*Melanie*I rolled my suitcase across the hallway, silently praying that I didn't bump into anyone. I wanted to start the weekend competition off with an apology to Damon. I knocked on my room door, simultaneously swiping my key card as I walked inside. My eyebrows jumped up in surprise when I saw Hailey sitting comfortably on her bed, painting her nails. She'd arrived earlier than she normally did. Usually, I was the one who arrived first. I felt genuine happiness that she had also made it to the next round."Melanie!" She exclaimed, jumping down from the bed and hopping to where I stood with the handle of my suitcase in hand. Before I could guess what she was about to do, she had enveloped in a warm hug I totally did not see coming. It took a while for me to register that she was somehow hugging me while still trying to mind her nails because it was something she had never done before.She must have mistook my silence and stiffness for me not liking the fact that she touched me beca
*Damon*Growing up, I'd been a pretty weird kid. I hadn't had it as easy as people would think. I seemed to always do something a bit differently from others. My mom often told me it was because I was special but even then I had known better than to believe her. She didn't seem to still think I was special when I did things that landed me in trouble. It wasn't weird for me to find myself having different views from others. I often argued about their views on a few things. Like what spooked them. And what riled them up. And what they found alarming. It was a little alarming realizing that your feelings about someone were somehow beginning to change without your permission. Especially when you didn't want it to. I didn't see Melanie for the rest of the day. It was a bit strange really because all we seemingly did during the weekends here was bump into each other. I had a strong conviction that it wasn't because she was trying to avoid me. I didn't know why I was so sure.I just knew.T
MELANIEI kept stealing subtle glances at Damon during this weekend’s test. We were showcasing our cooking skills, something that I’m sure a man on the lookout for a wife expects in her. The kitchen had been sectioned into 12 spaces; each suitable enough for the contestant’s free movement and easy access to her utensils.Ingredients of all manner and culture were available for us as we were expected to whip up a meal of our choice. Damon looked hot in his all black attire. Standing close to Jake and Shayla, they exchanged some conversation here and there as the competition progressed.I was making tuna salad and lasagna. A close inspection of the woman next to me, I think her name was Layla?, made me swallow an inward gasp. She was making some kind of exotic Mexican cuisine. I guessed it was Mexican because she exuded Latina vibes. She had a killer body with an abundant ass and her eyes were almond shaped, very dark and so pretty. Some of the contestants were already done with their
MELANIEI was in deep trouble. Glancing down at my wrist watch, I winced at how late it was. I was supposed to meet Trish at Starbucks about forty five minutes ago, but I'd been too engrossed in my writing to remember that we had agreed to meet up for lunch.Increasing my pace and stretching my legs as far as they could go, I tried to think of a good excuse. I could tell her that I'd forgotten but that would just leave her disappointed. In the end, I decided to go with the truth. Trish knew me too well for her to believe any of the stories that I would make up.She was my only friend.I wasn't even kidding. I could count the number of people interacted with in just one hand. See, I wasn't the social type. I wish I could say that it was because of one trauma that I'd passed through to at least excuse my behavior, but sadly it wasn't.I just didn't like people. End of story.Pausing for a few seconds to catch my breath, I pushed the door to the café open and tried to stealthily walk in.
