Breakfast

Scarlett's POV

I barely slept last night; my mind just wouldn't stop. So many questions kept running through my head, and most of them remained unanswered. I knew that my current situation wasn’t healthy, but I simply couldn’t stop myself.

Klaus' words hit deep, and the way he spoke left me even more confused. His logic was spot on... But the part of me that found it too difficult to trust people couldn’t be overcome. It wasn’t something that could ever just be changed overnight.

I ended up getting up early, took a shower, got dressed, and went straight to my office. When I noticed that it was only 4:30 in the morning, and that Jasmine was on night shift, I sent her a message asking to bring breakfast to my office. It didn't take 10 seconds for her to reply with "Ok."

I turned on the computer and started responding to emails. There were so many things that I needed to resolve, including the budget for the expansion and how the payments for the expansions would be made. Oliver already offered a solution to finding a new investor, but it was already difficult to repay the first investors, and I disliked being indebted to someone with a passion. The idea of being in the red, for now, to be able to make a profit later made me shudder. It was a very interesting strategy, especially when I had so many opportunities to recover the money owed very quickly.

I heard a knock on the door.

"Come in," I said, and Jasmine entered with a tray containing a sandwich and a cup of coffee with milk.

"Looks like you slept very well," Jasmine commented and smiled.

"You know how it goes," I took the cup and took a big sip.

"You should start taking your sleeping medication again." Jasmine suggested as she sat on the sofa.

"I could, but until I get used to it again, I'll end up sleeping too much." I replied and went back to focusing on the email in front of me.

"How about taking a day off?"

I looked at Jasmine as if she had grown a second head.

"Pay attention, Scarlett; if you don't take time to rest, your productivity will suffer. You haven't even been drawing lately. Your mind is too tired to be creative... And when I say, take a day off, I mean that you take a real day off. Not just going out to meet Klaus and Liam and having them have sex with you until you pass out." She was very right about what I needed to do... Even though yesterday afternoon was very pleasurable, and I woke up feeling better, it was still not near enough.

"Do you have a place in mind?" I asked and stopped typing.

"There are some SPAs in the New York area... You could get a massage, soak in a wine pool, and eat fondue. You have too much on your mind, Scarlett." Jasmine was looking at me seriously.

"Definitely..." I agreed.

After all, I didn’t just have the studio’s issues to take care of, I also had to deal with Jonah and the Harvey family. I sighed, took my phone, and sent a message to the work group informing them that I will be unavailable for the day. If they ran into any problems, they would have to wait until tomorrow.

I looked online for a place to rest and found one right in the city center, with excellent service and many services to choose from. I immediately made a reservation for today, informing them that I would arrive at 8:00 the morning. Since it was a hotel as well, there would be places that stay open 24 hours.

Until then, I had at least an hour and a half to look through some of the remaining emails and respond to the most urgent ones. Jasmine left the room soon after and I was alone again.

Time passed so quickly; before I knew it, it was seven o’clock. I quickly turned off the computer and stretched, feeling my neck ache. As soon as I opened the door, I saw Klaus coming out of the other office. He was already dressed; the difference in the size of Liam's clothes didn't make him any less handsome.

"Good morning," I said, but Klaus looked at me very seriously.

I didn’t understand anything until he stood in front of me, securely holding my face. His expression was of disgust.

"Scarlett..." Klaus softly uttered my name, clearly trying to control himself.

"Klaus, I know... I'm thinking about what you said." I wanted to hug him, wanted to get my body close to his in a more intimate way, but not as his sub. Only, I thought he wouldn't like it, so I refrained from getting too close to him.

"There are dark circles under your eyes. Didn't you sleep well?" He asked in a much gentler tone, making it very difficult for me to control my urges.

"I know the way that I am handling things at the moment isn't good for me, so I’ve decided that I'm taking the day off today. I couldn’t care less if it's in the middle of the week." I spoke with the most neutral tone possible.

Klaus let go of my face, and I suddenly felt colder missing the warmth of his touch immediately. I almost asked him to touch me again.

"I understand; I hope you really rest during this time." Klaus took two steps back.

"I'm going to a SPA at one of the hotels in the city center." I spoke with some difficulty whilst trying to maintain my composure.

"Alright," Klaus said calmly.

Klaus was acting strangely. I didn’t usually have much interaction with him outside of the games, but from what I did know, the way he was acting now was different and I couldn’t tell whether it was a good or a bad thing. It could be because he possibly felt responsible for never really doing anything for me, but I never expected him to do more than be a good Dom, which meant taking care of me after the sessions, being careful with my limits.

"Klaus, you're acting strange." I commented after thinking for a few seconds; good communication between us was always of utmost importance.

"I'm just worried about your well-being." Klaus replied, putting his hands in his pockets.

"Hmm... Are you sure that's all?" I didn’t want to force him into telling me something that he wasn’t ready to tell me, but I also didn’t want to lose him.

"Don't worry... The only thing you need to do today is relax." Klaus smiled that gentle, somewhat affectionate smile of his... Something I always noticed when he looked at Liam.

It wasn’t that Klaus didn’t like me, but this look was different from the others.

"Hmm... Alright." Better not to push any more. "Breakfast must be ready by now." I said by way of changing the subject.

Klaus nodded briefly, then turned and made his way toward the dining room.

I don't usually walk behind people, but this time I thought it was better. His steps weren’t different, and his posture seemed the same, but my sixth sense usually never fails me. Could he be worried about the meeting with Jonah?

The table was already set, with various fruits already cut, bread, different fruit juices, and of course, strong black coffee and milk.

I sat down and watched as Klaus served himself.

"Hmm... When I schedule lunch with Jonah, I'll let you know." I said, to see if that could perhaps be why he is acting differently.

"I know. I trust you." Klaus took some toast and spread cream cheese over it.

I lowered my face to hide my surprise, as it was the first time that I've heard him say that. In a D/s relationship, one always needed to trust the other, but... After knowing him for so long, hearing this from him was very comforting but also very scary because it carried more weight than normal.

When breakfast ended, we didn't talk anymore. Klaus was clearly analyzing me; his gaze not leaving me for a moment, but I didn’t have anything to say. When I got up, Roman and Gabriel were also already dressed.

Jasmine must have gone to sleep since she had the night shift. Roman's gaze was lingering on Klaus longer than usual, which was another indication that something was up.

"Are you ready, Miss?" Roman asked.

"Yes," I commented.

"Your bag." Gabriel said as he handed it to me, and I turned to Klaus, who appeared to just be standing there.

He approached me, gave me a hug, and kissed my left temple close to the hairline.

"Take care, my girl. Make sure to rest." Klaus said and stepped back.

I simply stood there, not knowing what to do or what to say.

What the hell just happened?