“Some silly nerdy guy at my company.” Brian improvised quickly. He gulped the last of his drink and tried to look less suspicious.
Charles and Lucas grunted in agreement with what he said. They didn’t know how Damien would react if they told him what they were talking about.
But Damien knew exactly what they were talking about but decided to play along, like he didn’t.
“Let’s toast!” He declared, pouring the golden liquid into their glasses.
It was true that marriage wasn’t his thing, but it didn’t scare him. He just didn’t want it. Not after what happened with the first girl he ever truly fell in love with, Céline. Céline Curt.
“What are we toasting to?” Charles demanded, raising his glass.
There was more to life than being obsessed about one woman. He deserved to have fun, he worked hard for it.
“To a life without worries!” Damien said, beaming with renewed joy.
They raised their glasses in the air and clinked them together.
As they drank, his friends watched him from the corners of their eyes. Damien was unpredictable. One minute he was quiet, the next he was bubbling with happiness.
They couldn’t understand what he was going through, but they knew he was hiding something. His present attitude was a facade to what he was truly feeling inside.
Damien was in a dilemma.
The moment Céline had mentioned being a virgin, it had reminded him of the Céline in his past, Céline Curt.
They had met in college, back when his life was all about reading during the day and clubbing with his friends at night. They belonged to a fraternity and a good side of it was the regular house parties their members hosted and the readily available girls at these parties. He and his friends had the time of their lives, until Céline came into the picture.
He thought he had met the love of his life. She wasn’t the prettiest but she was the only woman he had met that could interest him. There was this veil on her that he yearned to uncover. She was fascinating.
They did everything together. They studied together and clubbed together. But they never had sex, because Céline had claimed to be a virgin and never planned on losing it in college.
Damien was ready to wait till the end of his life for her. Just spending time with her, inhaling the same air she breathed was enough for him. He worked twice as hard in his studies, just so he would graduate with the best grades and get a good paying job as soon as he was out.
When his mother told him about the shares his father had left for him, Damien was elated. He made strong investments and with time, they started paying off. By the time his graduation came, he was already a millionaire and he had the love of his life with him. He wanted to take things to the next level. He wanted to marry her. He wanted to make her his forever. She was the only woman he could picture spending eternity with without getting bored. She was bubbly, funny and good to look at.
He started making preparations to marry her on their graduation day. He bought the most expensive ring he could afford and kept it safe till the big day. He even ordered a wedding dress.
When he had told his friends, Brian objected, saying Damien was too young to get tied up in the shackles of a wedding. Charles thought he was taking the most responsible decision in his life and pledged his support. Lucas on the other hand was indifferent, all he wanted was for Damien to be happy, and if marrying Céline Curt was the deal, then he would support him as well.
The big day came and Damien was so excited he could fly from the thrilling feeling that overwhelmed him. As the vice chancellor finished his speech for the graduates and everyone gathered to congratulate their family members, Damien took long strides to Céline Curt.
He knelt in front of her, causing the whole school to go berserk in exciting shrills, even his own mother was happy for him. He then said the one thing he promised never to mention to another woman again in his life, ‘Would you please be my wife?’ The encouraging shrills got louder as the words left his lips, he thought he was going to make the top chart for the happiest man that day, but he got the wrong chart.
Céline Curt rejected him.
‘I am sorry Damien. I can’t marry someone like you, I thought we were just having fun’, she had said that day.
He had thought she was just being scared and blurted that out in a moment of weakness and he begged again.
But she never said a word, rather a gruff man stepped in front of her and pulled her gently by her arm.
‘What is this babes?’, the man had said, planting a kiss on her lips. The whole school had gone quiet at that moment and Damien’s heart lost its purpose that very day.
Céline Curt, his Céline Curt had been married. She was just playing with his heart. She toyed with him so bad he made a total fool of himself in public, in front of his friends and his mother. His mother and Lucas had been the ones to pull him to his feet, for he wished the ground could literally just swallow him there and then. He became depressed for months after that. His friends did all they could for him but he couldn’t bring himself out of the protective shell the heartbreaking shock had placed him in.
Now, after so many years, he met another woman he was attracted to. Whether it was a twist of fate or a horrible coincidence of life, she was also Céline and now she claims to be a virgin too.
Wasn’t life a testing tube of horrors and dilemmas?
Why did her name have to be Céline too?
But Damien was determined. He wasn’t going to allow his heart to be played with again like the last time by another Céline.
This time he would not be fooled.
To do that, he had to erase Céline Fayet from his mind, the same way he erased Céline Curt. He would focus on his business empire, make more money and spend time with his friends.
“Hey handsome!” A voice cooed in his ears.
He snapped out of his thoughts and his eyes met the sparkling green eyes of the brunette, who had been dancing a while ago.
“Hey sexy.” He pulled her to his laps and she happily obliged, settling herself between his legs.
Lucas and Brian stared in surprise, each not comprehending how Damien changed moods so suddenly.
Charles almost spat out his drink from his mouth in shock.
“When did you-” The words got stuck in his throat as a cough shook his windpipe.
Damien smirked, finishing his drink. “When I went down there, I couldn’t resist calling her over.”
The stripper started working her waist, rolling it just above the space between his legs. Following the beat of the trap song, she started giving him a lap dance, right there in front of his friend. Damien relaxed into the chair, giving the stripper more space to work her magic.
“You know, the fuck hotel isn’t too far off, if you need this that bad, you can just drive there.” Brian said, with a grin.
Lucas, didn’t find the move Damien was playing smart at all. He knew Damien. The Brunette wasn’t entirely his kind of preference, he was just doing this to forget his obvious problem. Lucas wondered what had happened between them, the last time he checked, they were making great progress. He had even bet that they would be married soon. So what had come up with Damien all of a sudden?
“Damien can you at least pretend to have some shame!” Charles snapped, unable to keep it in any longer.
“Pff! You say that all the time. I do not have shame Charles, I have money!” Damien whispered with eyes closed.
Charles got up from his seat and grabbed his car keys.
“I guess it is time for me to leave then. You can call me when you are ready to talk about what is wrong with you!”
He gave the brunette one more judgmental glare before walking out of the VIP section and out of the club.
As soon as Charles left, Brian yawned tiredly and also got up. “I have a meeting tomorrow with an investor, I need to get some sleep.”
“Okay, drive safely.” Damien whispered, his eyes still closed as the woman on top of him expertly tried to work his erect cock.
He was trying to focus on the softness of the ass on top of his shaft but his mind kept switching back to that conversation with Céline.
She wasn’t even here but she still affected him. He would have to make their relationship completely professional, if he wanted to avoid getting into another heartbreaking mess in his life.
“Stop…” He whispered, holding her hips in place in his hands.
She blinked her green eyes , confused. “Did I do something wrong?” She asked gently.
“No, you did just fine. Get up.”
She hesitantly got up from his laps and stared down at him.
Lucas dipped his hands into his pocket and handed five- hundred dollar bills to the stripper. She accepted it with a big smile and turned away from them.
“Are you ready to talk now?” Lucas asked him when the girl had gone.
Damien got up from the seat and Lucas followed his actions.
“There is nothing to talk about, Lucas. Everything is under control.”