A pawn to Success

part 9

And indeed Damian was laying next to me, but not under the covers like me. There he was, with his bulky arm resting on top of his forehead and chest completely exposed.
I confirmed that I was still wearing my clothes from earlier by touching the fabric under the covers. I let out a subtle sigh of relief and sat up to lean against the bedpost, fiddling my fingers.

Damian followed my actions and also sat upright on the edge of the bed with his back facing me. 

"I will die soon, won't I?" I asked him out of nowhere. Even I was surprised by the question. Where did this melancholy come from?

From the looks of it, it affected Damian's posture as well. A long silence followed. Maybe he was thinking on how to answer, or maybe he wasn't planning on answering at all.

"Were you really gonna jump?" Damian answered my question with a question.

"Yes." I plainly stated, not understanding why he was asking me that.

"Well, if you continue making those stupid decisions, I can't promise you a long life." he chuckled humorlessly.

"You think I wanted to jump? You think I'm suicidal?" I was slightly angered by his blunt statements. I folded my knees and sat more upright, confronting him fully as a result.

"You think I wanted all of this? That I was waiting for a moment of life or death to come? What do you actually take me for Damian." I let out a frustrated chuckle.

"Why does it matter what I think." he was now turning into his cold and distant self again.

"Why do you always avoid my questions by turning distant and vain like this?" I started laughing and shaking my head. "I think I finally see through your façade Damian."

"My façade?" he looked at me, smirking, squinting and anticipating my explanation.

"Yes, façade. Come to think of it, you look intimidating and even terrifying sometimes; but you turn even worse when you can't answer a question. You feel like you lose power by not being able to give an explanation, so you replace that with physical strength."

"It's time to shut up, Isabelle. Don't make me do so-..." I didn't let him finish his sentence.

"Something to me? You'll do something to me? Is that what you were about to say? Because that's all you've done to me ever since we've met. Threaten me, throw me back and forth, hide the truth from me. But I'm right, aren't I. Damian Romano, the all powerful looking businessman is just a hopeless man, desperately trying to get everything under his control, but failing miserably in the process."

His eyes were now fuming and his jaw tensed as he briskly wrapped his hand around my neck, holding me in place. But I didn't fight it, I just sat there, telling him I was right from the start, by assertively staring into his eyes.

"You may think you know me, Alverez, but you're wrong. You don't know me one bit. You're just a plain, lonely woman I picked up to work for me, who desperately craves attention and love from people who wouldn't think twice about abandoning you. You think I haven't noticed how you look at me? Even me almost choking you right now probably turns you on. You know why? Cuz you're that kind of woman. Easy and pathetic." His cruel words ran through my head, triggering my longtime buried depression. This was the same man I hoped would save me, hold me and never leave me earlier. 

The more he talked the more I started fighting him, I knew he was trying to break me after I figured him out. It had to be that way, I can't allow myself to trust his words. My hands wrapped around his trying to detach them from my neck. The more I fought, the harder he pushed. 

"No, no, I'm not done yet." He mercilessly continued. "I f$cked girls like you before. Sluts who wrap themselves around every opportunity to get promoted. They make me sick. You make me sick to the core Isabelle. Every single cell in me loathes you." Was he really talking to me? I couldn't make out whether he really meant it or was trying to hurt me even more.

Regardless of his intentions, I started sobbing softly, not because there was any truth to his words, but because they really did hurt me, because I was feeling something, something I didn't want to feel for someone like him. He actually had this much influence on me. Damian succeeded in hurting me with shallow statements like those.

I felt his hand loosen its grip on my neck, without letting go completely. My eyesight started getting blurry and my hands were still on his ones, loosely laying on top of them. I laid there like a plant, not caring about the current position. 

"You want my pity? You want me to pity you, is that why you're crying? Are you that pathetic?" He was still bombarding me with baseless accusations. 

"You really are pathetic Isabelle." was the last thing he said before hungrily capturing my lips with his ones. 

That's when I knew he had a problem, Damian Romano was definitely not right in his mind. 

As was I, the person who responded to the kiss...