Chapter 4 ~ For One Week
1648 Words
{Grace’s POV}
“You have GOT to be kidding me.”
Damien, the hotstuff arrogant specimen whom I just had a clash with minutes ago was standing across from me, having appeared from the within the same house I was supposed to settle in.
I frowned.
“What are you doing here?” we both said at the exact same time.
Okay.
Rude.
His eyes narrowed. “You followed me?” He asked confidently.
I nearly dropped my bags from pure audacity.
Ohh. His ego!!!
“FOLLOWED you?” I repeated. “Trust me, if I wanted to ruin my evening voluntarily, I would’ve chosen something less annoying— l
Like stepping on nails.”
Damian leaned one arm against the doorway, expression sharp now. Once again, he looked unfairly good in a dark sleeveless shirt that exposed tattooed arms and shoulders carved and sculpted like they were meant to induce bad decisions.
Which honestly felt excessive.
Nobody needed to look like that while acting like a jerk!
Beside me, Sofia had gone suspiciously quiet.
I glanced at her. And immediately regretted it… because she was staring at Damian like she’d accidentally discovered religion.
I didn’t need someone fueling his ego even more so… “Sofia,” I called.
Nothing.
Her eyes remained fixed directly on Damian’s face.
“Sofia!”
Still nothing.
I kicked her lightly.
She blinked hard and snapped back to reality so fast it was almost violent. “Hm? What?”
“Stop that.”
“Stop what?”
“What you were doing!”
Damian shifted his weight now. He looked deeply unimpressed by all of us.
Good.
The feeling was mutual.
The staff officer who escorted us here nervously stepped forward now, looking between Damian and me like he’d accidentally transported a bomb.
“Mr. Damien, I’m so sorry, sir. I honestly don’t know how this happened.”
Sir?
Damian didn’t even look at him. His gaze stayed locked on me. “Neither do I.”
“Okay,” I said, shifting my suitcase upright. “Can you two stop talking like I’m contagious?”
Nobody answered.
The escort officer wiped sweat from his forehead. “There’s obviously been some kind of mistake. We– we should go back to the accommodation office and sort this out immediately.”
“Yes,” I agreed instantly. “Because there is absolutely no universe where this arrangement works!”
Damian’s eyes flicked toward me briefly, and I could see his distaste and the subtle anger underneath— the anger from before.
But then I turned away and followed after the escort officer because I wasn’t fazed by him or his anger. I only wanted to get this fixed and get out of here.
**
The accommodation office somehow looked even worse than before when we got there.
Which honestly felt impressive.
How did a room physically deteriorate within one hour?
Papers were everywhere now and one file cabinet leaned sideways like it had consciousness and was close the verge of collapsing.
The administrator from earlier sat behind the desk typing aggressively while balancing a phone between his shoulder and ear.
“No, if the ferret bites students then it’s no longer an emotional support animal, Patricia—”
He paused, finally noticing us. “Oh.” He frowned and ended the call.
Sofia and I approached the desk while the escort officer disappeared somewhere behind us, probably to recover psychologically.
The administrator pointed vaguely at me. “You. Why are you here again?”
“I was assigned to his apartment.”
He frowned. “Who?”
“Damian’s.”
“What?”
“I was assigned to Damian’s housing!”
“What?”
I stared at him. He stared back before looking away.
Was he buffering?
“You mean your brother.” He said and I finally snapped.
“I DON’T HAVE A BROTHER!”
My voice echoed through the office loudly enough that even Sofia jumped. But instead of reacting to me…
…the administrator suddenly stood up straight. Completely straight. Like somebody had yanked his soul upright.
His eyes lifted behind me and just then, the atmosphere in the room shifted instantly.
I already knew. So I turned slowly and Damian came into view.
Tall in the doorway. Dark hoodie now thrown over one shoulder, expression cold and perfectly unbothered.
I was surprised he came. I didn’t think his ego would permit him to.
The administrator swallowed hard now.
“Mr. Damien,” he breathed. “You’re.. you’re here.”
“Yes.” Damian stepped inside calmly. “Because of the rooming issue.”
And just like that, the administrator transformed.
One second he’d been chaotic exhaustion in human form. Now suddenly he looked alert enough to pilot aircraft.
