V E R A
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Pushing myself off of Damien's chest, I sat up and brought my legs to my chest. As he asked me to open up to him, I started to feel stuck. Sharing my feelings hadn't been one of my strong suits and it sure as hell wasn't going to start being one now.
"Can I shower first? You can join," I asked, getting off of the bed.
"Vera," He voiced, knowing that I was trying to avoid having a conversation with him.
"Please? We'll talk after, I promise," I begged, giving him a pleading look.
Sighing, he got up from the bed and pulled me into him, skin to skin. Taking one hand, he pushed a strand of hair out of my face and gave me an inquisitive look.
"You can be so difficult sometimes," He let out a short laugh, kissing my forehead.
Playfully slapping his chest, I pulled away and made my way into the bathroom. Turning on the shower, I waited until the temperature grew hot and stepped in, Damien following suit soon after.
"Jesus, Vera, this water's fucking hot," He confessed, switching places with me and adjusting to the water drops.
"A masochist in their natural habitat," I laughed, bringing my body to his and fully submerging myself under the showerhead, reminiscing of the time I had drops of wax poured down my body.
Grabbing the bottle of shampoo, Damien poured some into his hand and turned me around so that my back was facing him. As his hands met my scalp, I closed my eyes as he started to massage the soap through my hair. Stepping back under the water, I watched as the bubbles ran down my body, feeling a hand trace down my spine.
Turning around, I looked up to Damien to which I noticed he had a muddled expression as he ran shampoo through his own hair, acting as if he was in a daze.
"What are you thinking about?" I asked, pressing my hands against his chest.
"Nothing," He quickly retorted, giving me a half smile before bringing himself under the water and washing the soap from his hair.
Deciding to not push for a better answer, I silently frowned and started to overthink about what the man had going on in his head. Does he regret this?
While I was well aware that we had a complicated, quote on quote, relationship and hadn't discussed anything besides spending last night together, it only drove me more curious to figure out what exactly was going on with him—with us.
After all, as he stood beside me in my shower, this had already crossed the line of us being together for only one night.
Cleaning the rest of my body and rinsing off the suds from my skin, I stepped out of the shower to give Damien some space and let him finish up. Wrapping a towel around me, I made my way to my dresser and pulled out a shirt and some sweatpants. Quickly drying my body and the excess water from my hair, I slipped into the clothes.
Picking up Damien's clothes off of the ground, I then noticed the short pile of his folded ones I had been wearing earlier. After throwing the clothes he had been wearing over one of the bar stools, I picked up his shirt and sweatpants and spread them out over the bed for him to change into.
Making my way to the kitchen, I decided to microwave some frozen breakfast sandwiches as that was all I had the capacity to make at the moment. Hearing the shower shut off, Damien came out from the bathroom, a towel sitting on his waist.
"Oh, I have your clothes from last night. I just thought you'd want to change into something comfortable," I offered as he looked down at the bed.
"Thank you," He replied, simply, before dropping the towel and pulling on the clothes I left out for him.
"Commando, it is," He laughed as he walked up to the kitchen island.
"I made something to eat if you're hungry. Well, microwaved," I explained, pushing the plate towards him and grabbing a pitcher of water from the refrigerator.
"This is fine," He gave me a reassuring smile as I poured him a glass.
"So..." I began, walking around the bend of the counter and sitting next to him.
Hesitant to continue, the only thing I was worried about was making Damien upset. When he hired me, he had expected a no strings attached, uncomplicated relationship with his new assistant and I was everything but those things.
"I think I know who broke into the museum," I blurted out.
Quickly averting his eyes to me, he gave me a narrowed look. Sliding the bronze coin from the countertop, I picked it up and held it in front of him.
"I found this on the ground in the exhibit," I explained, flipping the coin over. "These letters stand for California College of the Arts—the university I used to attend,"
Handing him the coin, he studied the engraved letters before looking back up at me.
"Lucas Ramirez," I stated, looking away from him. "I think that's the guy you're looking for,"
"Who is he?" He asked, sternly.
I debated, once again, speaking about my personal life to Damien as I wasn't sure I wanted to share these things to him. Although I knew, the only way he would be able figure this whole thing out was if I gave him answers.
Pushing my wet hair behind my ears, I placed my arms on top of the counter, staring straight ahead for a minute before redirecting my gaze to his.
"He's someone I used to date," I began, starting to unravel details I hadn't spoken about in almost a year.
"We were together for a few months until things started to get really difficult with him. To give you the short version, he made my life a living hell. It started off with him cheating to him controlling everything I did, which later turned into him going as far as to breaking into my home and stalking me,"
Memories I had tried to rid my thoughts of were beginning to find its way back to me, causing me to silently fall apart as Damien sat next to me.
"One night, he broke into my dorm room while I was sleeping but—but before he could do anything to me, my roommate came back and called security," My words came out in short waves as I fought the urge to cry.
"After I gave my statement, they searched his dorm and found a bunch of pictures in his room of me sleeping, showering, walking around campus, completely violating me," I continued, my voice faltering. "They ended up arresting and charging him on counts of personal violence but the court only gave him five years,"
"But that coin? They give that to every student at CCA's orientation. I know it can't be mine so the only explanation I have is that—" I paused, closing my eyes at the thought of Luke finding me. "I think he's out,"
Letting out a long exhale I had been holding in, I started to pick at my fingers to distract me from the fact I had just explained everything to Damien. Gently placing his hand over mine, he tried to calm me down before speaking.
