Forever Rain

Chapter 16

Damon

This has to be a dream. Five years have passed without a single word from her, and here she is, alone with me, in the conference room of my firm. For the most part, I have played it cool, but every second that passes with her here puts my heart at risk for failure. Yet, I never want her to leave.

"So, you're going to leave? Just like that?" So much for playing it cool. I can't sound anymore desperate, but she didn't give me a choice. She thought she would just sweep in here, talk business, and disappear from my life again?

"The contracts are signed. I'm not sure what else I would stick around for. Unless you have other questions for me?"

How could she be so cold? She can't possibly imagine how I feel seeing her again, especially with her in that tight dress that cuts deep enough for me to catch a glimpse of her cleavage. With all the years that have passed, I can still feel the warmth of her body against me.

Without all the fancy clothing, she was always the most beautiful girl in the room. But now with these strides of confidence and perfectly fitted attires, I'm forced to feel like an adolescent, yearning to touch her.

I stand from my seat, following the curve of the oval table to her side. The distance between us closes, and I long for the day that I could easily reach out and pull her to me. Her large, almond eyes stare back at me, challenging me to take another step, as I do.

"Rain, how have you been?" That really should have been my first question when we met out front, but in my defense, she flustered me with her question regarding my tie, the tie that I have worn so many times, I'm afraid it might disintegrate.

"Better. A lot better." She reaches up to touch her raindrop necklace, and I take satisfaction in concurring that it was something she does often, because she notices me watching and pulls her hand away.

"I've—" What am I going to tell her? That I've thought about her every single day since she's left? That the pain of losing her was greater than I could ever imagine? That I have stupidly dated an obnoxious number of women just to get over her?

"And you," she lets out a breath, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear. "You're not a beach bum."

I can't help but laugh, and suddenly, we are back inside my bedroom in Bountiful. I want to hold her, I want to run my fingers through that soft, auburn hair. Rain, why did you leave me?

"You told me not to be." I recall the day she specifically told me she didn't want me to be a beach bum, that she saw more in me. "Anyways, it's not my firm. I'm just a partner here."

"Partner? That definitely makes it partly yours." She sounds impressed, and I can't help but to feel proud of her approval. "So you didn't end up working for your father?"

"No. After I finished school, I decided that I wanted something that I can say I achieved myself. My mentor left the company we were working for and opened his own distribution company. He asked me to join him a few months back."

She places herself back on the chair, crossing one leg over the other, revealing the smoothness of it and her white stilettos. The same girl who used to wobble in tiny heels is now proudly maneuvering in those intimidating shoes.

"Wow, Damon. I'm so happy for you. I'm happy that your life turned out exactly the way it should have." Her voice is filled with optimism, but her eyes carries an unexplainable sadness. How did we become such strangers?

I settle on the edge of the table, leaning on my hands for support. "How was Duke? I'm guessing it went well, Junior Research Associate." There were times that I wanted to look her up, call the school and pretend to be her guardian, checking her attendance. But she wanted to be away from me, and I couldn't be the creep that stalked her out. I had to let her fulfill her dreams, the dreams that didn't include me.

She leans forward and clasps her hands over her knees, biting her lower lip, which means she's holding something back. Rain has always been able to comfortably tell me anything that was on her mind, but when she bites her lip, that means she's physically withdrawing the words.

"I never went." The drop of her gaze to the floor fractured my heart into a gruesome mess. But that was the plan. I was supposed to go to California, and she was supposed to attend Duke University with her scholarship. That's why we had to end our relationship, for the good of our future.

"But you left. You left, Rain. But not to Duke?" I don't want to read into her guilty fidgeting, because it will hurt so much to think that she left me behind not for Duke University, but because she didn't want me. I can't stop looking at her—the beautiful, peculiar girl that stole my heart the first day she fell into class. She stole my heart and ran with it, but not to North Carolina as she had said.

She ignores my question, standing to gather her things. I'm stunned into silence, watching her pack away her files, like the day she packed away my feelings for her, leaving me stranded in the parking lot.

"Why didn't you tell me? I could have handled it. I could have handled not being good enough for you. I could have handled that you didn't want to be with me just because you didn't feel the same way for me."

Her back is towards me, and she doesn't bother to look my way, to answer me. She grabs the long strap to her briefcase bag and turns away, heading for the door. I can't just let her leave like this, so I grab her elbow and spin her back to me. The glistening of her teary eyes rip into my chest, and I cursed the universe that has bestowed this grief upon us.

The muscles can no longer fight against my desire, and I pull her to my chest, holding her head, letting her hair drape over my fingers. She doesn't contest, but she melts against me, tears soaking my shirt, and I hate myself for ever letting her go.

I thought eventually, the intensity of our relationship and the sharpness of our breakup would dull, and between work and social distractions, I really believed it was working. But now with her in my arms, I can feel the heat rising in my face, my senses awakening after being dormant for so long.

"Rain—"

"Damon," she quickly detaches herself from me, but not completely moving away, "I think we should meet for donuts sometime."

"That would be good. Give me your phone." She does so without question, unlocking the screen before handing it to me. I enter my number, saving it to her phone and calling myself, then returning it back to her.

"When would be a good time for you?" she asks me modestly, and I don't like how I'm being treated in a way that makes me feel so distant from her.

"Tomorrow night." I would have preferred tonight, or right now, but I don't want to scare her away with my forwardness, as if I haven't been embarrassingly obvious.

"Donuts for dinner?" She gives me a muddled look, one so adoring that I quietly groan under my breath.

"Donuts anytime, Rain."

With my last remark, she gives me her tilted smile, and the adoring face that I have never forgotten sways my mind to the depth of her beauty.