It Hurts When It's True (Affaire de Coeur, #1)

Chapter 8: Watch where your thoughts are going

Standing below her window, Damian waited for Maggie to come down after taking a peek. He did not mean to come late, but he was somehow held back by a meeting at the agency. With the approaching date for the start of the new TV drama’s shoot, he had been forced to attend meetings left and right. He was already anticipating a busier schedule once the date of their show’s pilot episode has been decided. Pondering about it brought about a strange sensation that started from his feet reaching the top of his head.

A couple of minutes later, the actor had a view of the nurse in what appeared to be like an oversized white knitted sweater, jeans and sneakers. As always, her hair was tied up into a tight ponytail at the back of her head and her side swept bangs arranged neatly with a simple black bobby pin.

“Hey,” he called out, waving slightly at her as she emerged from the apartment’s entrance.

Her face broke into a shy smile and waved back at him. Walking closer to Damian, Maggie appeared to have not been wearing make-up which was quite different from when she worked at the hospital. The actor wondered if it was a sort of protocol for all hospital employees to wear colors on their faces while on duty.

“I’m sorry for being late, the meeting went beyond the time I expected it to end.” Damian explained, a small smirk appearing on his well-shaped lips.

“Oh, no worries. I was watching some TV programs while waiting, anyway.” Maggie responded.

The actor noticed how the lady seemed to be examining his appearance so openly. With this, he suddenly thought whether there was anything wrong with what he was wearing.

“What is it?” Damian could no longer keep a strong hold over his curiosity.

“What?”

“The way you’re looking at me creeps me out.” The celebrity replied, a playful frown forming on his attractive face.

The intensity of the nurse’s smile went down a notch before she spoke once again, “I was just wondering if that is your actual style when you’re not working.”

Damian’s brows knotted at that, puzzled over what exactly Maggie was referring to. Then it dawned on him that she was talking about his bonnet, sunglasses and leather jacket.

“Oh.”

“Yes,” the woman confirmed his thoughts without even having him speak out loudly.

“Well, I have to be incognito.” The actor said very simply lacking the explanation Maggie must have been looking forward to hear.

“Incognito?”

“Certainly.” Damian nodded.

Maggie’s lips formed into a thin line, considering about his short response to her observation. Her eyes darted sideways, a sign that she was thinking about what to say to his unimaginative answer.

“Regardless of how you dress, I’ll still recognize you as Damian Williams.” Maggie finally spoke.

“Huh?” the handsome actor was rarely dumbfounded and the lady’s statement had brought it about after quite some time since his last experience.

“Well,” an adorable tint of cherry surfaced on her cheeks which she quickly hid by lowering her head. “Well, you’re beautiful and neither a bonnet nor a pair of sunglasses could ever disguise that.”

If he thought being flabbergasted was an infrequent experience for him, hearing what the woman had said had somehow changed his idea about his own reactions to different stimuli. The woman, despite how common she was as a woman, had made see himself in a whole new picture. Moreover, he was not wrong about her first impression about Maggie on how she had a way in dealing with people.

“Oh…”

“Oh! Oh my god…please do forget that I ever said that! That did not sound right…” the nurse’s head snapped up, her eyes wide as plates.

Unlike other women, her expression of shock and embarrassment was entirely genuine. It was not practiced and it was not coy. As a matter of fact, there was no hint of flirtation on her part. When she complimented him, it was not for the purpose of boosting his ego but more of something that came out of impulse.

“Don’t bother.” Damian tried to stop Maggie from her derision of herself. “Thank you.”

At last, the woman had calmed down and her face finally relaxed into a blank expression. For the first time that evening, he was able to have a closer look of her face. For quite a short moment, he was able to look at her directly into her eyes which had looked darker with the lack of adequate light. Without meaning to do so, his eyes lowered to her full lips for the second time since he sort of assaulted her in an alleyway near the hospital.

For a moment, he had an uncontrollable urge to actually lean down and have a feel of her lips against his. But he immediately stamped down on it, thinking of how incredulous it was to feel any attraction towards the plump and ordinary-looking woman like Margaret. Also, he chided himself due to the direction of his thoughts which was quite unusual for him especially that it was somehow about whom who actually failed to meet his standards when it comes to women.

Regaining his composure, he cleared his throat and shook his head slowly from left to right as if it could take his off mind his wandering thoughts about the woman who was currently wearing a look of curiosity on her face. Settling on a heavy sigh, he had finally halted his raising thoughts and decided to finally announce their departure.

“We had better go. We would not want you out late, would we?” he said jokingly.

“True.” The woman answered curtly.

“What?” he was taken aback by her response.

“I do not want to be out late.” She answered as if her short response was enough explanation.

“You live such a boring life.” The words slid his tongue even before he could stop them from coming out his mouth.

As much as possible, he had always tried not to offend people, especially women. Having been in the industry for many years, he was able to succeed in displaying a gentlemanly disposition on and off the camera. However, it was as though all his experience in acting like the most chivalrous man in the world had been wipe out right after meeting Maggie. It was as if she had casted a spell on him, making him seem like an ordinary man, not a celebrity but a common guy.

Maggie suddenly snorted, her lips quivering into a controlled smile. “You got that right.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it.” Taking back what had already been said was futile, but Damian thought everything was worth a try.

“Don’t apologize, really.” The lady chuckled a little, a shot of redness appearing on her cheeks. “It’s actually true. I live a boring life, but I am not complaining.”

Damian breathed in an out so deeply, trying to appease his mind that he had not offended the woman. However, a part of him had felt rather embarrassed for not holding his tongue especially that he was dealing with a woman, the lady who had taken care of him when he was sick in bed.

Scratching his nose with the nail of his left index finger, he spoke in his mortified tone, “How about we go now? I’m kind of famished…”

“Oh, yes! Let’s go. I’m starving, too.” Maggie said with a big smile on her face.

“Shall we?” Damian offered his arm, acting gallantly after all the awkwardness that he had carelessly initiated.

Maggie laughed so openly, surprising the actor as he did not expect from the lady who always behaved so lady-like. If not for the noise of the busy street, the sound of her laugh would have filled his ears entirely. Then again, the tinkling sound of her chuckle was quite pleasant to his ears.

Finally calming down, she looked at him squarely and said, “That was nice of you, but walking side by side would be less conspicuous, don’t you think?”

Damian nodded absent-mindedly before they had started on their way.

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Like always, pardon any grammatical and spelling errors. Thank you for reading this chapter! :)