To Love Somebody

03. fika

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fika - drinking coffee along with eating something sweet

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"What time are you going to be home tonight?" Misha grabbed the piece of bread from Zander's plate as she rushed around the kitchen. 

"Hey, I made that for myself." He playfully glared at her before leaning over the counter and placing a soft kiss against her lips. "It has apricot jam. You don't even like apricot jam."

Misha grabbed her mug, filling it with coffee as she ignored Zander and his mumbling groans about how she was always stealing his food. 

"I'm running late for work." She stuffed the last bits of the bread into her mouth. "This is so gross. How can you even like apricot jam?"

She leaned against the counter, blowing into her mug, trying to get the coffee to cool down a little. She simply shrugged as Zander got up, glaring at her as he placed another piece of bread into the toaster. 

"Do you want another one or are you going to steal mine again?"

Rolling her eyes, she placed her mug on the tabletop, on top of all the papers and notes Zander had scattered around where he was sitting.

"What time are you going to be home? My sister invited us over for dinner." She moved about the kitchen, grabbing a bowl to put her lunch in. 

"I have a meeting with some clients at four. You remember the fraud case I was telling you about? It's a lot more complicated than I'd originally thought. " 

Misha placed the fruit bowl into her green lunch bag before turning to face Zander as he sat back down, rereading the typed pages in front of him.

"So you'll try to be home by five, right?" 

"Misha." He barely glanced up at her, focusing on the document. His computer screen lit up with a notification. An email from Natalie, confirming their meeting. 

"Okay, so five-thirty?" 

"I'm so close to getting a promotion, Misha. You know that. Can't this wait." 

Misha let her shoulder slump, noting the irritation in his voice. 

 "Fine." She huffed before grabbing her lunch and reaching for her mug. Her fingers barely brushed the handles of the cup as it tipped over. The dark coffee spilled, staining the white papers. She gasped as he looked up, just as the dark liquid colored the papers, tinting them.

"What the fuck Misha." 

Her eyes widened as she stared at the mess she made before looking back at Zander. He'd stayed up late last night, rereading, highlighting and organizing every single one of the documents.

And she'd ruined them, by mistake. 

"I'm so sorry. It...it just slipped my hands."

Zander quickly standing up as he stood there, staring in disbelief at the the notes he'd taken. Ruined within seconds.

He pinched the bridge of his nose, closing his eyes, controlling his anger. "I needed those for today." His voice, low and angry.

"I'm so sorry. I swear, it just spilled over." 

She grabbed a napkin and tried dabbing the papers, hoping they were still somewhat legible.

"Whatever. Just leave it." He stressed, carelessly. He couldn't afford any mistakes and those documents, they were important.

In the past few days, if he'd learned one thing, then it was the fact that Natalie was serious about her job. She was handling the case far better than he was. 

And Zander knew better than anything that this one case could define his career. 

Misha took a small step back as he gathered the papers, pushing her hand away. She just stood there as he slammed his computer shut, grabbing all of his papers. 

"I'll be home sometime after six."

With furrowed eyebrows, still gripping onto her lunch box, she stared as he walked away. Sighing, she cleaned the counter, making sure it wasn't sticky.

She knew very well how important the case was to him. But he should've understood it was a mistake. 

Pulling out her phone, she sent a text to her sister, telling her that they couldn't make it to dinner. 

A small teardrop fell onto the screen and she quickly wiped it away. Fanning her eyes, trying to make it look like she wasn't on the verge of tears, she shook her head.

They fought all the time. It was okay. It was completely fine. But truthfully, he didn't have to such an ass about it all the time. It had been a mistake, the cup had simply tipped as she'd reached for it. 

She looked down at her phone again as it pinged. 

A text from Zander. 

I'm sorry. I'll try to be home early. We can still go to dinner with your sister.

Huffing, still feeling a little petty, she left him on read. 

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March 17, 2018 4:27PM