Two Feet.
555 Words
The master bedroom was silent in a way that felt accusatory.
Amara stood in the doorway at 1:03 AM, suitcase in hand, staring at the king-sized bed she’d avoided for three nights.
Damien was already there.
Leaning against the headboard with a laptop on his knees, tie loosened, shirt unbuttoned at the collar.
He didn’t look up right away.
“You’re late,” he said.
“I was saying goodbye to my father.”
That made him pause. He closed the laptop and set it aside.
“How is he?”
“Stable. He thinks I’m at a friend’s place for a work project.” Amara walked in, keeping distance. “He doesn’t need to know the truth yet.”
Damien nodded. “Agreed. The less he worries, the better.”
The bed sat between them. Neutral ground and a battlefield at the same time.
“We don’t have to sleep in it,” Amara said quickly. “I can take the couch. Or the floor. I just—”
“The deal is airtight or it’s useless,” Damien cut in. “Leaked ‘inside’ photos don’t look staged. They look real.”
Amara set her bag down.
“So we sleep. Together. Clothes on. No touching.”
“Agreed.”
They kept the lights low.
Amara took the left side. Damien the right.
Two feet of space between them felt like a chasm.
For a long time, neither spoke.
Then Damien broke it.
“You kept your word,” he said. “About no more secrets.”
Amara turned on her side, facing away.
“You haven’t told me anything yet.”
“Because you need to sleep first. But since you’re awake…”
His voice dropped, quieter now.
“The merger isn’t about money. Not for me.”
He paused.
“My grandmother died because Adewale Group cut corners on a hospital contract ten years ago. My father covered it up. My grandfather was too sick to stop it.”
Amara went still.
“The merger brings in new investors. Investors who want me to sign off on the same contract again. In a different country. With people who can’t fight back.”
“And you’re marrying me to stop it?”
“I’m marrying you to buy time,” Damien said. “If the public thinks I’m stable, happy, ‘settled,’ the board won’t push the merger through without my approval. It’s leverage, Amara. Just like Chioma said.”
She swallowed hard.
“That’s why you hate it.”
“That’s why I’ll burn it down before I let it happen again.”
The room went quiet. Not cold anymore. Just heavy.
Amara stared at the ceiling, his words replaying in her head.
He wasn’t just using her.
He was using her to fight something she could actually believe in.
“Damien?”
“Hmm?”
“If it comes out… if they ruin me for this… will you still fight?”
A pause.
“Yes.”
No hesitation.
Amara closed her eyes. For the first time since signing the contract, she didn’t feel completely alone in it.
She fell asleep to the sound of his breathing, two feet away.
And didn’t wake up when his hand twitched in his sleep, reaching for hers—
then stopped himself.
[To Be Continued…]
- Writer
