Unlikely To Fall In Love

by Esmeralda, Debie

  “Amanda.” I turned around the minute I heard someone called my name and I found the same pair of blue eyes that were haunting not only my sleep but my heart as well.

  He was wearing a white tuxedo and yellow tie that matched my gown. I couldn’t help but smile to the little fact that somehow we matched. He looked like James Bond or Edward Lewis to me. “Damon.” He was breathtaking handsome.

  “You look…” He stared into my eyes. If it were some other guy I was sure his eyes were already running up and down my body with a glint of lust in it. But Damon was different. He just stared into my eyes making me drown more than I already was. I felt that familiar pull I always felt whenever our eyes locked. A smile slowly formed on his lips as he continued looking into my eyes. “Beautiful.”

  “Thank you.” I replied as I felt warmth spreading to my cheeks.

  Damon held out his hand to me and I gladly took it. He entwined our fingers and gave my hand a gentle squeeze that sent thrills down my spine. It made my heart fluttered and my head dizzied. He intoxicated me like some kind of a drug.

  He never let go of my hand even though we were already in the main hall, he just intertwined it with his as we walked.

  Everyone in the room threw me curious glances and it was a bit unnerving. They stared at me in a way I felt like I was back in high school as a freshman and everyone around me were seniors. I was like the outcast. Damon reassured me with another hand squeeze and I could not help but like him more and more.

  “Hey, is something wrong?”

  I shook my head and tried to give him a smile. “I’m fine. Thank you for tonight.”

  A high-pitched female voice from behind us called out his name. “Damon?”

  Damon and I turned around at the same time. A pair of soulful brown eyes and blonde hair stood a few inches away from us in her peach colored halter gown that flowed like waves down her legs. I took note that she was a bit shorter than I was despite her high-heeled shoes and pinned up hair arranged like a headdress in an attempt to make an illusion that she was tall. Her skin was flawless and pale, which made her eyes stood out. She looked like a version of Marie Antoinette.

  “Christine.” I didn’t see Damon smile touched neither his eyes nor his lips.

  I watched the two as they continue to hold each other’s gazes. They had this sense of familiarity and hatred, as if they shared a past not worth reminiscing at all by way they looked at each other. They didn’t looked like they were neither friends nor relatives, then what were they?

  I felt a rug pulled under my feet as it finally dawned on me.

  “You look impeccably dapper as you always was.” She sneered liked those bitter exes did on reality TV.

  Christine obviously belonged to a blue-blooded family. Her beauty and personality shouted in that high shrilled pitch I could imagine in my head that she was a lady born with a silver spoon on her mouth. She perfectly fitted Damon and his billionaire status, and it felt like a knife stabbed straight through my gut.

  Christine quite made me felt much unwanted that I already did with the way she acknowledged me. She didn’t even cared to stare at me, she and Damon continued to stare at each other with hostility.

  When her eyes landed on me, I felt very small. She had this thing going on with her that I couldn’t explain. She could manage to pull your self-esteem as low as it possibly could.

  She stared at me as if she was sizing me up and making inventory of my flaws in one glance before cocking a brow at me. “And who is she? Is she your new flavor of the month?”

  Damon’s stare turned into a glare, and if looks could kill, she was definitely dead by now. He glared at her with annoyance, irritation, anger, whatever you called it. Instead of getting scared and ducking to the nearest exit, she shrugged nonchalantly and smirked in a way you would be more irritated than you possibly could get.

  “I’m Christine Winston.” She held out her perfect beautiful hand in front of me, which she accompanied with a sugary sweet to be true smile. “Damon’s ex girlfriend.” She added after a short pause then followed it with an evil smirk movie villain mastered the art of.

  I went cold at the mention of ex girlfriend. Yeah, I knew that I had no right to feel like this but somehow hearing and meeting an ex-girlfriend made me squirmy. If this was the girl Damon used to date, then what was I compared to this Aphrodite?

