Strangers in the Storm ✔

Chapter 20: Something Important

Heyy there! Thank you for reading <3 I'll be updating every day until the book is finished, things are about to get messyyyyyy 

DAMIEN 

The last time Damien's heart beat that quickly was when he went skydiving with Andre four years ago. But unlike then, the need to step back and run away was taking over. He clutched the phone in his hand and stared at the girl in the bathroom.

"What?" Roxanne put the brush down tentatively and faced Damien fully.

"Someone's calling you." Damien answered, his voice aloof.

Roxanne's face immediately relaxed, like she knew precisely knew who and why. She walked over and took the phone out of his hand. When she looked at the screen, she sighed.

"I'm sorry." Roxanne murmured. "He just keeps calling."

Damien's chest squeezed with unexpected pain, "He just keeps calling?"

Roxanne lifted her head off the phone, "Uh... yes. I mean, not so often. Just... sometimes. A couple of times."

A humourless chuckle rumbled in Damien's throat, "And it hasn't bothered you enough to tell him to stop?"

The girl's eyes widened with realisation and her lips parted.

"Uh," She stuttered, "I haven't answered."

Damien raised his eyebrow, "Not once?"

Roxanne chuckled awkwardly, "Well, I asked him why he called, but he hasn't answered. Except for the phone calls, that is. And I haven't answered those!"

Damien stooped to those levels and he read the texts. He knew he shouldn't have done that, but her password was 1234, which was a password that begged to be guessed. Roxanne, in her naivety, hasn't even thought about it, but Damien read the texts.

And he knew Mike had answered.

"I read the messages." Damien said, knowing full well he would regret this moment later on, but he couldn't quite explain all the emotions he felt.

Roxanne opened her mouth, then as if realising he breached her privacy, she frowned, "You went through my phone? Because my ex-boyfriend, whom I haven't answered, keeps calling me?"

Damien felt his jaw clench and his teeth grit.

"He said he wanted to see you."

"So?" Roxanne's eyes bulged. "I haven't texted him or called him back."

In two large steps, she reached Damien and offered her phone.

"You can check it yourself if you want!"

Damien took a step back, his heart pounding roughly in his chest.

"That's right." He said. "You told him nothing. Nothing! Because if you tell him you're with someone else, he might stop calling. Isn't that right? Aren't I right?"

Roxanne's mouth dropped with just a touch of mockery, "Are you being serious right now? You want us to fight over this?"

"Are you serious?" Damien tried to keep his voice calm, but he felt the stutter underneath his facade. "Because you haven't told your ex-boyfriend to stop calling and leave you alone."

"Damien-" She started, then brushed it off with a small, throaty laugh.

"You can't even tell me I'm wrong, can you?" Damien continued. "Because I'm right. You're keeping him on hold, just in case."

"Goddammit, you sound like Brenda." Roxanne cut in. "I'm not keeping Mike on hold! I haven't found the time or energy to care about him! I thought the easiest and clearest thing to do was never answer!"