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Finally, he settled beside where I sat on the bigger couch.
My heart is giddy with excitement, and I try to hide my feelings as I walk back to the living room with two glasses in hand.
When I return to my side of the couch, he asks me about my first day and refers to me as his fiancée. It hits a different note when hearing from him now that it’s not in the presence of people.
It almost sounds true, and I suddenly wish it was.
I tell him about Samantha and her down-to-earth attitude towards me. I also tell him about Dominic and I attending the same school.
“Well, she has been a powerful advocate for me to find love, so it’s no surprise that she is all over the woman I have introduced as my fiancée.”
A pang of jealousy hits me at the thought of him being with other women to find love. I quickly shield such thoughts, as he is not mine. Not yet, at least.
On and on, I go about my first day at Selware. I talked about how helpful Samantha was to me with tips and guides. I’m going to restrict myself to my floor alone as the people on my floor seem pretty cool.
In the middle of my story, I realize he has drifted into another world of imagination, and a sneaky smile spreads across his face.
I call out to him and he stutters in his response. His face turns red in embarrassment, and I decide to shift the focus to him. He can talk while I take him all in with my eyes.
I asked about his day, and he told me about his meetings and shopping for dinner. He really meant it when he said, “See you at dinner tonight” earlier today.
One thing that always stands out in Damien is his thoughtfulness. He always thinks of ways to make life easy for everyone around him, regardless of your position in his life. I’m immensely grateful for the gift of him in my life, especially at this moment.
Our eyes drift to the TV right in time to catch a scene from the movie playing where a little boy is struggling to save his pet dog as he seeks herbs and whatever he can find to cure his dog’s ailment.
I try to hold it in, but my laughter comes out louder than usual as the scene takes my mind back to Damien and his pet dog, Charmer.
As if reading my mind, he tries to defend himself, which only intensifies my laughter.
“That still doesn’t justify how you cried, Damien. You wouldn’t eat for days because of Charmer. Kelvin and I had to force you to eat all the time, and you got your mom worried sick.”
On and on he goes, making unending defenses that only make me laugh harder.
“Yeah, right. You still cried like a little baby, and nothing can justify that.” I stick my tongue out baby-style at him, and we laugh so hard that we almost fall off the couch.
As we catch our breath from the hilarious moment, our eyes go back to the TV.
I feel the moisture gather in my eyes again. The thought of my parents engulfed me tonight, and it was hard to control my tears.
My hands move to wipe the tears away. I wouldn’t want to burden Damien with my thoughts and spoil the moment.
Although I feel his intense gaze on me, I refuse to turn to him or take notice of it.
The next question I hear from him is unexpected and unlocks my river of tears.
He stares at me and asks, “How are you really doing, Lea? How are you coping with the loss of your parents?”
My emotions are upturned, and the bowl of popcorn almost slips off my hands.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you. It just crossed my mind to make sure you are not masking your pain with being busy, and I’m worried about you.”
This was the thing with Damien. He would never let you be sorrowful alone. I’m sure he also noticed the redness of my eyes when he walked in.
“Before you came in, the TV was on, but I wasn’t paying attention. I found myself in tears as I reminisced about my... my dear departed... my late parents.”
It was so difficult to refer to them as ‘late.’ Life was so cruel and unfair!
“Some days are tougher than others. Today, I thought about all that they would have done for me and the encouragement they would have offered me today. I was so scared that I had lost my job because of my tardiness, which wasn’t intentional.”
