CH6: Farro's (Abby)

I couldn’t help myself but lean in. I watched him every time he took a sip of wine and watched the way his smooth lips pressed against the glass, or afterward when he licked his upper lip. His shirt was still clinging to his body from the rain that got him drenched and I could nearly count his abs, even our waitress was taken by him. The man exuded power and confidence, it was difficult to keep one’s composure around him.

I got lost in his eyes, as blue as the sky, I stared, waiting for a cloud to pass by but to no avail, they were crystal clear, surrounded by long, dark lashes, and pointed directly at me. I felt my heart begin to pound in my chest and my face begin to warm up. I didn’t have control of my body anymore, and I began to lean towards him.

He seemed hesitant at first when he saw me getting closer and his face became serious, his body seemed to tense, I froze when he didn’t move as I was. Instead, he put his opposite hand on the nape of my neck, and my breath shuttered at his touch. He began to lean in and pull me closer at the same time. We got inches away, so close that I could feel his breath on my skin and our noses touched for a moment before we paused there, both wondering if this was a good idea.

Mariana arrived with our food and our closeness broke apart abruptly as she appeared, she had shocked us back into reality; the reality where I was having dinner with a court judge who just so happened to be the one to sentence my father to twenty years in jail just this morning, I had to remind myself that I despised the man.

I put my hand on my chest in an attempt to slow down my heart rate and took a sip of water to cool myself down while she placed our plates in front of each of us. When she left, I looked back over at him and he gave me a devious smirk before beginning to eat his food in silence, and I followed his lead. Much of our dinner was spent in silence, both of us not knowing how exactly to react after what just happened.

He finally broke the silence, “Since you asked me three questions, does that mean I get to ask three questions about you?” He had a devilish look on his face and I worried what his questions would be, but fair is fair.

“Sure, what do you want to know?” I asked as I grabbed a piece of bread that was in the center of the table.

He set his wine glass back down and asked his first question “Who was the guy that you were with in the diner?”

I had entirely forgotten about Bradley and his behavior tonight. I hadn’t even thought to check my phone to see if he had tried to contact me at all. When I was focusing on Damien, Bradley was entirely out of the picture.

“I guess you could call him my boyfriend,” his reaction to the word ‘boyfriend’ was something along the lines of pain, “but I’m not sure how much longer that is going to last.” I bit the inside of my cheek and looked down, twirling my fork on the plate.

“Good.” Was his simple reply.

“Good?”

“Is that a fourth question? Because I’ll take however many I can get,” he said in a playful voice. He wanted to be able to ask more questions about me, and it made me happy to know that he was interested.

“I- Um, I guess so, what do you mean by good?” I had leaned over the table to get his attention the same way that I had gotten Jordan’s attention back at the diner.

“I don’t like him.” He answered and I looked at him amazed, he didn’t even know Bradley, how could he say that he didn’t like him? He saw the look on my face and continues, “He wasn’t polite to you and ditched you for his friends,” his reminder pained me a little and I looked down and away from Damien when he said this. What happened in the diner was embarrassing and unforgivable, but I wanted to put Bradley on a better path in life.

I wanted to change the topic, thinking about Bradley would only make me more upset. I cleared my throat and looked back up at Damien to ask, “What’s your second question?”

He narrowed his eyes at me and I could tell that his next question was important, “Do you think you are a good judge of character?” The question was no doubt about Bradley and had a hidden meaning behind it, so I thought for a moment on an appropriate response.

“I like to think that I can see the good in people.” The words came out of my mouth softly and innocently and he smiled over the rim of his wine glass as he finished it, his gaze made my face go warm, “Next question.”

Putting down his glass and placing his elbows on the table, Damien rested his chin on his hand, and he looked at me, “Give me a minute to think on that. If I only have two more, I better make them good.”

I felt uncomfortable taking a bite of my food as he was looking at me, so I simply stared back at him. Maybe this time that our eyes locked we would actually kiss, the thought made me anxious and I couldn’t help but look at his lips again, they were pursed in thought.

“What’s your next move for a career?” He finally asked. An appropriate question for an eighteen-year-old who is fresh out of high school.

“I was going to get into law somehow, like my dad,” speaking about my dad out loud made things feel awkward between us, “But after I went to one of his hearings when I was around fourteen, I decided otherwise, and now I have decided to focus on becoming a CSI.”

“Hm. So you saw the evidence being presented at one of your father’s hearings and decided from then on out that you wanted to be a part of the behind-the-scenes people,”

I narrowed my eyes at him and asked, “Is that a statement or question number four?”

He chuckled and shook his head, “Let us call that one a statement. I still have one question left.” I stayed silent as we continued eating and he came up with his final question.

Mariana came by and Damien gave her a credit card to pay for the meal, he still was yet to come up with his last question. “Thank you, for buying me dinner. Twice. This is my favorite restaurant and I’m sure you know it’s been a rough day for me.”

He smiled at me, “You’re very welcome, Abby, come on, let’s get you home.” I was slightly disappointed that our time together was ending, and slightly disappointed that he hadn’t of phrased it as a question, if he had, I could have teased him for using his fourth question in a silly way.

He escorted me back to his car and we noticed that it had stopped raining. I looked back at Damien, who was thanking the host, and noticed his shirt had now dried off and wasn’t clinging to him anymore. Pity.

I knew that he was aware of my address because of my father’s file, but Damien seemed to memorize our address and also how to get there without using a map the entire drive, which was particularly odd to me.

Like a gentleman, he opened my door for me and walked me to my front door where we stood before I went in. “You still have one question left,” I reminded him, hoping that he would ask if he could kiss me.

He sighed, exhaling dramatically before saying “I think I’m going to hold on to my last question,” this confused me and I tilted my head at him, “Gives me an excuse to see you again.” The corner of his lip went up to create a mischievous grin, and he took a step away from the house, still facing me as he walked back towards his car, “Goodnight, Abby.”

I stood there for a moment, watching him walk away slowly, still maintaining eye contact, and said gently, “Goodnight, Damien,” and went inside.