It was a few days to the Trés Chic’s sale gala and Damien had decided to take a break from work, so he could have time to practice his speech and prepare himself for the big day.
Trés Chic was one of Damien Culhane’s most popular high class boutique. It was not your average clothing boutique. It was a first-class boutique that provided exquisite pieces for the high class. These facts made the sale gala attract a lot of publicity, even from media outlets his publicity and marketing department didn’t hire. It was the talk of the town.
Everybody who was important was going to attend. Any body who appreciated high end fashion made it a date. So, Damien had to make sure everything from his speech to his mood went flawless.
He sat on his couch holding the printed copies of the speech. He tried reading through it- key word, ‘tried’. Céline kept appearing in his mind.
He had made efforts to flush her enchanting memories out of his mind, but whenever he returned home to himself and all the noise died down, all he heard was the soft whispers of her voice.
He could not understand how she tattooed herself deep within his heart.
Sighing in frustration. He got from the couch and walked to his room. He needed to take stress relieving pills and possibly have a long sleep when he woke up, he would be able to concentrate on his work.
He was usually very engrossed with his work, so much so that he always lost track of time, but ever since Céline crawled her way into his life, it became a task to focus on work.
Thank goodness she was actually a very good personal assistant, if not, his lapses would have started telling on his business.
As he searched his medicine box, his eyes landed on a small red velvet box. The one his mother had given him. His fingers moved on their own and softly caressed the softness of the material.
How would it feel to finally have someone who truly loved him, Damien wondered.
Ever since Céline Curt broke his heart so mercilessly on that faithful day, he had promised himself to never venture into love and marriage. He never wanted to go down that lane of pain and disgrace again.
His energy and mind was only for his business. Yet, somehow Céline Fayet, after so many years, made him wish for that life again.
But was he ready to risk it all in the name of love? Was he ready to put his heart at such grave jeopardy?
The sound of the door bell reached him, signaling the arrival of Brian. He had called earlier stating he wanted to drop by and Damien urged him to come along. Damien retrieved his fingers from the box holding the engagement ring his mother had brought for him and left the bedroom.
He walked to the sitting room. His maid was on duty, so she had already answered the door.
“The man of the hour!” Brian’s voice boomed in the room as he walked to his friend.
They shook hands and Damien directed him to sit on the couch. “How am I the man of the hour?” Damien asked shaking his head in amusement.
Of all his three friends he Brian was the craziest and made the weirdest of statement.
“Offer me a drink first before you start throwing questions at me.” Brian grinned.
“Sarah!” Damien called his maid.
A plum middle aged woman scurried into the sitting room. “Yes Sir Damien, what do you need?” She asked politely.
“Get us a drink please.” Damien told her returning his focus to his friend who had been staring curiously at him.
“Have I grown a new dick on my nose or something?” Damien asked playfully.
Sarah’s cheeks turned a light shade of pink as she quickly used that as her cue to leave the two young men.
Brian broke down in laughter and Damien couldn’t help but snicker at Sarah’s reaction too.
“You are so shameless man!”
“You already know that brother. So what brings you to my side of town?”
“Well, I…” He trailed off as Sarah returned with their drink.
She placed two wine glasses and a bottle of red wine. She uncorked the wine and poured into the glasses.
“Thank you, Sarah.” Damien told her. She gave a quick curtsy and scurried out of the room leaving the two friends to themselves.
“… I got the invitation for the biggest party in town and the name in the mail caught my attention.” Brian continued as soon as Sarah had gone.
Damien raised his glass and took a sip, watching his friend, wondering where he was going with this talk.
“That should be my personal assistant, Céline,” Damien simply said.
He knew why Brian got interested with that name. He also found it strange that she had to bear that same name but, Céline was a common name and so far, they had no connection with each other. It was just his luck to find and fall for women called Céline.
“Yeah, Céline. I checked her social media pages, she is a beauty Damien…” Brian stated nursing his drink.
Damien’s heart tugged sharply, what was Brian trying to say?
“Not much of a big deal,” Damien shrugged, trying to drive Brian out of the conversation. He already had issues focusing with work and his life because of Céline, now Brian was smearing it to on face.
“Of course, I spoke to Lucas and he said you wanted nothing to do with her…” Brian dropped his drink and scooted closer.
Damien raised his left brow. He never actually said he wanted nothing to do with Céline, he just- he wasn’t just sure of what he wanted yet.
“Since she is your employee, I wanted to tell you about it first. I want her brother.”
Damien’s heart stopped beating for a split second and in that second, he felt a lava of anger boil inside of him.
“You know how much I admire red heads and those captivating eyes of hers. I wanted-”
“You can’t have her!” Damien barked, shocking Brian out of speech.
It was Brian’s turn to raise a brow at Damien. “What do you mean by that? I thought you didn’t want to have anything to do with her?”
“She’s- she’s my assistant…”
Damien stalled trying to think of a proper excuse to give Brian. He could let another man approach Céline. Not even his best friend.
“I know she is. Okay listen, how about I take her to this gala as my date?”
“No!” Damien shouted again.
“Damien what’s going on here?” Brian asked, dropping his glass in the side table. “Is there something between you and this Céline? Why can’t I take her to the gala?”
“She will be my date. That’s why you can’t take her as your date.” Damien was agitated.
He felt like Céline was slipping out of his fingers. What if Brian asked her out and she accepted, what would happen to him then?
“Okay we can still make it work even afterwards. That beauty is too much for me to just ignore…” Brian stated with dreamy eyes.
Damien felt like punching some sense into Brian. He glared at him with anger hidden beneath his brown eyes. Céline was his and no one else’s. He wouldn’t seat back anymore and watch his friend take his woman away from him. He would do what ever it took to have her.
He looked at Brian again and found him staring back at him.
“Are you going to finally admit it or should we keep playing this game?”
Damien frowned. What game was Brian talking about?
“You love this Céline but you are refusing to admit it and then you are wasting time.”
Brian finished his drink and got up from the couch. “I only came to make you realize that, Céline is a very beautiful woman. And so far she is smart too. Don’t let her slip through your fingers.”
“I told you about my intentions and you stood there glaring at me like you wanted to commit murder. What about the hundreds of other men out there that might want her too?”
Damien opened his mouth to deny it but he couldn’t bring himself to say it. It was true, he had falling in love with Céline Fayet.
“I’ll be off now brother. Go get your girl!” Brian patted his friend’s shoulders before walking out of the house.
As soon as Brian left his place. He snatched up his phone and dialed Céline’s number.
“Hello,” her soft voice answered.
“Go pick up a dress from Lydia. You will be going with me to that Gala.”
“Oh- I- okay…” Céline stammered in excitement.
Damien could imagine the way she would be looking down at her feet as she blushed. Brian was right, he was in love with Céline.
He could no longer deny it. He needed to tell her. He would no longer waste time trying to run from the obvious. The heavens had smiled down at him and they had sent him his own Céline.
With a satisfactory smile on his lips, he finally found the focus he needed to study and memorize his speech.
Céline would be his soon.