Leonardo knew for sure he was pretty awful to Dr. Mickelson this afternoon during his valve replacement surgery. The guilt gnawed his chest up to a point of slowly seeping inside his brain—it was deleterious. Seth's face had killed him. He looked—shattered.

The guilt was messing with his sanity and there was no one else to blame but him. Sometimes a guy needs to do what he's gotta do. "Nice guys finish last." Leonardo was familiar with this widely believed maxims of dating. Fleshed out, the main idea is everyone wants nice characteristics in a partner, but in reality what they really want is a challenge that comes with dating an asshole.

Leonardo was being an asshole for a total different reason though, he wanted to shelve Seth as far away from him as he could. There was something about getting it on with someone you know is unattainable that just feels hotter. It's like a forbidden fantasy—Seth was a forbidden fantasy. He was like a primal force that attracted Leonardo to him despite him knowing the two of them couldn't happen. He wasn't going to be that horny boss chasing down his subordinates for a one nighter between the sheets, hell he was way better than that.

Was he any better?

Leonardo tried to push the whole incident at the back of his head, to leave the past behind but he couldn't do it. The Italian stood idle inside his double glazed glass office watching Seth through the one way windows as he dissolved into another faceless crowd of San Francisco.

If there's one thing the man could ever wish for at that very moment was a time machine. Leonardo wanted to go back in time and rectify his mistake, he wanted to retract his words. He wanted to kiss that sadness away. Can you stop already? That night was a mistake and you know that.

"Cazzo! Cazzo! Cazzo!" The attending was frustrated, he found himself cussing in his native language and thanks to those sound proof walls no one was able to hear him at the verge of losing his mind.

"What the hell have I done?" Leonardo asked himself for the umpteenth time. The only thing stopping him from pulling his hair was actually the size, he had gotten himself a nice hair trim and a facial too so he was only left with clenching his hands into tight fists causing the knuckles to whiten.

Leonardo was ultimately absorbed in his hay-wired  thoughts to notice Dr. Brad slipping inside his office. The neurosurgeon was far from looking pleased, he was very disappointed and never bothered to mask his scowl.

"I heard what happened in the OR today." Brad sighed, tossing his lab coat on the visitor's couch followed by unbuttoning his engraved cufflinks and rolling the sleeves of his shirt up to his elbows. "What were you even thinking Leonardo? You know how that shit can destroy a resident's confidence, forever."

I wasn't thinking—that's the fucking problem, Brad.

"Everyone is talking about it," Brad added as if to infuriate Leonardo more. He was doing a good job at fueling the Italian man's guilt. "You know Seth is actually a good doc—"

Leonardo had heard enough. "Bradley I get it, I messed up okay?"

For a moment Dr. Brad was stunned, not because Leonardo had used his full government name which he normally never did but because the chief of surgery Leonardo Bravucci had admitted his mistake.

If there's one thing Brad knew, Leonardo carried an ego. He was a narcissistic man and he exuded it. During their well spent time Brad had never at one point heard the man utter words of remorse. It's like he didn't care about what other people felt except for those in his closest inner circle. Brad thought Leonardo's narcissism was pampered by his loaded family background.

After all his family was capable of financially sponsoring AC Milan, a whole successful football club all in the name of football patriotism. Even though, money still poured in like normal sweat to the Bravucci family. The Bravucci's were so damn influential in the Mediterranean throughout Europe and none of them were down to earth except Isabella Conte, Leonardo's mother, bless the woman's pure soul. She would've been the Mary of this generation if possible. She was that flawless.

"You should be telling that to Mickelson, not me." Brad shrugged, curling his fingers around the phone he was holding, he must've been waiting for a notification which however was not showing.

"I'm leaving for the day, my shift is done anyway." Leonardo informed Brad coolly though his brain was far from being cool. He was eating himself from the inside and thanks to Brad the situation had gotten even worse than it was.

"I'm done too, we can hang out at The Bulldogs for a few hours?" Brad suggested.

The Bulldogs was a classy bar not so far from Sullivan Hospital. Brad loved the rock and alternate music that dominated the atmosphere. There was a minimalistic human interaction, only wafts of cigarette smoke and the bourbon served there was pretty darn good. It was a perfect chillspot to unwind after a long day like this one.

Leonardo however had other plans which involved Skyping his four year old daughter who was apparently spending some time in Milan with his mother. "I'll have to take a rain check, I've some stuff to take care of." The Italian man stated picking up his briefcase and car keys from his impeccably organized desk.

"I'll see you tomorrow then," Brad said. "You should talk to Seth, soon."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. I will get to that." He responded in a very much unconvincing tone. Brad let him be, admitting he was wrong was actually a miracle on its own.

Leonardo didn't need a sorcerer to know that his friend adored the young resident. It was going to be painfully hard to tell him he'd small history with the resident which he wished to pursue on a deeper level. It wouldn't surprise him if Brad thought of Seth as a younger brother of some sorts. The man has always been the affectionate type.

Leonardo thought differently. He saw Seth as a reckless, untamed and yet captivating wild fire that continuously burnt his soul. Not that he would ever admit it to the younger resident but he loved the color of his eyes, they reminded him of glimmering spring onions in his late grandfather's garden back home in Milan at the fall of autumn.

