Damien was irritatedly angry for a lot of reasons - One of them was the fact that Madison might have been pregnant, but still she broke up with him. He couldn't even begin to fathom why she would keep something like that from him.
Another reason why Damien was angry was another torturing thought that haunted him.
The uncertain thought that the baby might not be his had his chest squeezing in pain.
The thought first surfaced when his mother had asked about Madison two days ago when he had a hangover, and at first he had only been annoyed, but as his mother kept on mentioning her name, he couldn't help but feel angry.
He wasn't even sure why he was so angry.
Was it because she had kept the news about the baby from him? Or the thought that there was a chance that she had cheated on him?
Not even a chance, she had blatantly told him to his face. Right before they had broken up, he had caught her with the other guy so many times and she looked... Fuck! He was so angry... angry with Madison.
He hated not knowing about anything, he needed someone to blame, somewhere to direct his anger to, and Madison was the only reasonable explanation for this.
He hated the fact that she had carried a baby without him knowing.
Now as he sat in his office, he realized that he was only jumping into conclusions and letting his emotions get the better of him.
These things could still be rumors, and he had no solid reason to believe that. There was no need to think on rumors then build on them, until they began to eat him up. He was basing all his thoughts on what he had heard, and the recordings from those neighbors who probably had no idea what might have really happened.
They were just gossips and rumors for goodness sake, and he kept trying to have some kind of hope.
Once again, anger coursed through him.
This anger which was directed to Madison, as she was the cause of all the drama that had occurred these past few weeks.
Once again, just like the past he was repeating the same mistake again. He was judging without hearing her own side of the story, or digging deep.
Sighing deeply, he shook his head, raking his hands through his hair. He let his mind roam for a while, and when something struck in his head, he deliberated upon it and then he made up his mind.
Picking up the office phone, he dialed his secretary.
Minutes later without wasting any time, she soon came in, and looking up, he blurted out, "I'll need you to book me a flight to London. Check the available dates and time for flights and forward them to me. I'll decide what day, I want my flight booked."
"From the local airport?" She questioned and Damien nodded saying, "Yes, I wont be taking my private jet. Get the dates and inform me as soon as possible."
"Right away, sir." She nodded and then with a bow, she was gone.
Damien inhaled deeply.
This was something he had to do, and he was not turning back.
With the way he was raging internally, he knew he would only relax and be at ease when he knew the full story.
Talking to Madison was the only way to find out, and that was what he was going to do, irrespective of the fact that she might not want to talk to him.
Nevertheless, he needed to clear things up, separate the rumors from reality and know what to act upon. He needed answers to all the questions that were packed up in his head, and most importantly yet again he needed to know... if she really had been pregnant.
If she had carried his child, or that of another man's.
Rubbing his forehead, Damien looked down at the marble tiled floor, exhausted. It was tiring thinking so much about everything, but he didn't really have a choice.
He felt like going back home to rest up, but he had so many things to do.
As he sat waiting for motivation to work, he heard someone knock at the door and without even waiting for his response, it swung open and Alvarez walked in, some files in his hand.
He looked at Damien curiously taking a seat, and placing the files on the desk, he asked, "Are you good?"
Damien cleared his throat and then nodded.
He and Alvarez had not been talking much as of late, so now the conversation seemed to be a little bit weird for him. He had caused the strain between them though, or it was mutual on both sides, Damien didn't even know.
"Yeah I'm fine." He answered simply after a while.
Alvarez didn't look like he believed him but he nodded.
Gesturing to the files, he said, "I actually brought these files to meet you two days ago. But apparently you weren't at work, and I met Katherine here instead."
Damien frowned, "Katherine? Why would Katherine be here?" He asked, confused.
Alvarez shifted in his chair, and it took a while before he spoke up again, "When I came here to give the files to you, I caught her snooping around on your laptop. Almost like she was looking for something. She looked annoyed to see me walk in. It was really strange."
Damien's frown deepened.
Why would Katherine be in his office? He remembered that he was absent from work two days ago, and Katherine had been in his house that morning but she left after a while.
Why would she come to his office though, and what did she want with his laptop? It made no sense to Damien whatsoever, and he tried thinking if he had sent her on errand in his drunk haz, but he couldn't recall a thing.
He didn't want to push this matter though, as there were other pressing matters at hand right now.
"Katherine will always be Katherine. She was probably just checking out something random. Nothing to worry about, though." He said dismissively, waving Alvarez's comment away, "Anyways, the files. What do you have for me?"
Alvarez shrugged at Damien's comment. He obviously wasn't satisfied with the reaction to the news about Katherine, but just like Damien wanted he didn't push it any further.
Nodding, he opened up the files and turned it around to face Damien, "The new additions to the security team are doing pretty good. I think it's time we get them weapons, so we'll need a small supply of guns."
Damien nodded, reading through the files. "Ammunition's and vehicles too right?" He asked, picking up a pen from his drawer, "We could provide few more cars as well."
"Correct." Alvarez nodded, "The vehicles available need to be serviced as well. We've been having some little troubles lately."
Damien nodded, "You can call the mechanics departments for that. I'll sign for ammunition, guns and new vehicles to be provided." Quickly, he scrawled his signature on all the papers, and handed them back to Alvarez.
"Okay. Thank you." Alvarez said. Damien nodded, his eyes going back to his own work.
"How's things going on here?" He heard Alvarez ask after a while.
"What?" He looked up, confused.
"How's business going?" Alvarez asked further elaborating.
"Great, I guess." He wasn't sure why the conversation with Alvarez felt so stiff, but then he couldn't place a particular blame.
"And Madison? The investigation? How is it going?"
This was exactly what he wanted to ask, Damien should have known and he felt his heart clench at the words.
