Holding Back

10 | Forage

With steady and slow steps, Anastasia walked down the lane, her eyes scanning through different coffee shops and restaurants. She had taken it upon herself to find herself a job, for a dual objective, one, to keep her mind off and distract herself and second, she needed the money for the tuition fee to enroll herself in a university once she graduates.

And when she came across a sign board saying 'Looking for an employee' Anastasia beamed with happiness, that was all she needed. With a smile adored on her face, she walked into the nearby cafe. The strong smell of caffeine hitting her nostrils hard, the bell chimed above her. Eyes landing at a lady who seemed too busy brewing coffee beans.

"Excuse me," Anastasia spoke in a tender voice, making the lady look up at her. It took her time to reach for her glasses that were sitting somewhere on the counter and once she did, her eyes met with Anastasia's face. "Yes?" She questioned with curious eyes.

"I saw the sign board outside, I would love to work here" The lady whose name Anastasia read as 'Janet' seemed to be a woman to her in her late forties. Upon hearing that, Janet's face lights up in happiness.

"I will let you know once my employee comes here, he has been working here since long so I would want him to take a brief interview of yours'' Anastasia nodded her head, not asking any questions because she was grateful that at least she was considered to be given a job. Straightening her spine, she was about to turn around and leave, she is met with a pair of brown eyes.

"You were here for a job, right?" She nods at that, he is unknown to her, but it seemed like she had seen him somewhere before. Not trying any harder to remember where possibly she could have seen him, he snaps his fingers in front of me, catching me off guard as she stumbles in her steps.

"Oops. Sorry to startle you, but you were staring" Anastasia blushed at those words, she wasn't exactly staring at him or checking him out, she was just lost in thoughts. It gave out a wrong idea to him as he was giving her a cheeky smile and then she remembered, it was none other than Tyler Dave, a guy in the football team. Anastasia took a step back slowly, not wanting to show any signs of rudeness.

"Oh, you are Anastasia, right?" He asks, as if remembering the familiar face he had come across so many times. How could he not know her? She was quite the topic Damien talked about to his guy best friends. Tyler never understood what was so charming about a girl that got Damien so crazy but now he does, when she is standing in front of him in her full glory.

Anastasia cleared her throat, strands of hair falling in front of her eyes, making it difficult for her to see. "I should get going. It was nice to meet you" Anastasia did not give a second glance at him before turning around and moving out of the small coffee shop. The wind hitting her right on the face when she stepped out, she regretted not wearing a full sleeved shirt. It was getting colder outside.

"Take it" A familiar voice spoke, taking her by surprise for yet another time. She stared at Damien's extended hand which held a black leather jacket, offering it to her. Anastasia's eyes met him, they were staring right back at her and at that moment, she knew he was genuinely concerned for her. She contemplated on her thoughts, if she took his jacket, it would be like she was showing her need for a jacket, if she did not, she was certainly going to die with the cold. Hesitating a bit more, her shaky fingers moved forward and picked up the jacket, her fingers gently brushing against hers. There was something between them that she couldn't lay a finger on, but what?

"Thankyou" Anastasia replied, slowly throwing the jacket over her body and into the holes, the jacket was a bit loose to her but it did not bother her when it smelt so heavenly and gave her the required warmth. Damien's eyes were transfixed on her, unlike any girl, she stood out from the typical girls who would throw themselves at him, what made him curious was, how was she able to leave such an effect on him?

Getting her out of his head was turning into an impossible event and he couldn't understand why? And watching her in his jacket, it was sending some shivers down his spine, she looked beautiful, her hair splattered over her shoulders and the way the sleeves of the jacket were long enough to cover her half of the palms, he couldn't take his eyes off her. Damien shook his head, he was losing it, again.

"I will return it to you soon" Anastasia says, clutching the jacket closer to her and he nodded. She did not take long enough to take some steps away from him and walked down the street with a soft hum on her lips, he wanted to know which song she was singing and then it struck him, the tune was vaguely similar. The song he sang that night with his guitar, was she there?

﹌﹌﹌﹌

Anastasia found herself tossing and turning in her sleep yet again. Sleep felt far away from her eyes, only one constant thing running through the small head of hers - why did Damien give her, his jacket? Did he care enough for her to provide protection to her when it was cold? No, it was just his humanity in him that made him do so, otherwise why would he do it?

Anastasia had tried to talk to her mother, she did, but she was on her duty, she wasn't picking up her call nor she was replying to her texts, she was bluntly ignoring her daughter. And Anastasia was scared, her mother hadn't returned home, it was almost two in the morning. She sighed, throwing away the sheets off her and standing up.

She wondered if Damien was yet again and in the park, singing songs or sleeping there. Why did it matter to her? It should not, it shouldn't but then, who was she kidding? She knew she was lying to herself. She grabbed her sweater, throwing it over, she took a deep breath in.

If anything could put her at ease would be taking a stroll down the street in the middle of the night. It was unsafe in so many ways, and yet, there she was walking out of her house like she was fierce girl who was strong enough to face the world, but she wasn't, she just another girl who was afraid when someone threatened her, she was just another girl who was determined on not falling for anyone, she was just another girl who was crazily attracted to Damien Gregg.

Anastasia found herself groaning when her leg hit into the edge of the car that she hadn't noticed when she was walking. Stumbling on her legs, she tried her best to balance herself but in vain as she fell onto the ground with series of winces escaping her mouth, at this rate, she would wake up the entire neighborhood.

"Anastasia, what the hell happened?" She did not fail to recognise the face of the familiar person which belonged to Damien's. She knew better, she knew he was just about to walk to the park nearby to either express himself through his song or he was going to lay down on the cold, metallic bench which was hard to fall asleep in.

Damien was crouching down at her level, trying to grab hold of her leg which had now started to swell, her ankle was throbbing in pain but she did not uttered a single word when Damien had touched her. This felt like the first and most intimate touch of his on her, and it was driving her completely insane. "What happened? Are you alright?" His voice was filled with concern, nothing mattered to him other than examining her ankle at this moment and she was awfully silent which scared him even further more.

Anastasia had kept her mouth sealed, like she had taken an oath to not open her mouth. Why did they keep bumping into each other? Was it because her fate was leading her to him or was it because she was now deliberately wanting to bump into him. Either way, Anastasia couldn't help but stare at him who seemed to be starting to give up because of the lack of response from her. "Are you alright?" Damien asked one more time and Anastasia simply bobbed her head.

"It's alright, Damien. I am sorry for causing trouble. I will be fine. Just keep going" Anastasia answered, eyes fixed at anywhere but at him. His stare was burning her soul, she wanted to turn her head and look him into the eyes. Trying to get up, she whimpered in pain as her ankle did not co-operate. Her eyes were glistening with tears before she knew. Damien watched wide eyed, all he could do was sit there and be useless. He couldn't even help her in anyways.

But boy was he wrong. An idea crossed his mind and before giving it a second thought, he picked her up like a paperweight. His hands snaking around her waist and a gasp releasing her lips. She hadn't seen this coming, not from Damien who had taken her into his embrace and carried her down the street. The pain did not mattered to her at this moment when she was distracted by his touch which was everywhere on her body.

How was she ever going to believe all this was happening for real?