Being in his old family house had felt strange to Damien.
He had a bittersweet feeling raging in him, and seeing that he was torn between the two emotions he didn't know which to choose at all.
There was a strange kind of warmth that came with walking into his old room, and although it had been renovated and everything looked different, it still felt the same.
He tried not to think about it way more than he should, because if he continued to let himself dwell in the past, then he was sure that the nostalgic feeling would soon change to anger.
All in all though, the house had been in perfect condition, and spending about thirty minutes in there, when he was done, he ordered his driver to take them back to a hotel he'd booked prior to his coming.
It was the best hotel in the town and it wasn't too far from where he planned to go so he paid for the suites.
For comfort, he made sure everyone in his entourage had their separate room, with everything they would need and after ordering room service and making sure everyone was comfortable, Damien stayed awake looking through the files the investigator had handed him.
Being in his house earlier gave him a weird feeling and sighing deeply, Damien put the files back in their place and tried to get some small sleep.
He would need it, as he was going to face his past tomorrow and again with time breezing, the next morning arrived all to speedily.
Following the same routine as the day before, his guards prepared the car after they had breakfast, while Damien and the investigator had theirs up in his room.
They didn't need to wake up so early because according to the directions handed to him by the investigator, the new abode of the Connors wasn't too far from the hotel so they could go there right on time.
As soon as he was ready, Damien walked downstairs to meet his entourage. Meeting the Connors after so long put a weird feeling in his chest, but he tried to shake it off.
This was another step in his plan for revenge, so it was very essential. Taking a deep breath, he continued to ascend the stairs but just before he neared the car, his phone began to vibrate in his jacket.
He contemplated on whether to answer it, but seeing as they had ample time, he slipped the phone out of his jacket and picked it up.
Alvarez's name flashed on the screen, and smiling slyly Damien swiped the answer button and said, "Alvarez? How are you doing, and how are things over there in New York?"
"I'm good, man. What about you? How are things going?" Alvarez replied cheerfully, proceeding to ask how the investigation was going and if he had started his plans.
Damien sighed, "Things are going a little slow but it's moving all the same. With any luck it'll all be over soon."
"That's good news then." Alvarez commented and as silence descended for a while he spoke up again, "And what about the issue we discussed? Did you finally get to talk to Madison?"
At the mention of her name, Damien stiffened.
He remembered driving to her house a few days ago and watching her in his car through the shadows, and how seeing her had stirred up so many emotions and memories that he thought were dead now.
He wasn't even sure why he had gone there, and no matter how he convinced himself that it was for the sake of the investigation, he knew that deep within him, that reason was only partially true.
He really just wanted to see how she was doing, and he thought he would regret going there, but surprisingly he didn't.
He had wondered if he should have come out and talked to her, but he changed his mind.
That would be a bad idea. He couldn't talk to her just yet. He would do that after he had settled everything else that he needed to, and when that was done then he would be free to have a conversation with her.
Maybe when he got to the bottom of it all, and apologized wholeheartedly she would finally listen to him, and they could patch up their hurtful past.
"I haven't talked to Madison yet, but all I can tell you is that things are progressing albeit slowly. We are surely making some progress and right now I'm on my way to the Connors' new home, lest I forget to say."
"Oh..." Alvarez muttered, "I'm glad you're making progress with everything. Hopefully everything will go by quickly and you'll be able to return to New York. But in the meantime, good luck man."
Damien smiled, thanking his friend.
He was only too glad for the support, and it was very helpful in this time.
"Thanks for calling and checking up on me. I really appreciate it. I hope you're okay, your family as well right?"
"It's no problem, man. We are all good. That reminds me, what about Katherine? I haven't heard anything about her so far."
Katherine.
Damien realized that it had been a while since he'd thought about Katherine or even spoken to her, and if not that Alvarez had just reminded him about her, he would have still forgotten.
He resisted the urge to sigh, contemplating on whether he should inform his friend about the problems they had been having relationship wise, and the fact that he and Katherine were taking a brief break. A break he was convinced would be permanent of course, but at the last minute, he shook his head from saying a thing to his friend.
There was no need to bring it up now, and knowing his best friend, Damien knew he would want the details of everything. Alvarez wasn't a huge fan of Katherine, and telling him everything in detail would surely take a while. That time he just didn't have it right now, so it was better to call off the bluff.
"Katherine is doing well well." He finally muttered after a while, hoping Alvarez would drop the topic. He didn't want to distract himself by discussing Katherine right now.
