide over the horizon. "So I'm going to make sure we stay in it," he then smirked as our eyes locked again. He had been piloting the boat, which we fully had to ourselves, this whole time. And despite that we had been talking, I did look forward to just relaxing with him for a little bit. We could even take a swim since I bought myself a bikini in a little boutique on the boulevard not far from our cabin this morning.

Misha made his way to the deck, where he started anchoring the boat. And I was about to ask for help, but he looked like he knew what he was doing. He made it seem easy. It was hot. And as soon as he was done, he came back to me, grabbing two bottled smoothies out of the small fridge on his way. "Thanks," I smiled at him when he handed me one, after which he came to sit next to me. I opened the bottle and took a sip, and turned my body a little more toward his to be able to take a good look at him. "So, what other licenses do you have? Plane? Motorcycle?" I smirked at him, as I saw him taking a sip of his bottled smoothie too.

Misha shook his head. "Nothing else," he told me, slightly grinning at my words. "That does quite disappoint me, Zaveri," I said teasingly, taking a deep sigh. As if this man even needed any more of that. He softly chuckled. "I'm just happy I get to make use of this boating license again," he spoke. And it made me curious. What did Misha do in his free time? Did he even have any free time left? It seemed like he definitely knew how to enjoy life, but was he even really enjoying it lately? He hadn't seemed that happy when I first came to MZG.

"Do you ever take time for things like this? You know, for yourself?" I asked him, legitimately interested. I knew he went on vacation with his fiancé every once in a while, thanks to her Instagram, but Misha never really spoke about his weekends or days off, nor his hobbies. He shook his head. "Too busy," he answered, shrugging his shoulders a little after which he shortly paused. He was visibly overthinking something, as he averted his gaze to the beautiful cliffs towering in the distance. "But maybe this trip convinced me to make some more time," he then said, locking eyes with me again.