CH5: Farro's (Damien)

Now that Abigail was of an appropriate age, I was comfortable with approaching her with my full intentions. Hex told me that she was going on a date tonight and her good-for-nothing boyfriend was taking her to the diner – I had Hex tap her phone so that I could see everything that came and went from her cellphone, and when I found out about her boyfriend, I tapped his phone too.

I went home from the courthouse and changed into some comfortable clothes that showed off my physique before I drove to the diner to await my opportunity to get Abigail’s attention.

I had arrived only minutes before Abigail and her worthless boyfriend Bradley showed up, she hadn’t noticed me as she walked in and she sat in the booth with her back facing me as her boyfriend left towards the buffet. I could go up to her now, but he would be back any moment, and I wanted her all to myself. Bradley was facing me as he sat back down at the booth across from Abigail and I watched him with disgust; he spoke with his mouth full and didn’t even look at the blonde beauty in front of him. What I would give to be sitting there right now.

In the corner of my eye, out the window, I saw a group of men who looked like they belong to the same posse that Bradley did, seeming rowdy, and a part of me was concerned about what was about to happen. My ability to know a person’s sins by a single look in the eye was unnecessary here, I knew these were bad men, and using the word “men” to describe them was a favor. They were nothing more than thugs and thieves.

The group approached Abigail’s table being obnoxiously loud and I felt the need to go and protect her from them, even going so far as taking a single step out of my booth and putting my hand on the table, but she seemed to hold her own, and I relaxed a little. A minute of conversation between them and I saw Abigail’s boyfriend stand up and walk away with the other good-for-nothing men. She stood up in protest as they walked up and left her alone. This is my opportunity.

I stood up and began my walk over to her when I overheard her speaking to the waitress, “Oh my God, I am so sorry, I forgot my bag and I don’t have any money on me.” She said with a helpless voice, ‘demon to the rescue’, I thought to myself and pulled out a credit card.

“I’ll pay for it,” I said as I approached the waitress and saw Abigail look over her shoulder at me with her big hazel-colored eyes. Her hair was pulled up into a high ponytail and I was able to see her entire face clearly now.

“Judge Hale,” she greeted me with a surprised look, and the waitress left with my card. I sat across from Abigail and looked at her features closer as we made casual conversation.

Since I had been following her around her whole life, I knew that her favorite restaurant was Farro, an Italian place, where the owner just so happens to owe me a favor. I called ahead of time and had a table arranged there for us, all I had to do was get Abigail to agree to join me.

She had been abandoned by her date and admitted to me that she hated the food here, so I politely asked her to join me. She took a few moments to think about it and she looked side to side, addressing her options when I heard her stomach growl slightly and she sighed before answering “Sure.”

We waited until the waitress came back with my credit card and stood up from the booth to leave. I offered her my hand to escort her to my car, but she instead put her hands inside her denim jacket pockets. I smiled at how cute and shy she was.

It was raining outside, and I had luckily found a parking spot nearby for my blue Tesla. I opened the door for her and noticed her eyes that had gone to stare at my torso – my white shirt was now wet and clinging to me, partially see-through. She shied away her eyes and got in the car. I made sure to take my time walking around the front before getting in.  

I started the car and Abigail’s eyes went wide when she saw the screen in the middle light up. I chuckled at her “What is it?”

“Your car… has an iPad installed.” She said with an amazed tone and I laughed.

“It’s just the control panel, Abigail.” I tapped on the screen and asked her “Are you cold?” She nodded her head and I tapped on the seat warmer, “There, that should help,” I tapped the screen a couple more times and turned on the windshield wipers, her eyes went wide again, and I laughed again before we drove off.

Farro’s was a quick ten minutes from the diner, and Abigail was silent for the car ride there, I was sure that she was feeling nervous to be around me and didn’t know what to say, and for some reason, so was I. I’ve had four years to plan this moment and still, my words fell short.

We arrived at Farro’s and hurried in after I opened the car door for her as it was still raining. The owner, Mr. Rossi, was on the other side of the door to greet us with a smile.

“Welcome, Mr. Hale. I have your table ready for you, please, follow me,” he motioned for us to follow and Abigail looked at me in question before following behind him to our booth in the corner. I motioned for Abigail to sit first and then sat down myself. Mr. Rossi gave us our menus and excused himself, “Mariana will be your server tonight.”

“Thank you, Mr. Rossi,” I said before he left.

Mariana showed up to take our order and I noticed her gaze went exactly where Abigail’s had to my torso, my shirt was still clinging to my skin in various places. I pinched my lips together before she regained her composure and took our order.

As she walked away, I looked back to Abigail, who still had a look of apprehension towards me. Every time she looked over at me, she couldn’t help but let her eyes wander, and then she would look away quickly and blush, pretending to play with her wet ponytail. I leaned back and enjoyed how she was torturing herself. Torture was supposed to be my specialty, maybe Abigail had a knack for it as well.

I kept looking at her and taking in her features until she broke the silence, “Can I ask you something?”

“Of course,” I offered as I took a sip of my wine.

“How old are you?” She looked directly into my eyes and tilted her head. Everyone questioned my age and how I had become a judge so young, little did they know that I had about ten times more life experience than any of them.

“Twenty-five,” it was how old I was in human years, at least, or the highest age that my physical appearance could stretch to.

“How are you so successful at such a young age?” I got this question from every person I had ever met since coming to live among the humans.

I shrugged at her, “I guess I’m just smart,” my eyes met hers and she didn’t seem too thrilled with my answer but I smiled regardless. I took another sip of my wine, our eyes not leaving each other’s stare. She pursed her lips and narrowed her eyes at me, I wish I were a mind reader, but that was Hex’s gift, not mine.

“How did you get a nickname like “The Demon?” She asked another popular question that I got frequently.

“It’s because I am one,” I said and she chuckled, “It’s not a nickname, it’s true,” she laughed out loud and while I didn’t find my confession to be anything funny, I couldn’t help but smile at her amusement. Her laugh was the sweetest sounding thing I may have ever heard.

“Abigail,” I started and she looked back at me,

“Abby. Please, call me Abby,” she suggested.

I smiled, “Okay, Abby, then you can call me Damien.”

She put her hand out for a handshake and I looked at her with an amused smile and a lifted eyebrow before putting my hand in hers. It was like a bolt of lightning ran through my body when our skin touched for the first time and my heart skipped a beat, as if it mattered. “It’s nice to meet you, Damien.” She smiled and I realized that I was wrong, my name on her voice was the sweetest sounding thing I have ever heard.

Now that we were alone without any distractions and I was close enough to her, I decided to take a quick look into her eyes and see what sins she has committed. I smiled when I saw that she became jealous looking at the photo of me with my arm around another woman. That woman, by the way, I did not even know. Everyone at the silent auction knew who I was and wanted a photo with me, I only went there to find out who was donating their money just to make them look good, and not from genuine care for a cause.

“It’s nice to meet you too, Abby.” She didn’t take her hand back after shaking mine but instead stared at me, and I gladly gazed back, noticing that her eyes had moved from my eyes to my lips, our hands had stopped moving but were still together, filling the space between us that soon began to close in.