I can't get You out of my head! (On Hold)

12. Work to do.

Jon PoV

Talking to Jacob hadn't been as bad as I'd thought it would be. Fenya was right, Jacob is my friend first and foremost. And when I called him to ask for a few days of, he didn't give me shit about it. He understood that I needed some space to sort out what had happened and how to proceed.

He had actually been a little worried for me, and he was was very happy that I called. He wanted to make sure that I was ok. Or as he put it "Do I need to march into his office and kick his ass? Because if he didn't treat you right, that is seriously what I am going to do. King or not!"

I managed to assuage his bloodthirst by promising that I was in fact going to live and be well, then I distracted him with the lure of a home-cooked meal at Fenya's. Jacob has an almost Pavlovian reaction every time Fennys cooking is mentioned. And I have a sneaking suspicion that it is not only her cooking that he is attracted to.

True to her word, Fenya had called the restaurant where she is the Sous Chef and asked for time of due to a family crisis. I wouldn't exactly go so far as to say that my personal life warranted the crisis label, but I did appreciate that she'd help me get out of adulting for a few days, so I wouldn't make a fuss about the particulars.

After her phone call, she went foraging for necessities. She got stocked up on ingredients for all my favorite dishes, bought all my favorite snacks and made sure that she brought only comfy clothes from my apartment. Damn I love that girl!

When she got back, we dragged a couple of mattresses into her living room, made ourselves a cosy nest out of pillows and blankets in front of the tv, and vowed to not leave for anything other than food or the bathroom for the next 24 hours. Given that we'd both had a very early start to our day, none of us had lasted past the first two episodes of the brain dead sit-com she'd put on, both of us having dozed of somewhere around the halfway point of episode two.

Hours later I woke up to my stomach growling and the smell of Fenny's cooking. I padded my way to the kitchen to see what she was making and if I could help with anything other than eating. Luckily for me, she was almost done, the only thing left was plating the little piece of heaven that was her Pasta Carbonara.

Bringing our plates back to the mattress nest in the living room, we decided that we also deserved wine with our food. The glass we had with our lunch turned into the rest of the bottle as dessert and Fenny got a bit giggely. I could almost see the questions that started forming in her brain before she blurted out "How was it? You know sleeping with him?"

I looked at her, blushing. "I already told you. It was amazing!" She shook her head "No I didn't mean the sex. I meant sleeping in his bed! With him! How was it?" I blushed even harder. "Oh... Uhm... It was... Uhmm... Nice, I guess." I looked away "I got to be the little spoon." I mumbled and I couldn't stop a little smile from forming at the thought.

"Oh! My! God!" My stupid sister yelled and pointed an accusative finger at me "You like him!". My head whipped back to her. "What? NO!"

She laughed right in my face. "Deny all you want. I don't care! I know that you like him!" I huffed and turned back to the tv. "Just watch the damn show. And stop making things up in your head!"

------

That's how all of yesterday and most of today has passed. Fenya and I have wrapped ourselves up in a happy little bubble in her apartment, doing nothing else but streaming sitcoms and eating good food. The only thing that has disturbed us was Jacob calling and demanding his meal. We agreed that he would come over tonight and Fenya has outdone herself in the kitchen. Maybe Jacob isn't the only one who is interested in getting closer. I can't help getting crazy ideas when Fenny changes into some nicer clothes just before Jacob is set to arrive, claiming that she spilled on her other clothes.

Since she's been so nice to me this weekend, I let it pass. No reason to give her crap for liking Jacob. I can totally see where she's coming from, Jacob is nice and funny and a really good guy and I think that he likes her too. It's a win-win situation. I am not going to interfere though, I'll let those two figure this out on their own. They are both adults and should be able to handle their lives for themselves. Now if I could only say the same for myself.

I let Jacob in when he knocks as Fenny is busy in the kitchen. He dosen't come empty handed though. In one hand he is holding bouquet of sunflowers, Fenya's favorite. And in the other he is carrying a bunch of what looks like newspapers.

Greeting him with a smile I show him to the kitchen, where he hands Fenny the flowers with a silly little bow. "Beautiful flowers for the beautiful chef." he proclaims. Then turning to me he says "And for the lazy bum. Tabloids!"

Wondering what he is going on about I take the newspapers that he hands me. Then I really wish that I hadn't. Because on the front page I see a picture of my King in the after-party outfit and a headline that reads "Has the King found his Prince Charming?". The headline on the next paper isn't any better "New king makes almost magical getaway with mysterious man!" and the rest are just as horrible.

"Fuck me!! This is bad!" I groan. Jacob just laughs "Our King already did that Jon. And besides, nobody knows who the "Mystery Man" is, so you are safe for now, But we do need to get a grip on the PR nightmare before it blows up in our face. Especially since our good King Frederic did a no-show at today's planned press conference."

He sighs "I played it of by telling them that he was exhausted after this last month. Coming to terms with his fathers death, the huge state funeral, the introductions to the parliament members and the Prime Minister and finally throwing this big coronation. It would be enough to tire the life out of lesser men. They accepted the excuse for now. But we will need a plan for how to handle the fall out at the rescheduled press conference. So I'm sorry Jon, but the leave you requested is of the table. You'll have to be satisfied with this nice weekend you've had and come back to work tomorrow. Because we have work to do!"

I give him a resigned nod, because first of all, he will need all hands on deck for this shit-show. And secondly, I am partly to blame, so I should help clean up the mess!

After my acknowledgement, Fenya calls us to the dinner table. I might as well enjoy every bite, because with all the work ahead of us, it is back to meal-bars and take-out for the foreseeable future.

And how am I going to survive working together with my King?

Fuck my life!

Published September 18. 2018

Poor Jon. No breaks was caught.

Until next time.

Don't do anything that I wouldn't do!