Chapter Thirty eight

I was fast asleep late into the night when I heard the door come open. Instinctively I opened my eyes, sat up on the bed and put on the lamp beside me.

With the room dimly illuminated now, I looked up at the figure standing in the middle of the room, staring straight at me.

"Why are you here?" He questioned gazing at me with an unreadable glint in his eye. He tilted his head while waiting for me to speak. I was hesitant to speak at first knowing how he was but then I garnered courage and eventually spoke up.

"I don't want to sleep in the same room as you anymore." I stated, avoiding his piercing gaze as I did.

"My decision is final and there's nothing you would do to change it." I uttered firmly. I stared up at him after a few moments of silence. He was not saying anything and it somehow worried me.

"Fine, have it your way." He said as he shoved his right hand into his pant pocket.

I was shell shocked that he agreed just like that, I so wanted to blurt my thoughts out but I thought against it. It was better this way and probing him for his reasons to agreeing without argument could actually lead to one in the end.

"Good night." He said without an emotion in his tone. He was out of the room before I could utter a response. I heard the door from across the room shut afterwards.

I stood up and locked the door with the key I had found earlier. I did not want anyone entering without knocking just like Damien had just did. It still baffled me that he had agreed so easily to me sleeping somewhere else. It was for the best though, being in the same space with him could lead us into something more than platonic. I was worried that if we kept making out like we did earlier, I would end up in his bed and it would change the vibe. I could not trust myself with that hunk. What's worse is that he did not even apologize for speaking to me so rudely in front of everyone. God, I hate this dude!

I stayed awake for a while staring into space. I was going to miss the balcony, there wasn't one in this room, only a large windowed that showed me the front gates of the estate, the driveway, fountain, the large waste of space that encompassed a garden and all what not, Fiona had said it was used for parties whenever they decided to host one. It was not so bad.

I picked up my phone and checked the time, it was past 2am. I decided it was best to go back to sleep.

****

I reached for my phone to check the time while the rays hit me thoroughly. It was past 9am. I sat up quickly. How did I sleep so late? I don't even know.

My stomach rumbled, reminding me that I had missed breakfast that morning. I trudged into my new bathroom and washed my face, I wanted to brush my teeth, then I remembered that I still had most of my stuff in Damien's room.

I was sure that he was not in but going into the room just felt odd all of a sudden. I pushed myself off the sink and dragged myself out of the room, I still felt sleepy somewhat.

I soon found my self in his room and I walked into the bathroom, grabbed my toothbrush along with other essentials and moved them to my new room. I made a mental note to take my clothes out of his closet later in the day. I got out of the room and went straight to my bathroom.

I arranged my toiletries properly and went about brushing my teeth. I was in the middle of rinsing my mouth when I faintly heard a knock at my door, though the sound was not so loud, I just knew someone was at the door.

I rinsed my mouth quickly, went to the door and pulled it open.

"Good morning, Ma Rosa." I said with a faint smile. She grinned.

"Good morning my dear. How was your night?" She asked.

"It was good." I looked down and saw her holding a tray.

"Your breakfast." She stated.

"Aw, Ma Rosa you didn't have to." I said with a pout.

"You did not come down for breakfast so I had to." She shrugged.

"None of you came down for breakfast actually." She mumbled but I heard her. I hummed knowingly. It was self explanatory , the events of the previous night at dinner had everyone upset and the tension at breakfast would have been palpable if at all we had assembled.

"Why are you here?" She asked as she placed the tray on the small table next to my bed.

"Huh?" I feigned ignorance though I knew exactly what she was talking about.

"I went to yours and Damien's bedroom and found out from him that you were going to be sleeping here from now on." She said with her hands on her hips.

"Damien is in?" I asked in surprise.

"No, that was before he left for work earlier." She clarified. I nodded.

"Now, answer me." She said sitting next to me on the bed.

"Ma Rosa, it's complicated." I said reluctantly.

"I heard what he did yesterday." She said and shut her eyes while she spoke passionately. "It was so wrong of him to speak to you like that."

She looked up at me and caressed my face tenderly.

"I understand if you need your space from him for some time but don't let it stretch. Damien can be an asshole but he can also be a big baby." She said and I snorted.

I could never believe that last line for anything in the world.