  We both have golden blonde hair, though Christine was silkier and shinier. Her brown eyes were as dark as chocolates. She was shorter than my five foot and nine inches height, probably around five foot and four in my estimation, but boys preferred her because it made them looked taller and stronger. So in short, I was nothing compared to her.

  Christine and Damon’s world didn’t co-exist with mine. They were from a different pole. To them my planet was just a part of a small little world found inside a snow globe Christine would probably itched to break, a part of a world she didn’t even cared to consider.

  “Excuse me but I have to go, my friends were over there waving at me. Would you like to come with me Damon?” She raised a brow at him as she waited for his reply.

  “No. I’d rather stay, and besides I don’t want to leave my lovely lady here.” He said without batting lash.

  To my surprise, he took my hand and planted a soft kiss on my knuckle. My heart did that weird flip the moment his lips touched my skin. I could feel the spread of heat on my cheeks and Christine’s glacial glare at me. But I didn’t care about her. My mind was preoccupied with Damon and his lips against my skin.

  “It’s nice to see you again, Christine.” He said to her in a dismissing tone.

  Christine must have taken note of his intonation because she gave me another glare before leaving without even saying goodbye. So much for attitude, she didn’t even bothered saying goodbye or that she was nice to meet me (even thought she didn’t at all). Didn’t they teach that in school, even in an all girl’s private boarding school wherever she went to study at?

  “Don’t mind her.” Damon murmured as he brought me back into reality (or was it fantasy?) with him. “How about I take your mind off of Christine? Dance with me?” He held out his hand in front of me and gave me that kind of smile that no woman in the world I knew would be able to resist. It affected me and moved me in an unfamiliar territory. He made my head dizzy with that disarming smile of his.

  How could I ever resist that?

  I gave him my hand and let him lead me towards the dance floor. He held my hand so tight that I kind of thought for a second that maybe he was just afraid to let me go. It was my fairytale, so just let me enjoy with my imagination.

  When we reached the dance floor, Damon settled one of his hands on the curve of my waist while the other was holding my hand. Our hands might differ in size, his was larger compared to mine, but I felt a tickle inside my heart as stared at our joined hands. My hand fitted his hand perfectly as if it was made to fit his.

  We swayed under the crystal chandelier through the music made by the band of violins. We just swayed, lost in our world not caring about the rest.

  Just Damon and me.

  “I feel like I am Cinderella.” I murmured as I stared into his eyes. He smiled that loving smile with the sides of his eyes crinkling.

  “You are lovelier than any princess out of a fairytale.” He told me.

  “I wonder when will the clock would strike midnight and the magic will start fading.”

  “It won’t.” His word surprised me that for a moment I thought this man in front of me was unreal. “I wouldn’t let it strike twelve.” He was too good to be true.

  A billionaire and a hooker?

  Not the perfect combination for a happy ever after.

  Six

  “So you’re Damon’s new apple of the eye.” A woman who was probably in her early fifties said to me as she washed her hands while inside the ladies room.

  I glanced at the woman and realized that she obviously belonged to the high society just like Christine. They both belo
nged to the circle that I knew I didn’t and wouldn’t fit. She has jet-black hair that was perfectly styled in a sleek bun as if she splashed five hundred milliliters of gel all over the top of her head. She wore a sophisticated and conservative gown that resembled like the old Hollywood era.

  “Stay away from my nephew. You are not good for Damon, you will just destroy him.” She said as she gave me the coldest glare that I had ever received in my whole life.

  Did she say nephew? She was Damon’s aunt?

  She smiled at me and her smile resembled like that of Christine’s. “Have a good night sweetie.” She said before leaving.

  What did just happen?

  I was surprised to see Damon waiting outside the ladies room. His back pressed on the wall like those in the billboard ads. He was staring at his wristwatch in patience as he turned it around his wrist repeatedly, and I stood there taking in the sight of how handsome he was. He was the most beautiful creature I have ever met. I was wondering if I was even worth his time.

