Chapter five

Chapter five

It was a long meeting and Damien needed to be anywhere but here. He hated the merge between the Castillo family and their rival, upholstering the thieves and corrupt beings from his wife’s family who joined the board of directors. They bore him.

Looking down at his watch he realized how long the day was, pathetic, he thought as he made a disgruntled sound to signal his uneasiness and thirst to go home. The director spotted the grimace on his face and pressed his lips, “Well….i guess this meeting is adjourned till further notice.”

Finally, he rose and left the room immediately as he wanted nothing more but the solace of his own company. He sighed deeply and strode into his office when his grimace morphed into a deep scowl.

“What are you doing here??”

Evangeline, fast asleep on the couch sprang to her feet, wiping off the trickle of sweat on her cheek with her sleeve, “You’re here.”

“Yes I’m here,” he answered stoutly with his annoyance increasing by the minute, “It’s not office of course. What are you doing here?”

“Huh??,” still trying to gain her composure she, “Ohh-uhhh I came here to see you and—

“Get on with it woman.”

She was a nervous wreck and his disgruntlement of her presence didn’t help either, slowly she whipped out the picnic basket from behind her, “I brought you lunch.”

His eyes narrowed towards the basket, then traveled to the woman in front of him, “You brought me lunch?”

She nodded, “Yes. I figured you’d be hungry on your first day back at work in the city so I offered to make you lunch,” smiling as she gestured at the chair, “Come…come sit.”

He remained put, the excitement on her face died as she felt a hard lump in her throat. He started to walk towards the table and her spirits lifted immediately, maybe this was a sign that Vanessa knew what she was talking about.

“The way to a man’s heart is his stomach,” she said last night, “You might open that heart by packing him lunch tomorrow.”

She wasn’t fond of taking advice from a staff member, but she was desperate—desperate for Damien’s approval and to soothe her mother-in-law’s wish for an heir. If listening to Vanessa’s old fashioned advice would get Damien to like her, then so will it be.

“I made your favorite,” she announced as he sat down.

He frowned at the thermos flask brought out of the basket, next to it a wrapped plate of Gruyère cheese and crackers. Gently he opened the flask to find a decent portion of lasagna, then he got up.

“Is….is everything okay??” She asked, scared that he might not like the food from the way he shot to his feet seconds later after sitting down.

“I hate lasagna”

“But….but…bu—

“But what?!”

She nipped her bottom lip, “I’m sorry. I thought it was your favorite.”

“Oh really?” He scoffed loudly, “Because I always took your sister to her famous Italian restaurant in Milan? Is that it?!”

She gasped and shook her head vigorously in defense, “No it’s not that. I promise!!!”

“Do you take me for a fool?!” He yelled, garnering the attention from the other staffs in the building, “You really think I’m not smart enough to see through your games?!”

Tears started to stream down her cheeks , “I’m not here for games!”

“Then why are you here?! To poison me?!”

“I’m just being a good wife!”

“You are a lot of things Evangeline. A conniving scum of a woman and trust me— a dutiful wife isn’t one of them!” He grabbed the thermos and dumped the contents of it into the bin.

Everyone watched the interaction, including his secretary who already hated her boss but this was a whole new low—even the most terrible husbands she met during her part-time job working at a bar treated their wives better than this.

“Leave my office this instant.” He muttered, pointing at the door.

She turned to look, embarrassed to see the onlookers watching her get scolded for performing her duties as a good wife. She knew they felt sorry for her, the pity in their eyes was unmistakable.

She sniffled, “I’ll see you at home.”

“No you won’t,” He replied, “I’m not coming”

“Please Damien.” Her voice was soft, for a moment he wondered if he went too far but shook it off immediately.

“I’m not coming. Now leave my office, I have work to do.”

*********

“I could punch him for you if you want,” Jeffery murmured over the phone two hours later, “Better still I could arrange for his body to be dropped in Ibiza.”

His dark joke brought a snorting laugh out of her, it was genuine, “Oh Jeff, it’s not that bad. He was probably in a bad mood that’s all.”

He rolled his eyes from the other side of the phone, “He’s not in a bad mood. He’s just a terrible person. You of all people should know that Eva, I don’t know why you’re keeping up with his crap. You’re beautiful, you’re smart and a lot of men out there would worship the ground you walk on.”

“They aren’t Damien,” she murmured tugging at the hem of her blouse, “You don’t understand Jeff. I’m doing this for the fam—

“Yeah…yeah,” he rolled his eyes again, “Family, honor…blah..blah…blah. It still doesn’t atone for his treatment towards you. You’ve been nothing but miserable ever since you married that man.”

“It’s not all that bad.” She lied through her teeth.

He knew it was worse, still he chose to keep mute as Evangeline was a woman whose pride was far too great except when it came to leaving Damien. She was crying, he noticed from the croaking of her voice.

“My offer to Thailand is still open cousin. I’m here if you need me.”

“thanks Jeff.” She managed to say as he finally hung up. A smile tugged at the corner of her lips, it felt nice talking to her cousin when he was in town—sometimes she wished she could talk to Damien the same way, unfortunately he was too aloof and was brooding half the time.

Another sigh left her looking out the terrace. It was her safe space to think as she started to devise another plan to get Damien on her side when the housekeeper appeared l, “He’s here madam.”

“Who’s here?” She asked.

“Mr Castillo.” Vanessa replied.