Chapter 4

"You’ve got to be joking," I say to Quen wide-eyed. She regards me with not even an ounce of emotion.

"But I never joke about Cancún," she replies flatly and takes a sip of her tea. We’re in our kitchen, Quen is making breakfast as she usually does; toast with eggs and she’s just dropped the bomb on me that she’s going away with her boyfriend for two weeks to Cancún. For a vacation.

The same Quen who would never skip a class even if she was sick.

I slide into my seat at the island and lean in. "You don’t think this George boy is a bad influence?" I say in a low, quiet voice.

"George is not a boy, he’s a man and I was the who suggested the trip. I deserve a break, don’t I?" She says as she pours me my iced coffee. God, I love her so much. How am I supposed to survive two weeks without her.

"Don’t worry, you have Wilhelm now. Your fiancé," she teases with a small smirk on her face. I also hate her, maybe two weeks of solitude wouldn’t be so bad.

"I hope you’ve let your little buddy know he’s no longer welcome here," Quen says plating the toast and eggs. She’s referring to Joel. After I told about the date between I and Wilhelm, it was the only she agreed with him on.

"I mean, if I stop picking his calls and all of that I think he’d get the message," I say to her. Quen looks like she’s about to gauge out my eyes with fork she’s holding.

"Call him now and tell him pump plain that you don’t want anything to do with him, that’s why he keeps showing up here. Except I’m wrong and you’re still about that," her eyebrows are drawn in disapproval.

"No, I’m not. I’m calling him now." I take my phone from the slab and dial his number quick. "Put him on speaker phone." Quen instructs as she sits opposite me and sets down our plates.

He picks after the second ring, his voice cheery. "Why, this is a pleasant surprise.”

"Hi Joel, I need to tell you something really important. We’ve had this discussion before, we can’t see each other again for whatever reason. This arrangement between us has ended." I say in one breath. He waits a beat before replying.

"Claire baby, you can’t mean that," his voice is so soft, if I had anything for the man, I’d be a mess.

Quen snatches my phone from me, "Unfortunately she does. You should block this number because yours is already." She hangs up and then hands my phone back to me.

"It’s as easy as that girl," she says taking a bite out of her food. I shake my head at her and pout in mock sadness.

"You know your family could always just take a loan from mine. I don’t believe you should have to sell out your whole life just to save them."

"I’m sorry Quen. I’ve told you this before, I can’t take your offer," I say to her, as I slide off my seat and finish my mug of coffee in one gulp.

"You’re so strong headed, it’s really annoying." She says.

"This kind of thing ruins friendships," I say and shove the remaining piece of bread in my mouth. Quen makes a disgusted face and I blow her a kiss as I pick my bag and leave for school.

***

At school, after classes, I go up to Ms. Winterfell’s office with hope she hasn’t left yet and I can at least give her a proper goodbye. And maybe she can give me an explanation.

I’m at her door with some coffee for her and I’m undecided on if I should knock again or just walk in. I count to three before deciding to use handle.

As soon as my hand grip the handle, it is pulled from the other side with so much force, I feel myself being dragged forward and once again I’m met with this familiar wall. It’s him.

This can’t be happening again. I quickly shut my eyes and open them. Shit, it’s real. The coffee stain on his shirt is real, I’ve not been magically plunged into a dream.

I look up despite myself to find his cold eyes. “You again?" He utters calmly. "Could it be they’ve sent you to run me out of office? Because it’s definitely working." He finishes through gritted teeth.

"I can’t believe this is happening," I say flustered as I’m shaking my head. "I’m so sorry, I came to see Ms. Winterfell, I thought I’d find her here."

He sighs, frustration etched on his face. He goes back into the office leaving the door ajar, I take it as my cue to come in.

Walking into the office feels like I’m stepping into an entirely different place altogether. The walls are now gray, as opposed to the light lime color they were painted before.

Everything looks so monotonous and a less soulful version of what it was before.

I’m so taken up in how much of a change has been made when my eyes land on Damian again, he’s shirtless. He has discarded his black button up on the short sofa and is going through the wardrobe for presumably another shirt.

I want look away but my eyes stay glued on the contours of his perfect abs, tracing every crevice and trying to decode in my mind how they came to be and why they look so scrumptious.

I hear him clear his throat and become flustered as I try to look away. "You should take a picture, it lasts longer." He says and from the corner of my eyes, I can see a little smirk playing on his lips.

"I wasn’t looking at you," I say quietly and he chuckles as he puts on yet another black button up shirt. "Look, I’m just here to see Ms. Winterfell. If you could just point me in the right direction, that’d be nice."

He archs an eyebrow and walks towards me as he fixes his buttons. He’s so close now, he has to look down to stare at me. My cheeks get heated so fast. "I’ll tell you where she is but only on one condition," he says.