𝐃𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐝

Chapter Fourteen

B E L L A M Y

As expected, Noah's cryptic answers kept me busy for the rest of the night, and the morning after, when I should've been getting ready for my first day at the coffee shop.

I ended up only being a couple of minutes late, storming into the shop like I was being chased by something.

"Sorry I'm late," I breathed out, closing the door behind me and straightening out my shirt.

"Bella?" I heard from behind the counter, and I looked up at a familiar face.

"Howard? You're Reed?"

I walked up to the brown-haired man, wrapping my arms around his neck.

He chuckled, returning the hug. "Long time no see."

"But, why do they call you Reed?" I asked as we let each other go.

He stepped back, handing me an apron. "You remember how much I used to hate my name? I asked David to call me by my surname and it kind of stuck."

I nodded, placing my bag in the break room like I had worked there for longer than five minutes, and leaned against the counter when I came back. "That makes sense."

"We should catch up sometime," he offered, looking at the customer that just got in.

"Sure," I replied, interested to see what Howard—Reed—had been up to since high school. He was one of my best friends, and basically the only one that hadn't abandoned me.

We kind of lost touch when we went our separate ways in college, but I knew he would always be there if I needed him. And I was there for him if he needed me.

—

I had never seen so many cars in the driveway and the street in front of my parents' house as I did that night, as we arrived for my dad's birthday party.

"Did he invite the entire town or..." I retorted, placing my hand on the door handle, ready to jump out of the passenger side.

"Looks like it," Isaac added, killing the engine and grabbing his phone.

We weren't late—Isaac had made sure of that—but it felt that way as we walked into a busy house, looking into an even busier backyard.

"Dad!" I exclaimed when I saw a familiar head of hair in the crowd, his eyes sparkling with happiness as he moved through the sea of people.

"There you are," Dad said, giving us both a quick hug before he lead us to the kitchen.

"I didn't know this many people were coming?" Isaac mentioned, and I poured him and myself a glass of red.

"Your father wanted to celebrate his 50th with everybody." Mom smirked as she walked into the kitchen, wrapping an arm around her husband.

I looked at my Dad's happy and beaming expression, finding it hard not to smile myself.

"Where's Noah?" Mom asked Isaac and I suddenly didn't know where to look. What the fuck's wrong with me?

"He had to finish up work with his friend so he'll be a little later."

I surrendered to the fact that my stomach would react in a certain way when it came to Noah, but that didn't mean that I liked it.

Or, there was something in this wine.

"We'll see him when he gets here," Mom chirped, her cheeks a little red. I wasn't the only one who liked a nice drink, but my mother's tolerance was nonexistent, so she would be pretty tipsy after one glass.