The Womanizer (EDITING)

CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

Her melodic laugh fills the room, running my blood cold. None of them has noticed my presence yet and I had hoped it stayed that way. Damien was preoccupied and I'd just say how I felt another time.

Although, one trait Damien had adapted was knowing I was near. Which was why his eyes snapped to the door just as I was about to leave. He swiftly leaves his chair, eyes wide.

"Isla?" He questions, as I look down to my feet, "I-I didn't know you were coming today."

I laugh nervously, tucking strands of hair behind my ear, "Oh! Yeah..uh...It's fine! I'll come back later."

"No!" he quickly responds, grabbing ahold of my wrist, "We can talk now." He pushes me further into the room, my eyes still cast downwards, "We were just talking about you," He adds on.

That brings my eyes up to him.

It was the first time we had genuinely caught a look at each other in the last three days. I looked like a mess; I always did. Although Damien looked attractive as ever; almost as if he looked better when we weren't talking.

"I actually should leave now," the girl says, sending Damien a small innocent smile. I couldn't help but narrow my eyes in envy.

"Before you leave, this is Isla my girlfriend. If you need an introduction anyway," he chuckles. My eyes meet hers and she gives me a bright smile.

Her blue eyes sparkle in the bright light as light dimples cut into her cheeks, "Nice to finally meet you! I'm Avery, I'm not sure Damien told you about me."

My eyes flicker towards Damien before shaking my head, "No," I reply curtly, "He didn't. Although we haven't been talking in the past few days," I add on. Her smile slightly wavers but stays on her face.

"Oh! Well, we're childhood friends. We just decided to meet up today since I'm back in New York City for a little while. We go way back," she explains, before adjusting her expensive silk blouse.

"Nice," I reply shortly, "Anway, nice to meet you, but it won't be necessary for you to leave because I'll be."

Damien's eyes narrow in the corner of my eye, "Actually you won't. You came here for a reason right?"

 I falter, "Well...Yes. But I didn't know you had company-"

"Then you're staying," he states firmly. Avery watches the conversation unveil before her with hesitant eyes. Damien turns to her with a smile, "We will catch up later, yeah?"

She nods her head, the corners of her lip turned upwards, "For sure!" She sends me a wave and a quick but cautious hug to Damien before leaving his office.

A silence settles over us like usual when things got awkward or too much to handle. I didn't want to say anything to provoke Damien and I got the feeling he didn't want to either.

"I'm pretty sure you already know this but I have a lot of insecurities. I can't seem to think that I'm not good enough for you. You have so many options of women to choose from and you decided to choose me; the regular girl seeking a job as your assistant. Sounds damn cliche if you ask me" I let out a dry laugh, tracing the intricate design on the desk.

"Isla-"

"I'm not finished, Damien. I-I'm scared. I'm scared of us and the future. You're so afraid of commitment and I'm afraid of committing to you. And there are factors like the media and your family and my family and our friends and my past and your past. All these things that are allowing me to think that; what is the point. And I know that I do have a genuine attraction to you and I'm hoping you do too, but I still feel so insecure. I've been feeling insecure for as long as I could remember. And it's just so hard to talk to you about it because I don't think you understand. Nobody does," I feel out of breath by the time the words have left my mouth. My body feels heavy from Damien knowing how I finally feel but the light from being able to let the weighing thoughts go.