CHAPTER 2–A SURPRISE HELLO

               April moved along because she couldn’t do much else with Damien’s insistence. April saw several staff members busy themselves with her luggage before she left the lobby. She was unsure about the outcome once they were in a more secluded area. What had Damien so upset? What had she done?

               April knew he was tall, but when had he become this tall? Damien now towered over everyone, and he wore an immaculate suit tailored to make him appear even more imposing. “Now, what was that worm trying to pull in the lobby April?” Damien closed the door to a private dining tea lounge a floor above the lobby. It boasted a one-way view over the sprawling lobby’s fountain below and everything that went on there.

               The way Damien said worm, it’s as if he wanted to grind David under his boot heel. What had David done to the Jones family? “I’m sure I don’t know what you mean.” April could feel her this situation slipping away from her as if everything was coated in Teflon.

               “Oh, really. Then explain this.” Without warning, Damien took hold of April’s elbow and pushed up her sleeve. She gasped in pain and Carolyn let out an echoing sound of shocked, dismayed.

               “Damien, what are you doing?” Carolyn screeched. Only Damien remained unfazed. That halted at the sight of the forming bruises. David’s hands had left bruises on her arm in various stages of healing. Where his fingers had ground and twisted on her arm. “April, what the hell? How often does he hold onto you like that? Or does he ever let go?”

               “If he’s around it feels like he doesn’t let go sometimes.” April pulled her sleeve back into place, hiding the various marks David had left during the three weeks they were together on the island. He disliked how he’s expected to have her almost tied to his hip to meet all his family’s expectations as a married man.

               “Oh, hon. This is incorrect.” Carolyn planned her statement. But cried this out deliberate. While April tried to shrug it off and forget it before she could think about it too hard. Right now, she needed to focus this on anger and coldness. Grief and fear wouldn’t serve her right now. Her pain didn’t help her except to fuel her actions.

               “You think? He acts like this when he’s having an affair. Could you imagine if he cared about me? I suspect I’ve gotten off light.” April couldn’t look anyone in the face as she spoke. Or someone would realize she exaggerated.

               There’s nothing humours about this. But April had made her bed and circumstances forced her to stay in it.  

               “He’s what?” Damien appeared to about to lose his mind. His hands fell from her arm, and he turned from her. “What’s his excuse for his behaviour? Did you ask him why he did this?”

               “Oh, please. Why does any man? He believes he has the right. I’m his first wife. The training wheels.” April didn’t feel impressed by Damien’s question when she answered. What was between the two men? “Did David deal with you in poor faith about something?” Her words sounded odd, and artificial. No one dared to say a word in the deafening silence, even April. How does one man project both allure and menace?

               “Did he say that?” Neil asked from where he stood beside his fiancé. He held Carolyn in a gentle embrace while she watched in shock.

               “I don’t want to talk about it. This is your wedding. It’s a joyful affair.” April didn’t want to hurt her friend with information that she knew would hurt Carolyn. She was afraid if it started with this, and the wedding party became involved, then the wedding wouldn’t happen. April didn’t want it to ruin Carolyn’s memories of her wedding.

               “Neil.” Damien said. They exchanged a look, and Neil nodded. They’d a full conversation in that single name.

               “Got it. Come Carolyn. Let’s give them a minute.” Neil took Carolyn’s hand in his and gave it a gentle tug. He refused to accept rejection. The men’s decision puzzled the women; they were uncertain about past and future events.

               “Wait. Neil, where are we going?” Carolyn tried to stop him, but Neil was gentle when he took her from the room.

               “They need to talk Carolyn, and we’ve plenty of wedding details to go over. Everything will be alright. You’ll see, love.”

               “Neil.” Carolyn tried to talk to Neil as he took her from the private tearoom.            

               “I’ll explain Caro. Call me when you’re done Damien.” April frowned as he gave her an odd smile when the door closed.

               “Yeah.” Damian locked the door and turned to April with a stern expression. He parted his suit jacket, and his hands slipped into his front trouser pockets. He took in a deep breath through his nose and released it, never letting his eyes leave the tips of his shoes as he collected his thoughts. “What were you thinking allowing David Moore to abuse you like that and saying nothing? Why didn’t you ask for help?”

               “What? From whom? Ask his family for help? Oh, yes. Not likely. Thanks for the offer, but it would be a media disaster. Ask my family? When I ask for help, my chances are worse than a snowball in hell. Don’t bother it’s a waste of time.” April said. She self assured didn’t know how she could have explained to Damien that her friends were in truth all his friends. They’d not betray their friend to save her from a few bumps and bruises if it meant harming his reputation. Their friendship and reputation meant more than April’s bruises and injuries. When David threatened to destroy them and their family.

               “You have friends and everyone else in the world. There’s Caro. Neil. Myself.”

               “First. Neil and Caro can’t help. They’re busy. Wedding and the rest of their lives.” April waved her toward the lobby and the couple below. “Second, Damien, I haven’t seen you since we graduated. I can’t believe you could recognize me if you were forced to recognize me in a line up. You weren’t of the radar. You don’t count. That look won’t work. “Third, my family isn’t a possibility. Well, unless I want to accept huge strings and not, I will not explain the strings.” April didn’t understand what Damien’s point was. He was unacquainted with her; she desired his acquaintance, yet he remained unknown to her.

               Damien took his hands from his pockets and began to tick things off his fingers as the colour faded from April’s face with each checked finger. “Fine. If you won’t talk about your family and the strings. We’ll talk about your misconceptions in point number two. There’s a lot of things I remember about that no one else knows. I bet Carolyn doesn’t know. For instance, I bet everyone thinks you bleach your hair, but the truth is you stopped dying your hair brown. Your eyes aren’t brown, they’re green. You stopped wearing brown contact lenses. You like to read, but you hated the school library and preferred to read outside even on rainy days under the back canopy. Darjeeling tea rather than coffee. Cinnamon toast instead of cinnamon rolls. Caro is the friend who eats the icing and you’re the one who eats the cake. You don’t mind romance but prefer a decent regency mystery. History fascinates you and you have a strong sense of justice. Okay, I think you sit down? You’ve had a surprise.”

               “You’ve been stalking me. What did you learn?” She couldn’t believe this. How could she have missed this? Why would he have bothered?

               “Not enough it seems. Has David done this long?” Damien was persistent, like a dog with a bone. He brushed her blonde hair back from her brow as he watched her and listened.

               “No, this is new. He talks down to me. Tell me I am lazy and useless.”

               “Enough. I don’t want to hear it. You know it’s not true. I’ve seen how smart you are and before you accuse me of trying to manipulate you right now. You own a successful business. I spent my senior year trying to talk to you, but you avoided me, and I never found out why.” April felt like she had whiplash from Damien’s answers. His words and her beliefs didn’t align. He still hadn’t told her why he’d stalked her at school.

               “Why? I had my reasons. Obvious reasons. You had everyone at school ready to jump at your whims. I wasn’t even on your radar Damien.”

               “April, when are you leaving David?”

               “I ... That’s my business.”

               “It will make my destroying him easier.”

               “Really now.”