Without You

Twelve

I snuggled into my pillow, I hadn't slept this good for a while. I hummed as I began drifting into sleep. Just as I was about to fall asleep, I felt my pillow move around and then still once more. Opening my eyes, I realized that the comfortable pillow I was sleeping on was actually Damien.

I watched as his eyes opened to reveal his pale green eyes. "Morning." I nearly fainted at his voice. It was deeper than his normal voice and truly captivating. I must've zoned out since I soon noticed his hand was waving in my face.

"Sorry. Morning to you too." We were both quiet as we looked at each other. I was about to say something when I heard his phone ring and he excused himself and stood from the couch and grabbed his phone from the kitchen island.

"Hey." I zoned out his conversation and instead tried to remember what had happened last night after we left the karaoke bar and decided to walk on the beach. I kept coming up with a blank, I didn't drink that much, did I? "I'm going to make breakfast, you wanna take a shower or anything?"

I looked down at myself, I was wearing exactly what I was wearing last night except I had sand in places that I definitely did not want it.. "Please?" He smiled at me and I followed him into his bedroom where he handed me a pair of boxers, sweatpants and one of the smallest tops he had which was a gray shirt that was about a size too big.

"I would give you a pair of underwear but ..." I smiled and waved my hand. "The bathroom is through that door." He pointed to a plain white door a few yard from us. "Any towels or washcloths are under the sink as well as the soap. There should be a new toothbrush under there as well." He walked towards the door and once he was at the doorway, he turned to look at me. "Pancake and bacon good for you?" I smiled and nodded and watched as he left the room.

After showering, brushing my teeth, and brushing my hair and getting dressed, I walked out of the bathroom and into the bedroom where only a dark wooden dresser stood with a photo of Damien and a baby golden retriever on top of it.

The smell of food wafted into the room and I walked into the kitchen to see Damien flipping a pancake onto a plat that was filled with pancakes.

"Do you have a bag I can put my clothes in?" He turned towards me and smiled.

"I can wash them for you if you want" I narrowed my eyes at his back as he poured the pancake batter into the skillet.

"It's fine, I'd rather wash them." I've only known him for a month and he already wants to wash my clothes? Honestly, I wouldn't mind him washing my clothes but I was more keen on keeping his sweatpants and college shirt. "So, you went to UC?"

"Yup, don't regret a thing. Best years of my life so far." I nodded. "What about you, where'd you go?" I bit my lip as I thought about answering. What would he think?

"Harvard." His jaw dropped as he just stared at me in shock. "The pancake is burning." It took a few seconds for him to snap out of it and flip the pancake.

"Damn, I'm friends with a rich girl." I laughed, I was definitely not rich. I still have about eight thousand dollars left to pay of my student loans.

"I got a full ride scholarship, I only paid for my apartment, gas and food. Saved my parents and I a lot of money. But I still had to go to med school and work without pay for a few years." I watched as Damien set the last pancake on top of the other and took out two identical plates.

Once we both finished, I gathered our plates and washed them after thanking him for the food. "I feel weird asking this but... what happened last night?"

I sat next to Damien who was on the large gray L-shaped couch. "After we sat on the beach we both decided to go into the water. I had to spend at least twenty minutes persuading you. After probably an hour or two later, we got out. You fell asleep right after we got out. I tried to wake you but you told me to fuck off so I decided to bring you back here rather than leave you out there. I'm sorry that you had to sleep on the couch by the way. The furniture company I ordered my stuff from messed up my order so I'm out of a bed for another week or two."

"I was wondering why a doctor had no bed..." I laughed to myself as Damien just smiled at me. "Actually I-" my sentence was interrupted by my cell phone ringing. I picked up my phone from the coffee table and answered it. "Hello?"

"WHERE THE HECK HAVE YOU BEEN? I THOUGHT YOU WERE KIDNAPPED OR SOME SHIT LIKE THAT! I'VE BEEN CALLING YOU ALL NIGHT!" I moved the cell phone away from my ear and asked Damien if I could go out onto his balcony. He just nodded and I quickly opened the door and settled on one of the chairs.

"Sarah, calm the fuck down okay? I can't think when you're yelling at me as if I was on another fucking continent okay?" She mumbled something under her breath. "I'm sorry I didn't call you. I was enjoying myself last night and no, I did not have sex last night." We were quiet for a few moments. "How's Ian? I'll be over to pick him up in an hour."

"He won't be there." I raised my eyebrows as if she could see me. "Holland's taken the kids to some new amusement park that opened a few weeks ago. Apparently, he got some free tickets from a colleague that he just realized expired today." I relaxed into the chair when she explained. "That was partly why I was calling you." I heard someone yell her name in the background, followed by a sigh. "I have to get back to work. Talk to you later." She ended the call and I set the phone on the table.

I decided to stay and look at the ocean. Despite having my own ocean view from my apartment, I didn't have time to look out the window nonetheless sit out on the patio for more than thirty seconds before I was busy with someone or something. The sliding door opened to reveal a freshly showered Damien who had changed into jeans and a hoodie.

"I don't mean to kick you out but I have to go grocery shopping before I leave for my shift in an hour." I nodded and stood from the chair. I grabbed my phone and went to slip on my shoes only to realize that they were heels- which I really did not feel like wearing so early in the morning.

"Dami-" He handed me his Nike slides and I smiled. "Thanks." He nodded and grabbed his wallet, keys, and phone before following me outside into the hallway which was completely deserted.

The whole ride down to the ground floor, we were quiet. Oddly enough, I couldn't bring myself to say anything; what could I say? Thanks for caring for me last night?

We made our way to an all black Audi which made me feel like a total mom with my Ford Explorer. But I am a mom.

Before we reached the karaoke bar, I turned to Damien. "Thanks for everything. I really appreciate it. I'll return your things soon." He shook his head.

"Keep them. You look much sexier in them than I could ever look." I'm pretty sure I looked like a fish as my mouth moved open and shut, trying to say something as my cheeks began to warm. He parked next to my car. "See you at work." He pressed his lips to my cheek and dazed, I somehow found myself getting into my car and driving towards my apartment. What the hell just happened?

Note| Hope you are all are safe with all of this craziness happening around the world. I feel like I just said this but I really do. Hope you enjoyed the double upload.

Much Love,
           Brandi