Should Have Not Asked - New Adult Romance (Wattys 2014)

Chapter 8 - Masking Feelings

There he is at the table by the window. He isn't with his friends but a group of girls raking their claws around his arms. From the counter, one could mistake them as sitting on his lap. However, I am too happy to interrupt their Friday night by the diner's medieval 'no public display of affection' policy. I think I'll just let these girls and Damien have the peace.

Indeed, I can't take the smile off my face. My coming to the bank is a success. Though not really sure I will get a loan, at least they promised to process my application. Whatever made Mr. Eckert change his mind is totally beyond logical explanation. If Mrs. De Burg can't explain, how can I? As long as I get the loan, I'm okay with anything. Nothing can depress me now, not even the sight of Damien with other girls. Not that I care about him in the first place. Seeing him attests to the fact that what happened between us last night is a common thing to him, something not worth worrying about. Why make a big deal out of it? If he can shrug it off so easily, why can't I?

Yes, the ten grand is tempting, more so the million dollars, but now that I found my new ray of light, I'll never gamble into that kind of deal ever again. All I have to do now is pray that they grant my loan and that I graduate so that I can look for a good job. I am doing all these for my family. Whoever this guardian angel Mrs. De Burg was talking about, I owe to him or her this hope. He or she literally picked me up from the depths of despair and hopelessness.

"You look really happy!" Ray says, peering through a glass as if it is a telescope.

"Never better!" I answer.

"Any good news about your father?"

"No, but I feel there will be good news when I go there tonight."

"So what's the smile all about?" He stands at my side, commanding my full attention.

"The bank might lend me money," I answer while I slice the ham and cheese.

"Really?" A wide-eyed Ray covers his mouth with his hand after his shriek almost startled everyone. "Oh, God! That is absolutely marvelous! I am happy for you!"

"I know!" I feel butterflies in my stomach. I have been waiting to share with him this happiness since I arrived at Maxwell's'. "I wish I get a job after I graduate so I can pay all our debts. I can't imagine being homeless after graduation."

"You will! That brain of yours is worth every penny of a huge company." Ray is so good at pulling up my self-esteem. He should not know what happened last night. He must not know that I pulled the trigger. Weren't it not because of Damien's questionable compassion or whatever you call that, I would have been an indecent woman now — a whore to be exact. I will not let anything destroy Ray's perception of me. Besides, it's already in the past, and Damien seems to have forgotten it now. He looks extremely overjoyed with his group of beneficiaries.

"Now, let me take this order."

"Table three?" He looks at me with a tensed glare. "It's Etheridge's table, Angel." He must be so surprised I am not hiding from him this time.

"Let me take this one, Ray!" I say and wink at him, making sure he sees that I am confident to face Etheridge.

I leave him at the counter looking clueless.

When I reach table three, Damien immediately looks up at me, the smile not leaving his rather gorgeous face.

"What a surprise!" he exclaims, leaning back.

His girls chuckle as they scrutinize me from head to toe.

"May I take your order?" I throw the question at him, flipping my hair to the side and glaring at a woman showing off her legs exposed from her skimpy skirt.