DAMONI raised my head when I heard a knock on my front door. I frowned, hoping it was not the woman I'd been with throughout last night and in the early hours of this morning. I knew I had made myself clear when I'd told her that it was a one time thing. I always make myself clear from the start.Looking at my reflection in the mirror, I picked up my tie and began heading for the door. My eyebrows drew together when I saw who it was through the one way mirror. She didn't normally show up this early."How come you're here so early?" I asked after opening the door. I took in the way her chest seemed to be rising and falling faster than usual.Did she actually...run?She trolled past me, heading for what had to be becoming her favorite room in my house. I caught the sounds of spoons clinking and pondered for a moment if Shayla had actually lost her mind."Shayla?" I called after her, closing the door and following her to the kitchen. I glanced down at my wrist watch to make sure that it
MELANIEToday was one of the rare days that I choose to take a walk in the streets. Sometimes, especially when I'm faced with writer's block, I just lock up my apartment and breeze about, almost always ending up at the central park.The weather was cold, which was expected since rain had only been falling few minutes ago. I tried to walk as composedly as possible in my ankle boots, avoiding tiny pools of muddy water where I could.Tucking my hands in my coat pockets, I breathed in the fresh scent of rain. It was one of the things that I seemed to love.The smell of rain.Probably because my mother and I had a ritual of playing in the rain when I'd been growing up. At least until she was forcefully taken from me by a ghastly accident.I pushed down the lump in my throat, my eyes almost instantly stinging. I'd come home from school and she hadn't been in the house the way she always was just for my sake, even though she was fully employed.My dad had returned home hours later to inform m
DAMONI gripped the neck of the bottle in front of me and lifted it to my mouth, enjoying the way the liquid burned my throat as it rushed down. It was six days already since the day I'd found out that I had to get married in less than three months and stay married for three years. My life had taken a dive since then."It's not fair for your dad to have tried to control you like that." Shayla voiced out from where she sat beside Jake. We went out to a club like we did every Friday night. I finally decided to disclose what had gone down in the meeting I'd had with my father's lawyer.Their reactions weren't surprising to me. They didn't know the kind of man my father had been. He hadn't wanted me to make a name for myself. Luckily, I wasn't someone who could be pushed around. I'd grown up trying to live up to his expectations as the only child.It didn't take long for me to realize I would never be able to match his expectations of me. He would always see me as less than him. After It
MELANIEI narrowed my eyes, wondering why he was headed in my direction. Trish was saying something about how crowded the bar was even though we weren't exactly that late but I wasn't paying her any attention. My blood heated in my veins and I tried to remind myself that he was like any other person I'd come across. There was nothing special about him."Oh my gosh," Trish gushed beside me, gripping my arm like it was a lifeline. I turned my attention to her. Her eyes, smoky with make-up, were rounded and her lips were wide open with surprise. I already knew what had gotten her in such a state of glee. "Damon Trent is coming right this way," She reduced her voice to what I'm sure she thought was a whisper. "And he's staring right at you."I winced when Damon came to stand in front of me right after she had just finished speaking. I had no doubt that he must have heard caught onto her statement. I was going to kill Trish and then burn her dead body one of these days. There was nothing a
MELANIEI kept stealing subtle glances at Damon during this weekend’s test. We were showcasing our cooking skills, something that I’m sure a man on the lookout for a wife expects in her. The kitchen had been sectioned into 12 spaces; each suitable enough for the contestant’s free movement and easy access to her utensils.Ingredients of all manner and culture were available for us as we were expected to whip up a meal of our choice. Damon looked hot in his all black attire. Standing close to Jake and Shayla, they exchanged some conversation here and there as the competition progressed.I was making tuna salad and lasagna. A close inspection of the woman next to me, I think her name was Layla?, made me swallow an inward gasp. She was making some kind of exotic Mexican cuisine. I guessed it was Mexican because she exuded Latina vibes. She had a killer body with an abundant ass and her eyes were almond shaped, very dark and so pretty. Some of the contestants were already done with their
*Damon*Growing up, I'd been a pretty weird kid. I hadn't had it as easy as people would think. I seemed to always do something a bit differently from others. My mom often told me it was because I was special but even then I had known better than to believe her. She didn't seem to still think I was special when I did things that landed me in trouble. It wasn't weird for me to find myself having different views from others. I often argued about their views on a few things. Like what spooked them. And what riled them up. And what they found alarming. It was a little alarming realizing that your feelings about someone were somehow beginning to change without your permission. Especially when you didn't want it to. I didn't see Melanie for the rest of the day. It was a bit strange really because all we seemingly did during the weekends here was bump into each other. I had a strong conviction that it wasn't because she was trying to avoid me. I didn't know why I was so sure.I just knew.T
*Melanie*I rolled my suitcase across the hallway, silently praying that I didn't bump into anyone. I wanted to start the weekend competition off with an apology to Damon. I knocked on my room door, simultaneously swiping my key card as I walked inside. My eyebrows jumped up in surprise when I saw Hailey sitting comfortably on her bed, painting her nails. She'd arrived earlier than she normally did. Usually, I was the one who arrived first. I felt genuine happiness that she had also made it to the next round."Melanie!" She exclaimed, jumping down from the bed and hopping to where I stood with the handle of my suitcase in hand. Before I could guess what she was about to do, she had enveloped in a warm hug I totally did not see coming. It took a while for me to register that she was somehow hugging me while still trying to mind her nails because it was something she had never done before.She must have mistook my silence and stiffness for me not liking the fact that she touched me beca
