Loving the Russian

Chapter 5.

Saturday morning breakfast was much like the others. We chatted briefly but when it came time for his meeting, I was excused. I wasn't that surprised as I figured this meeting was more private than the others considering he was having it outside of the office.

After leaving the breakfast room, I decided to explore the estate. I started down in the library. It was absolutely exquisite. Shelves of books lined the two-story tall walls, the smell alone made me want to grab one and cozy up by the walk-in fireplace on the far wall. There were two large windows overlooking the gardens but other than that it was all books and a spiral staircase carved out wood.

I took my time walking around and reading the spines, searching for titles. It took me a few moments to realize how they were organized but soon enough I figured it out. After about thirty minutes of wondering, I finally found one. Looking around, my eyes landed on the couches and a few reading tables, but I decided to go outside.

Grabbing a throw blanket from my house, I found a spot in the sun on the grass hidden somewhere on the large property. The guards had watched me for a few minutes but then went back to their own business once they realized what I was doing.

After two hours of being completely emerged in 'Anna Karenina' by Leo Tolstoy, my phone went off. A groan left my lips as I rolled into my back to take the call. When I saw it was Madison, I smiled, answering the face time.

"Why haven't I heard from you?! Are you alive?" She was borderline upset at my lack of communication the past week, but I could tell she was trying to hide a smile.

"Clearly, alive and well."

"Appears that way. Where are you? A park?"

I chuckled. "We live on this huge property with a lot of trees and gardens, it's beautiful. This is the first day I've had time to enjoy it though."

I flipped the camera to show her what it looked like and she seemed rather impressed.

"Well I'll be damned." She whistled. "Well what are you doing tonight? Do you want to dinner?"

"I can't. We have a charity gala for the HCNY organization."

"That's the one for homeless children, right?"

"Right. I'm looking forward to it. It's definitely for a good cause."

"Yeah, I like that he puts his time and money towards things that matter. Is he treating you right?" She inquired with a strict look, making me laugh.

"He is my boss, not my boyfriend but he treats me fine. Thanks for caring so much."

I wasn't about to tell her what had happened the night before or how we cooked dinner together. It hadn't come up over breakfast, not that I expected it to, but I thought it best to pretend it never happened. If Madison found out, she would for sure start letting that imagination of hers run wild.