Mr. Lawson's Assistant

Chapter 25

When I saw Trey standing there behind me, my heart skipped a beat, but I recovered quickly enough to not let my face betray my fear. Instead, I glared at him, and crossed my own arms, looking him in the eye.
"Nice to see you again." He hummed, dragging his eyes over my features. Containing my anger, I bit my tongue and turned to walk away.
Trey sped up, hurrying up in front of me and cutting me off. "Wait-"
I tried to move around him, but he sidestepped and blocked my way.
"Move." I snapped, glaring up at him.
He smirked, "When I'm done talking to you, I will." Taking a step forward, he put his hands up on the boardwalk railing, blocking my way forward.
I took a step back and cocked my head to the side in a take-another-step-and-I'll-kick-you type of way, but he didn't catch the hint.
I lifted my chin, "You're done talking." I shot him a look, turning and walking back the other direction, determined to put distance between him and I.
As I did so, Trey caught my wrist, and held me back, forcing me to turn on him with a scowl.
"If you know what's good for you, you'll stay." He curled his lip up at me, glancing down to my lips.
"And you'll let me go if you know what's good for you." I retorted.
He barked a laugh. "So polite," He scoffed, "but since Damon isn't here to protect you, you really should watch your mouth." He pulled me closer. I willingly let him, and his greedy eyes lit up, as I leaned in towards his face.
"You're an idiot." I murmured, before bringing my foot up into his groin. As he fell forward with a grunt, I jerked my wrist from his hand. "I don't need Damon to take care of me, I can do it myself." I spit. Looking down my nose to him, I clenched my jaw, before spinning on my heel and walking back towards the boardwalk.
The beach no longer seemed inviting.
Stepping back up onto the wooden planks, I paused to avoid running into Damon. For a moment, he just stared behind me, before he finished looking over my shoulder, and moved his eyes back to my face, surprise evident on his features.
I raised my eyes evenly to meet his, keeping my expression cold. "I still have an hour." I said, crossing my arms. Damon raised an eyebrow, and glanced down to my wrist.
I followed his gaze, to where my wrist was turning slightly red, and refrained from laughing out loud.
"I was going for a stroll on the beach," He finally said, seeming at a loss for words.
"I hope yours is more enjoyable than mine was." Moving past Damon, I started back towards the town, to see if I could entertain myself for another hour, before we had to go.
*Forty minutes later...*
I ran my fingers over a gold necklace inside a more expensive jewlry shop, but I hesitated when I saw the reflection of a beautiful blonde woman entering the shop behind me.
Her eyes, however, were not on the jewlry, they were on me. Straightening, I turned to face her, and she smiled.
"Am I in your way?" She stepped sideways, allowing me to pass her, but I shook my head.
"No, I'm not buying anything."
She laughed. Her laughter was a pretty tinkling sound, like a China bell or something. Her perfect, white teeth also added to the sweet, innocent look about her.
"It's a little pricy here, I agree." She nodded, but I didn't miss the way her eyes assessed me as she spoke.
"I'm Oana," I stepped forward, offering her my hand, and she looked a little surprised.
"Daphni." She took my hand gently and shook it, brushing her blonde hair out of her eyes. I offered her a small smile, starting to turn towards the door, but she shifted sideways a little and nodded.
"Have you ever been here before?" She asked me, her eyes searching mine, and I quietly inhaled.
I wonder if this has something to do with Damon. This is definitely the girl from earlier.
"No, have you?" I asked her, already knowing the answer.
She smiled slightly, but nodded. She knew that I already knew.
"I have a vacation home here, like Damon." She met my eyes.
Something inside her blue orbs probed me to speak, but I resisted quickly.
I didn't trust her. I didn't know why, she seemed absolutely harmless, if anything, she seemed too harmless.
"Damon is here with you, isn't he? I met him earlier; he said you two were staying together..." she trailed off, glancing around the store quickly, and I sucked in a breath.
"His brother is my boss. They sent me to come spend a week down here as a vacation, and Damon happened to be here the same week." I shrugged, feeling more and more convinced that something about this woman wasn't right.
"Oh, I see...so you two aren't together then?" She asked me, and I crossed my arms.
"No."
She smiled, adjusting her hair again, still looking down at me. "That's good to know." Her smile turned coy and I narrowed my eyes at the woman.
"If you'll excuse me, I have to go." I stepped sideways, seeing her shift into my path slightly, but she just gave me an innocent smile and nodded.
"It was nice to meet you, hopefully I'll see you soon."
Her words stuck with me, as I left the shop, heading towards the car.
Damon was already at the car, and when he saw me approaching, he walked around to the passenger side, and opened my door. I slid into the car seat, mumbling a thank you to Damon as I grabbed at the seat belt. Situating myself, I stared at the road in front of us, as Damon turned the Corvette around, and started off towards the house.
I felt his gaze burning into the side of my face every so often, but I wasn't interested in speaking with him. Especially not about women with beautiful blonde hair and crystal blue eyes.
*
We arrived home, and I immediately retreated to my bedroom, flipping open my laptop, and carrying  it out onto my little balcony. I then started to type away at the work that Mr. Lawson had sent along with me. It wasn't that I was stressed about getting it done, it was just that I didn't want to speak to Damon. I knew that if I didn't occupy myself, then he would try to do it for me.
I was curious about the woman from the jewlry store, and why she seemed so interested in my personal life- and my 'relationship' with Damon, but I had a feeling that Damon knew her well.
I assumed she'd been involved with Damon at one point based on the way he'd acted when he saw her.
Frowning, I glanced away from my screen and down at my phone in my lap that was lighting up.
It was only three in the afternoon, so when I saw a message from David, I smiled and stopped working to read it.
'How's the beach, brat?'
'I miss you too.' I typed, leaning back in my chair, and smiling.
'So good then?' He asked, and I laughed.
'It's fine, the beach is nice, but the house is nicer.' I smirked, sending the message, then shooting him a picture from where I was sitting. He sent back a bunch of jealous emoj's, and we talked for a few more minutes before David had to leave and go somewhere with Jared.
Glancing up from my phone, I sighed and stood up, closing my laptop, and heading inside. I was bored, so I decided to go for a walk. I wandered down to the beach, humming to myself, and thanking God that the beach here was mostly deserted. I wasn't in the mood to be around any more people.
It was nearly five in the afternoon when I finally made my way back to the part of the beach that was in front of the Lawson house, and the sun was gradually sinking towards the water. I sauntered down to where the waves sloshed against the sand, and as I sat down in the warm sand to watch the sun, I pulled my hair out of the braid, letting it cascade down my back, and blow gently over my shoulders.
Sinking back against my arms, I closed my eyes to let the sun warm my face, and slowly, I drifted off to sleep. The sound of the waves washing up on the sand, and a gentle breeze brushing across my face, were the last things I remembered.