Adrian didn't kick my ass that night. He just glared at me with pure hatred and told me he needed that job more than anything and if he lost it because of me, he'd never forgive me.
Was it my fault if he was stupid enough to fuck his boss! Everyone and their grandma knew it was one of the worst ideas one could have. I would at least admit I'd understand his anger if it was because of my peeping around. It was wildly inappropriate of me and I was a bit ashamed of what I did. It's not even like Adrian was particularly attractive to me.
Adrian didn't lose his job, but he was still mad at me. But when wasn't he mad at me after all? Micha was coming back soon anyway.
I got called back by the company which was looking for a new accountant. They were impressed by my resume and wanted me to join their rank. Finally, some uplifting in all this tragedy that has been my life the last month. The job paid well, I could get a comfortable apartment with that. I planned the rest of my week before Micha's return in apartment searching. It shouldn't be an epic quest and I still had mom has a safety net if I didn't find in time.
I visited a couple of apartments, none of them were really perfect but to be fair with the deadline of Micha coming back, I wasn't going to be too picky. I did find something cute in the same neighborhood, twenty minutes away from my new job. Decently priced, a good spacious bedroom in a brand new building so everything was clean, I felt like I found my new home.
***
Micha came back. As expected. His father died two weeks ago but he stayed a little longer to comfort his mother and help her manage the inheritance. He was a little gloom when we met again, which I could understand. He was far from close to his father but it was still tragic.
Micha was an old friend of mine I knew since forever and with whom I shared a room in college. He was a short skinny guy with an incredible mass of red curly hair on top of his head that sometimes fell back on his heavily freckled face. He was a bit of a lady killer because of his musical talent, his instrument was violin with which he made a philharmonic career but that didn't stop him from cranking a guitar at parties and play some tune that'd get the girls fawning over him.
We marked his comeback by taking coffee together down the street. It was freezing outside, the warmth of the coffee was more than welcomed. He looked quite lost in his thoughts.
"Are you going to be alright?" I asked him.
"Am I?" He repeated in a chuckle while still looking behind me. "Sure, it wasn't easy but life goes on, doesn't it? Moments like that really make you feel fragile, people today die in their ninety so seeing him go so soon it's, gut-wrenching, makes you wonder if genetics will get you before your time."
I found Micha quite melodramatic here, sure his father was only in his fifties when his liver decided to turn on him but he's always been a heavy drinker and a heavier smoker. I remember him making me drink my first beer at fifteen as I was staying over at their place during most of the summer. His deteriorating health was to be expected. Never really liked the guy anyway.
"You're going to live a hundred years and then a hundred more," I said.
"Let's hope the future won't make you a liar," he said getting back his attention to me with a slightly warmer tone. "How did it go with Adrian?"
"The dude is a real piece of shit," I said bitterly.
Micha burst out laughing. "He said the exact same thing about you, he didn't want to go in details though, what happened between you two?"
I had back in mind the image of Adrian on his knees pleasuring his boss. It felt a little unreal rethinking about it, he was like a whole other person. I was debating telling Micha, it wasn't very class to share about other sex life's as a form of gossip but to be fair, Adrian wasn't very class either. Maybe I just wanted a little revenge.
"He's just a dick, he got a nasty attitude, but mainly he's mad at me because I jinxed it with his sugar daddy," I presented, getting irritated just thinking about our quarrels again.
"His sugar daddy?" Micha asked perplexed.
I took a sip of coffee to let out a little of suspense. "He's fucking his boss."
The reaction I was expecting from Micha was different from the concerned frown he was giving me. "Oh that's strange, he hates the guy, are you sure about that?"
"Saw them at it with my own two eyes, he told me himself it was his boss," I kept on with a cocky smile.
"That sounds concerning," Micha said thoughtfully, "I should talk about it with him."
Oh no, what? Adrian didn't need to know I shared his little secret around, I was most likely signed for an ass-kicking next time we'd see each other. Hopefully never. "Well that's his life, isn't it? Just let live," I chuckled nervously.
"He's my friend and I'm concerned about him, I think he's engaging in some unhealthy stuff," Micha said dryly.
I wasn't so proud of my gossiping now that it got Micha worried, truth was I really didn't care what sort of wacky troubles Adrian got himself into, but I cared a lot about Micha's opinion of me.
***
Josh was in the past, my ego was healed from the Luka fiasco and I had my own place. I needed a man. I just didn't like being single, having a boyfriend meant having at least one person available to give me attention and take my bullshit.
I revived my old tinder profile, Grindr as well if I got an itch but I was fine with not hooking up for now. I just had to update my pictures and here I was back on the wonderful meat market of dating.
Tinder swiping was a nice shallow and brainless activity to which I could spend an evening on. I had my music blasting in the apartment, lying on the old familial couch mom gave me, sipping some white wine and looking at a bunch of mediocre to almost-hot guys. La dolce vita.
Fucking Adrian. I really didn't picture the guy as the type using Tinder. He looked almost unrecognizable on his profile picture, he had a laughing grin that was enlightening his face, looking off the frame, the dark night background behind him made him pop out. Almost looked like someone bearable to talk to. I was about to swipe left on him but I was taken by curiosity. Couldn't hurt checking his profile.
Local friendly -yeah right friendly- anarchist Russian Jew.
Makes music sometimes but really just vibing.
Down for whatever.
No one from business schools.
Hey! I went to business school!
I looked at his other pictures for the kick of it. A pic taken from a party where he was standing out from the crowd, about to grab back the cigarette he was taking a drag on, even without a smile, his face had a playful cockiness to it.
The last one got my mouth wide agape. Hair, on his head. And far from short. He was looking at the camera playfully, his hair a bit messy in big silky brown curls down to his shoulder. I had to admit, if it was his first picture I wouldn't have recognized him and immediately swept right. I couldn't deny, he looked attractive. I guess he did have a nice face with some sharp bone structure and pouty lips, but it was all ruined by his dumb hardcore look and his nasty attitude.