Rendezvous at Silver Lining

Damien's POV: Hidden

I watched as Divinity left my side. I turned around and saw my dad heading out.

“You guys all done for the night?”

“Yep. Your mother is already by the car with Charlotte. I just finished my conversation with Seth. I'll talk to you tomorrow, son.”

“Ok, pops.”

We shook hands, and I turned my attention to finding songbird. I walked across the floor and scanned my surroundings. Then I heard this clatter of a glass breaking. My eyes snapped in its direction, and to my horror, Divinity was now covered in something brown, I think it's pudding from the dessert table. Then my ears perked up once I heard the shrill voice of… Oh you gotta be f*****g kidding me.

Olivia!?

I rushed over towards Divinity. She stood shocked into silence, and my heart hurt for her.

“Divinity, are you ok?”

I received no response, all the while Olivia continued to open her f*****g mouth. I could see the fury that seeped out of Divinity and heard the animosity in her words toward Olivia. I wanted to grip Olivia up by the throat and toss her somewhere. My body wanted to wrap Divinity up to protect her from all this. I moved in closer to do just that when Divinity asked Raphael for her blazer. He, of course, gave it to her, and she left. Mrs.Blakfield took Olivia's head off, and I waited my turn to do the same. I walked over to Olivia and gripped her arm, and pulled her away from the crowd.

“What in the entire f**k is wrong with you?!”

She snatched her arm away and glared up at me.

“The hell do you mean what's wrong with me? You and everyone else are the ones acting stupid over this dumb b***h. So… I simply made a mistake and dumped chocolate pudding all down the front of her dress. It's not like she isn't used to wearing crap anyway. It also matches her skin tone nicely, don't you think?”

She smirked at her words and it made my blood boil. I don't get why she's acting like this. I know it isn't about her not wanting someone else to have me because she doesn't even want me, truthfully. So what's the problem? I thought about it for a little while when it clicked. I smirked and chuckled deeply. I moved in closer and leaned down to be eye level with her.

“As beautiful as you are, you can't stand the idea of someone else being better. You did all this simply because you believed her to be prettier?”

She glared back at me. She tried to deny it but stumbled over her words.

“Th- tha- thats no- not true.”

“Look at you! You can't even say it without stuttering.”

I moved away from her with disgust. I looked and saw that Divinity had returned. She wore Raphael’s blazer. Any and everything looked amazing on her. Olivia noticed my staring and looked back to find Divinity now in Raphael’s blazer. She gasped. Her face went from sadness and shock to anger. I began my way towards Divinity. I stopped and turned back towards Olivia.

“Find your own way back home, and whatever we had is over, not that you'll lose sleep over it.”

Without a second thought, I continued my way towards Divinity. She was on the dance floor with Rahpael. I finally got close enough to speak to her.

“Songbird. I would like to apologize to you.”

She looked back at me still in the arms of Raphael. I couldn't even pretend not to be bothered by it, but I felt I needed to do this.

“Apologize for what?”

“Olivia is my date, and so she is my responsibility. I never thought she would ever behave like this. She never has.”

As much as I wanted to look away from her so she couldn't see how guilt ridden I felt, I needed her to know how sincere I was.

“I can assure you, someone like her has probably done something like this before, just a lot more private. You, on the other hand, have nothing to apologize for. You didn't do it. I have no hard feelings towards you, Damien. I enjoyed myself with you today. Thank you for your concern and for checking in on me.”

She moved to be in front of me and motioned for me to bend down. My songbird planted a kiss on my cheek. My hand instinctively touched where her lips touched my skin. Her eyes were soft and inviting, her small smile just as warm. She headed back to Raphael, and I turned to leave. I was close to exiting the room when Jason approached me.

“Hey man. How is she?”

“She's ok. She doesn't hold anything against me if that's what you're asking.”

I folded my arms across my chest and stood face to face with Jason. He smiled at me.

“Well, that's good to know. You ok? It looked like you were on your way out. Were you gonna leave me and not say anything? Uhhh, I'm hurt.”

Jason threw his hand over his heart, and I chuckled at him.

“I'm definitely leaving. I can't stay here for another second with Olivia. She has something against Divinity, and I will not tolerate anyone harming her.”

My tone became dark, and Jason raised a brow at me.

“Damn. She really got under your skin, huh?”

“She's a f*****g b***h. Olivia isn't that important to be under my skin.”

I rolled my eyes at him, kinda annoyed by his comment. He just laughed at me.

“Not Olivia. Divinity.”

My eyes widened. I knew I wanted her and I've made no attempt at hiding how I felt. But, I didn't realize how much she actually consumed me. I snickered.

“I guess so.”

I left and headed home. In the car, I made a phone call.

Phone call:

“Hey B, meet me at my place in about an hour and a half. We have a lot to discuss.”

“Gotcha.”

End of call.

When I got home, I changed into a t-shirt and sweats and went to my office. I went through some documents and messaged my parents. I know for a fact if I don't say anything about tonight to them and they find out, imma have hell to pay. I received a buzz on my alarm to my security system and saw the man I needed to see. I unlocked the gate to my property and watched as he rolled in. I pushed my documents to the side and sat patiently for him to knock on my door. After a few minutes, the knock finally came.

