Masked Feelings

by Lechna Baram

  “Go to sleep. Tomorrow will be your first day and you need to be at the office by seven.” Damian ordered. There was this professional side of him which made him look sexy as hell.

  “How am I supposed to go to the office?” I asked, tilting my head to the side and inspecting him.

  “You'll be going with me,” Damian said.

  “Okay, cool,” I said as I started walking to the bed.

  “And Athena.” I turned to look at him when he said my name. “As from tomorrow, it's Mr. Spears,” Damian told me. I nodded to show that I got it. Damian walked out of my room without saying good night. I had a feeling that he was going to be cold again. Mr. Spears. Things were going to be strictly professional between us. This is what I wanted, right? No more messed up mind. Well, let's hope this is going to work for me.

  The next morning, I woke up to the annoying buzz of the alarm. I've set the alarm at five o'clock in the morning so that I will have time to go for a run and eat breakfast while stressing and hurrying. I sat on the bed and turned off the alarm. I yawned while getting out of bed. I made my way to my suitcase. Yes, my things were still in my suitcase. I wasn't planning on staying here for long. Let's hope that Damian wasn't planning on that either. I pulled out spandex shorts and a crop top. I tied my hair in a pony tail while making my way to the bathroom. I washed my face and brushed my teeth before putting on my shoes.

  “I'm done,” I whispered to myself as I finished lacing my shoes. I made my way to the front door as I put my phone in my pocket and put my earphones on. I walked out of the house and stood on the porch for a few minutes, deciding on which way to go.

  “Hey!” I turned my head towards where the voice was coming. I saw Liam standing by the gate, looking quite tired. Seems like he had the night shift.

  “Hey!” I greeted as I walked towards him. “How are you?” I asked with a smile on my face. He smiled back.

  “I'm quite tired. What about you? Everything is okay with Mr. Spears?” he asked.

  “Yeah, everything's okay. I'll be staying here for a few days,” I told him.

  “Oh cool,” Liam said. “Where are you going?”

  “I'm going for a run,” I told him.

  “I'm quite stupid,” Liam said as he motioned to my outfit.

  “Or simply tired?” I proposed. He nodded and ran his hand through his hair, staring at me. “I'll get going,” I said, when I realized the awkward silence.

  “Yeah, cool,” Liam said. I smiled and started making my way towards the road. There was no one on the street. I mean, no one would wake up at this time. The air was cold. Why the hell didn't I put on a jacket? I considered the idea of going back inside and taking a jacket but quickly shook my head. I started running down the street, staring at my surroundings while running. I wasn't used to this neighborhood.

  All the houses were practically mansions. This was the rich part of the town. I was sure about it. Everything was so neat and clean. Even the trees were well trimmed. I shook my head and kept on running.

  After half an hour, I decided to go back to the house. I had to get ready for work. My phone buzzed in my pocket. Maybe it was the alarm again. I most probably snoozed it instead of turning it off. When I reached the gate, I offered Liam a wide smile and walked in the house, breathing heavily. I was all sweaty.

  “Where on earth were you?” I raised my head to see a furious looking Damian. My eyes widened as I motioned to my sweaty body.

  “I went for a run,” I said, trying to stabilize my breathing. Damian was in his expensive suit and he ran his fingers through his hair. He looked flustered and frustrated.

  “Don't go out unless I'm with you,” he snapped, making me scoff.

  “Excuse me?” I asked in disbelief. “I'm an adult. I make my own decisions,” I retorted as I made my way to my room. Just as I passed by Damian, he wrapped his hand around my wrist and pulled me to him. I quickly moved away so that his suit didn't get sweat on it.

  “There's someone trying to kill you, Athena,” Damian deadpanned and when realization hit me, I offered him a sheepish smile.

  “I forgot about that.”

  He closed his eyes for a few seconds and took deep breaths. I knew that I was getting on his nerves.

  “Why didn't you pick up when I called you?” Damian asked as he opened his eyes. Again, he was glaring, that damn glare monster.

