Once he finished putting his unused ingredients away, the two of them sat down to eat. Michael had bought a bunch of different wraps and while he couldn't say they were at the ideal temperature, that didn't stop Kostas from wolfing them down almost the moment they were unpackaged. His cousin was a bit more controlled in his eating, but it was obvious that he was just as hungry as Kostas was.

"They still have you doing audit prep?" Kostas eventually asked.

"That's all they're having me do," his cousin replied after taking a bite from a wrap. "We still have a couple of weeks to go before it's done, so they want us to make sure our records are squeaky clean."

"And are they?" "You forget who you're talking to?" Michael jokingly said.

"Sounds like a no to me," he joked right back, which only made him laugh.

"Everybody has their blind spots. Right now, I'm trying my best to make sure I've accounted for all of them."

Kostas couldn't help but snicker at the pun, which judging from the half smirk that formed on his cousin's face as he glanced over had been completely intentional. Accounting was his bread and butter, after all.

Despite his jesting, Kostas had no doubt that Michael was on top of things. Back home, he'd worked for the largest bank in the country for close to a decade, which gave him a pretty good leg-up when he decided to transition to the corporate world. He'd made a good many connections through the Bank of Cyprus, bouncing from business to business until he eventually ended up here in the U.K., working as SiRN's top accountant.

"Am I one of those blind spots?" Kostas eventually asked.

"You tell me," his cousin said. "I think you've got what it takes, and we managed to convince my higher-ups that you do. Do you think you do?"

Being in the middle of chewing gave Kostas a convenient excuse to delay his answer. "Yeah, I do," he answered upon swallowing.

"Decisive, I like it. So how's your studying going then?"

This time, there wasn't much excuse for the pause that followed. "Well, um…I haven't done very much of it today, as you've probably guessed."

"Yeah, yeah, don't worry, I know you were working. And what about after that?"

"I tried for a few hours, but then I might've gotten a little bit distracted," he answered truthfully.

"By what?"

"I had a video call with my girlfriend. We were…making plans and whatever."

The mention of Cammy immediately got Michael's full attention, as it often did. "Ahhhh," he hummed. "And how is this girlfriend of yours? It's been a little while since you've seen her, right?"

"Yeah, but it's because we're both busy. She was very insistent that I focus on getting my exams out of the way first."

"She sounds like a good influence. I like her already," Michael commented, which drew just a little bit of embarrassment from him. "When do I get to meet her?"

Now this was one question that Kostas definitely wasn't prepared to answer, mainly because he hadn't even thought about it until now. "Umm…" he started stammering. "I don't know…I guess I'd have to ask her first and see what…"

Before he could even finish his sentence, his cousin started laughing. "Relax, I don't actually care that much. You introduce us when you're good and ready."

"I think it'll be sooner rather than later," he said with a bit more confidence. "She asks a lot of questions about you, too."

Once again, this seemed to catch his cousin's attention, albeit in a different way. For whatever reason, his smile slightly faltered and he looked over at him, uncharacteristically nervous. "Really now?"

"Yeah," said Kostas, more than a little confused by his reaction. "Mostly because I have a lot to say about you. All good things, I promise."

"I have no doubt." His demeanor didn't quite match his words, but he didn't pay much mind to that. He supposed it did sound a little weird that a person he'd never met was asking questions about him, but said questions were fairly innocent, or at least, he thought so.

"What did you say her name was again?"

It almost felt like Michael hadn't even meant to ask that question - it was more like he just blurted out what was on his mind at that moment. In spite of that, Kostas quickly answered.

"Cammy. Why?"

His cousin's reaction was as if he was hearing it for the very first time. "Cammy…" he repeated to himself, ignoring his follow up question completely. Before Kostas could get too worried, he recognized his little slip up. "Sorry, sorry, it just sounds oddly familiar to me. That's all."

"Well, no shit. It's cause I already told you her name."

Michael laughed at this, maybe more so to take the edge off than out of genuine amusement. "Yeah, I'm not really sure what came over me. Guess my brain's more fried than I thought."

"There anything else I need to remind you about?"

"If there is, I'll let you know," his cousin replied, and that seemed to be the end of it. To be honest, Kostas wasn't quite sure what to make of that strange exchange. Michael unsurprisingly looked very tired, but at the same time, he wasn't someone who forgot names easily, even when it came to people he had never met.

"Anyway, what're you and Cammy planning on…" All of a sudden, Michael's phone started ringing, much to his displeasure. "Oh, for God's sake…" he complained as he picked it up and took a look at the screen. His annoyance only seemed to grow once he saw who was calling him, something that Kostas obviously couldn't see.

"Work stuff?"
"Most likely," his cousin replied. "Sorry, Kostas, I have to take this."

After giving him a simple nod of understanding, he left Michael to answer the call. "Hello?" As the person on the other hand greeted him back, his expression soured further.

"Johan. Long time no talk."