Suddenly as Leonardo drove in his sleek black Maserati, rain bore down mercilessly upon the heart of San Francisco. The temperatures had dropped noticeably causing the surgeon to switch on the car heater. No one could've expected a heavy rain pounding in the middle of July. It was supposed to be warm not mad hails coming down hard like that.

The chaotic rain drops continued to hammer on top of the vehicle's roof. Leonardo couldn't help himself but to think of those people who were not as fortunate as he was, especially the homeless. He might've been a patronizing narcissistic but he also had a heart stringed with feelings. His family also participated in those charity events even though Leonardo himself never graced them. He never saw the point of physically being there when he could just donate from the comfort of his own home.

On the side walk was a very familiar looking young man. He was standing underneath a rain shield of a curb probably waiting for a bus. He was unmistakably dressed up maybe a date? Leonardo reduced the car speed to get himself a better visual which he did. It was Dr. Seth Mickelson in his casual wear. The younger man's outfit was black from top to bottom consisting of a bad boy leather jacket, high cut boots and jeans. Leonardo thought the resident looked sexy but maybe if he was paying more attention to the road...

This afternoon Leonardo had vaguely messed up but what he just did now was no doubt a royal fuckup of all centuries. Splashing someone with dirty water from a puddle was not only considered absurdly rude but only high grade assholes were associated with that kind of immoral behavior.

"Oh shit..." The Italian surgeon muttered to himself.

Seth was drenched, soaked in the disgusting puddle water and fuming like a mad wildebeest. Leonardo immediately slammed the brakes with an intention to offer Seth a lift home but he was too late, someone else had already beat him to that.

"Wow." Leonardo chuckled to himself mostly from utter disbelief and shock. "Just wow." he repeated completely stunned before driving off to his own penthouse somewhere in the city's crux. He was now officially on the stinking side of Dr. Seth Mickelson. Initially that was the plan but why was this starting to feel like he'd gone way too far? 

. . .

"He's not really a bad person you know," Brad muttered under his breath eyeing a livid Seth who was sopping wet in the passenger's seat. Seth wanted to believe Dr. Brad's words because he was a respectable decent man but he couldn't. "He's just a little...intricate." Brad added but the younger resident only scoffed in response.

"He's a dick, that's what he is. I don't know what I ever did to him..." Seth trailed on his words, musing.

You know exactly what you did to him! You were the asshole first, remember? But it wasn't my fault—I panicked that night alright!

Seth hated himself for finding the man even more attractive by each passing day. There should be a mental condition for that. Seth thought to himself sulking in Dr. Brad's warm car compared to the frigid weather outside.

Brad hummed softly, "About today, he didn't know..."

"That I don't scrub in for cardio? I don't believe that." Seth snorted. "You should've seen what happened in that OR, it's like he'd planned to humiliate me."

"I'm sorry Seth." Dr. Brad sighed. "Where were you headed to anyway?" The blond neurosurgeon was obviously hinting at Seth's dress code.

Seth shrugged before replying, "Drinking. I needed it after today, you know?"

"At a gay bar?" Brad prodded, eyeing the resident from the corner of his lashes.

"Yes, problem?" Seth questioned almost irritably. He was ready to throw back some shade if Dr. Brad was one of those rude homophobes.

"Not at all, just curious that's all." Dr. Brad calmly replied.

For a while both men remained in silence with only the pattering of the rain and windshield wipers being detected. Brad seemed to hang out with Leonardo a lot so they were probably friends. Seth wanted to ask Brad a few questions concerning Dr. Bravucci but he needed to craft his game carefully in order to ask without coming off as a stalker.

"So you and Dr. Bravucci are close?" He pretended to be casual about it. Brad hadn't caught on the loose ends behind Seth's inquisition.

"You can say that, yeah." Brad shrugged, concentrating more on the road in front of him.

"I wonder how his wife feels about being married to an asshole like him." Seth knew exactly what he was doing.

"I also wonder."

Seth all but grumbled something under his breath.

"You sound interested in his private life," Brad smirked, eliciting a subtle pink hue on Seth's cheeks. "You can ask him everything you want to know tomorrow. He doesn't bite, unless you want him to?"

"I was just sayin', jeez!" Seth laughed nervously.

Brad laughed, too. "Whatever you say, Mickelson."

The drive to Seth's apartment was now a slow one, a few words being exchanged here and there but it was mostly medicine talk and nothing personal. At some point Seth's mind had zoned out to notice Dr. Brad was pulling into his apartment driveway.

"Are you still down for some late night drinking?" Dr. Brad nudged the younger man to gain his lost attention. Seth eyed the neurosurgeon incredulously, was Brad asking him... out?

"The bar are you still..."

"Yes, but..."

Dr. Brad could hear the wheels twisting and turning inside Seth's head. "I've been at gay bars a couple of times with friends, it's nothing new." He said, a crooked smile clearly visible on his face. "Besides, they serve better alcohol if I'm being totally honest."

"Oh, right," Seth didn't know what else to say. "I'll find something else to wear then."