  He lifted his head up the moment he noticed me taking in the sight of his perfection. He smiled at me, that disarming smile that made my heart jumped out of my chest. His eyes shone like diamonds under the lights, they were so clear and blue, and his fair complexion made his eyes stood out even more with the contrast of his dark hair. If you studied his face closely, you would realize that the focal point of it was his eyes. Every feature of his face made his eyes stood out, and his were the most beautiful blue eyes I had ever seen.

  “Hey.” Damon said. “What took you so long?” He asked and my heart instantly fluttered. I couldn’t help smiling at him. He stared into my eyes and I was lost in the blueness of his orbs, they were as blue as the Pacific Ocean.

  He walked towards me as we continue staring into each other’s eyes and by the time he reached me, he took my hand and intertwined it with his. “You are the most beautiful woman I have ever seen in my entire life.” He said with affection that was so true it made my heart melt.

  My cheeks blushed as we continued stare flirting (whatever this was called). I could feel the heat spreading across my face and the way he was holding my hand made the butterflies in my stomach flutter.

  We decided for some walk out in the courtyard outside where the sky was black with specks of twinkling little stars lightning up the night. We were walking while holding each other’s hand as if this was natural between the two us. My whole body lit up with joy as I felt his proximity and the feel of his hand entwined with mine.

  I managed to take in the view around us. They used paper lanterns to decorate the trees and the sidewalk lined with yellow light bulbs. The sound of the crickets and the slightly muted music created by the violins filled the air. Other party guests paired up and mingled with each other. The whole ambience was romantic and magical. It was like a lover’s lane in here.

  We did not let go of each other’s hand as we stopped and sat by a bench right in front of the fountain. We sat side by side as close as possible and acceptable for the public eye for a non-dating couple.

  Damon turned his head and looked at me. “Thank you for coming here with me tonight.”

  I could not help but smile. “You are most welcome.” And he returned my smile. “I have a good time with you.”

  “I’m happy you are having a good time. I’m sorry about Christine and my aunt.”

  I couldn’t help but threw him a look. How the hell did he knew about what happened between me and his aunt? I didn’t even mention anything to him at all.

  “I know what she did. She’s always like that with whomever I dated, except of course with Christine, her favorite person in the world.” He rolled his eyes as he added a bit of sarcasm in his statement.

  “It’s okay. I didn’t mind at all if she’s like that to me.”

  I really didn’t care what his aunt thought of me. I was used to everyone thinking the worst of me.

  Damon stared at me in silence for a while. Unnerved I should be by it, but I kinda like him staring at me. I liked the attention I got from him even though I knew it wasn’t going to be for a long time.

  “Why did you left without saying goodbye to me?” He asked me in a manner that took me by surprise. I didn’t expect that question.

  “I needed to go home, because I suddenly remembered that I have something to do that night.” I lied. I couldn’t tell him that I left because I was scared of what I was starting to feel for him. Of how big my feelings for him were.

  “Then why were you gone when I came to the diner? I saw you there inside but when I came in your friend told me you were not there.” He sounded so confused.

  “I felt sick? Uhm, I mean, I didn’t felt good that day so I got out of work early.” I lied again.

  I forcefully tore my eyes away from Damon. I couldn’t look directly to into his blue searching eyes, it made it so hard to tell a lie to him.

  “I see.” He said in a small voice.

  I could hear and feel the pain of my action in his voice and it made my heart squeeze in guilt.

  “Am I that bad that you have to lie to me?” He asked in that wounded expression and tone I never heard from him before. It made the squeezing pain in my chest aggravate further.

  “Huh?’ I tried my best to sound so innocent, though inside I was dying of guilt. Trying my best to sound like I didn’t know what he was talking about.

  “Did I do something wrong?” He asked again in that tone that was killing me slowly inside.

  “No.” I murmured, feeling guilty for lying.