Kostas obviously couldn't hear what this "Johan" was saying to him, but he didn't look pleased at all. "If you're calling about your pet project in Nayshall, then I'm not going to repeat myself. If you want more than what we agreed to, you're better off talking to somebody else."

As the caller started replying, Michael turned and started walking towards his bedroom. Kostas got the sense that things were about to get rather heated, and that his cousin probably wanted to have just a little privacy during the call. Sure enough, he closed the door on the way in, making it almost impossible for Kostas to hear what was being discussed, at least on his end.

But as much as he tried to simply focus on his food, he could hear faint traces of the exchange; as expected, things seemed to be escalating. It didn't sound like his cousin was yelling, but he did raise his voice several times, though it obviously wasn't loud enough for Kostas to pick up on what he was saying. Usually, he didn't care about Michael's business calls, especially with how many of them he made a day. But this one felt different somehow. The fact he had no idea who this "Johan" was and what their history together was only fueled his curiosity.

Against his better judgement, Kostas got up from his seat and carefully walked over to his cousin's bedroom. He only got as close as he had to in order to make out what his cousin was saying and started listening in.

"Johan, the big boss' problem was that he had no idea how the world works in this day and age. You do, so why bother dusting off his playbook now?"

Needless to say, Kostas had missed a good deal of context, which made trying to make sense of what his cousin had just said next to impossible.

"I just don't see the point. You're basically running an entire country. What more could you…"
There was a pause, no doubt because his caller had interrupted him. It went on for so long that Kostas started to wonder if one of them hung up on the other, only to be corrected just as he was about to return to his seat.
"That maniac? Are you…of course you're sure. If there was even a chance he could make it happen, he'd take it. But how likely is it really?"

Another lengthy pause, no doubt accompanied by another lengthy explanation about…whatever it was they were talking about. As he waited for Michael to speak again, Kostas couldn't help but notice something. He sounded scared.

"I had nothing to do with all that. I was always on the outskirts, same as you. If you ask me, the best thing for us to do is stay there."

Of everything he'd overheard, this caught Kostas' attention the most. On the outskirts of what? He got the sense that this Johan was an old work buddy of his, or at least something close to that, but from where?

"So, what, you want to fight fire with fire?! You of all people should know that nobody can…"
Yet again, it sounded like he was interrupted, but this time, he didn't seem eager to let his caller dominate the conversation."
"You don't understand, there are no second chances with him! If this little scheme of yours fails, we're dead men walking!"

Now he definitely sounded scared. It was no secret that he worked in a very stressful industry, not to mention a very cut throat industry, but Kostas had never seen his cousin this anxious about anything. It felt like success just came naturally with him, but then again, he really had no idea about how the sausage was made, so to speak.

"What the hell do you know?!" Michael suddenly erupted, slightly startling him. "You have no family! Hell, you don't even have a damn name! If you want to stick your neck out like this, be my guest, but I want nothing to do with it."

Never has it been more frustrating only being able to hear one side of the conversation. Just what the hell was going on with him? Was he being warned? Threatened? Blackmailed? Or was he just being dramatic?

Whatever it was, Kostas couldn't help but worry. Even more so, he couldn't help but feel like he's heard too much…but he couldn't stop himself from listening further.

"Johan, for the last time, I'm not…" At first, it was hard to tell if Michael simply trailed off or if he'd been interrupted once again. What he said next was done so quietly that Kostas almost didn't hear it. "What did you say?"

If he sounded scared before, now he sounded downright terrified. "You're lying to me. It's far too big of a coincidence," he said some time later, regaining some sense of composure. Despite this, he sounded far from certain.

"Even if all that is true, I don't want your help. You leave me to my business, and I'll leave you to yours, same as always. Now if you would be so kind, never. Call me. Again."

That seemed to mark the end of the call, judging from the long silence that followed. Even though he'd only overheard a small portion of the call, there was a lot for Kostas to digest. But before he could do that, he made his way back to his seat as quickly and quietly as he could; once he reached it, he took out his phone and started mindlessly scrolling to further throw off suspicion.

When his cousin finally emerged from his bedroom and rejoined him at the table, he looked somewhat frustrated, but otherwise appeared perfectly calm. "Sorry about that," he said as he sat down. "An old friend had a bridge he wanted to sell me."

"Was that all that was? You sounded pretty pissed."

"Because he's a goddamn parasite." The disdain his cousin held for this 'Johan' was just as clear as it was when he was talking to him. Whatever their relationship was back in the day, it looked like Michael had burned that bridge long ago.

"Fair enough…" said Kostas. "I'm guessing you don't want to talk about it?"

"No," Michael promptly confirmed. As much as he tried to make himself appear calm and collected, his stress was starting to show. A few fresh sweat stains had appeared around his collar and he simply didn't look like he was 'present' at the moment; no doubt, he was still thinking about the contents of that call, and from what little Kostas had heard, he couldn't blame him.

"You haven't eaten a whole lot," his cousin pointed out, breaking the silence.

