The gentle chime of Daniel’s doorbell drew their attention. It also awoke the girls on the sofa, who began to stretch and untangle themselves from one another.
“Who is that?” Damion said, his voice pitched with panic.
“Their pimp,” Daniel joked.
“Very funny!” Damion scowled. Scowling hurt his throbbing head, and he quickly stopped doing it. “Seriously, who is it?”
Daniel shrugged and casually headed over to his front door. When he opened it, there stood Nick Cardelinni dressed in an immaculate suit and smelling of pine trees and cranberries. It always smelled so good, which Daniel hated. He pretty much hated everything about Nick.
“Can I help you?” Daniel asked coldly.
“I hope so,” Nick replied politely. “I’m looking for the artist formerly known as Damion Flores,” he quipped.
Daniel opened his apartment door fully to reveal the naked Damion loitering awkwardly in the background and the scantily clad women who were giggling on the sofa.
“Looks like you boys threw quite the party last night,” Nick observed.
“Try last week!” Daniel corrected.
Nick struggled to suppress his laughter when he spotted Damion blushing profusely.
“Hey, Flores, you fancy putting some clothes on and coming to work?” Nick asked in a jovial voice.
“Work?” Damion looked confused. “What day is it?”
“Monday and it’s nearly ten in the morning,” Nick explained. “Which means you’re close to being late for an extremely important meeting.”
“Shit!” Damion panicked.
“Shower here.” Daniel glanced at him. “Use one of my suits.”
“Thanks!” Damion hurried off towards the main bathroom.
“We didn’t realize the time,” Daniel apologized. “Nor the day,” he added.
“I respect what you’ve done.” Nick shot an admiring glance at the girls, who waved coyly at him.
“You do?” Daniel couldn’t conceal his confusion.
“I’ve been telling Flores for ages that he needed to land himself a girl. It’s about time he started enjoying himself instead of pining all the time.”
Daniel’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. As much as he wanted to hate Nick Cardelinni, he couldn’t seem to stop himself from warming to the guy. It was easy to see why both Emma and Damion had become so attached to him.
“He deserves some fun,” Nick added in a friendly manner. “I’m all for it!”
“Yeah, well, he needed to let loose,” Daniel agreed, surprised by the common ground he was finding with Nick.
“She, however”—Nick tilted his head and lowered his voice slightly—“is not nearly as understanding about it all. She’s actually pretty pissed.”
“So he’s on her bad list?” Daniel shrugged. “Let him join the queue.”
“SO HOW ARE YOU FEELING?” Emma asked coldly as Damion dropped down onto a chair in her office.
“Could I get some coffee?” Damion asked meekly. Even though he’d showered, he still felt wretched. All he wanted to do was crawl into a small, dark hole and sleep. The bright lights of the office stung his eyes, and he raised his arm to shield himself from them.
Emma looked up at Nick, who was hovering in the doorway. “Can you get him some coffee, please?” she asked. “Make it black.”
“Sure.” Nick nodded and then drifted away down the corridor.
Emma knitted her hands together and placed them on the desk in front of her. She felt like a teacher about to berate an unruly pupil.
“We’ve got an important meeting in less than twenty minutes.” She spoke calmly, her voice level, even though she wanted to scream at Damion.
“So I heard,” Damion said, rolling his bloodshot eyes.
“Did you forget?” Emma asked accusingly.
“Ems, I’m not even sure what day it is.” Damion cracked a lazy smile and leaned back in his chair.
“I suppose you’ve been too busy partying with your new best friend to care about your commitments here,” Emma concluded bitterly.
“He’s not my new best friend,” Damion corrected her. “He’s actually my oldest best friend.”
He wished the pounding in his head would cease and that the room would stop spinning. As he sat there, he wondered if he was still drunk. The previous week was such a blur that he had no idea how much he’d been drinking, or what exactly he’d been up to.
“Well, I’m your friend too,” Emma snapped. “Or have you forgotten that you owe me your loyalty as well?”
