Blink of an eye

The knock on the door

Catherine

The day had been confusing and tiring. Meeting with my saviour, Damien Black, had been unexpected and made my feelings go haywired. I had always been cautious around men and most of the times my suspicions turned out to be true. No man could be trusted, ever. Even my dad turned out to be unworthy of my trust when he decided to take his own life. I had loved my parents very much but realized later that love was for those who didn't understand better. Maybe real love could be found in the afterlife but it definitely didn't exist in this realm. Love was for fools. My mom died when I was only six years old. Her battle against cancer was short but harsh. Evidently there was nothing we could do and we could only watch her fade away in pain. Our little family was scattered and no matter how much my dad tried to see the light at the end of the tunnel, he just couldn't. He did his best for me and fought almost three years until his longing for my mom became too strong and he followed her to death. Those years were my first lesson in life.

Meeting Damien made me doubt my decisions for the first time in my life. He felt warm, kind and caring but at the same time I sensed how he wanted to have me. No matter what good qualities he had, he'd always be a man with his desires which would control his behaviour. He had talked about meeting again but I knew I couldn't, I had to protect myself. I was glad that he couldn't know more about me but that didn't mean that I couldn't know a bit more about him. My digital footprint simply didn't exist because I didn't want to be exposed but most people could be found from the internet.

I set my laptop on the dining table and searched for his name. There wasn't much to learn about him, just a few articles which linked him to such things like nightclub or restaurant openings. No profiles in social media and not a single picture of him. He was mentioned as a CEO and chairman of Black corporation but nothing more. Reading about the Black corporation made me realize that I had applied to work in one of his restaurants a couple of years ago. If I was unlucky I could actually be one of his employees right now! Even though he seemed to be a relatively nice guy, I now knew that he was the most dangerous type: a rich man who probably thought that he owned everything and everyone. If I ever felt anything towards him it was gone now and I was glad that I didn't need to meet him anymore…

My stomach grumbled and I realized that I hadn't had anything to eat that day. I had only been drinking tea. I moved my laptop aside to get some space for prepping dinner. I wasn't a very good cook and I was used to making simple dishes if not ordering takeaway. I was very exhausted after going out and hoped to get dinner ready fast so I could take a nap. It was almost 4pm so I decided to make a simple pasta dish. Garlic, tomatoes, basil, parmesan and some dry pasta would have to do it for tonight. First I put some water to boil. Then I rinsed tomatoes, took the chopping board and knife and started to slice tomatoes. I didn't get very far until my knife slipped and cut a wound on my hand. "s**t!" I gasped and reached for a tea towel. How could a small cut like this hurt so badly? After pressing the wound a while I tried to check it out but it still bled heavily and blood dripped from my hand to the floor. I knew I had to stop the bleeding but I wasn't feeling very well, bleeding this much couldn't be normal. I was going to sit down to gain some strength back when I heard someone knocking on the door. "Oh great!" I murmured and looked around. What a mess I had made!

"What do you want?" I spat annoyed while opening the door. Water was boiling on the stove and I had turned my head to look at it so I didn't know who was standing in the doorway. "Is everything alright, Catherine?" voice said and I turned around so fast that I almost trembled on the floor. "Damien! What are you doing here?" My voice sounded small while he reached to steady me. "You are hurt." He frowned. Damien squeezed himself in and led me to sit on the couch. I tried to stand up but he gently pushed me back down. "Sit." He simply said and I didn't have another choice than obey him. It was a pleasure to watch him move in my small home even though I didn't like him. His movements were delicate almost like he was nothing more than a slight shadow moving in the air. Everything in him was perfect. He had such a beautiful face and a perfectly proportioned body. I felt like I could watch him forever and I would die as a happy woman. He took another towel and rinsed it. Then he kneeled before me and started to clean the wound in silence. I watched his face while he was caressing my hand and his blue eyes seemed to be much darker than I had thought earlier. He couldn't be angry, could he? His lips were pressed tightly together like there was something wrong.

After a while the bleed started to lessen and he finally spoke again. "You should really be more careful, Catherine. It's not as deep cut as it seems to be but it could have been much worse. You need to start taking care of yourself." He looked straight into my eyes. I sighed as a response. How could I tell him that taking care of myself wasn't exactly my highest priority? "I know that you mean well Damien, but everything is alright. I promise." I couldn't tell that all I wanted was death. "Okay princess… I'll believe you this time but you need to promise me that you'll be more careful." He said and continued "Now, tell me where do you keep the gauze so we can get your hand wrapped up?" I felt like a schoolgirl as I blushed after hearing him call me a princess again. "In the bathroom cabinet." I answered with a dry mouth. Why did he have to behave like this? I tried to calm myself while he went to get the gauze. This wasn't me, I never acted like this around men. Damien came back and backed my hand neatly. Then he did something that I didn't expect him to do, he kissed my wrapped hand lightly. He reached to my face and placed a lock of hair behind my ear. The whole situation felt intimate as if we were lovers. His eyes were twinkling now and he watched me with tenderness. Suddenly my stomach grumbled again loudly and the bittersweet moment was gone in a split second. My face felt heated as the redness of my cheeks deepened. I couldn't help feeling ashamed. Damien chuckled and stood up. He looked around and noticed the unfinished dinner preparations. "So, tell me princess. What are we cooking tonight?".