"Oh, yeah, I was a lot less hungry than I expected," Kostas scrambled to explain, doing his best to cover his tracks. "But thanks for all this. I completely lost track of time."
"I figured you'd appreciate it." Despite his stress and fatigue. Michael managed to break a smile, which stayed there as he leaned back in his seat and picked up another wrap. "Anyway, more for me, I guess. Least I don't have to worry about lunch tomorrow."

Kostas really wasn't sure what he should say. All he could really do was sit there and awkwardly watch as his cousin continued his meal. He obviously wanted to ask him some deeper questions about who he just talked to and what they'd talked about, but given that he didn't seem to want to talk about it, he wondered if it was better to spare him the additional headache. But in the end, Kostas' curiosity got the better of him.

"So, this 'friend' of yours. Where do you know him from?"

Michael paused his chewing and shot him a rather annoyed look, as if trying to remind him of what he'd just said on the matter. A few seconds passed with no reply and Kostas was more or less ready to drop the subject, but eventually, his cousin sighed to himself in resignation.

"Alright, fine. If it's really tearing you up that much…" Michael said. "We used to be…well, not quite partners, but we did a lot of coordinating when I was still working in banking. If I have to say one nice thing about the guy, he was very, very good at his job; always knew exactly what to do with every last cent."

"Oh, so you basically had no choice but to tolerate him?"
"Something like that. For better or worse, I wouldn't be where I am today if it wasn't for him." There wasn't a hint of fondness or nostalgia in Michael's tone. If anything, it was like it disgusted him to even admit it.

"What drove you apart then?" Kostas dared to ask.

"Like I said, he's a parasite. The whole time I was working with him, I got the sense that he'd stab me in the back the moment he even thought it would get him ahead, so I didn't give him the chance."

"You stabbed him in the back first?"

"No. I got the hell out. Me and a bunch of other people in our business circle. He didn't like that very much, obviously, but…well, eventually, we settled on a policy of live and let live. We're both better off that way."

Kostas couldn't help but notice how his cousin was speaking in mostly general terms. What exactly was this "business circle" of theirs focused on? If he hated this Johan as much as he seemed to, how and why did they manage to come to such an amicable resolution? These were all questions he wanted to ask, but ultimately decided not to. There was clearly a lot more to this business relationship and to its eventual fallout, but he hadn't expected him to tell him absolutely everything. It was probably better that he didn't.

There was however one question he simply couldn't help but ask. "Is he…still bitter?"

"You don't have to worry about him," Michael assured him almost immediately. "Johan has always believed that grudges are bad for business, and that's about the one thing we can still agree on."

Obviously, the fear in his voice during their phone call told a completely different story. Then again, it was hard to tell whether it was Johan he was scared of or something else entirely. "Well, if that's the case…"

"It is. Just forget about him," his cousin interjected.

"But…" "I said forget about him! Whatever happens with him is my business and my business only. Got it?!"

"Alright, alright, I got it!" Kostas relented, more than a little shocked at his cousin's outburst. But as forceful as he was trying to be, what he said didn't inspire much confidence in Kostas. Clearly, he didn't expect Johan to respect his "polite" request to leave him alone, which in turn meant that whatever he'd called him about was still far from settled.

Seeing his reaction, Michael's expression gradually softened. "I'm sorry, this is all just…" he started to say, still a little rattled. "I'm sick to death of it all."

"I figured," Kostas joked, managing to at least get a small smile out of him. For the next little while, the two of them sat there in silence as Michael cooled down a little. By now, he knew that asking any more questions on the subject would be a bad idea.

"You're going to have to deal with scumbags like that too, you know?" his cousin suddenly said. "Who knows. Maybe you already are."

"I kinda doubt it," Kostas replied. "But I'll definitely keep that in mind."

"Make sure you do that. Business can be a real ugly thing. Really, the best thing you can do is keep your head down, get what's yours and move on, but it doesn't always work out that way. Scratch that, it never does."

Kostas could tell that this was meant as a genuine warning, though it wasn't really one he knew what to do with right now. "Always looking over my shoulder doesn't sound very fun," he said.

"It's not, but sometimes it's necessary. People aren't always who they say they are, or who you think they are. If you're going to take anything away from this, it should be that."

Yet another warning, one that admittedly gave Kostas some pause. He wasn't telling him anything he didn't already know, or at least, nothing he couldn't have guessed for himself. Obviously, people lied, but some people were just better at it than others. In cases like that, could someone like him really tell when they were being dishonest?

"Sounds like a surefire way to become a paranoid wreck," Kostas said.

"I'm not telling you to always expect the worst, just to be prepared for it. You're bound to be disappointed at some point, but it's better to just be disappointed instead of heartbroken."

He was trying his best to drive his point home, and as much as Kostas didn't like to admit it, it was working. And that was because he knew that Michael was right. Taking everyone he met at their word was a recipe for disaster, as was expecting them to always have his best interests at heart. Acknowledging that was simply being realistic, because just like he'd said, someone was bound to disappoint him in the end.

But one question persisted, one he didn't dare voice. Why exactly was he telling him this now?

...