by Ju Ephraime
She came back from her run and sneaked into her room. She grabbed a quick shower while she ran the water for a nice hot bath. She sprinkled the bath liberally with her favorite scent, a handful of bath oil beads, and she was in heaven. She lingered so long in the bath that the water had gone cold by the time she got out of the tub.
She had shampooed her hair during her shower, which meant she would be almost an hour blow-drying her hair. She usually didn't spend time blow-drying it, but today she wanted to flat iron it to get rid of the curls. She needed to make herself look presentable. She didn’t know why she felt the need to spruce herself today. It’s not as if Damien could see her either way. Maybe it was vanity, but she needed this.
She took care getting dressed. Her black jeans from Caché were her favorite pair, and they fit her like a glove. The top, also from Caché, was black with the shoulders exposed. The top hugged her body in all the right places. She always felt sexy wearing that outfit. She put on her gold necklace, which re
lieved the severity of her all black outfit. She did not wear a lot of makeup, so she made do with her eye-liner and lip gloss. She finished the look with a pair of gold stud earrings. Satisfied with her appearance, she slipped her feet into three-inch clogs, and she was ready to face whatever the day brought.
Her day was going to be unusual. She was certain of that because, as she stepped out of her room, she almost ran right into Jake, who was standing outside her door.
“Jake, you scared me. What are you doing outside my door? Don't tell me you have taken to stalking now,” she said, laughing.
“You'd be so lucky,” he said, laughing with her. “Oh my! You took my breath away, looking like a million dollars this morning. What's going on with you? Do you have a hot date?”
“No, I don't have a hot date I felt like making myself feel good,” she replied.
“Did you succeed?”
“Yes, to an extent,” she replied.
“Good because you look good enough to eat! I wanted to talk with you about Damien,” he told her.
“Oh no, not Damien,” she said, laughing with forced cheerfulness.
“Something is going on with him, and I don't know what it is. He's acting strange,” he said.
“Maybe he is excited about hearing from Shelly,” she told him, trying unsuccessfully to keep the hurt out of her voice.
“Don't let Damien get to you, Lisa. I've known Damien for a long time, longer than my employment with him. He has always struck me as a straight-up, decent kind of guy. I know losing his sight may have warped his mind a bit, but every now and then, I see glimpses of the old Damien, so I have faith in him. I don't believe he would go out of his way to deliberately hurt you.”
“I don't have any claims on Damien, and he didn't make any promises to me. I'm a big girl and will have to suck it up and keep going. That's my plan, anyway, and you know the best laid plans, yada yada yada . . . ”
They fell into step and entered the breakfast room together. Damien was already seated and having his breakfast. She didn't know who’d set it up for him, but she assumed Cook had. She and Jake heaped their plates with corned beef hash and toast and proceeded to dig in. She was hungry, but after the first couple of bites, she was full and had to push her plate away.
“Finished already, Lisa?” Jake asked. “I thought you'd be famished after your morning run.”
“I thought so too, but I guess I wasn't as hungry as I thought,” she told him.
Damien, wearing his sunglasses again, looked in her direction, so she couldn't tell whether he was looking at her or at Jake.
“You went running, Lisa?” he asked. “I had no idea you were a runner. I used to run before my accident. I do miss it sometimes. Did you go to the park to run?”
“No,” she said him. “I just run around the property. I'm not that adventurous. I'm not big on running, but I do it sometimes to relieve stress.”
“You have stress?” he asked as if he was really interested in whether or not she was suffering from stress.
“We all have a certain level of stress. Some of us handle stress differently. I find physical activities help calm me down. What about you? What do you do to relieve your stress?” she asked.
“You don't really want to know. Maybe I'll tell you one of these days,” he said.
“You can tell us now, Damien. Like Lisa, I'm interested in your method for relieving stress. Maybe I'll learn something from it,” Jake said.
“I'm not going to engage with you today, Jake. I was talking to Lisa, but now that you have inserted yourself into my discussion, I meant to tell you and forgot. Shelly is coming over to spend the day with me. Please show her to my office when she arrives.”
“Will do, sir,” Jake responded sarcastically.
Lisa felt a lump in the region of her heart. She wanted to say something, but somehow all coherent thought had left her mind. She was feeling faint. She walked over to Damien.
“Are you all set with your coffee, Damien?” she asked.
“Yes. Thank you, Lisa.”
“Great. I’ll be in my office then. You can call me there. Talk with you later, Jake.” She couldn't get out of there fast enough.
Lisa worked furiously in her office all morning, but as luck or the devil would have it, when Damien's ex made her appearance, she was the one who answered the door. She had no idea where Jake was, but he had somehow managed to make himself scarce, so the escorting of Shelly fell to Lisa.
“Hello!” A smooth, sunny voice greeted her as she opened the door to admit Damien's ex.
Shelly was beautiful. She was as tall as Lisa, with hair that shone like spun silk. She was dressed in a two-piece cashmere skirt and top outfit, which showed off her long legs to perfection. She wore a pair of off-white platform open-toed shoes and a white pearl choker necklace, but no earrings marred her beautiful ears.