“Ems.” Damion leaned forward, exhaling sharply and resting his hands on his knees. Nick returned carrying a fresh mug of hot black coffee. Damion found the aroma both comforting and nauseating.
“Drink this,” Nick urged, handing the mug to him.
“He’s a state!” Emma gestured towards Damion and looked at Nick for support. “I can’t send him to a meeting like this!”
“I know,” Nick agreed, casually leaning back against the wall as he joined the conversation.
“How could you let yourself get like this?” Emma demanded.
“Jeez, Mom, I was having fun,” Damion teased, playing the role of the petulant teenager to perfection.
“Fun?” Emma cried incredulously. “You call going out and getting wrecked with Daniel Richmond fun?”
“I do, actually.” Damion raised an eyebrow at her. “We had a lot of fun together. We drank, slept with some women.”
This made Emma stiffen in her seat. “You slept with women?” she repeated.
“Yep!” Damion flashed her a cheeky grin.
“Both of you?”
“Yep!”
Emma felt the room suddenly grow colder around her. She thought Daniel was past his childish antics of going out and hooking up with strangers. Clearly, she’d been wrong. She tried to keep herself together and not envision him being with someone else, but the sense of betrayal was burning brightly in her chest.
“He’s staying here, you know,” Damion informed her.
“What?” Emma’s eyebrows knitted together in confusion.
“Yeah, he’s taken his old job back, so he’s not returning to London. He’ll be here.”
Emma blinked at Damion in disbelief.
“I offered him his old job back here at Delacourt Designs, but he wasn’t interested.”
“Well, his position has already been filled,” Emma replied coldly.
“He wasn’t interested in anything here.” Damion drew out the words and gazed intently at Emma, keen for her to understand his underlying point. She felt her face begin to flush with despair. Why was Damion being so wicked towards her?
“I think you’re still drunk.” Nick stepped in to intervene. “Why don’t I find you somewhere to sleep it off?”
“I’m fine!” Damion brushed him away, keeping his eyes on Emma.
“What’s really bothering you?” he asked her, his tone sharp and sinister.
“You coming to work drunk!” Emma pointed at him.
“That’s not it.” Damion shook his head and smiled wickedly. “You’re bothered that I’m not your whipping boy anymore. That I don’t care about you in that way. That I finally got over you by getting under someone else.”
He looked across at Nick and winked.
“Okay, time to find you somewhere to crash.” Nick lifted Damion up by his arms with such sudden force that Damion didn’t have time to object.
“He’s better off without you!” Damion cried as Nick tugged him along the corridor towards an unused meeting room, where he could sleep off the lingering effects of the alcohol.
When he returned to Emma’s office, Nick could see that her eyes were red and puffy. She desperately tried to wipe away her tears.
“Don’t listen to him,” he advised her kindly. “He’s just still pretty baked. I should never have brought him in. The scene at Daniel’s apartment was like something out of the Playboy mansion.”
Emma let out a slight sob at this.
<
br /> “Oh, Ems.” Nick sat down opposite her in the seat Damion had just been occupying.
“Am I really so awful?” Emma asked him tearfully.
“Of course not!” Nick instantly reassured her. “He’s just drunk!”
“But he’s my friend.” Emma tried to dab at her increasing tears with a tissue. “He wouldn’t normally talk to me like that.”
“I imagine it’s Daniel’s influence,” Nick told her. “That guy can be incredibly cold.”
“I can’t believe he’s staying here,” Emma continued to softly cry. “I can’t believe I even care. I wish I could just turn it off and get over him like he seems able to.”
“You don’t want to be like him,” Nick said soothingly. “The fact that you care so much is who you are. It’s what makes you special.”
“I’m not special,” Emma scoffed. “You heard Damion, he basically admitted that he hates me.”
“He doesn’t hate you. Far from it. Once he wakes up and remembers what he said, he’ll be full of regret and issuing countless apologies.”
“What if he doesn’t regret what he said?” Emma asked, her tears subsiding enough for her to place her tissue into the wastepaper basket at her feet.