  “Then why were you crying on the shoulder of some other guy?” His voice was pained and hard as steel. I could hear how much he was hurting.

  “What are you talki―” Oh. He must have seen Aiden and me together.

  “Amanda, I don’t want to hurt you. I don’t want to do anything against your will. Tell me if you are not fine with our arrangement. If you are not fine, then let’s stop.” He squeezed my hand in the gentlest way, shooting a direct message straight to my heart.

  “Damon―” I started but he cut me off.

  “No, Amanda. I wanted to make you feel comfortable with this thing, just tell me how I could.” He said in that soft tone of his that tickled my heart. It felt like soft feathers cushioning my torn heart.

  “I don’t have a problem with our relationship.” I cleared my throat. Not relationship, Amanda. You were not in a relationship with Damon Rhodes. I reminded and mentally kicked myself. “I mean our arrangement.” I clarified.

  He nodded. “Okay. Do you want to come home with me?”

  I nodded. No matter how much my brain told me to say no, I just couldn’t do it. My heart was ruling out my decision. Plus, the way he looked at me only made it harder to shake my head no. He was like an alcohol to my alcoholic induced persona, without him I couldn’t function and there was no rehabilitation facility that could help me sober up.

  ~***~

  I was in love with this man beside me.

  No matter how hard I tried to lie to myself about my feelings for him, my heart kept rubbing to my face the naked truth.

  That I love Damon Rhodes.

  So here I was inside his limousine trapped in the confines of this engine feeling overwhelmed by him. I watched the streets passed by in a blur as the car moves, letting my eyes and mind wander. When would this love bug get out of my system?

  Damon interrupted my wandering thought. “You should have told me no if you don’t feel like coming, but stop ignoring me as if I wasn’t inside the car.”

  I slowly tore my eyes off the road and stared into those beautiful blue eyes of his. His eyes were the shade of cobalt blue under the dark lighting. They were so deeply blue that it kind of spoke about what he was thinking. He was pissed that I was not talking to him.

  “I am not ignoring you. There was just something in my mind.” I told him in the truest form of sentence I could give him. I could not tell him about my feelings for him that was bothering my mind but I also did not want to
feel the guilt of giving him another lie that would stab my chest.

  “What is it?” He reached over and took my hand in between his. He lightly squeezed it sending the butterflies in my stomach into fluttering.

  “I can’t tell you.” I told him. I really could not tell him. I have my reasons.

  “Okay. I understand. Do you really want to come? I’ll tell the driver to take a detour and bring you home instead.”

  “You don’t have to, I will come with you.” I assured him, in return he squeezed and gave me a smile. How much that smile affected me. I love that smile of his. I love all his smiles, even his frown as well. I love the way he was, whatever mood he was in.

  I love him.

  We reached his penthouse an hour later and I was surprised when a table was set with candle light on the center top of it. I stared at it, not believing what I was seeing. The penthouse was dimly lit and the skyline outside sparkled under our view. The lights from the buildings looked like glitters.

  Everything was romantic.

  Guess Cinderella’s fairytale hasn’t ended.

  The clock hasn’t strike midnight and my glass slipper hasn’t slipped off my feet.

  Yet.

  “I know you wouldn’t be able to eat that much in the party.” He said as I continued to admire the New York skyline at nighttime.

  I turned my slightly to the side and saw him staring at me with the softest blue eyes I have ever seen. My heart did its usual back flips whenever he stared at me like that. It became a routine of mine now.

  “I told you I wouldn’t let the clock strike twelve.” He said with that lopsided shy smile of his, a new kind of smile I have not seen from him before.

  Wasn’t he the most romantic? How could you not fall for this guy?

  We ate dinner under the candle light, romantic ambience and all. Then after dinner, we drank wine as we stood by the window and watched the New York skyline twinkle like little stars beneath us―together. I took a sip of my wine as I appreciated the beauty of everything. Everything felt like a fantasy novel to me.