"Ariana, I believe you can change him and warm his cold heart." She said with the same hopeful gleam I had seen in Stella's eyes before I got married. What was it with these people trying to make me some sort of savior to their sick son?

Damien was just a dark, mean, disrespectful person and there was no changing him. I did not want to take on a task that was impossible, it was pointless. I was going to figure out a way to leave this marriage anyway so there was no need to bother myself so much. It was only a matter of time before I find a loophole in the contract and leave for good.

I nodded in spite of what I actually thought. Anything to get her off my case with Damien.

"Thanks Ma Rosa." I said.

"You're welcome. Now eat up, I'll send someone to come get the plates later." She said and left shortly after.

I dug in and had my fill before going to take a bath. By the time I got out, the plates were gone. It was almost as if they were watching me closely in this house.

I picked out a pair of denim shorts and paired it up with a tank top, I did not plan on stepping out of the room for anything except moving my stuff from Damien's room so I thought to wear something very comfortable.

I got into my closet and found that it was just like the one in his room, it was just somewhat smaller. I believed Damien's room was the largest, though I had not been into any other.

I got into his room and got started on moving. I moved my shoes out, placing them in a duffel bag, then I reached for my bags and did same. I dragged both of them out and placed them on my closet's island.

I continued going back and forth for a pretty long time until I had emptied my side of his closet.

I breathed heavily when I remembered that I had to arrange my closet as well. I plopped on my bed to catch a breather. Moving was not an easy task at all.

I stared at the plain wall opposite my bed, my eyes trailed the wide expanse of space. The bathroom and closet were not necessarily connected to it and I wondered what the wide space was for. I stood up and moved closer to it. I stared at it for a long while until I saw two silver buttons, so small they were hardly noticeable.

I pushed one of them and heard a strange sound, like something was coming open. I was excited thinking it was a secret passageway or something of that sort like I had seen in movies.

My smile dropped when I realized that it was just an enclosement that reavealed an 85 inch television. Wow.

Wealthy people are just dramatic with everything. Like, why do you have to keep a television hidden in a wall? Absolutely ridiculous. I rolled my eyes.

I pushed the second button and I watched as it went back in and closed up slowly.

"Wow." I breathed when I checked for anything that would leave a clue like a crack of parting but there was none. Now, this was neat, like really clean.

Now fully energized, I turned and walked towards my closet. I stared at the eclectic mix of clothing and accessories and breathed heavily but determinedly. It was about time I got to work.

I picked up my phone and saw a message as I worked.

"Alexa?" I questioned because the name sounded sort of familiar but it was not the same person I knew.

I heard the echo sound associated with Amazon's Alexa and my mouth formed an 'o'.

"Alexa play me some music." I said aloud.

Soon, 'chandelier' by Sia came on and it had me singing along.

The music helped me work faster and before I knew it, my closet was properly arranged a few hours later.

"Phew." I breathed a relieved sigh and looked around. I nodded and gave myself an imaginary pat on the back for a job well done.

I decided it would be best to watch a movie as a reward for my hardwork.

I got me some popcorn and homemade juice from Lorenzo and sat back to enjoy a bunch of movies on Netflix.

I was watching a romcom and it was such a sweet movie that I actually wished I had something like that with someone. The sweet actions exhibited by the lead character and his love interest would have any lover girl like me forgetting that it was just a movie. I truly wanted to spend the rest of my life with someone who loved me unconditionally but here I was, stuck with Damien.

I cried at the end of the movie, they had such a happy ending, I hoped mine would come sooner or later in life.

I truly hoped that after Damien and I eventually divorced since it was inevitable, that I would find love and not be tagged as a divorcee for the rest of my life. I hoped that I would come out of it unscathed and that the media would leave me alone because I did not think I would be capable of handling all that pressure that came with being in the public eye and on the headlines for non celebratory reasons. It made the whole plan look like an uphill task but then again, whenever I got to that bridge, I knew I would eventually cross it.

My phone beeped, taking my concentration from the movie I had been watching. It was an email inviting me for an interview at Avilla Corp. That was Aiden's company. I knew because when I had googled Damien, Aiden's name had popped up and I found out a few things about him as well.

It seemed like Damien had put in a word for me to Aiden, just as he had promised. The interview was the next day at about 8am, which meant that I would have to leave early for it because I had no idea how far it was from here.