  “I thought that was the alarm,” I told him and tried to pull away when I realized how close he was to me. His nose was close to mine. He was staring down at me with his captivating gray eyes. I could feel his breath all over my face. His perfume was so manly and here I was stinking sweat. His lips looked so tempting. I gulped and quickly looked away from his face. “I need to take a bath and get ready,” I whispered, quite flustered by this situation. Damn. He has a huge effect on me.

  “Then come downstairs for breakfast. I'll be waiting for you,” Damian ordered and walked away. I took a deep breath, trying to recover from his sexy self. When I was done, I ran to my room and took a towel before getting in the shower.

  Once I was done, I put on the clothes Damian got me for work. I looked quite nice in them. The tight pencil skirt outlined my curves pretty well. I tied my hair in a high ponytail and did a light makeup, a simple eyeliner and pale pink matte lipstick. I then put on black stilettos which matched the skirt. When I was done, I checked myself in the mirror before taking the files that Damian gave me last night. I quickly made my way to the kitchen where I found Damian sitting by the table with his laptop in front of me.

  “That was quick,” Damian said in appreciation without taking his eyes off the laptop. Food was already on the table and I stood in front of him. Coffee was already served and I quickly pulled the cup to me.

  “Yeah, I do not take a lot of time to get ready,” I told him before taking a gulp of coffee. I moaned at the amazing taste. “That's so good,” I told him. He raised his head to look at me. I noticed his eyes skimming me and I also noticed an unknown emotion swimming in his gray eyes.

  “You look good,” Damian said before blinking once and returning back to his work on his laptop.

  “Thank you,” I said and I couldn't get rid of the annoyance I was feeling because he was using his laptop instead of eating. “Damian,” I started and watched as he raised his head to look at me. His eyes lingered a few seconds on my lips before focusing. “We're having breakfast.”

  “And?” he asked, staring at the food.

  “Can you put your laptop aside?” I asked politely. His eyes focused on me, trying to understand what I was trying to do before he finally put the laptop on the other side of the table. I smiled and continued eating. I watched as he took his food and ate as well. I was happy that he actually listened to me. I sincerely thought that he wasn't going to listen and he was going to tell me that his work was important or something. “What we're you working on?” I asked, trying to make conversation.

  “I was sending an email to my private detective,” Damian told me. “I was asking him if he found any information on your attacker.” He was staring at me, trying to assess my reaction.

  “You're giving this too much importance,” I finally told him when I was done drinking my coffee. “Maybe it was simply a drunk man who thought it would be fun to attack someone.” Damian rolled his eyes and shook his head.

  “You're not giving it enough to importance. You're trying to do as if it didn't happen,” Damian snapped, clenching his jaw. He must definitely have anger issues.

  “I was the one who got attacked. I'm not giving it much importance. So why are you?” I asked in exasperation. He chuckled humorlessly and stood up.

  “Maybe because I was the one who got you out of the lake. I was the one who tried to make you breathe again,” Damian sneered before walking out of the kitchen. Okay. I was seriously getting on his nerves. This was a good way to start my first day at work. Note the sarcasm. What is better than pissing off your boss on your first day? I inhaled and exhaled several times to cal
m myself. I took my files and also Damian's laptop before walking out of the house, where I found him sitting in the car, waiting for me. I walked to the car and made my way to the passenger seat. I got in the car and soon, I could feel the tension in the atmosphere. Damian started driving, leaving us in an uncomfortable silence. I could see him clenching and unclenching his jaw.

  “You seriously need to calm down,” I mumbled, staring at me. He turned around to look at me. He didn't look calm. I turned to the other side and stared at the road.

  “Athena?” I turned to look at Damian. He sounded so calm but his eyes said otherwise. I gave him a little smile.

  “Yes?” I asked tentatively, hoping that he was actually calm.

  “Shut up,” Damian told me, rolling his eyes before turning his attention back to the road.

  Chapter 31

  New Friends

  “Follow me.” Damian ordered as we got out of the car.

