Sorry for the long wait everyone.
Please pray for Nigeria 🇳🇬. I'm a Nigerian and all you've heard that's happening is really happening here. People die every day in front of you just like in the movies but then you realize that person is gone forever ever.
I need your support in these really hard and trying times.
.
I made this chapter as long as I could cause I don't know when next I'd update.
Thank you for your patience
Enjoy.
Avery
I came out of my car... and just like that, emotions hit me. Hard.
I stared at the one place that held my sorrow's. I stared at the one place that broke me over and over and over again in the most cruelest and harshest way known to man.
I can't actually believe I'm doing this. I would never had believed if someone told me I'd seek comfort and safety in a place that made me feel unsafe.
It's really scary to travel back to my past to face my monsters, face Him again.
But I've gone really far. Far to be intimidated by my emotions all over my head. I've worked for years to build myself up back again. I've learned to be strong, so strong that I build strong solid walls around me to protect me.
Being in pain and want was no longer a weakness for me.
Heaving a deep sigh, I opened my car trunk and took out my luggages I packed that I would need for the period of my stay in this...place.
The minute I closed my trunk, I saw from afar the front door opening and Damon appeared, he was rushing towards me.
"H-hey" he greeted. When he saw I wasn't going to reply he decided to take the responsibility to keep up a conversation.
"I'm glad you're here. I've been waiting for you" he added nervously.
When we got to the door, he glanced at me as if asking if I was going to be okay before he opened the door. He waited for me to get in first not seeming to kind that I was so slow.
The minute I stepped into the house I sucked in a Sharp breath. It still scented as before, it still has that same manly cologne that never seemed to fade.
I observed all angles from where I stood. Nothing seemed to change but yet it felt different. So different. I noticed from the corner of my eye that Damon was occupied looking at me with some emotions in his eyes that I refuse to put any meaning to.
"Where will I be staying" I asked coldly masking any emotion that wanted to surface.
"Anywhere" Damon blurted.
It seem the look I gave him was enough to adjust his thoughts. "I'm I-I mean you can stay anywhere you want it's your hou... " and just like that, his voice trailed off. He didn't even dare to complete his sentence.
"I'm sorry. You can stay anywhere you want, I even have a room already prepared for you, it also has a balcony. I know how much you loved rooms with balconies" Damon rambled nervously. I could clearly see he was treading softly so as to not do anything that'd piss me off.
"Lead my to where I'd be staying"
"Alright, just come with me"
He took my upstairs and each step I took, memories hit me from all angles. Each step I took was a painful reminder of my past.
Damon finally lead me to a door I didn't even know existed all through my stay in the house. He opened the door and I must confess, the room is amazing but I'd never admit it.
I collected my bags from him without making any possible body contact with him and it seemed Damon noticed because I saw his fist clench.
As I walked through the room door a firm grip on my arm stopped my movement.
"Dont. Just Don't" I spat coldly as I snatched my arm away from his grip.
He just stared at me with a broken miserable expression.
"I-I am sorry. I really am but I'm not sorry for keeping you here Avery. I'd do everything in my power to protect you" he promised.
"I..."
"Can you leave now, I need my privacy" I asked interrupting whatever he wanted to say.
He looked downwards, his eyes dimmed by clear pain as he reluctantly nodded his head and stepped outside my door and I immediately shut he door because my emotions seemed to be all over at the moment. I sat on the floor beside the bed as I thought of my decision to come here.
I can't be weak anymore.
I can never be weak were the words I changed in my head before I fell asleep.
*
Warm hand's caressing my face woke me up from my slumber.
I opened my eyes only to be met with familiar orbs staring right back at me. Damon. I immediately stopped his hand that was close to my face as I stood up.
"What are you doing here"
"Uh i-its dinner time, I brought your food for you" Damon explained as he pointed to the bedside table where the sweet aroma of food was coming from.
"I'm not hungry"
"What, no. You haven't left your room since you came, and you haven't eaten anything either" Damon chastised
"I said I am not hungry, I didn't step out of this room because I didn't want to see your face and yet here you are. I'm not hungry, so please leave" I said rudely hoping this would do it.
His eyes filled with hurt as he took a deep breath before he nodded and walked to the door. "Please try to eat" were his words before he finally left.
The nerve of him thinking I'd jump right into his arms after all he's done.
.
Time flew by so fast that it's almost a week since I came to this house, I let Damon know I would still be going to work and so far Damon respected my every wish but only if I used his chauffeur which I agreed to.