“Come in.”

The door squeaked opened and in come B. I call him B, which is short for Bowmen. He's… a collector of sorts. I met him during my travels when I was a little younger. I went to University out of the country and came across him by accident. We've been good friends since and he helps me when my own eyes and research falls short. With this particular situation, I needed someone who's a pro at clearing their tracks. B is a 6 foot tall Asian man. I believe he's Korean. He has long black hair that he keeps in a bun most days. He's linky but he's no pushover. He came in wearing his signature black leather jacket, t-shirt and black joggers and sneakers. I stood to shake his hand and offered him a seat.

“It's been a minute since I saw you last, right Dam?”

“Yeah it has. I was surprised to find out you were close by when I called a few days ago. Usually when that happens it means whatever the situation is, it's something serious. How serious are we talking?”

He took a deep breath and sighed, leaning back in his chair.

"Well, we might have a problem. And by “we” I mean you. I'm happy I kept doing some digging on those assholes. It appears there's someone else behind both Hinges and Latham. I'm actually not sure who, but when I thought the money trail on Hinges was leading me to Latham, the majority of it led to elsewhere. Latham is not the person you should be concerning yourself with, and Hinges isn't even worth a second glance. You can get someone to clean him up anytime.”

I frowned at this new revelation.

“Did you find out who's actually behind everything?”

“That's my concern. I have no idea. I can't find anything. Once the trail gets to Latham, pretty much everything comes to a halt. Nothing and no one can hide from me. But whoever this person is has and will continue to do so. You might actually be in trouble, Dam.”

My brows furrowed deeply. It is a problem if Bowmen can't find a lead on someone. That means this person doesn't want to be found or they don't exist. I'm sure it's not the latter. I leaned back in my office chair, trying to come up with some answer to a problem I didn't even know I had. I rubbed my temple, trying to will away an oncoming headache, which reminded me of something else.

“Ok, let's put a pin in this for now. Continue to keep an eye on both Hinges and Latham. I need you to do some digging up on Olivia Gensen.”

He looked at me suspiciously.

“Uhhh… OK. Can I ask why? Isn't she your little play thing? Ha, although she thinks it's the other way around.”

He laughed, and I smirked at him.

“Yeah, well, that's over. She's gotten a little too comfortable for my taste. Plus, she tried to damage something I wanted. We can't have that.”

I smiled, thinking of Divinity. B raised his brows at me.

“And what or should I say, who is this person you want?”

I smiled again.

“Songbird.”

“Songbird?”

“Ha, right. That's my nickname for her… You're not allowed to call her that.”

I looked at him sternly, so he knew I was serious. He just laughed at me.

“Ok. What's her name then?”

“Divinity.”

I looked up at him and saw he had a huge small plaster to his face. I rolled my eyes.

“What, Bowmen? You got something to say?”

He busted out laughing. He knows when I say ‘Bowmen’ that I mean business. He threw his hands up in surrender and started wiping imaginary tears from his eyes.

“Nothing, nothing at all. I'm just super surprised you are speaking of anyone in that manner. The pretty boy finally found his match, eh? s**t, I gotta meet this woman now. She seems great. Let me guess… Tall, blonde, thin but with curves? Am I on the right track?”

My eyes widened at his assumption. Is that my usual taste? He continued.

“Oh, is she more of an Olivia then? She was the only brunette you really messed with for a long period of time. Most of the other women you had were definitely blonde.”

Damn.

I closed my eyes and shook my head. I didn't realize I had a type. I chuckled at my own revelation, mainly for the fact that my songbird was the complete opposite.

“Actually, if you must know, Divinity is a beautifully short, thick, chocolate woman. She has the most mesmerizing eyes, and her figure is unbelievable. Most importantly, she’s the sweetest, most intelligent woman I've ever met. But don't let that sweet side fool you. She has a fiery side to her as well.”

It was his turn to be surprised. His eyes widened, and he sat up straighter and scooted to the edge of his seat, placing his folded hands on my desk.

“Whaaattt? Damien Becker is interested in the dark side? Have I converted you? Have you realized the error of your ways by ignoring the pleasures of the many colors of the rainbow, or is she just that good?”

I laughed at his antics. B is definitely a man who has no preference that I could name. Whether they're black, white, thin, thick, or anything else in-between, if he likes you, that's it.

“Chill. I didn't even realize I had a preference till you said something, and even then, I wasn't looking. My parents told me about her.”

“Hold the hell up. Your parents, most importantly, your mom likes a woman?”

I chuckled at what he was implying. My mother really is something else.

“Yeah she does. Both my parents absolutely adore her. They met through work. She works for Silver Lining under Raphael. I remember for months, my dad was trying to get me to go to a meeting with him. My mom wasn't any better. They kept talking about how wonderful she was etc, etc. I just assumed it was some other stuck-up woman I'd have to deal with, whose only interest would be my family's money. But she didn't even know who I was when we met. She asked my father to introduce me to everyone. Everyone else knew who I was but not her. Of course, my dad had a field day about it.”

