LUXURY

＂ Ｔｈｅ Ｍｉｓｓｉｎｇ ｏｆ Ｂｅｖｅｒｌｙ Ｈｉｌｌｓ ＂(3/3)

Damon Felix had been in a daze of champagne, girls, and hangovers until reality slapped him in the face. Well, more like Jacqueline Lexington slapped him and her emerald green eyes that were, conveying the most hateful of glares told him he'd been in a daze far too long.

For the past two weeks, Damon had felt more like a bachelor rather than a teenager hiding from his father. He'd traveled from Eastport all the way to Cape Town and back again, hopping from girl to girl, party to party, and yachts to five-star hotels - and woke up in unfamiliar places from condos to mansions but that was only occasionally.

Damon would be lying if he said his life back in Beverly Hills had been on his mind. It was far from the truth. In fact, he'd forgotten everything from Matthew Felix and his rage-filled punches, Erika's bitchy sibling love, Princeton, and even his girlfriend, Jac - and when the thoughts would creep in during the early aftermath of out-of-control parties, Damon would wave it away like a wizard with Tylenol and more champagne.

But now, running into Jac and the slap of reality, he wished he could take back the entire two weeks.

Sheepishly rubbing the side of his face, Damon winced. "Yeah, I deserved that."

"You sure did." Jac replied evenly. She was the same as he'd seen her only weeks ago; still ridiculously beautiful in a damp pink Eres cover-up and jet black hair wet strands down her back. She still wore the scowl she'd had when Damon had accidentally burned her with a cigarette at the Spring Debutante Auction too except the scowl, while calm, was slightly different. Her voice was different too. She spoke evenly but her voice still shook as if she were going to break.

Damon felt the title of 'World's Biggest Asshole,' coming back to hover over his head like a warning sign.

"Jac, I'm-" He tried but the dark-haired beauty was already storming away and he had to catch her arm.

She spun around, shaking off his hand. "Hey? You've been MIA for two weeks and your comeback is 'Hey'?" She snapped accusingly, disgust practically oozing off her voice as if she were discussing a pleather handbag from Macys.

"Well what am I supposed to say?" Damon was certain he'd get slapped no matter what he'd said. Not that he didn't deserve it.

Jac frowned, gazing at him for a moment and Damon tried to guess what she was thinking - but then he quickly remembered Jac wasn't like most girls at Alabaster nor the girls he'd been hanging out with over Spring Break. She was a closed book.

However, something about her now felt painfully open as if the book was midway closed but he could still see a glimpse of a page.

"Nothing, there's nothing left to say." She finally said dismissively, her eyes trailing to something past him but when Damon looked across the glossy, mosaic lobby of the Four Seasons Hotel, all he could see was empty mauve, leather armchairs and a group of businessmen chattering loudly near the revolving doors.

Damon wasn't sure what he was supposed to say. Sure, they hadn't properly broken up before he left - although a cigarette burn and numerous exchanged words might have been enough. However, something had to be said and at the moment, Damon was ready to come back down from the Spring daze and into reality.

"Jac-" He started but she shook her head

"I don't care where you were, who you were with, or why the hell you're even here. Just leave me alone."

"But I'm here for you." It was a lie but sort of true. At least it sounded better than the truth. Like everything else, he'd forgotten about her and had been far too busy soothing his selfish desires - like spending the last bit of thousands on his credit cards and holing up in hotels until the next party.