Witness

33. Chelsea

It is at that precise moment that my phone begins to ring.

"I should really-" 

"No," Damien states simply. 

"It'll just be-" 

"Your sister?" He raises an eyebrow. "Show me, then." 

My hands are shaking as I put one of them into the pocket of my jeans. A thousand scenarios run through my head. Surely it'll be anyone but Kaiden. He wouldn't be so careless. It's Friday, it's barely even been twenty minutes since I arrived here. He wouldn't call. 

He wouldn't. 

(If it's him, I'll kill him myself.) 

Cold metal touches my fingers. 

"Whenever you're ready," Damien coos, leaning forward to take a small spoon from a boy in front of him. He brings it to his nose and inhales.

The front screen of my phone reads: Madelaine. 

"It's Maddie," I say. "Madelaine. From work." 

I twist the phone so he can see it. 

"Alright." I release a breath as he leans back. "So answer it." 

My hesitation brings another grin to his face. 

"Why?" I ask quietly. It continues to ring between us. 

His eyes flash. 

"Because I fucking said so."

Right. Okay. 

At least I'm not dead yet. 

And then I really put my foot in my own mouth. 

"You don't pay me, you know," I find myself saying. 

For the smallest fraction of a second, I see the surprise splash across his face like cold water. At least two or three people look up from the carpet in shock before letting their heads drop again. Vik coughs. 

"Excuse me?" Damien asks quietly. 

"I'm not... I don't..." Fuck. 

I'm already losing my nerve. I don't remember why I wanted to say that in the first place, not in front of all of these people. Maybe Damien is lenient with me when we're alone. Maybe he doesn't mind being undermined when there's nobody around to see it. 

But how would I know? I don't tend to undermine him. 

What the fuck am I doing?!

 "Answer the phone," he repeats, voice brittle. 

I answer the phone. 

For a painstaking amount of time, there's just uncomfortable silence and the muted noise of the party outside of this room, and then Madelaine's sweet as honey voice comes through the speaker. 

"Chels?" 

I look over at Damien. He stares. 

I don't know why I expect him to apologise, because even though this is actually Maddie, I'm still lying to him. He knows it, too. 

"Hey," I answer, too softly and after too much time. 

"You okay?" She asks. "Shall I come round?" 

Finally dragging my gaze away from Damien's, I bring the phone closer to my mouth. 

"Sorry, yeah, just distracted. Are you alright?" 

"Cece?" She asks. 

"Yeah," I murmur, my heart suddenly feeling as if a fist has wrapped around it. I'm always lying to her. "What's up?"