He never inconvenienced me in any way, he gave me the space I always asked for, he never came near me and I was glad he respected my wishes, he goes to work early and yet he cooks, he wakes me up in the morning by knocking softly on my door before I hear his car leave his mansion and I always wake up to scented roses beside me. I don't know how he always manages to sneak in without me knowing, because last time I checked, I wasn't a deep sleeper.
A knock on my door brought me out of my day dream.
"Come in" I said thinking it was the maid coming to take out the food plates as always, it was 10:00am anyway.
Suprisingly, it was Damon who entered my room.
"Uh I-I came for the plates. I figured you would be done by now" he said not too boldly.
I nodded my head towards the plates by the bedside as I laid my head on my raised knees looking down to my feet.
He took the plates and used the napkin in his hand to wipe every trace of food on the small table which was really shocking. I mean he barely cleans his room this way.
When he finally got to the door, he stopped and looked at me thinking I wasn't looking.
It seemed he wanted to say something cause he opened and closed his mouth severally before he sighed and went out.
This is really confusing.
Really confusing.
I remembered I haven't really heard from Carlos and Mason in a while and I decided to call them with my phone I realized I haven't used for days.
The door suddenly opened and Damon walked in looking refreshed. Maybe he took his bath.
He walked in like he was determined to do something but one look at my cold face his resolve crumbled.
"Um I-I was thinking if you would like to go out with me because you've been indoors for long now and I..."
"No thank you" I bluntly refused interrupting him. I was really refusing any sort of interaction with him.
His hope crumbled and it showed plainly on his face.
"Alright" he said before he walked out of my room with hunched shoulders.
*
One month later
It's been a month since I temporarily moved into Damon's house for "safety reasons" and trust me it's been a hell of an awkward month spent in the four corner's of my room.
Everyday in the past one month, I decided to buy my own food, reason being that Damon gave his cook a two month leave and since then he had been the one who has been preparing his meals all by himself.
It was a shock to me when I came back from work by 6 to find Damon in an apron with dinner already set for two at the table.
The moment he saw me his eyes light up with hope and before he could ask me if I ate, I raised my takeout to his face telling him I already have food. And since then, he never seemed to give up cooking every day since the past month.
Today's not an exception. He also made breakfast that I didn't allow myself to touch as always.
I want him to know how it feels when your hardwork is tossed aside. I want him to know how it feel when something you out your heart to do is destroyed without second thoughts and so far it seemed like it has been working. The sadness on his face could be seen by anyone and I could see the guilt and regrets resting in his orbs.
This morning he came to me apologizing profusely in advance because he was going to come back late from work. I knew he saw the the shock and surprise on my face when he smiled sadly as if he realized something he didn't know before.
Its 4pm. I decided to leave work early cause I wanted some outside time to myself.
It felt like it's been ages since I left Damon's cage.
I asked Howard who was Damon's driver before he became mine to drive me to the nearby park to have some ice cream and bask in the remaining sunlight for the day before the night sets in and trust me so far, I've been enjoying myself.
I decided to use this opportunity of Damon not being home to roam around as I like because he won't even let me step a foot outside all because he's"protecting" me.
"Howard?" I called out when I remembered something. He decided to seat few benches away from where I was sitting, reason unknown to me.
"Yes ma'am" he answered and immediately stood at alert. I frowned at hai actions and he immediately corrected himself by calling me by my name. I always told him to call me by my name but he never agreed until I threatened to report to Damon that he was manhandling me. Imagine my evil smile when he braked so suddenly at the center of the road at my threat. I mean come on, he's 45 from what he told me.
"Can you please drive me to my apartment?"
"Sure ma- Avery"
"You know my apartment" ?" I asked suprised.
"Of course I do."
"How...? I gasped dramatically making him laugh.
"Sir always made sure he gets a glimpse of your shadow every single night before he drives home" Hampton said as his smile flattered.
I was speechless. This revelation made all words in my throat to thicken by force. I couldn't even speak.
"He's trying you know, He's a changed man and he's doing all he can to earn your forgiveness, He lo He loves you so much even more than himself. He'd do anything and everything for you if you'd just let him love and take care of you. I don't know what might had happened in the past between you two and I know he hurt you badly but please forgive him. He's been through alot too. He's miserable and it seems only you can take him out of that misery. Only you can help him Avery."
Tears welled up in my eyes these words. I know he's miserable, deep down I know I have forgiven him partially but I want him to have a taste of how it feels to be in a situation where all efforts you put to something comes back useless.
"Thank you"
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