*Damon*"What can I get you?" The bartender asked, wiping down on the counter with a small white table cloth. He seemed a little irritated, like bartending was the last thing he had planned to do with his life. Shit happens, I thought silently to myself. It was a little funny how everyone thought they had their life all planned out but then they always fail to remember that life itself was full of surprises. And some are worse than others."I'd like some beer please," I answered calmly, tapping my fingers lightly on the counter as I scanned the room for any sign of Jake or Shayla. They were both nowhere to be found. I turned my attention to my wrist watch as the bartender disappeared to go get my drink. I tugged at the collar of my shirt, agitated for some reason.I didn't want to be here.Strange really, because I had always been the very first one out of the three of us to suggest that we hang out at a club somewhere. Jake and Shayla were always too caught up in each other to want t
*Melanie*If I had thought that I had the tiniest bit of rage bubbling beneath my veins, it was turning out to be even more serious than that. I was starting to hate myself for it. I caught myself agitated and angry for no reason and I had the strange thought that going toe to toe with Damon was going to give me some kind of closure. I was starting to remember why I had strongly disliked him in the beginning. I ran my thumb absent mindedly across one of the small bruises on my arm, my mind drifting back to the gym yesterday.Even now, hours after the incident I couldn't deny that the entire episode had been more than embarrassing. I had never once encountered any thing of the sort. But then I had never been the type to be so easily distracted during a work out session either. It was basically my number one rule to stay focused whenever I went to the gym. I didn't want to end up a victim of whatever injuries most gymnasts were prone to.Which was exactly what had happened yesterday. An
*Damon *The alarm clock blared on my nightstand bared and I groaned. I hadn't yet woken up enough to remember why I had set an alarm the previous day but I was already deeply annoyed. I reached over to hit the snooze button, but then I remembered the plans I had made for the day. I had earlier scheduled today as a day to work out. It was something I would have easily cancelled but I haven't exactly been consistent with going to the gym for a while now and I paid quite a lot of money for that place. So much so that I sometimes wondered what I had even been thinking in the first place.I had already promised myself that I would go to the gym today, and I didn't want to let myself down. I already knew from experience that it would simply be the start off to a completely shitty day. Hitting the snooze button when the damn alarm failed to shut up, I reluctantly got out of bed and headed for the bathroom. I walked into the shower and turned it on, letting it run for a while as I stared at
*Melanie*I applied a little bit of lip gloss to my lips, staring at my reflection in the mirror. I had already made plans for how I wanted the day to go. Very detailed plans. Plans that certainly didn't involve going out to anywhere for whatever reason. But then Trish had rung up my cell, literally blackmailing me to meet up with her on the ground that we hadn't had lunch in a while since I joined the competition. As tired as I was I'd still agreed to meet up with her.Because she actually was right.I carefully placed my lip gloss bottle back in my make up kit and then picked up my cellphone. I had three missed calls from her. I unlocked my phone in surprise, wondering when she'd called that I hadn't picked. Realizing, I was in the shower then, I dialed her number and placed a call across. I listened to it ring for a few heartbeats."Hey," I said, the second she picked up the phone. Closing my laptop and walking it to my wardrobe, I balanced the phone between my ear and my shoulder.
*Damon*Good.I had done what I'd intended to do and said what I'd intended to say. There was no reason for me to still be standing in the room, staring at her and wishing I could take back my words. It bothered me but only the slightest bit that she had so easily agreed to chalk it all up to a spur of the moment mistake. But then what did I expect? That she was going to refute my statement and suddenly declare her hidden feelings for me?It would be more possible for hell to freeze over.I managed a nod and stepped away, even though it might as well have killed me. I needed to leave before I did something entirely stupid. The thought of her easily agreeing that it would also be a mistake the second time was enough to keep me heading in the direction of my room. A ridiculous delusional part of me hoped that she was going to say something. Maybe ask me why I was so easily discarding our kiss.It wasn't a good thing I hadn't been counting on her to react that way. Or I'd have ended up m
*Melanie*It was surprisingly a bit cold. It was one of the things I noticed, staying awake for as long as I did. I'd closed the glass windows, adjusted the curtains and also turned off the aircon but still, I could feel that the goosebumps which had risen on my arms were still there. It should have been gone by now. Especially since I'd thrown myself into the bed and covered my body with the duvet. It would have certainly disappeared by now. If the goosebumps had been from the cold.I was debating whether or not I should meet up with Damon. I tapped my phone twice, the screen immediately lighting up as I sought out the time. It was already three minutes past midnight. A part of me wanted to stand up. If not for any reason then to prove to myself that I wasn't letting Damon affect my senses and my decisions. I had an idea what he wanted to discuss and even though I wasn't embarrassed about it, I still didn't feel like having a conversation.Why did he feel the need to iron things out