  I huffed, already hating being ordered around. I mumbled a 'please' under my breath, rolling my eyes. “Your office will be just next to mine. When I call you and demand your presence in my office, I expect you to be in my office within thirty seconds,” he started. My eyes went wide as I tried to walk faster to keep up with his pace.

  “Thirty seconds?” I asked, quite appalled. He gave one curt nod which I wouldn't have noticed if I wasn't paying close attention to him.

  “You'll have an assistant as well,” he told me and this brought a big smile on my face.

  “Really?”

  “Yes. Sometimes you will not have time to go out for lunch or you will need help with the files, an assistant will be a great help then,” Damian said with a smirk on his face. My smile quickly disappeared and I rolled my eyes.

  “Seems like my pain is your pleasure,” I mumbled and watched as he stopped walking. He turned and stared at me with a dangerous glint in his eyes.

  “It depends on the pain,” Damian whispered huskily as he took a few steps towards me. I blinked several times, trying to recover from the overwhelming sensation that I felt every time he was close to me.

  “I don't want to be late for my first day, Mr. Spears,” I told him, my voice near to a whisper as I tried to control the lust I was feeling. He groaned and took a step backwards.

  “Come,” Damian said as he made his way towards the elevator. I followed behind and tried to avoid his eyes. I didn't want to make eye contact with him right now. I felt like he could read through me. I felt vulnerable when he stared at me. There was a silence in the elevator. I stared at the files that were in my hands even if there was nothing interesting to stare at.

  Ding!

  The elevator stopped on the first floor and a guy walked in. “Good morning, sir,” he greeted and gave me a nod, smiling. Damian gave him a curt nod. I smiled back and moved a little bit so that he was now standing beside me. “You're new?” the guy asked. I turned to look at him. He was wearing a suit and he seemed to be really professional. His brown hair was gelled back. He looked neat and professional, too neat and professional.

  “Yes,” I finally answered. “I'm Athena,” I introduced and shook his hand.

  “Gordon,” he said. “In which section are you going to work?” he asked and when I distinguished the strong British accent, a smile lit on my face.

  “I'm the personal assistant of Dam–Mr. Spears,” I told him and watched as he frowned for a few seconds but then shook his head a little bit. The elevator stopped again and Gordon got off.

  “Hope to see you around,” Gordon said, sending me a big bright smile.

  “Likewise,” I said, chuckling. The elevator kept going and I sighed. Damian clenched his jaw as he used his phone. “How long is it going to take?”

  “We're on the top floor,” Damian told me as the elevator stopped and he got off. I followed behind and noticed that there was a waiting room and a little office just next to it.

  “Is that my office?” I asked tentatively. He shook his head.

  “This is for your assistant,” Damian told me as we kept on walking. If the office of the assistant's assistant is that big, I wonder how big will be mine be. As we kept on walking, we stopped in front of a door. We could see inside as it was transparent glass door. It was huge. “This is your office,” Damian told me. My eyes widened as I noticed how cool it was. My office was huge. It had a modern transparent glass table with white marble designed craved in it. A laptop was set on the table. To the side were shelves on which multiples files were disposed. Best of all, the office had a balcony, from which we had a magnificent view.

  “It is amazing!” I exclaimed as I put the files on the table.

  “Your balcony is linked to mine.” I nodded and smiled. I was starting to like this job. “I'm going to be in the office just across yours,” he said as he walked towards the door.

  “Mr. Spears, what is my first task?” I asked, sounding motivated. I was determined to make this work. I wanna be the best personal assistant he has ever had.

  “Call Me Sir,” Damian told me as he stared at me with his hypnotizing gray eyes.

  “Sir,” I said, testing how the word sounded. To be honest, it was much better than Mr. Spears.

  “I'll have Kelsey bring you the files that you'll work on,” Damian told me as he opened the door. “You'll have study the files and note the important points,” he said and without waiting for me to say another word, he walked out of the office. Through the transparent glass door, I watched as he opened the wooden door to his office. Questions started forming in my mind.

  Who the hell was Kelsey?

  And why the fuck isn't his door transparent?