He had so much to say but nobody to say it to.
His heart was so full, but because of some silly spat he couldn't even talk to his best friend right now.
These past weeks had been terrible, overwhelming even and he had spent it all without Alvarez, or even talking to him. Damien realized that no matter how hard he tried to shove it aside, he still missed him. He missed his best friend.
"Look, Alvarez. I know things have been stiff and awkward between us, and I know why. I just...I'm sorry about everything. I miss having you around, talking to you." He paused waiting for Alvarez to say something but there was silence on his end, and sighing Damien continued, "There are so many things I want to say to you. Things we need to discuss about you know. The past few weeks has been overwhelming and I want us to talk. I need someone to talk to. So can we? We can pick a day, go to a bar like we used to. To just... talk."
Finally Alvarez gave a nod and said slowly, in a whisper that Damien almost didn't hear him, "Okay then. That would he nice."
Damien lips stretched in a wide grin, "Thank you so much brother."
Suddenly Alvarez started, seemingly remembering something he had forgotten to ask, "Did you get the letters from—"
The sound of Damien's ringtone interrupted him before he could complete his statement, and even though he wanted to know what his friend wanted to ask him about, he raised a finger up to excuse himself.
This call was important and picking up the phone, Damien saw that it was Antonio Garcia calling.
He nearly jumped from his seat in surprise, and turning to Alvarez before answering the phone he said, "It's important business, and I have to take it. We're still on for tomorrow right? After work right?" When Alvarez nodded, he continued, "Okay then, I'll see you at the bar tomorrow night.
"Okay then Damien."
Quickly, he waved Alvarez away with a smile, turned his gaze on the files scattered on the office table, and brought his phone to his ear.
.......
Madison licked the tomato sauce off her palm, smacking her lips in approval from the taste.
She sprinkled one last pinch of salt into the pot, and then she closed the pot to allow it simmer. She had been feeling so down for a few days now, so she had decided to treat herself to a nice dinner to see if it would cheer her up.
So far, so good to her utmost surprise it was working.
She couldn't remember the last time she had prepared a decent, hot meal for herself.
All she had been having was tea and sandwiches, thanks to the bread she got at the bakery after work. It was a very big help to her because it meant she didn't need to spend so much, but today, she wanted a nice, hot dinner.
Pasta was sure to do the trick, and from work she had branched to the market, buying the things she would need to cook the delicious meal.
As she brought down the pot of tomato stew from the stove, she filled another pot with water and placed it on the stove for the pasta.
She leaned against the wall as she waited for the water to heat, and just as she tried to slip her phone out of her pocket, intent on keeping herself busy, a knock sounded at her door.
Madison glanced over at the door, surprised to hear the knocking sound.
She wasn't really expecting anybody today, and as she moved toward the door she wondered if it was one of her neighbors, but to her surprise, she opened the door to reveal a postman.
"Good day." He greeted, "Mail for a certain Miss Connor?"
Madison nodded, answering still quite surprised, "Yes, I'm Madison Connor."
The postman nodded, slipping out a letter from his messenger bag and handing it to her.
"I have a letter for you, but you'll need to sign here." He continued as she took the letter from him.
Madison quickly did so, nodding at him when he took his leave, and closing the door gently she glanced down at the letter once more, her heart racing in anticipation.
Could it be? Could Damien have replied her letter finally? She wondered, bringing the letter closer to her chest and saying a silent prayer.
It would make absolute sense if it was him, since she had sent letters to him alone, and that was that.
She hoped this was good news, and deciding that she needed to be completely focused to read whatever he had wrote, she went back into the kitchen and turned off the stove.
Picking the envelope back up, she lowered herself onto the small wooden seat nearby, and she began to rip the paper open quickly.
She turned the letter over, as it was fully opened, and then she frowned. Its exterior was stained red. Confused now, Madison finally tore the letter open.
Brightly written on the paper, inscribed in bold letters with what looked like blood were the words, 'WATCH YOUR BACK BITCH. YOUR DOOM IS COMING.'
Letting out a sharp scream in shock, Madison dropped the paper.
Her heart pounded in her chest as she wondered if this was some kind of sick joke, and quickly unlocking her door she ran outside, with hopes that the postman had not gone too far, but she was to late. He was nowhere to be found, already gone.
"Shit!" Madison breathed, placing her hands on her chest, as she tried to catch her breath.
There was no address whatsoever on the letter. It was basically just a blank piece of paper with a threat, and the postman who was the only person that might have an inkling as to where it had been from had left already.
Due to her brief excitement, she had completely forgotten to ask about the sender's address and all other necessary info and now she was sorely filled with regrets.
Her hand rubbing at her chest again she stared at her surroundings.
The words on that letter chilled her bones to the core, and the only thought her mind went to was the man in the bushes who had been stalking her.
Her hands shook in fear and she quickly went back into the house, double checking the doors and windows to make sure they were closed and secure.
What just happened now was a clear, direct threat that someone was plotting something against her, and at this point she was powerless.
She had no idea what to do about it, at the same time feeling exposed and unsafe.
The first person her mind went to was Alvarez. She had to talk to him. She had told him that there were people stalking her but Alvarez thought there was nothing to worry about, and he had even told her that Damien had sorely denied the involvement.
Now it was confirmed that someone was watching her, and she didn't want to believe that Damien wasn't involved in all this.
Trying to catch a grip on herself, she decided she would call Alvarez later, as he would probably be at work right now.
When she finally calmed down, she walked back into the kitchen to continue her cooking, even though she had already lost her appetite.
Once again, she was reminded of the fact that without doubt an enemy was lurking nearby, but could it be Damien? Or another person, but who?
.......
Thanks for reading. 💕