“I’ve not seen or heard from him in a whole week,” she continued. “That’s the longest we’ve ever gone without talking. Then when he does turn up, he’s full of all this hate, and he’s been sleeping with random women. That isn’t Damion. It’s...”
“It’s Daniel,” Nick finished for her.
“Yeah.” Emma sighed. “Daniel was always out partying hard and getting with women.”
“He’s leading Damion astray.”
“I know, but I don’t get why he’s doing it. He’s got enough friends to not have to corrupt the only one I have.”
“Damion isn’t your only friend.” Nick smiled warmly at her.
“I know.” Emma smiled back at him. “But he’s my oldest friend. He was always there for me, and now he’d rather be out with Daniel getting drunk and hooking up with randoms.”
“I hate to say it, but you might have to give him some space on this one,” Nick said apologetically.
“What? Why?”
“He’s just letting off steam. And as much as you and Damion are friends, he’s friends with Daniel too. You can’t keep him all to yourself.”
“But Daniel is corrupting him!” Emma cried.
“Do you love Damion?” Nick asked bluntly.
“What?” Emma felt blindsided by the question.
“Because he loves you,” Nick continued. “And if you don’t feel the same way about him, the kindest thing you can do is to let him go and find someone who cares for him in the way he deserves. Keeping him close because you find his presence comforting is just cruel when he wants more.”
Emma was speechless. She was hurt by Nick’s observations, but what hurt the most was that he was right.
Taking a deep breath, she nodded. “You’re right,” she admitted. “Keeping him close to me isn’t helping him. If he wants to enter Daniel’s debauched world, then let him.”
“He just needs to get it out of his system.”
“But what if he changes?” Emma sighed. “What if the nice, loyal guy I know disappears?”
“That’s a risk you take,” Nick admitted.
Emma glanced at the silver clock on her desk and rolled her eyes.
“Dammit.” She stood up and began straightening her dress. “We’ve got that meeting in, like, five minutes.”
“It’ll be fine,” Nick reassured her.
“I don’t know,” Emma replied uneasily as she dabbed at her eyes. Would people be able to tell that she’d been crying?
“Come on.” Nick placed a comforting hand on her back and guided her out of the office.
“Everything is going to be fine,” he told her calmly. “I’m here. Let’s go kick this meeting’s butt!”
WHEN DAMION AWOKE, his whole body was stiff. Wincing, he stretched his limbs and sat up. For a moment, he had no idea where he was. Glancing around, he saw that he’d been sleeping on a sofa within a large meeting room. The air still smelled of fresh paint and varnish. Then he saw the Delacourt Designs logo on the far wall. He was at work.
“Dammit.” Damion groaned and stood up. He noticed his suit crumpled beneath him and in desperate need of cleaning. He smoothed out what wrinkles he could and then moved to locate the coffee machine. His mouth was dry and tasted like cotton balls.
As he was waiting for the machine to make some strong, black coffee, the door to the meeting room opened, and Nick strolled in.
“You’re up!” Nick commented. “Feeling any better?”
“I feel like shit,” Damion moaned.
“If it helps, you look like shit too,” Nick quipped.
“Thanks,” Damion scoffed as he retrieved his now prepared coffee. He took a tentative sip and closed his eyes in appreciation.
“You’ve certainly been partying hard,” Nick observed.
“Yeah.” Damion moved and sat down at the large meeting table, still nursing his coffee. He looked beyond Nick, wondering if he was alone.
“Is she about?” he asked.
“She’s about.” Nick nodded. “But she won’t be coming in here.”
“Why not?”
“Do you remember much of what you said to her this morning?”
Damion searched the recesses of his mind. He remembered being in Emma’s office, but he struggled to recall exactly what was said. He shook his head absently.
“You were pretty harsh to her,” Nick explained.
“I was?”
“Yeah, but I talked it through with her. She’s okay now.”
“I...” Damion didn’t know what to say. He’d been harsh to Emma? That couldn’t be true. He’d never be harsh to her!