  I walked to my desk and sat on the huge chair behind it. Damn. I feel so important. I stared at the phone to the side and the printer. I took a deep breath and leaned in the chair. It was so comfortable. I smiled and relaxed myself until I heard the knocking on the door. I quickly sat properly and stared at the door where I found a petite blonde girl standing. I put on a sheepish smile on my face and motioned for her to walk in. She did, with a few files in her hands.

  “Good morning, Miss Amington,” the girl greeted with a nice smile, showing off the dimple she had on her left cheek. She was really cute. “I'm Kelsey, your assistant.” Oh! So this is Kelsey! I stood up and walked to her. I shook her hand and offered for her to sit.

  “I'm Athena,” I introduced myself. “Miss Amington is too professional, to be honest.” I admitted and walked back to my seat. Kelsey sat down and nodded in agreement.

  “I'll call you Athena then,” Kelsey said with a small smile. She then put three files on the table. “These are the files that you need to work on before Mr. Spears goes to his meeting at eleven.”. I nodded while taking the files from her. “I'll be emailing you the agenda of Mr. Spears. If he has any new meeting, try to find some free time between his other meetings,” Kelsey told me. I nodded, smiling. “I think that's all for now,” she said as she stood up. “For lunch you can join us if you want,” she said as I stood up as well and accompanied her to the door.

  “That would be nice.” I admitted, quite glad that she was inviting me. Kelsey seemed pretty much nice and cool.

  “Good luck for this first day,” she said before walking away. I walked back to my desk after closing the door. I was motivated to work. I opened the files and started studying them. I started typing the important stuffs to be noted from the files and once I was done, I emailed them to Damian's email. Kelsey sent me Damian's agenda. My eyes widened at how busy and in demand he was. He must be really tired. Today, he had four meetings. He had very little time for himself.

  After a few hours, I took the phone and dialled Damian's number. He quickly picked up and by the tone of his voice, I knew that he was busy. “You have a meeting in five minutes and I just emailed you, the important points to be noted in the files,” I told him, staring at the emails that I've sent him to make sure that I haven't made any mistake.

  “Have you had lunch already?” Damian asked.
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br />   “No,” I answered. “Have you?” I asked, knowing that due to the meetings, he did not have time for lunch.

  “Eat something, Athena,” Damian said and then ended the call. I took a deep breath and shook my head. He was impossible. I stood up and took my bag before walking out of my office. I knocked on Kelsey's door. When she saw me with my bag, she flashed me a smile and took hers before walking out.

  “I'm so hungry!” she exclaimed as we made our way to the elevator. Just then, Gordon and another guy joined us. “Hey guys, Meet Mr. Spears’ new assistant, Athena,” Kelsey introduced me.

  “I met her earlier,” Gordon said as he winked. I smiled and turned my attention to the other guy. He had a brownish short hair and black eyes. He was quite cute as well.

  “I'm Jax,” he said as he offered me a smirk. Yeah, he seemed to be like those guys who flirt endlessly.

  “Nice to meet you, Jax.” I put on a polite smile as I shook his hand. Just as I was about to get in the elevator with Kelsey and the guys, I noticed Damian walking towards us with two men behind him. He was most probably going to his meeting. They got into the elevator with us. There was an uncomfortable silence until Jax decided to talk.

  “So how are you liking the work here?” Jax asked. Gordon and Kelsey stared at me while the three other men seemed to be concentrating on their files. Damian looked so sexy with this little frown on his face and his focused face was totally drool worthy. “Athena?” Jax called again, interrupting my trail of thought. At the exact moment, Damian raised his head to look at me and smirked when he caught me staring. I quickly looked away and smiled at Jax while gulping.

  “It's pretty interesting here,” I told him. He nodded and went to ask me another question but Gordon quickly stopped him and asked him about his Saturday night. I think that he must have noticed how uncomfortable I was. The elevator stopped and everyone got off. Everyone walked ahead of me except for Damian. I was suddenly stopped by his hand on my wrist. He gently pulled me backwards.