Oh, Mykolajki

[NIKITA]

"Hello, Master Pavlenko," Natalya greets after what seems like forever. I look at her, then to the girl beside her, then the living room, then back at her. She seems to understand my questioning stare because she is quick to respond.

"Oh, young master, I was cleaning up the house. It's been a while since I did a thorough cleaning," Natalya says as she stares into my eyes.

The woman is looking at me like she wants me to try something. She already knows I'm too tired to argue with her, but she still waits, silently daring me. I just can't with her right now, so I leave.

"Just clean it up; I'll be going to the hospital later," I say as I leave.

I lock the kitchen door only to hear them burst into laughter again. Somehow I know this time it's about me. Well, to be fair, I'm dressed differently, and I look ridiculous, but why do I have a feeling that they aren't laughing at my state but at something else?

"Mum, what do we do now. I don't find anything here, and I doubt the stubborn master knows anything that he could tell us. Last time he was talking about his family in his sleep. I kinda felt sad on his behalf, not that it's my place, but what should I care" the woman, whose name I didn't even get, tells Natalya, and she scoffs.

Natalya scoffs.

It's something new.

Maybe I don't know her that well, or perhaps it's because she's related to this woman. And her nana? What the fuck. Is this some kind of setup where I sleep with someone, and they suddenly show up with my baby?

Oh, for christ's sake.

What is wrong with women anyway. I wait to hear what Natalya says, but her voice is muffled, and I get to hear only vibrations. I need to know if I can trust her, so I stay there and wait for the conversation to continue.

I know eavesdropping is wrong, but as a man who doesn't believe in coincidences, this is a necessary evil. There was just no way Natalya's daughter found her way into my bed without the woman knowing. It's just impossible unless they want something.

Oh God, are they the ones who sent that man? My thoughts don't even complete before I hear them talk again. Dammit, this is why I should have replaced the doors; anyway, it's not like I have long to be in Todorov.

I have Ten days.

Ten days to finalize everything.

Sighing defeatedly, I make a move to leave for my bedroom because there's really no point in me staying here and listening to them anyway.

They probably will talk about the sex and whether she likes me or not, which I pray isn't true because the last thing I need on my case is a woman I can't shake off. I should have taken her to the hotel. Then again, I was too tired. Oh, Mykolajki.

Of all the times I should have used my brains, the essential time is the one I never focused on. What the hell.

"The memory card was the best distraction, but that kid never cares about anything these days. I had to send Liam to the hospital to get him. It was fun seeing Liam's scared face and what was even pleasing me was the way young Pavlenko looked at Liam in disgust, care, and whatever the fuck he was feeling at the moment. Poor guy."

Natalya says, and I swear I have to remind myself repeatedly that I'm not even supposed to be listening to this conversation.

So the guy at the hospital had a name. He had a connection with the one person I have cared about for so long. Maybe I misheard them. Or maybe I'm just hallucinating. . But what is it with the memory card?

Or was it the package that had been delivered earlier? Am I growing old? Is twenty-six really that old? Are my brain cells doing a backflip on me right now? Oh, God. Once again, I'm hoping the universe explains what is happening.

This woman, the woman I have trusted all my life. Could she? No, I don't think so. Maybe I'm just overthinking. Maybe it's time to get out. I tell myself I've heard enough, but my feet don't seem to be moving. In the most inopportune times, my body betrays me over and again.

I'm starting to think it hates me, not that I care anyway.

"Oh, mom, you really know this family so well. And the footage you leaked to the media, that was awesome. I can't wait to know what he will do once he knows that you betrayed him. That's kinda harsh though, haha," the woman says to Natalya, and everything comes crashing on me.

She knew what was happening. She knew how it would mess me up. She knew how hard I'd been trying to get a hold of myself. Six months. All that time when I was healing, she was preparing to people my wounds again.

She was doing this.

It was her, but why would she do that? I looked for the black box for months and got none, no wonder it effing showed up suddenly. This woman. I trusted her. My family trusted her, and she betrayed us?

She ruined everything we had, and for what? There has to be a reason for all this, but what could be the reason for taking out an entire family? But she looked so hurt when my family perished. Why did she look so distraught?

Was all that part of a ruse?

Was it all her acting?

I promised to trust no one, but the one person I held onto all these months and years, was she behind everything? I'm tempted to barge back in and ask them what they mean because there definitely has to be a reason for all this.

I refuse to believe that Natalya would betray me. It's just impossible. She was always loyal, always kind, so why would she do this? Giving up, I walk to the trashcan where I had dumped the darn memory card, and it's still there, still coped up in the bin like it was meant to be there.

Grabbing it, I walk to my bedroom.

As much as I have personal issues to deal with, I also have actual patients who can be saved. Patients who need me more than the hell I'm going through.

And that's how I pretend that I never eavesdropped and that my house is not entirely in chaos as I walk out, bid goodbye to Natalya, and tell her I have a seventy-two-hour shift and that she can take care of everything.

Deep down, I know I'm screwed.