Chapter Sixty
Ariana's POV;
I was getting ready to leave the office at about five in the evening. The whole rowdiness had died down after a while and things went back to normal in the office. I had done my work and finished up well with no extra, thankfully. It was a breath of fresh of air now that I was free of Levi and his bossiness and the fact that Damien went out of his way to help me truly warmed my heart.
He isn't so bad after all huh? My inner self asked and I shrugged. It was a habit to hear her speak and I would unconsciously respond.
I couldn't wait to tell my dad about all of it. My smile fell when I thought about him. The nightmare I had the previous night, it got me worried about him. I made a mental note to call him later and speak to him about all that had gone down but very quickly, I dropped a text for him.
"Hey Ariana, you ready to leave?" Stephanie asked.
"Yeah. I'm just hoping I have a ride home." I voiced my thoughts out.
"Why would you not have one?" She asked.
"Damien gave my driver and body guard a day off and brought me to the office this morning." I explained.
"Oh that's alright, you can ride with me. I'll drop you at home." She offered.
"No, I wouldn't want to be a bother." I politely declined.
"I'm not taking no for an answer. I'm simply returning the favor." She said alluding to the one time I had her dropped off at her apartment weeks back.
"Fine, whatever you say." I said, eventually giving in.
"You did not have a choice anyway." She said, amusing me even further. I walked with her into the elevator and we continued chattering until we got to the ground floor and stepped out of the building. We were close to where she had parked when I heard my name from a distance behind me and I turned around quickly.
"Damien?" I said with my mouth agape. He walked the distance while I watched in both awe and astonishment. Awe, at how good he looked even when I looked a mess after a really long day at the office. Astonishment, because he was right in front of me at such time of the day, at my office, something that had never happened before.
"Hey babe." He said and pulled me into a warm embrace. He acknowledged Stephanie with a wave and she waved back eagerly when he gave her one of his dashing smirks while at it.
"What are you doing here?" I asked him.
"I'm here to pick you up. I dropped you off this morning remember?" He said like he was stating the obvious and I was supposed to know that. Well, wow! This was a new thing.
I waved goodbye to Stephanie as he ushered me me away towards to the Ferrari we had come with in the morning.
He pulled the door open for me and I got in. In no time, he was seated next to me and the engine roared to life. I buckled up quickly, fully aware of how fast this thing went.
I waved at Stephanie who had her jaw dropped at sight of the sleek ride.
Girl, I had the same reaction when I saw it too. I bit back a chortle.
"How was your day?" He asked me as he drovd out of the premises on to the highway.
"It was good. How was yours?" I responded.
"It was okay." He said.
He soon received a work call that lasted for the most past of the ride. I played games on my phone to tune out of the conversation he was having. The call ended just as he drove in through the the villa's gates.
He parked in front of the house and I got out immediately. He was soon beside me as he handed the keys over to one of the guards. He placed his hand on the small of my back as he led me inside.
I said hello to Walter quickly before climbing the stairs. I was pressed and I had to go use the bathroom quickly. I rushed into my bathroom and sat on my toilet and did my business.
I washed my hands quickly after I was done. I took off my clothes and got under the shower. When I was done with all of that. I picked up some clothes to wear down for dinner.
I dried my hair out and came out of my room only to see that Damien was just doing the same.
"You hungry?" He asked.
"Starving." I groaned dramatically as I held my stomach. He chuckled and stretched his hand out to mine, I slid my palm into his as we walked down the stairs together.
The dinner table was being set up and unsurprisingly everyone was present and already seated.
"Do you always pout when you're hungry?" Damien asked all of a sudden.
"What?" I laughed out loud, gaining everyone's attention. I looked up at him as I laughed and saw that he was holding back a laugh himself.
"I'm just stating my observation." He shrugged as he pulled out a seat for me and I sat, still looking up at him.
"Well you're wrong." I stated amid a chuckle.
"I'll keep observing then." He said back in the same tone.
"Whatever." I stuck my tongue out and looked away in embarrassment. It was then I noticed that everyone had their eyes on us.
"Hmm. Seems like you two forgot about the rest of us living in this house." Fiona muttered and Jesse smacked the back of her head lightly.
"Heyyy!" She whined while rubbing on the spot.
"Sorry. Good evening everyone." I said looking around the room quickly.
"Good evening." They all chorused back.
"A little birdie told me that you two left for work together and even returned together." Mom said with a grin.
"Yeah, Damien helped me sort out some issues at work." I said to her and she nodded with a smile.
"Thank you." I said as I turned to him and placed a chaste kiss on his lips. I did not even know why I did that. Hunger sure did things to me.
"You're welcome." He said back, thoroughly hiding his expressions.
Fiona said grace and we all dug into our meals, savoring it all in silence.
"Tracy, are you alright?" Gerald asked and everyone turned to her. She was not eating.
"I don't have an appetite, I don't know how but I just lost it." She said almost breaking down in tears.
Mom, Fiona and I, rushed to her side instinctively.
"Would you like something else? We could whip up something for you very quickly."
That was Ma Rosa speaking.
"I don't want to be a bother." She said hesitantly.
"Ariana, your chicken soup worked like magic on me and, " she said, still very reluctant to speak but I could decipher what she meant very easily.
"Say no more. I'm on it." I said quickly.
"Where are you going?" I heard Damien question as I headed towards the kitchen.
Fiona went on to give him a brief explanation of what went down a few days earlier. He nodded in understanding.
"I'd like some too. I want to taste my wife's cooking." He said and I did not know how to react so I just nodded.
"Me too." Almost everyone chorused at the same time so I pulled Fiona with me.
"You're going to be my assistant then." I said and she laughed nervously.
"Mom, a little help here." She called out, half way into the kitchen. Even as she poked her head out through the door, I pulled her further in.
"Go learn how to cook silly." Mom pushed her in.
"Hi Lorenzo." I said to him. He was taking his apron off, ready to call it a night.
"Hello Mrs Kingston. You need any help?" He offered with a welcoming smile.
"No, that's why Fiona's here." I said and he looked really amused.
"Alright then."
"Have a good night." I said to him with a grin.
"Good night." He said and left.
I got down to business. Damien of course would not let me do anything on my own so he sent maids to join me much to the relief of Fiona.
Having manyy hands made my work easier, all I had to do was have them chop my ingredients after giving them the measurements for the right quantity. I just had to put it all together in a nice mix inside the pot.
Soon, it was ready and I scooped servings for each and every family member which the maids had brought to the table.
I watched with bated breath as everyone took a scoop.
"Hmmm. This is so good." Fiona spoke first.
"I know right." Tracy said humming in delight.
Everyone else said something nice and I sighed in relief. Not that I doubted my cooking abilities but who ever knew if they were going to flop.
I was still yet to hear from Damien so I turned to him expectantly.
"I don't even know what to say, I'm lost for words." Damien was not exactly a wordy person so I was not expecting less.
"This is really good wifey." He said and I mouthed a thank you.
What a nice way to end the day, but it was not quite over yet.