"Thank you for sharing that with me," He spoke with a soft tone. "I can't imagine how you're feeling right now but please know that everything that boy put you through, doesn't define you in any way,"
His reassuring words blanketed me, almost immediately putting me at ease. For the past year or so, I felt like everything that had happened to me was somehow my fault. While it was far from the truth, I thought that maybe if I had just put up with the things Luke did, I would've been better off.
"Can you tell me why you think it might be him? How would he know where you're working?" Damien asked, rubbing his thumb over my hand.
Pulling away from him, I opened my laptop and showed him the article that had both named me as the designer behind the exhibit and insinuated that Damien and I were more than coworkers. As he scrolled through, he let out a sharp breath.
"Fucking christ," He swore, running one of his hands through his hair. "I'm so sorry, Vera. If I had known they were going to publish something like this, I would've immediately shut it down. I'll call my team right now and let them know—"
"No, it's fine," I cut him off, placing my hand over his. "If anything I'm saying is true, I just need this to be over and done with. I'm sorry for causing all of this, "
Looking down, I wiped away the tears that started to form in my eyes, silently cursing myself for getting overwhelmed time and time again in front of him. Placing his hand on my chin, he slowly turned my face to his.
"Don't do that. Don't apologize for anything, this isn't your fault," His hand caressing the side of my face. "We'll figure this out, okay?"
Giving him a small nod, his phone pinged, causing him to stand up and grab the device from the jeans lying over one of the stools. After reading something on his screen, he let out a relieved sigh before turning back to me.
"The museum is currently fixing the security system and placing restrictions on visitors right now. It'll take some time until everything is settled but I promise you, I won't let anything happen like this again," He spoke in a serious manner.
Before I could respond, my own phone started to ring. Sliding it towards me, I groaned at the name that popped up—mama. Lifting one of his eyebrows, Damien gave me an inquisitive look.
"Hey ma," I answered, leaning on the counter.
"Verani, your face is on the news! They're saying your job was broken into, what is going on?"
"I'm fine, there's nothing to worry about," I lied, not wanting to deal with any extra commentary. "It's just a minor situation and it's all being dealt with. I promise you, I'm okay,"
"Baby, maybe you need to come back home, I don't know if I like this," She added, in an attempt to use the break-in as an excuse for me to backtrack.
"No, I told you I'm fine. I'm completely safe and I even start school next week, I just need to focus on work and my studies right now, okay?" I explained, trying to calm her.
"Look, I have to go right now. I'm handling some things with my boss, I'll call you later. Isn't it nighttime over there? You should get some rest,"
"Verani, I only want what's best for you. You don't call, papa and I don't know what's going on with you and I have no idea what you're doing over there. Please just think about it," She continued, still adamant on changing my mind four-thousand miles away.
A part of me knew where she was coming from as it was true, I don't call. The reason being because I knew she'd only try and persuade me to give up on all of this every chance she got. While I was in a shitty situation, it wasn't enough for me to turn my back on something I had put so much effort into already.
"Yeah, okay," I paused, bringing my hand to my forehead. "Love you."
Hanging up, I sighed as I placed my phone back onto the counter .
"Your classes begin next week?" Damien asked, seriously.
"That's the only thing you got from that conversation?" I responded, letting out a short laugh.
"Seriously, Vera. Answer me," He continued, his stern look not lifting for a second.
"Yeah, I do. I thought you already knew this, I won't be at the museum for the entire week except Friday due to orientation and stuff. Why are you asking?"
Sitting back down beside me, he ran one of his hands over his face.
"After everything we just talked about, you think being alone at a new university, in a city you don't know your way around, is a good idea right now?" He questioned, giving me a patronizing look.
"Don't look at me like that," I retorted, slightly annoyed.
Based on current circumstances, I knew Damien was only coming from a place of concern but I couldn't help but feel like he was treating me like a child again. As he questioned my decisions, it only brought me back to the multiple times my parents had challenged me about my choices.
"All I'm saying is that you need to be smarter about this," He lectured, narrowing his gaze on me. "We haven't even figured out what's going on and you're ready to dive head first into all of this just so you don't miss out on opportunities,"
"It's not your decision to make." I quickly countered. "Besides, I'll be on campus with a bunch of other people and it'll only be for a few hours a day,"
Letting out a bothered sigh, he knew I wasn't going to budge, further confirming his earlier confession that I was difficult to deal with.
Yawning, I looked at him, studying his face. Noticing how tired he looked, from his sunken cheeks and the dark circles under his eyes, I silently questioned when the last time this man had slept was.
"Hey, you should get some rest," I quietly spoke, bringing my hand to the side of his face. "To be honest with you, you look like shit,"
Laughing, he leaned into my hand and closed his eyes. Staying still for a moment, the room fell silent. Our steady breaths filling the room. Gently bringing my hand down from his face, he leaned over and kissed my cheek.
"I should get going. I have a few things to do back at the museum and then I'll get some rest. Are you sure you'll be fine by yourself? I can tell Cordelia to come—"
"I'll see you on Friday," I interrupted, giving him a reassuring look.
Shaking his head, he rolled his eyes before standing up and grabbing his belongings. Remembering I had his car keys, I wondered how he even got here to begin with. Grabbing them off of the counter, I handed them out to him.
"Wait, how'd you get here? I have your keys," I asked.
"I have more than one car, Vera," He grinned, pushing my hand back to me. "Keep them for now, so you don't have to pay for cabs all the time,"
Attempting to decline, he ignored me and continued to grab the rest of his stuff. I placed the expensive keys back on the table, knowing that he wouldn't take no as an answer. Following him to the door, I opened it where he then walked into the hallway. Looking down at me, he pondered for a moment, making me curious as to what he was thinking about.
Snapping out of his thoughts, he spoke.
"Friday, then. On time, Miss Adams?"
"On time, sir."