Christian

"Well well well, if it isn't the man of the hour." John beamed as I took a seat across from him. He had set himself up at the far end of the business center, which seemed to be a more private area. I didn't even know that business centers could look this nice considering all the resorts and hotels I've been to. I was quite surprised by how much attention to detail they paid here.

John looked puzzled as he tried to utilize some of the printers hotel management had set up for public use. It made a few beeping noises that seemed to frustrate him. As soon as I got comfortable in the desk chair, John handed me a Manila folder stacked full of paperwork.

"What do you mean?" I asked finally, referencing his earlier words.

"The launch yesterday was apparently more than a hit. My team just sent in projected sales and investments. Dare I say I am pleasantly surprised- I thought you had every intention of bankrupting me." He joked, taking a long sip from his cup of coffee.

"Oh gosh, it puts me at great ease to know you have such faith in me." I replied, snagging the mug from his side of the table, to take a sip myself. The coffee looked appetizing, but as soon as the dark liquid touched my tastebuds, I spit it back into the cup almost immediately.

"That is absolutely disgusting, Christian." John cut in.

"This," I signaled dramatically to the mug, "Is absolutely disgusting, John! What the fuck is this? Dirt? Is this fucking dirt?"

John was trying to suppress a laugh. "It's organic coffee you dumbass. It's supposedly really good for you."

"Supposedly?!" I looked at John with a ridiculous expression. "You're telling me you're drinking this shit on the off chance it might be good for you?"

John gave me one of his why are we still having this conversation looks. "And to think I was going to praise you for all your hard work. Here you are, criticizing a mans coffee-"

"Let me stop you right there, this isn't coffee. This," I pointed to the cup again, "This is what my gardener uses on my hedges."

"You little..." He mumbled, snatching the cup out of my hand and setting it back on the table. "Let's get back onto the topic at hand here- the launch." He pointed to the Manila folder he had passed to me, and I promptly started to flip through the pages. "These figures do look amazing. Kudos to both you and Alex for pushing something together so last minute. It gave our investors and distributors a chance to see what our companies are capable of, upon working together."

As I flipped to the partnership tab, a small smile managed to creep it's way across my face. John had included Alex on pretty much everything.

"I thought it would be good to give credit where it was due." He explained, when he caught on to the page I was looking at.

"That's awesome, John. Seriously. Alex is going to lose his fucking mind." I replied, setting the rest of the paperwork back on the table. He handed me a pen so I could sign at the bottom of the page.

"Speaking of Alex," John started. I could see he was wiggling his eyebrows suggestively my way through my peripheral vision, but chose not to pay him any mind, "How is that going? When you requested such an expensive suite, I couldn't help but be curious." I pushed the signed documents back his way, and watched as he got up to make some copies. "From what I could blackmail and bribe out of the staff here, it sounds like you've called in quite the special requests for these next few days." He fumbled with a paper jam before he got the next few copies to print correctly. "Look who made a work trip a romantic getaway."

I couldn't help but chuckle. If anyone was going to take this opportunity to pry into my private life, it would be John. "I wanted to make this trip a little more special. Alex has been working really hard these last few months. He's really picking up on the work, and I don't think I've seen him touch a drop of liquor since our New York trip. I just want to show him that this job can have some perks." I replied honestly.

John had this easy going grin on his face, but he took a moment before he responded to that. "I've pegged you as many things over the years- many... but I never in a million years would have thought you were interested in men. In fact, I thought you may have just been asexual after your college days. Can you get the sex drive fucked out of you? Who knows. Can't speak from experience."

That coaxed a hearty laugh from me.

John was one of the few who witnessed the extent of my early twenties- that consisted of a lot of alcohol and a lot of sex. Once I took over the company, however, all that changed. My mother made it painstakingly obvious that I was the face of the company, and every decision I would make from then on out would not only affect me but the family.

I ended up getting with women she approved of, and started making choices she approved of. Those wild days were promptly put behind me.

"I always thought the gay thing was my thing." John added.

Anyone who had eyes could see that John clearly had no issue appealing to either gender. The thing that completely blew my mind however when I first met him, was the fact that he liked men. During college, both men and women quite literally threw themselves at his feet, and John had too kind a heart to let them down any way but gently.

This resulted in John literally creating a cult following without him knowing it. People followed him around campus, and offered to do damn near anything he wanted. At the time, I couldn't understand why he was turning down all these beautiful women. Now, things made a hell of a lot more sense.

"Honestly, I don't even know what I am at this point. I don't get attracted to other men, like I do to Alex. I'm not really all that attracted to women as much anymore either... but that may just be due to the ungodly amount of time I had to spend with Bridget." I replied. John gave me a soft sigh as he nodded understandably. He'd only met Bridget a handful of times, and even John had his limit with her.

"Well clearly you have some serious feelings for Alex. I don't think I know anyone who's ever had such an impact on the Christian Ivanov. I'm happy you've found someone who makes you want to be a better person." John gave my hand a pat on the table, as he flashed me his pearly whites.

"And what exactly was wrong with me before?" I asked in a mock defensive tone. It wasn't even worth it to ask that question seriously. Alex had stripped away my ego just enough to show me how much of my flaws still existed. Safe to say I was mindfully humbled.

"You're hilarious." John replied. He handed me the copies of the documents he made from the printer. I slid them into the briefcase I had brought down from the suite. "So you've got today, tomorrow, and Friday to enjoy yourselves. I'll be around the island if you need me, and hopefully once you're fully well rested, we can try and plan breakfast tomorrow morning. How does that sound?"

I finished zipping up the briefcase, and stood to stand with John. "That sounds like a plan, John. Thanks again for this little vacation." I extended my hand to give him a firm handshake, but he pulled me in for another hug.

"Think of this like a sign up bonus." He gave me a wink as we left the business center together.

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