He grabbed files frantically. “Rooming issue— right. Of course.”
He understood Damien at once and I stared in disbelief. “That’s literally what I’ve been complaining about!”
Nothing.
Not even a glance in my direction.
His fingers flew across the keyboard before suddenly stopping.
Then his face drained of color. “Oh my God.”
Progress.
“You paired her with HIM?” the escort officer asked from behind him.
“I didn’t KNOW!” The administrator bawled.
“You didn’t know who?”
“I thought they were siblings!”
Right then, another man walked into the office.
Older. Sharply dressed and tired in a way that suggested this was not the strangest thing he’d handled today.
He took one look at Damian and acknowledged his presence after which he frowned at the administrator.
“What have you done now?”
The administrator pointed at me like I was evidence in a criminal investigation. “I.. I thought they were siblings!”
The older man looked between Damian and me. Then looked again.
“I’m struggling to see it.” He said, which was totally fine— except that the look on his face practically screamed:
There is no universe where these two share DNA.
Wow.
Okay.
“But I saw the surnames!” the administrator defended, shoving papers toward him. “Look! Reyes and Reyés!”
That made me pause and I glanced toward Damian automatically.
“You’re using the same surname as me?” I asked him, shocked.
Was this, like, my claim to fame now?
Okay, I’m joking.
Sort of.
The older man took the papers now. “His is Reyes. Hers is Reyés.”
He tapped the acute accent over my surname. “These are not the same names.”
With this, the administrator looked crushed.
“You are fundamentally disorganized!” the older man snapped now and the speed of that reaction told me that similar outbursts had happened before.
Afterwards, the older man’s tone changed as he turned toward Damian.
“Damian, I sincerely apologize for this inconvenience. I’m sorry you were paired with… with a rando like this.”
Wait—
“Excuse me?” I voiced.
Nobody cared.
“I’ll make some adjustments and resolve this immediately,” he continued.
“No adjustment,” Damian said flatly now. “I can’t stay with that.”
“She,” I muttered.
He gave me an irritated glance. “What?”
“I’m not a that. I’m a she.” I corrected but he ignored me and focused back on the older man.
“I understand you completely Damien.” The older man said as he returned to searching through files while muttering under his breath. Meanwhile, the administrator hovered beside him nervously.
Some minutes passed while everyone waited.
Damian leaned against the wall nearby with his arms crossed, silent and unreadable. He wasn’t doing anything threatening… and he didn’t need to.
The room adjusted around him automatically and I hated that I was conscious of this.
Meanwhile Sofia kept sneaking glances at him like she was having trouble with her eyes.
Unbelievable.
Then suddenly… “Shit.”
Everyone looked toward the older man.
“What now?” I asked at once as for the first time since walking in, he looked genuinely uneasy.
“This is bad.”
Damian’s expression didn’t change. “Tell.”
“There’s nowhere else to transfer her.” He said.
Silence.
The administrator visibly winced.
“All available housing is either full, under maintenance, or unavailable for reassignment,” the older man explained. “And because her name has already been officially attached to your apartment assignment…”
A horrible feeling settled in my stomach.
“…we can’t immediately undo the arrangement. Official rules”
I stared at him. "So what exactly are you saying?”
Nobody answered me. Instead, every single person in the room looked at Damian and waited for his reaction.
Again.
Like I was furniture with opinions.
Damien’s jaw tightened slightly. “How long?”
The older man hesitated.
“Possibly one week.”
The air tightened as Damian grew a frown.
Not an aggressive one. Just there in a way that made everyone conscious of it.
“Fix it,” he said finally. Then he walked out. Just like that. With no additions or conclusions.
He just left and the office stayed tensely quiet for a few seconds after the door shut.
Then I looked at the administrator. “So let me understand this correctly.”
The three of them didn’t look interested any longer.
“I’m staying with him for a week?”
The older man rubbed a hand over his face. “Either that or sleep on the street.” He said harshly and I just stared.
Choicless.
And worried.
I looked at Sofia then and wished I hadn’t because her gaze were wildly stretched, communicating the fact that this was a f****d up situation.
So...
One week with him.
God really does give His hardest battles to his most clueless soldiers.
I think that's how they say it?
- Writer
