Page 22 of Care: Part 1

"But it will strictly be me doing my job; nothing more and nothing less.”

Adrik didn't say a word, but she just knew he was looking at her behind those dark shades of sunglasses.

"Fine by me," Johnathan shrugged before grabbing a drink from one of the passing waitresses and raising it in the air. "To you, Avelina, for being such a courageous and kind woman. Also, for making my job a million times easier."

Avelina didn't say anything after that. She walked right past Adrik and towards the elevator. Her mind was racing a mile per minute. One thought that kept resurfacing was that she didn't care who and what he was. All she cared about was fulfilling her job and leaving. It was never her responsibility to develop any kind of feelings or any personal connections. She will do what she was assigned to do on the contract and forget about anything else.

Before she could travel up the stairs, Adrik quickly grabbed her arm to stop her from moving any further.

"What exact point are you attempting to get across with the statement 'nothing more, nothing less'?"

Avelina let out a huff of irritation before turning to look at him.

In a short amount of time, while doing her job, she had learned that Adrik preferred everything to be precise and specific.

"Adrik, I don't really like gangsters. I'm your nurse and your caregiver—nothing more and nothing less. It's about time we start acting like that, don't you think?" She questioned with a raised brow before continuing, "I'm done exploring."

When he didn't respond, she walked away from him and up the stairs to the elevator, where she pressed the up arrow and awaited its arrival. The second the elevator doors opened, Adrik seemed to walk right in

The elevator doors quickly shut, leaving them in a confined space. Avelina glanced over at Adrik to see he had already been looking at her. Even though he was wearing his sunglasses, she could just feel his eyes.

"I can't exactly decipher if you're mad at me, scared of me, or upset with me," Adrik spoke.

She looked off toward a corner in the elevator as she tried to figure out her own emotions. "I'm not mad, scared, or upset. I appreciate your candor. Telling me the truth was kind. I should be scared, but I am not because even though I have only met you for such a brief time, I know you will not hurt me. As for being upset, it isn't anyone's fault but my own.”

Her voice was almost inaudible, but Adrik still managed to make out her words.

"Your fault?"

Her eyes were quick to snap to his. "I have been letting things slide that I shouldn't. You are my employer, and I am your employee. I am getting paid to take care of you and not to develop any sort of. . . I don't know," she whispered the last part to herself.

"Okay.”

Her shoulders fell as she watched him turn away from her. It hurt to hear him dismiss her so quickly, but what did she expect? She told him to leave her alone unless it was professional, and that is precisely what he did.

With that, the elevator doors opened, leaving Avelina and Adrik back on the quietest level of the entire building. No one else dared to enter Adrik's office floor, aside from his assistant.

Avelina didn't exactly know what to do as she just stood there. She took advantage of the situation by looking around his office. One thing that she noticed was that almost everything was in Russian.

"You can sit down," Adrik told her with his hands moving over to take off his sunglasses.

She eyed the chair in front of his desk for a bit before deciding to sit. It was too close to Adrik for her liking. For some reason, she felt as though she had to be far away from him just to keep herself under control.

"Thank you.”

The second she sank into the comfy seat, her head leaned back against it as her entire body seemed to relax. The chair felt as though she were sitting on a cloud. Avelina couldn't stop her eyes from shutting as a small sigh left her lips.

Suddenly, she had gotten a notification from her phone. Pulling it out, she saw that it was a text from none other than Miss Paola.

[Miss Paola: I have a temporary ban on receiving caretaking services]

Avelina tried to resist the smile that coated her face as she shook her head back and forth.

[Avelina: Probably because you scare away every caregiver given to you]

Avelina turned off her phone and shifted her gaze over to Adrik, who had already been looking at her. When her eyes met his, he looked back down at the papers and pretended the moment hadn't happened.

"You have a pretty smile," Adrik said.