B gasped out loud and slammed his hand on my desk, and stood up.

“You're kidding?!! Oh hell yeah, I gotta meet this angel on earth. Not only did your parents like her, but she didn't even know who you were? Does she live in a cave somewhere to not know, especially working for Raphael and his company?”

“I think she only finds out things that are necessary for those she communicates with. She communicated with my father and mother. They told her about me, but I guess she never saw my picture nor bothered to look me up. It was definitely a first, which intrigued me more. Her intellect is top tier, which only makes her that much more sexier to me. She isn't superficial and has a heart in a heartless field and that comes across as a rarity in this world. I think that's why she's so good at her job.”

B sat back down and smiled.

“I'm happy for you, Dam. Seriously. I know how much finding someone worth a damn was very important to you. I get it. You didn't want people to want you for what you are and the family you've come from, but for who you are. Many don't know the difference. Congrats, man.”

I sighed, knowing it won't be so easy.

“Unfortunately, Raphael has a thing for my songbird as well. She's worked for him for 4 years, I think, and for whatever reason he's never made a move on her. But as soon as I stepped into the picture with every intention of being with her, here he comes, tryna take Divinity from me. I think he's had a thing for her for a long while but never did anything about it.”

B sucked his teeth and groaned.

“So the f**k what? He had his time for 4 f*****g years! What? He probably thought she'd be around and free until he finally figured his s**t out. He didn't think anyone else would have a chance with her.”

I smiled at my friend. He's crazy but he does care about me.

“I don't know. When I was at his company, I saw many people staring at her and trying to get her attention. Knowing what little I know about Divinity, I can safely say she probably never noticed the looks people gave her. You have to be pretty straightforward with her. McCoy was probably banking on that fact to keep her by herself until he was ready to take her for himself... the asshole.”

I frowned and grumbled at knowing he had so much time with her and did nothing until I stepped in the picture. She's gorgeous. Any of those men at her job would have loved to go out with her, but they all must've thought she wasn't interested or didn't realize she just didn't notice. B wasn't with the bullshit.

“He needs to seriously get over himself. He's worse than you when it comes to the pretty boy department.”

I glared at him, and he shrugged his shoulders.

“It's true, and you know it. All I'm gonna say is that I hope you get your girl.”

“Thanks, man… you shou-”

I was cut off by a ding from his phone. He swiftly took it out and looked down at it. He frowned and got up quickly.

“I gotta catch you later, bro. Something has come up. One of my guys said he needs to see me. I'll keep you updated, and I'll put someone on Olivia for you. Good luck with winning over your girl, man. Catch ya later.”

I get up, and we give each other a quick hug and pat. With that, he left. I sat back down at my desk and sifted through some of the documents I had out earlier. My mind went through B's words about not knowing this unknown figure. It's definitely worrying me. I pushed those thoughts to the side, trying to focus on one thing at a time. About 30 minutes later, I took my phone out and saw it was going on 2 am. I put my papers away and headed to my room. I took a quick shower before bed. I came out around 2:30 a.m., and my phone dinged from a message. I picked my phone up from the bedside table and saw the message was from an unknown number. I opened my phone up and took a look. I immediately smiled, responded, and saved the number.

Phone messages:

Songbird: Hey. It's Divinity. So sorry for the late message, but I wanted to check in with you. You seemed really upset earlier about what had happened, and I just wanted to let you know there's no need to be. We're good. I know it's late, so you're probably asleep right now. Have a good night, Damien.

Me: It's ok. I'm actually awake. I was up doing some paperwork. How are you feeling?

Songbird: I'm ok. I fell asleep on the way back home. I'm up now. I found Robin and Kris in my bed with me.

Me: Uhh. Who's Robin and Kris?

Songbird: Oh, hahah. They're my best friends.

Me: You have two male best friends?

Songbird: What?! No!! They're both girls, lol. They just so happened to have supposed male names… "Are you jealous, Damien??! Besides, you met Robin on Friday, remember?

Me: WHAT! No!! I was just concerned, that's all.

Songbird: Haaha, ok. Thanks for the concern. I don't wanna keep you up too late. I'm sure you're sleepy.

Me: No, please. Stay. Would you mind if we facetime?

Songbird: Sure. Give me a few minutes and I'll call you.

Me: OK.

Songbird: Alright. See you in a second.

End of messages.

I threw on some sweats before my call with Songbird. I also put on my blue light protection glasses. Late at night, my eyes are sensitive, especially to the light on my phone. I would usually get headaches, but I put on these glasses to keep from getting them. I got into bed and turned on my headboard light, and leaned against it. I readjusted the position of my pillows. I fluffed them, trying to get comfortable. I moved again to lay on my side. I sighed heavily, trying to calm my nerves.

What the f**k is happening to me?

I'm super nervous about FaceTime? I took a couple of deep breaths to soothe myself. Once calmed, my phone went off.

Ok, Damien… don't f**k this up.