Between Gasps and Glances

Chapter Six -CONFLICT

Damian's POV

“I still cannot figure out why she's here, Damian,” my sister continued nagging as we entered the mansion, like she had been doing all through the drive from the hospital.

“You were supposed to be gone for six months, I needed some help,” I defended,

“You would have extended the house keeper’s duties.”

“Brielle, that's enough!” I said firmly, “that girl saved my life. She obviously needs a job and I can afford to pay her, so it's a small price to pay.”

I have had to defend my choices to Brielle for as long as I could remember. Ever since our parents died, we've been all we had and being accountable to each other was our way of making sure we never had to feel alone.

“We don't bring strangers into our home. It's not what we do,” Brielle put on her luring voice, but this was the one time it was not working.

“I said, that's enough!” I yelled and then hurried upstairs to get some rest.

My life at the time was hard enough as it was. I couldn't look Noelle in the eye. She had seen me at my weakest and I felt very vulnerable, which was something I hated very much.

It would have been a good excuse to fire her, but somehow, I still wanted her around.

“Damian,” Theo slowly pushed the door,

I raised my eyes and stared at him, but it didn't look like he had come bearing good news.

“Is she back?” I probed, to which Theo shook his head.

The hospital was not very far away and we made sure there was a cab, because Brielle would not let Noelle ride with us.

“She's supposed to be here by now,” I said

“Damian, you should get some rest.” Theo drew closer to me. “She knows her way to the mansion. I'm sure she'll be here.” He assured me.

I took a deep breath and then laid in bed. I was worried sick about her, but somehow, I couldn't get it out there. I couldn't afford to care too much.

I stayed up all night, looking out the window and waiting for a cab to pull over at the premises gate, but that did not happen. I waited until it was very well past midnight and I eventually fell asleep.

****

“Damian,” my sister called, placing a soft kiss on both sides of my cheeks.”Good morning, darling,”

“Did she return?” My sister and I were both surprised by the first words to leave my mouth. I saw the shock on her face, but I was unapologetic.

Brielle, my sister, cleared her throat. “No, she did not return.” She said, obviously pretty pissed, “because she's incompetent and undeserving of the job to begin with.”

“I made breakfast. Freshen up and come down for a meal.” Brielle gave me another peck, just before she walked out.

I took another peak out the window, and it was just as she had said, there was no trace of Noelle anywhere.

My thoughts ran in a thousand different directions, the most dominant being how dumb I was to have left her.

I should have known she wasn't going to come back–not after meeting my sister. Brielle was one of the reasons I could not hold down a relationship. She managed to scare everyone away. Even when she wasn't saying anything, she was saying plenty.

“Damian, common! Breakfast!” Theo pushed open my door, very excited and full of life.

I took a deep breath and sluggishly followed him downstairs. Brielle’s face lit up as she saw us come down. I smiled slightly at her and then took a seat.

“We're having Damian’s favorite for breakfast.” Brielle wore a very huge smile, “scrambled eggs,”

I remained silent, showing no emotions whatsoever. I tried to stuff my face with the meal in front of me, hoping that it would be enough distraction, but it was failing terribly.

“Damian, are you okay? You've been awfully quiet.” Theo raised an observation.

I nodded my response. It wasn't hard for them to pick that weird behavior and I saw the look on all their faces, but no one dared to ask me. They all just stuffed their face in their plates and it was as though there was an unspoken rule of silence. Well, until…

We all stared at each other, trying to figure out where the loud ringing was coming from. The uniformly confused look on our faces forced us to look around, and I noticed a strange phone on the sofa in the living room.

“Damn it!” I flung my spoon across the room because the device wouldn't stop ringing.

“I'll get it,” Theo hurried out of his seat and picked it up.

“Hello,”

At first, I made nothing of the call, especially since he went mute after the first hello, but minutes went by and he said nothing after hello.

“Damian,” he called with a very tense voice, “it's Noelle,”

My heart dropped to my stomach. I saw the terrified look in his eyes, and I knew Theo well enough to know that fear was not a regular emotion for him.

I turned to my sister Brielle. Her face showed no concern whatsoever, as she continued with her meal.

“She was…”

“I don't want to know, Theo,” I interrupted him. Theo's eyes widened in shock, but my sister's lips went sideways with a proud smile.

“Damian,” Theo pulled a step closer to me,

“Send her phone back to her. She no longer works here.” As soon as the words left my mouth, I almost threw up. I was disgusted with myself.

“Alright then,” Theo answered softly.

“Excuse me,” I got out of my seat and ran up the stairs to my room. I slammed the door behind me, breathing really heavily as I leaned against the door.

I knew I was going to regret my choice at this very moment, but nothing prepared me for how soon it was going to come swinging at me.