“Sorry I am a bit late getting here, but I had two other stops to make, and they took longer than I anticipated,” she virtually sang. Her voice was so melodious Lisa wanted to reach out and rip her eyes out.
Glancing at Lisa, she held out her hand. “You must be Lisa,” she said. “Damien told me a lot about you. You are a paragon the way Damien tells it. He thinks the world of you.”
Lisa didn't know what to make of that. “He does?” she asked incredulously.
“Most definitely,” she replied, “but then Damien was like that. There are no half measures with him. It's all or nothing.”
Lisa did not know what to make of this, so she remained silent. Just then Damien's wheelchair was next to her. I guess he doesn't trust me to bring his girlfriend to him as he'd instructed Jake. Maybe he thinks I'll kill her at the door and dispose of her body in the cellar.
“Hi, Damien,” Shelly said, taking a hold of his arm as she smiled down at him. To the casual observer, it was as if they’d parted amicably the last time they had seen each other. Only the slight stiffening of Damien's hands on the wheelchair gave any indication that he was not as impartial as he tried to portray. He was again wearing his sunglasses, so his expression was hidden from Lisa.
Hi, Shelly. I see you’ve met Lisa. Can I get you something to drink?” he asked, turning his chair around and leading the way back to his office.
Lisa accompanied them as far as his office door before taking her leave.
“It was nice meeting you, Shelly,” she said amicably. “If you would like something to drink or need anything else, Damien can call me from the house phone in his office.”
She continued walking briskly back to her office, almost breaking into a run when she turned the corner and was no longer visible to anyone who would happen to walk by. Her office was located in the more isolated part of the house. This had been the only available space that could be converted into an office. She’d move to Jake’s office when he left. That way she would be closer to Damien.
Seeing Shelly with Damien was tough. She walked into her office, and for a moment, she could not recall
how she got there. Then it hit her—Damien and Shelly together.
She didn’t want to think of Damien alone in his office with Shelly. Shelly was a beautiful young woman, very poised and gracious. Everything about her was perfect—from her perfectly groomed hair to her perfectly applied makeup.
Lisa could see why Damien had wanted to marry Shelly. She would have been a perfect wife for a wealthy businessman like Damien, but that didn’t make it any easier on Lisa. She also could not dislike Shelly. She actually wished there was something about her she could find fault with, but alas, there was nothing.
She sat in her office, staring into space, trying to handle the pain that had her in its grip and was threatening to bring her to her knees. She felt foolish when she thought of her pitiful effort today to make herself look like something she was not. A lot of good that had done her. Although, all things considered, she felt good standing next to Shelly knowing she’d taken the time to blow-dry her hair.
She needed a stiff drink to take the edge off her depressed spirit, but she was not brave enough to go out to the bar to get one. She did not want to see Damien’s closed office door. She was imagining all sorts of things. It didn’t matter how many times she told herself to think of something else; it wasn’t working. She was just in hell and didn’t know how to get out.
***
Damien knew he should open his door to allow Lisa to see he was alone in his office, but when he’d seen Shelly out, neither Jake nor Lisa had been around. So he had seen Shelly out and returned to his office where he’d been for the better part of the morning. Now that his sight had returned, he had to prepare to get back to his lab.
His purpose in allowing Shelly to visit him was to see for himself if she was able to move him in the way that Lisa did, and after two minutes in her company, he could not wait to get rid of her. Whatever he had felt for Shelly in the past was just that—in the past. He had definitely moved on.
He knew he had his work cut out for him trying to get back into Lisa’s good grace, but he intended to start that evening at dinner. He needed to entice her back into his room and, subsequently, into his bed. He was looking forward to the challenge. He also wanted to share his news with her. It had taken a lot out of him to refrain from complimenting her when he’d seen her at breakfast that day. She looked stunning. But there were dark shadows beneath her beautiful eyes, and he could see she was not her usual cheerful self when she talked with Jake. He’d felt like a heel, hence the reason he’d walked out of the breakfast room early.
When he had seen her again at the front entrance greeting Shelly, the difference in the two women was marked. Shelly was beautiful, he’d give her that, but she couldn’t hold a candle to Lisa. There was something vibrant and alive about Lisa. Her kindness shone from her beautiful, expressive eyes. Her smile was warm and lit up her whole face. She treated everyone with respect and dignity. She was even gracious with Shelly. He could not find fault with her behavior, even if he were looking, which he was not.
His phone began to ring, interrupting his thoughts. He picked up the receiver absentmindedly.
“Hello, Damien here.”
“Oh, Damien? What are you doing answering the phone? Where is Jake or your gorgeous assistant, Lisa?”
“Hello, Philbert. There’s nothing wrong with my hands and mouth that I can’t answer the phone,” Damien responded.
“Don’t tell me; you’re the one who wouldn’t answer the phone before,” Philbert replied.
“That was because I chose not to. Now don’t tell me you are calling about my phone answering habits, Phil.”
“Actually, I called to tell you my good news. I’ve decided to take the plunge,” he said.
