My Girlfriend, My Pet.

Chapter 1

Raiden didn't believe in coincidences. When Mike's right hook connected with his jaw, the speakers at the gym blasted Scorpion's 'Rock You Like a Hurricane'. Raiden almost tripped over himself as he retreated to his corner of the ring. Wondering if he had indeed rocked his friend a little too hard, Mike went over and administered his own brand of medicine. 

"Jesus! I'm fine! Quit slapping me!", Raiden waved his hand around, trying to block the oncoming slaps. When Mike stopped, Raiden began laughing - first to himself, then loud enough for Mike to hear. "You sure you're okay?", Mike asked, his hand raising into the air again. Raiden waited until his left arm was extended a little more than it was necessary and snatched it and twisted.

Dropping his hips below Mike's torso, he swung himself around - using momentum and fifteen years of technique and experience, and his much bigger friend went airborne. 

The impact left Mike immobilized for a good four seconds, despite landing on padded floor. "You gotta' teach me how to do that, man.", as he scrambled up to his feet and headed for the locker room. 

"Meh, maybe.", Raiden shrugged his shoulders as he slowly made his way to the showers. "Think I pulled something.". 

"Asshat, probably deserve it.", Mike countered. 

~~~

It was close to seven in the evening when they both left the gym. Mike headed for his Jaguar while Raiden, his Subaru. "Heading home?", Raiden asked as he jammed the key into the ignition and twisted. 

"Not just yet. Remember Ellen? The new blonde intern?", he grabbed his imaginary boobs and squeezed. Raiden sighed and shook his head, Mike laughed and smacked his shoulder. "C'mon man! It's been almost what? One, two years? You're still young, you gotta' move on. That's life, alright? Hey, if you need someone to talk to, remember, I'm here. Not tonight, though.", he winked and smacked him again before getting in and driving away. 

"Yeah, sure.", he said to himself as he got in and headed home. 

~~~

Tossing his keys onto the table, Raiden fumbled for the lights and turned it on. His home, or as Mike calls it, 'the ultimate bachelor's pad', was a tastefully decorated penthouse suite.

The main hall was minimalist architecture at its best with a bamboo floor, a black leather sofa set, perfectly matched to a dark grey carpet beneath it and a carbon fibre and titanium coffee table. Huge windows replaced walls, allowing vast amounts of natural light to filter in during the day. In fact, walls were only in place wherever it was required. 

The kitchen came in two main colours, black and white. The white making up most of the island bar while the black, accented with red stripes, made up the stove. Raiden couldn't even remember the last time he actually did anything here. 

His bedroom was the same. A king-sized mattress, atop a mahogany platform, with dark blue sheets covering it. Behind it, a huge piano black headboard with a piece of abstract art hanging from it. A walk-in closet was hidden at the other end of the room, camouflaged against the white of the wall. 

He sat alone in the kitchen, eating Chinese takeaway and watching the news. His usual routine whenever there were no important client meetings and/or dinner parties to attend to. Raiden Tokugawa was lonely. He would never admit it to anyone, though. It had been two years since his ex-fiance and him ended their engagement.

Long story short, she was after his money and nothing else. For two years, he lived a lie. He found out when Mike had spotted her, arms entwined with another man, on the streets when he left for a business trip. Mike was supposed to be on the same flight but backed out after his father fell ill. When he broke the news, Raiden was devastated. 

Surrounding himself with work and nothing but work, Raiden didn't have much of a social life. His one true friend, Michael Tomlin, was his confidante and that was pretty much it. Sure, he had occasional drinks and social events to attend to, all part of the job of being a CEO, and the people he networked with were friendly at first but he always had a niggling suspicion that it was all an act. 

Michael Tomlin or 'Mike', as he was always known as, was a stark contrast to Raiden. Big, brash and occasionally vulgar. He was also the COO in the same company with Raiden.

They had known each other since they were children, his father was friends with his and they went to the same school and even university. Growing up, Raiden had protected Mike from bullies since he was one of the few who hit puberty at a very late stage.

Now, the roles were reversed but he would never use Mike for the wrong reasons. He took care of him and now Mike would do the same. Buddies for life, it would seem. 

So while Mike was taking the new intern out to dinner(and probably sleeping with her already), Raiden sat on his bed, finishing a book by Murakami. Money makes you happy. He snorted at the thought as he turned off the lights.