chasing damnation ✔

-twenty-six-

A V E R Y
I was in trouble. When I'd been off canoodling with Mason during the meeting, apparently there'd been important conversations that had been going on. Conversations I didn't hear, through nobody's fault but my own. And now Damien was going to call me in a few minutes, along with Maddie, to hear our views on what happened.

And I had no fucking clue what to do.

'Look, here are the basics.' Maddie quickly ran through what happened and I digested the information as quick as possible.

'This isn't going to work. He'll know I don't know what I'm talking about.' I flopped back onto the seats outside Damien's office. 'I'm screwed.'

'Calm your ass down. And don't be dramatic. I'll do the talking.'

I nodded warily. My eyes were drifting shut due to lack of sleep; we got back home late and then I couldn't get to sleep because a certain someone was on my mind. Pathetic, I know.

The two cups of coffee I'd had were slowly kicking in, but did nothing to erase the exhaustion lined on my face.

'How are your sisters? Are they okay with you now?' Maddie asked.

Sighing, I sat up, lacing my fingers over one knee. 'Yeah, I guess. They're okay when Damien takes me out with him, because they think I won't do anything stupid.'

'And?'

She knew I was holding something back. 'And I have a feeling they'd blow a fuse if they found out that it's Damien that's been taking me here this whole time.'

Maddie sat back, waiting patiently - I had more to say.

'I'm tired of lying to them all the time. And I'm missing out on their lives - they're all doing things together that I'm not a part of, and I want to be with them, but I need my job too.'

Maddie watched me from her seat beside me. She opened her mouth to console me, but the phone on the receptionist's desk rang.

Eric picked it up. He muttered quietly, nodding, then looked up at us.

'He's ready for you now.'

We nodded our thanks and stood. My palms were sweaty. Maddie touched my elbow and grinned.

'I've got this. Go along with what I say, okay.'

I could barely nod my agreement. Whatever she was thinking, if it saved me from looking like an imbecile, I'd sure as hell go along with it.

Damien was at his desk, writing what seemed to be a letter, his head tipped forward. 'Come and sit, girls,' he said, without looking up or putting the pen down.

We did so, sinking into the plush seats in front of him. Maddie squeezed my hand and let go, reminding me to breathe. And to trust her.

'How are you both?'

'Good, thanks, Damien. You?' Maddie answered, a smile already on her face.

'As well as I can be in the circumstances.' His gaze flicked to me and I put on my most innocent smile. 'You okay, Avery?'

'Yeah, I'm good. Fine, actually.'

A weird look came across his eyes, as if he could sense I was internally panicking. I smiled again and decided to go on the offensive.

'So. The meeting went a little weird, right?'

Damien sighed and nodded. 'We talked about everything I wanted to, but I don't know, I feel like I missed something. I feel like something could have gone wrong.'