“You have? Who’s the lucky girl?” Damien asked. “Anyone I know?”
“She’s not from around here, so I doubt you know her, unless you used to live in Chicago. That’s where she hails from. She moved to these parts three years ago. I have been seeing her about six months now, and finally I decided to ask her to marry me, and she accepted. We haven’t set a date yet, but I wanted to share the news with you. Let me know if you are open to receiving visitors. I’d like to bring her around to meet you. I want you to be my best man, if you are game.”
“Slow down, Phil. You are going too fast for me, as usual. Let me talk with Lisa and Jake, and we can arrange a dinner to meet your intended. As to the best man thing, I believe you are in luck. I’ll talk with you about it when I see you,” Damien replied.
“How have things been going with you, man? You sound different. I don’t know what it is, but you sound familiar, yet different,” Phil told him, laughing. “Don’t take too long making up your mind. I have a feeling Gwen, that’s my intended, doesn’t want a long engagement.”
“I promise to get back to you in a day or two,” Damien told him. “Is that soon enough for you?”
“It’ll have to be,” he answered. “Talk with you then.”
“Congratulations, Phil. I am very happy for you my friend.”
“Thanks, Damien, I appreciate it.”
Twenty-Two
He was excited for Phil. If anyone deserved a wife, it was Phil. He had been looking for a while now, since before Damien’s accident. But it always ended up being the wrong girl. He hoped this one was the one. Phil was a few years his senior. He had sown his wild oats, so settling down with a good woman might be just what he needed.
He was looking forward to seeing his old friend again. Maybe he’d put in a call to the others just to see the surprise on their faces when he told them he had regained his sight. He might not have a wife, children, or a fiancée, but he felt his news was just as sensational.
Things were looking up. He couldn’t remember a time he’d been this excited. He had to force himself to stay put. He wanted to share his news. But he wanted to tell Lisa first, when they were alone together, and he wanted it to happen tonight. He could no longer put it off.
Finally, it was dinnertime. He didn’t want his plans going awry, so he called Lisa up and asked her to have Cook fix a tray for him. He was going to have dinner in his room. He had removed the things on his desk, and all that was needed was for Lisa to bring in his dinner. He’d looked at the wall clock so many times that he was beginning to develop a kink in his neck.
When he heard the knock on his door, he was practically salivating. “Come in,” he said, watching the door as he held his breath.
The door opened, and it was Cook, wheeling in his dinner tray. No Lisa. Damien tried very hard to mask his disappointment. “Where’s Lisa?” he asked, trying to be nonchalant.
“I told her you had requested a tray in your room, and you were expecting her to bring it to you. But she asked me if Jake or I could do it tonight. I asked Jake, but he said he would not be back in time for dinner, so here I am,” she finished.
Damien’s first reaction was rage, unmitigated rage. He wanted to smash something, but then he realized he’d brought this on himself. So he took a deep breath and gave Cook one of his rare smiles. “So, it appears, I’ll be dining alone after all. You can set everything up on the desk. I’ve removed everything from it to make room for the tray.”
“You removed everything from this desk yourself? Wow, this is great. Soon you won’t need anyone’s assistance at the rate you are going, Damien.”
“You think so?” was all he said as he sat back and watched her arrange everything so he could get to them with little or no effort.
“There you go, Damien, enjoy your dinner. It’s your favorite, meatloaf and gravy,” she informed him, leaving him to wheel himself over to the desk.
“Thanks again, Cook,” he said as he waited patiently for her to leave.
Damien was filled with so many emotions he barely glanced at the food. He waited until he was certain Cook had returned to the kitchen before wheeling himself out of his room and down the corridor. He stopped in his office and took the set of master keys that hung there for just such an occasion.
In a way, he was glad Jake was out. That way he had the house almost to himself, and, with what he was about to do, he didn’t need any witnesses. If Lisa did not open her door to him willingly, he would use the master keys to let himself in. He would take no argument from her.
He made it down the corridor in less time than it took him to go from his office to his room. He used the wheelchair like a vehicle because he was no longer blind and could see where he was going. So going in the wheelchair helped him tremendously. He would have had some explaining to do if anyone had seen him racing down the corridor like a maniac.
He made it to the door of her room without an accident. Here came the tough part. He knocked on the door, and at first, he did not get an answer. He knocked harder, and he heard Lisa’s voice asking, “Who is it”?
“It’s me, Damien,” he replied.
“Damien,” she echoed, and he heard the door open just as he was preparing to use his keys.
He could tell she was so taken aback at hearing his voice at her door and that she had reacted without thinking. That was exactly what he was hoping for. He wheeled himself into the room and closed the door behind him.
***
“What are you doing here, Damien?” she asked when she could finally find her voice after her initial shock.
“I came to see you. Cook said you wouldn’t come out of your room. I was expecting to have dinner with you, but now I have to eat alone, and you know the old adage, ‘If Mohammed won't come to the mountain, the mountain must come to Mohammed.' So, here I am. What’s ailing you?”
She wanted to answer him truthfully and tell him, “my heart,” to see his reaction, but she countered with a question of her own. “How did you get here?”