Love Me In The Dark (A Damon Story)

Chapter 10

Simon's POV

Farewells. I always thought I would have my mother for life, I would even go so far as to say I thought I would die before her. And today I sit here beside her, holding her hand, not knowing when her heart will stop beating and her life will end. I fear. I fear for that moment and I want to avoid the pain at all costs. My mother always cared for all of us, but Nicholas and I were always her darlings, I even joked with her by making her choose who to throw off a cliff and I always joked that I would die in a plane crash if she didn't respond. I can't imagine a life without her.

It has only been a few hours since my mother was admitted to the hospital. My plans for tonight were so different from this. I had planned to have dinner with David, spend some time with him and find out where these newfound feelings for him are going. As soon as I found out my mother was in the hospital, David was the first person I thought of. I wanted to feel that he was close, to feel that I wasn't alone. That hug we shared was what gave me the strength to go on. I know that my mother's death at this point is inevitable and I need something to hold on to so that the blow doesn't take me away. The door opens and I'm surprised to see the person who appears through the door.

"Lauren...," I whisper and get up from the couch in the room. I walk over to her and am greeted by a warm embrace.

Lauren Silverman and I share a pretty strong friendship as she is the wife of my best friend, Andrew. She is a beautiful and sweet woman, very close to me and my family. Right now it makes me happy to have her here.

"Andrew and I are here on holiday. We just arrived yesterday and I came to see you as soon as I heard you were here," she tells me. "How are you, sweetheart?" she asks, patting my shoulder affectionately.

I sigh and glance at my mother and then back at Lauren.

"It's hard to be well when your mother is dying," I murmur sadly. "But I'm glad to see you, sweetheart," I give her a small smile.

She walks over to my mother and strokes her head tenderly. She looks at her and then looks at me; she reaches over and hugs me tightly. This hug is totally different from the one I had with David. With her it feels a bit empty, and I definitely don't feel that desire to lose myself in that embrace. I'm not going to lie, I've never been indifferent to Lauren's beauty, I've always liked her, but I've never crossed the line with her. She's my best friend's wife and something forbidden. I pull away from her and clear my throat.

"By the way, your boyfriend almost didn't let me in," she says taking the couch.

I roll my eyes and look at her not understanding what she just said.

"Boyfriend?!", I exclaim in disbelief crossing my arms.

Lauren stares at me blankly and sighs deeply. Fuck! That surely must have been David, that man is pushing my buttons again.

"David is my employee, Lauren and a good and annoying friend," I explain. "We were supposed to have a business dinner tonight and it got cancelled. He came to show me his support," I distort the truth a bit.

"Why is he going around saying he's your lover," Lauren asks, picking up her phone and texting something.

"He's a comedian, just ignore him," I reply, playing it down. David and his nonsense is going to cause me a problem one of these days.

"You should put him in his place, honey, that idiot can ruin your career," she spits.

The contempt with which she talks about David has made me feel sick. I adore Lauren but she can't come in here and talk bad about David just because of his jokes...