“I know what’s going on with you,” Nick said kindly. “You’re trying to get over her, I see that. But lashing out at her will only put a wedge between you. Better you give each other some space for a while.”
Damion drank some more of his coffee and didn’t respond.
“You and Richmond sure enjoy tearing it up!” Nick stated.
“Yeah.” Damion coughed, his voice hoarse. “He knows how to party.”
“You need to get her out of your system, I get that.” Nick nodded with understanding.
“Is that why you party so hard?” Damion asked.
Nick shrugged slightly. “I guess.”
“But you’ve been partying hard for years, haven’t you? Each time I see you, you’ve got a new girl on your arm!”
“I’m enjoying life.” Nick smiled cheekily.
“But did it work; did you get over the girl you were hung up on?” Damion wondered.
“I’ll let you know.” Nick winked. “For now, why don’t you make sure that when it’s time for work, you’re sober and ready. Outside of work, do what you want with Richmond. Just remember that all parties eventually end.”
“Thanks, man.” Damion nodded in gratitude. “I didn’t mean to hurt Emma.”
“I know.” Nick smiled sadly at him.
“Will you take care of her? She seems to like you.”
“Yeah.” Nick nodded. “I’ll take care of her; don’t worry about it.”
“YOU CAN’T KEEP MOPING around your apartment,” Nick stated as he walked in with the pizza box, which Emma greedily took from him.
“I’m not moping,” she replied flippantly as she opened the box and removed a large slice.
“Emma, you’re in your pajamas.” Nick eyed her dubiously as he sat down on the sofa.
“So?” Emma shrugged, her mouth already full of pizza. She flopped down beside him wearing a bright pink flannel zip-up all-in-one.
“It’s comfortable,” she added defensively.
“I’m sure it is.” Nick smiled. “But is it really the attire of a successful young businesswoman? And should you really be wearing it at eight o’clock on a Friday night?”
>
“What’s wrong with me wearing it?” Emma looked at him seriously as she continued to eat pizza.
“Nothing.” Nick sighed. “It’s just that it’s Friday night, and you should be out living it up not sitting in your apartment in loungewear!”
“You’re here.” Emma pointed at him and raised an eyebrow. “How come you have nothing better to do on a Friday night than sit around with me in my pajamas watching The Notebook?”
“Seriously? That’s the film you picked?” Nick glanced at the DVD cover by the television and groaned.
“You told me to pick!”
“So I did.”
“But still, why is Nick Cardelinni here watching a classic chick flick rather than being out on the town?”
“Because I’m supposed to be looking after you,” Nick explained tenderly.
“I don’t need looking after,” Emma objected as she reached for a second slice of pizza.
“You do, because you’re moping,” Nick countered.
“I’m not moping!” Emma insisted, but as she said the words, she realized it was the third Friday night in a row where she’d sat in her pink pajamas and cried watching The Notebook.
“Okay,” she conceded. “Maybe I’m moping a little bit, but I’m entitled to. My ex runs off to London, leaving me, then mysteriously returns and doesn’t want anything to do with me. He’s even avoiding the company we built together just so he doesn’t have to see me! Now my one best friend is choosing my ex over me and leaving me all alone. It’s all a bit of a mind fuck, so excuse me if I’m moping!”
“You’ve got me.”
“I know.” Emma flashed him a grateful smile. “But don’t take it the wrong way, I do miss Damion. And maybe I’m selfish or whatever for still wanting him as a friend when he sees me differently, but there it is.”
“It’s okay to miss him,” Nick reassured her. “Both of them.”
“Is it?” Emma turned her head to look at him. “Aren’t I supposed to be young and in the prime of my life? Shouldn’t you be telling me to get out there and find someone new?”
“If that’s what you want to do.” Nick shrugged. “Or we can sit here together, eat pizza, and watch the movie. I’m happy to do whatever.”
“Mmm.” Emma glanced at the pizza box and at the DVD for the movie she already knew all the lines to.
Designing Emma (Volume 5) Page 5