After working on Harper's proposal for two weeks, I was more than impressed with how skilled she was.
It was as if she knew everything about jewelries naturally. After helping the designing team with sketches, she was eager to choose gemstones and pendants for necklace and bracelets to make it more unique and more captivating.
For the matching earrings, it was not an issue.
As she had planned in the draft, it was supposed to be a multi-gemstone of amethyst and diamonds.
The combination of both gemstones was mesmerizing.
The team we were working with had a limited number of people, but two days a week were enough for the time being as they had to focus more on the main production.
But that was different for Harper. As it was her proposal, she spent most of the time on it doing research on sketches, current trends, etc. and she was working overtime almost every day.
I shot a glance on where she had busied herself on the coach earlier, and I was not surprised to find her dozed off on the table beside the sketches and her laptop.
My office was big, but to make it more comfortable for the whole team, they had displaced the coach more towards the office corner and added tables and chairs for every team member.
I approached quietly not to wake her up. She was sleeping soundly, and it reminded me of the day that is still engrossed in my mind.
These few weeks, I had many chances of looking at her because of how focused she was. She has the most dazzling hazel eyes I have ever seen.
Her face was small with strong prominent features. She was not a cute face, though, even though she looked younger than her age.
She looked like a college student.
Her pointed nose and pink full lips were among the features that made her uniquely stunning.
Her captivating eyes made it difficult to look away for many people, as I had observed for the last weeks.
Her hair was silky black, and it was longer.
Sometimes, I wondered if it didn't feel uncomfortable for her during sleep.
She has been keeping it tied up in a high ponytail, which made the color of her eyes stand out.
I arranged pillows and secured her head with it. I covered her with a blanket, and she sighed in her sleep.
She didn't open her eyes, though, proof of how tired she was.
It was scary how I was obviously attracted to her, but she seemed to keep her distance.
Maybe it was a coincidence, but I couldn't help overthinking.
My reputation with women was not that great and not forgetting that I was engaged. Right, engaged.
Diana's hurt face popped in my head when I didn't give her the answer she was expecting the last time I went to her apartment.
I looked at the Kimberly girl who was sleeping comfortably on the coach and found myself smiling like a fool for no reason.
Damn, this is bad.
I took a minute to be honest with myself, but my eyes and my beating heart were the proof.
The dive was going deeper than I expected.
I arranged her sketches on the table and switched off her laptop.
The ringing phone on my table interrupted my thoughts, and I went to answer.
"I hate to break it to you, but you might be in big trouble with your fiancé, or is she your ex?"
Avery's warning yet teasing voice came from the other side.
"What do you mean?"
"Nothing serious. I just wanted to prepare you because she's heading to your office by now and she didn't, look happy."
Before I could hang up, I met with Diana's disbelieving eyes.
Okay, maybe Avery was right.
She looked mad.
"What were you thinking handing these photos to the media? Are you crazy? Or do you want to destroy your image that badly?"
Well, she was furious.
She threw an unreleased magazine, and I found the headline,
"THE CEO OF ROY'S CORP, DAMON ROY, in dating rumors with a mysterious woman. Engagement called OFF."
Okay, that didn't go well.
"I was trying to help. I didn't want anyone to put you in any tight spot after the break of engagement was announced. I already did enough damage."
I have leaked some old photos to the media.
The woman's face was not visible from any angle but it was clear that I was the one in the picture and that was enough to put the media into a frenzy for a few more weeks before everything died down.
Media never care about the truth mostly. It goes with the flow.
Diana looked at me as the dumbest person on earth.
"are you fucking kidding me Damon. Do you think that I could have told you good job after seeing you all over the news that my ex fiancé is a cheater? You really know nothing about me if you thought that I was going to appreciate this dumb idea."
Her voice sounded a little bit hurt, and I cringed. I fucked up again for the umpteenth time.
"anyway sorry for the outburst but no thank you to your help. Make sure to turn it down before it gets released. I'm a little touched that you did want to make me look good, really. I am the one who had been going on blind dates, remember?"
she was back to her usual self.
That's how easy and amazing she was.
But I was dumb enough to appreciate it. I was glad that we agreed to cut the relationship ties on good terms.
A little movement came from the other side of the office, and I recalled that Harper was sleeping in my office.
Harper.
Diana sensed it right away, and her eyes scanned the office and landed on Harper.
Her wide eyes turned to me, and I panicked a little.
***
"we still had time Avery, don't stress too much. You know this one is not the main focus, right? Go and rest well, we'll go over it tomorrow."
I said to her in a reassuring tone.
"Okay, I will be back to pick her up in a while. I guess she will be awake by then. See you around Diana."
She left us alone in an awkward silence.
Diana decided to break the silence.
"Well, I think it's my time to leave as well. Dinner with my dad. Good luck with the project. You know that I am always rooting for you, right?"
I smiled.
She kissed me on the cheek and exited out of the office.
I let out a breath I didn't know that I was holding.
That was a close call.
If Avery didn't choose that moment to knock, I was going to make the worst mistake in my life.
I realized the look Diana sent me demanding for answers, and I was not going to drag Harper in my messy life drama too soon.
I glanced at the coach again, and she was still sound asleep.
**
Harper's POV
I woke up by a little shake and opened my eyes to meet the most hypnotizing grey eyes I have ever seen.
My breath caught just by looking at his perfect shaped eyes with long dark lashes creating shadows on his cheeks.
It was as if I was trapped.
"it's late. We need to get you home."
His deep, soft voice got me out of trance, and I blinked. I abruptly woke up and almost fell off the couch, and he laughed a low, deep chuckle.
I was so embarrassed that my whole face was getting a bit red with embarrassment.
"I'm sorry for falling asleep."
I wanted to check myself in the mirror for the drool because of how he was looking at me even though I usually didn't drool.
"You don't have to go through the trouble though, I will call a cab."
I was starting to feel his presence considering how close he was standing, not forgetting that I was alone with
"it was not a question. Now hurry."
He said that striding to his desk to take his car keys and his long black coat.
The guy loved black. Long coats, too.
It complimented with his stormy grey eyes, which made him more intimidating like a sexy demon god.
God have mercy on this shameless child of yours.
I sighed but complied anyway. He was so bossy.
Surprisingly, I didn't hate it, but sometimes I found myself agreeing to everything he said without thinking.
If my mother was alive, she could have warned me about dangerous guys like Damon, but she was not.
A thought came into my mind suddenly. His dad was the cause, right?
I decided to use that excuse to get mad so that I could keep my emotions at bay.
Guess what?
It didn't work even after a few minutes of my decision during the whole drive home.
*
It was quiet in the car to the point I asked him to turn on some music afraid of being betrayed by my hamming heart.
We were getting closer to my neighborhood, and I almost forgot that I was not supposed to be showing anyone at the company where I lived.
I abruptly sat up and told him to leave me nearby.
My apartment was in an expensive neighborhood, and to him, I was a mere employee, and my paycheck was not able to pay for my living expenses, not forgetting the expensive apartment as well. It could have brought many unnecessary questions, and I was not going to create more lies.
Strangely, I felt that I was being watched again as I marched to walk a little more to my neighborhood.
It was nearby, but I felt as if I was not moving an inch at all. It was like five minutes to arrive at my from where Damon left me.
My phone battery had died down, and my dad's watch was on the dresser at home, where I left it.
Careless and foolish me.
Knowing the time left could have helped with the panic I was feeling.
***
Thank you for reading
"DESPITE EVERYTHING."
I'm so glad that I can share some of my thoughts and life experiences with you through writing.
Please comment below on what I could improve or about anything related to the book... sorry again about my bad English, it's not my first language 😇😇