"Oh, that's good to hear. And your trip to London? Does she know about it? I wonder how she took it? Did you have to —"
"Let's discuss this another time okay." Damien cut in before Alvarez could finish his sentence, "I'm running out of time and I have somewhere to be. Meanwhile, take care of yourself, alright?" He didn't wait for Alvarez to respond before hanging up.
Exhaling in relief, he made his way to the car where the private investigator and the guards were waiting for him already.
He nodded and waved at them when they greeted, and climbing into the car he ordered the driver to start the car.
As they zoomed off, Damien relaxed into his seat, eyes shutting briefly.
.......
Madison placed her hands on her waist, heaving in exhaustion.
She had arrived at work very early this morning as ordered by their supervisor, since there was a lot of work to do this week.
Also Madison had been assigned to kitchen duty instead of her regular packaging section, as they needed more help over there.
Wiping her flour-stained hands on her apron, she resumed kneading the dough in front of her. She wasn't sure she had ever kneaded so much dough in her life, and even though her fingers hurt like hell she still continued to work.
The supervisors had their eyes on hardworking employees who were most likely to get a raise by the end of the month, and Madison wished to be one of them.
But even then it was a lot of hard work, and it didn't help that she was literally starving to death.
She'd had to leave very early for work and as a result she didn't have time to prepare anything for breakfast, and since she didn't have any leftovers either from the night before she had left the house with an empty stomach.
She just kept on inhaling the scent of baking dough, hoping it would pacify her hunger but all it did was make her even hungrier than before.
Well, she held back patiently awaiting her lunch break.
As she handed the dough she had kneaded to her partner across the counter, she bent down to take some more from the cupboards and then realized they had none left.
Just as she was about to complain, someone walked into the kitchen with a large tray packed with flour, and Madison couldn't stop the smile that formed on her face when she saw that the bearer of the tray was her friend Gina.
"Gina?" She whispered as her friend dropped the tray in front of her, "What are you doing here? This isn't your section."
Gina laughed lightly, shrugging, "I was assigned to the one right next to you, so I offered to bring in the flour. How are you doing?"
Madison looked around first to make sure no supervisors were around before replying to her friend. "I guess I'm okay. I'm starving and I can't wait for lunch." She groaned.
Gina snickered as she unloaded the flour into a container and hurried out to get some more, but Madison knew it was a show just so she could talk to her. She admired how bold Gina could be sometimes.
"Anyways..." Gina continued as she came back in with a second tray, "We're going to the club tonight. I hope you haven't forgotten."
"Oh right, that's true."
"Ready to shake that ass and dance your worries away?" Gina teased, winking and even though Madison tried not to laugh, she failed woefully as a chuckle rose up her belly and raising her forearm to cover her mouth, she laughed wholeheartedly.
"Yes I'm ready." She replied after she regained her composure.
The two women continued to discuss in low tones, with Gina giving Madison all the juicy details to expect tonight and Madison trying her hardest to hold back her laughter.
"Ladies, if I remember correctly you're supposed to be working right now!" A crisp voice broke into their conversation, halting their conversation immediately and Madison quickly froze in fear, her heart pounding as she turned to face the supervisor.
She was so scared that she thought she would break down, as she didn't want this kind of scolding at all. She had worked hard to get to this point and managed it without getting into trouble, but then would this incident jeopardize everything?
She hoped not.
"This isn't what you're paid to do. Get back to work at once."
Madison took the warning, her head bowed as she muttered apologies and continued to work but as she raised her head again to explain, she noticed something and paused in surprise, observing carefully.
The supervisor's face had softened as his eyes fell on Gina, and he looked almost uncomfortable for a second adjusting his tie carefully and looking at her.
Madison lowered her head back to her work, trying not to laugh because she could clearly see that their otherwise stiff supervisor was obviously smitten with her best friend.
It was evident by the way he was staring at her, and the blush that had creeped up his face had Madison relaxing instantly.
This meant that she wasn't going to get into any trouble, and he just wanted an excuse to talk to Gina.
Smiling subtly, Madison continued working, promising herself to be more careful next time.
"You." The supervisor said again motioning to Gina who wasn't even looking at him, "Put the tray down. I want to see you in my office immediately."
Gina obeyed, and just as she walked past, Madison gave her a knowing wink, which Gina responded to by laughing and rolling her eyes.
A smile still on her face, Madison continued her work.
.......
Thanks for reading. 💕