Your Body Is A Wonderland.

Back To You

Another short chapter, I'm sorry. But I've been caught up in a lot! I'll update soon!

He grinned at me, but the smile didn’t reach his eyes. He’d changed. He’d changed a lot.

“Hi, Aud.”

Randy was nowhere to be found, but I didn’t mind. He had other business to attend to.

I slowly closed the door behind me, while training my eyes on Damian’s. I was unsure of what to think.

His hair was buzzed short, but it was still the same dark brown as mine. His eyes were the same, of course, but the light behind them seemed to have faded. He’d gotten a bit taller and a bit more muscular, but his face showed his age more than anything.

Damian looked tired, like he hadn’t slept in years.

He kept smiling at me and nodded over for me to sit on the couch across from where he was sitting.

I slowly obeyed, but my eyes still never left his.

“So.” He mumbled, his smile falling and his voice quiet. “You’re probably wondering why I’m here.”

I looked at him and wondered why I was frightened by him. He was my brother and he had been the most important person for the majority of my life.

But he felt like a stranger now.

I nodded slowly and allowed him to talk.

“I came here to talk to you.” He stated simply, making steady eye contact with me.

“Why?” My voice came out smaller than I had intended.

“I miss you, Auden.”

My eyes narrowed slightly, “It’s been over seven years. You’ve had over seven years to talk to me.”

“I didn’t know if you’d still be here.” He explained, “But I especially didn’t expect you to be here.”

I watched him look around with an expression of disgust. “Auden, what have you gotten yourself into?”

I glared at him, “This is my life now, Damian, whether you approve or not. You left me and I had to fend for myself.”

His temper started to rise. This wasn’t how I’d imagined our reunion to be like.

“And this is what you resolved to? Selling your body? Auden, that’s disgusting!” He growled.

I lifted my chin, “Sure, but it’s how I make my living. Besides, why do you even care anymore? You were out of my life the moment you ran out the door and you know it.”

I wanted to take back what I was saying. I didn’t mean the things I said. But all the anger that had been pent up inside me had erupted and resulted in this.

Damian scowled, “I told you that I’d come back to you. I promised you that. Don’t you remember?”

I snorted, “What was I supposed to do? Sit around and do nothing until you came for me? I had to get on with my life for the time being.”

Pain flashed across his face, “I know you were trying to track me down.”

My eyes widened, “What? How?”

He smiled slightly, “Well for one, your private investigators are really not that sneaky. And also, I have my sources too.”

I sighed, giving up the angry attitude, “I’ve been missing you, too.”

He reached over and gave me a hug. I wrapped my arms around him tightly and embraced him as hard as I could to make up for the years I couldn’t.

“I’m sorry it took so long.” He whispered in my hair, “I’ve been preoccupied.”

I leaned back into my chair, “What have you been up to then? Do you have a job? A wife? Kids?”

He chuckled, “I have a job, but no wife or kids. I actually haven’t thought about settling down with anyone since Sarah.”

I perked up, “Speaking of Sarah, I saw her the other day.”

Damian frowned, “Really? What did she say to you?”

“She’d just asked if I had seen you recently and to let her know when I did.” I responded, “Should I give her a call?”

“No!” He almost shouted, “Don’t.”

“Damian, what’s going on?” I asked, suddenly remembering my conversation with Sarah.

“What do you mean?”

I looked away for a second and then looked back at him, “I mean, Sarah said that you might be dealing with something that I probably wouldn’t understand and she sounded so sketchy about it.”

His lips pressed into a hard line, “She told you too much already.”

I glanced at him, “What are you saying?”

He looked out the window and towards the door, “Is it safe to talk here?”

I stared at him, “Why wouldn’t it be?”

He sighed, “Listen carefully, Auden, and don’t tell anyone what I’m going to tell you, okay? I’m putting you in danger by telling you all of this.”

I nodded silently.

“I’ll start from the beginning.”

Damian had been living at friends’ houses until he had a stable enough job to support himself. A man had approached him while he was out for a jog and asked if he was interested in a new career opportunity. He hadn’t understood at the time, but they later explained it to him. “They”, meaning a special police force similar to the CIA, only more secretive and more specific. The organization had sought out Damian because they had noticed that he had no other family members that were constant in his life and he was strong and independent: the perfect makings for an undercover agent. He had been working on the same case since he began: finding an infamous drug cartel leader. This man, Peter Shaw, had been accused of rape, murder, involvement with illegal substances, abduction, and countless other felonies. He realized that Shaw had been sighted in the area recently and came to find me to ensure that I was safe.

Sarah had been part of his team for a while, until she and another member went on their own and hadn’t been heard from since. He had assured me that they were still the “good guys”, but just a little more unreliable.

It was a lot of information to take in all at once, but Damian had told me that there was more he couldn’t say.

“He’s one of the most dangerous men out there.” He said gravely, “Not many people know about him because we’re afraid the media will draw too much attention to him, making it easier for the bastard to hide.”

He looked at his watch and frowned, “I have to go. If you see Sarah, tell her that I’ll be waiting for her call at the double zero on the forty-third, okay?”

I nodded, even though I had no idea what that meant.

He kissed my forehead and headed for the door, “Auden, I’m so sorry this was cut short, but I’m not supposed to be here. I’ll make sure you stay safe and when this is all over, we can be together again. I love you.”

I watched at the door clicked shut behind him.

I shut my eyes and replayed our rushed reunion in my mind. It was a relief to know that he was alive and safe, but it was also unsettling given the fact that he was literally hunting down an extremely dangerous man.

A soft knock on the door shook me from my thoughts.

“Auden?” Randy asked, peeking into the room, “You wouldn’t be interested in taking another client would you?”

I shrugged, knowing I could use the money, “Sure.”

He frowned and came over to me, “I wasn’t eavesdropping, but I heard you two arguing. I’m sorry about whatever has happened.” He patted my cheek gently, “Take the night off, hon.”

I smiled thankfully at him and got up to leave.

Damian was home.