The Morning After
1119 Words
Ava woke up first.
The sun was hitting the floor-to-ceiling windows. The bed was huge. Too huge.
And Damien was asleep next to her.
Not touching. But close. One arm thrown over his face. Hair messy. Suit jacket on the chair.
He looked... younger. Less CEO. More human.
Ava didn’t move. She just watched him.
Last night was real. The kiss. The “new rules”. The toothbrush in his bathroom.
Her phone buzzed. Mom: Surgery went well. Doctor says I can go home next week. Thank you, baby.
Ava smiled. Real tears this time.
Damien stirred. His eyes opened. Blue-grey. Sharp. Then softAva woke up first.
The sun was hitting the floor-to-ceiling windows. The bed was huge. Too huge.
And Damien was asleep next to her.
Not touching. But close. One arm thrown over his face. Hair messy. Suit jacket on the chair.
He looked... younger. Less CEO. More human.
Ava didn’t move. She just watched him breathe.
Last night was real. The kiss. The “new rules”. The toothbrush in his bathroom.
Her phone buzzed on the nightstand. Mom: Surgery went well. Doctor says I can go home next week. Thank you, baby. I’m so proud of you.
Ava smiled. Real tears slipped down her face this time. Relief she hadn’t felt in months.
Damien stirred. His eyes opened. Blue-grey. Sharp. Then softened.
“Morning,” he said. Voice rough with sleep.
Ava froze. “Morning.”
Damien sat up slowly. The sheet slipped down his chest. He didn’t reach for it.
He looked at her phone on the nightstand. “Your mum?”
Ava nodded, still holding it. “Surgery went well. She comes home next week.”
Relief crossed his face. Just for a second. “Good.”
That one word hit harder than a speech.
Ava’s tears came again. Not sad ones. “Thank you. For the doctors. For… everything.”
Damien didn’t answer. He stood and walked to the bathroom. The door closed soft.
Ava exhaled. Her hands were shaking.
---
20 minutes later, they were both dressed.
Damien in a black suit. No tie. Ava in the cream dress his assistant sent over.
“Breakfast,” Damien said. “Then work.”
“You’re taking me to the office?” Ava asked.
“You’re my wife,” Damien said, like it was obvious. “You sit beside me.”
The car was silent. Too silent.
Ava watched Accra pass by. Palm trees. Traffic. Normal life. Except nothing felt normal anymore.
At Cole Corp, 40 floors up, the boardroom was full.
Damien’s hand went to Ava’s lower back. “Everyone. This is Ava Cole. My wife.”
Cameras. Whispers. Stares.
Ava smiled. She didn’t flinch.
The meeting was 2 hours of numbers she didn’t understand. But she nodded when Damien looked at her. She took notes. She looked like she belonged.
Because she did.
---
After, in the elevator, Isabella blocked the doors.
Red dress. Red lips. Red fury.
“Damien. You’re marrying assistants now?”
Damien stepped in front of Ava. “Careful.”
Isabella’s eyes cut to Ava. “He’ll get bored, sweetheart. He always does.”
Ava smiled sweet. “Maybe. But for now, I’m the one in his bed. In his name. In his photos.”
Isabella’s mouth opened. Closed.
The doors shut.
Damien looked at Ava. “That was reckless.”
Ava shrugged. “Clause 4. Protect the brand.”
Damien almost smiled. Almost. “Come on.”
---
Back at the penthouse, night came fast.
Ava stood at the window. The city lights below.
Damien came up behind her. Not touching. Just there.
“Your mum will be fine,” he said.
“I know.”
Silence.
Damien’s hand lifted. He brushed her hair off her shoulder. His fingers didn’t leave right away.
Ava closed her eyes.
“Damien—”
“Don’t,” he said quietly. “Not yet.”
He dropped his hand. Walked to his side of the bed.
Ava got in. The space between them felt smaller tonight.
The lights went off.
“Goodnight, Ava.”
“Goodnight, Damien.”
She stared at the ceiling. Her lips remembered his.
And for the first time, she didn’t hate it.
She was scared of it.
Because contracts ended. But whatever this was… it didn’t feel like it would.
The next morning was different.
Ava woke up first. Damien was already gone.
A note on his pillow. Black ink. Sharp handwriting.
`Board meeting 9am. Don’t be late. - D`
No `Ava`. No `Please`. Just `D`.
She smiled anyway.
Downstairs, breakfast was set. Coffee. Croissants. Fruit.
His assistant, Mara, was waiting. “Mr. Cole said you’d need this.”
She handed Ava a folder. Inside: Cole Corp structure. Key board members. Isabella’s photo with a red line through it.
Ava looked up. “He did this?”
Mara nodded. “He doesn’t do it for everyone, Mrs. Cole.”
Ava’s chest tightened. `Mrs. Cole`.
---
The boardroom was packed again.
Damien didn’t look at her when she sat down. Professional. Cold. CEO mode.
But halfway through, his pen slid across the table. It stopped at her hand.
Ava didn’t move it.
Neither did he.
For 3 seconds, their fingers touched under the table.
Then he pulled back. Like nothing happened.
After the meeting, he said, “Dinner. 8pm. Client event.”
“You want me there?”
“I need you there,” Damien said. “Clause 4.”
Ava nodded. But it didn’t feel like a clause anymore.
---
That night, she wore the black dress Mara sent.
Damien waited by the car. He looked at her once.
His jaw tightened.
“You look… appropriate,” he said.
Ava almost laughed. “High praise, Mr. Cole.”
The event was loud. Rich people. Champagne. Fake smiles.
Damien’s hand never left her back.
When a CEO asked, “How did you two meet?” Damien said, “She was the only woman who told me no.”
Ava choked on her drink.
In the car home, it was quiet.
“Thank you,” Ava said. “For today.”
Damien stared out the window. “Don’t thank me.”
“Why not?”
“Because I don’t know what this is yet,” he said. Honest. Raw.
Ava looked at him. “Me neither.”
They reached the penthouse.
At the door, Damien stopped. “Ava.”
She turned.
He didn’t kiss her. He didn’t touch her.
He just said, “Goodnight.”
And walked to his side of the bed.
Ava lay down, heart racing.
Because a man who didn’t do feelings… was scared.
And she was too.
---
END OF CHAPTER 7
- Writer
