The mansion was empty and silent. There are only a few guards who, on their night duty, patrol around the area. Rain pouring so hard during the night. Thunder roaring like it will destroy anything.
The sound and flash outside cause Melody to abruptly wake up. She caught her breath, her palms hand on her chest. It rises and falls. She glances at the window only to see thunder flashing through the curtain.
Melody closes her ears, shutting her eyes.
“I hate this…” she mumbles to herself.
It is not like she is afraid of storms, but because of the trauma she just got, she become afraid of everything.
The scene keeps coming back. She shakes her head and tries to tell herself it was passed and it is done. She takes a deep breath and lets it out. The thunder roared once again. She yelps and hugs her pillow to her chest tightly.
“No… I can’t stay like this…” she talks to herself.
Then, an idea popped inside her head. She remembered what Damian told her this afternoon. When she needs him, just go to him and ask for anything that could help bring her comfort.
Melody didn’t waste her time. She gets off of the bed and leaves her bedroom. “How can a husband and wife sleep separately?”
She mumbles to herself and grumbles. At this time also, she managed to complain about Damian. Melody stands in front of Damian’s room. Her hands just above the knob, debating with herself whether to open it or not.
Melody mentally groans. She twisted the knob and push the door open a little. When she peeks inside, Damian is on the bed.
He’s leaning on the headboard with a book in his hand. He just wearing a black top and grey sweatpants. Coffee on the desk beside his table. When he’s in a calm demeanour, he looks even more breathtaking.
His damp hair falls on his forehead, probably just done with his shower.
Melody clears her throat and pushes the door fully open. It catches Damian’s attention. He didn’t lift his head, but he just glanced at her.
“Should I say I’m surprised to see you are here?” he questioned.
“You should,” she rolls her eyes. “Can I… c-come in?”
There’s hesitance in her voice. Damian is silent for a moment before nods. She walks in and shuts the door gently. Her pillow was still in her arms.
“What do you want?” he asks, still focusing on his book.
“I… I can’t sleep…” she says in a soft tone.
“Is that supposed to be my concern?” Damian asks deadpan.
Melody glares at him, “You told me to come find you if I need something or having trouble,”
“I say that?” he nonchalantly says.
She rolls her eyes in annoyance. She hugged her pillow and buried her face in it. The silence fills the room. She shouldn’t have come here. It’s just embarrassing.
Damian looks at her, keeping his gaze on her. The way she standing, looking so tiny, makes him smirk a bit. He sighs and clears his throat.
“Are you going to stand there or come lay down here?” he says.
“Huh?” Melody looks at him with shock.
“I don’t know. My wife is deaf,” he said, sarcastic and continued to focus on his book.
Melody pouts and walks towards his bed. When the thunder roars out suddenly, she yelps strides towards his bed and jumps on it. She grabs the blanket and hides under it.
“I don’t know you are afraid of thunder,” Damian teases her.
“I-I’m not. I just… after the incident, I start to get scared of everything,” she mumbles under the blanket.
“Hm. I understand,” he says calmly.
Melody lifts the blanket and looks up at him. His gaze is still on the book. She scoots closer and takes a peak at what he’s reading.
“I don’t know you… a book lover,” she said.
“I read a book doesn’t mean I’m a book lover,” Damian replies; his slender finger flips the page. “I just read it to waste my time,”
“You mean… to fill your free time?” Melody frowns.
He nods. She scoots closer again, “What book do you read?”
“Just some mature book. You no need to know,” Damian harshly speaks.
She huffs. Melody lay on her stomach. When she observed him, her gaze fell on his bare hands. He didn’t wear the gloves. The scar and burnt marks are exposed. She reaches her hands out and gently touches the mark.
Damian, who focuses on the book, slightly flinches. His eyes widened slightly. The way she traces it softly with the tip of her finger.
“What are you doing, love?” his voice softened.
“You don’t have to hide these marks…” she mumbles. “It… pretty for some reason…”
“How marks can be pretty? Are you that blind?” Damian closed the book and put it away. He looks at his hands, “It keeps reminding me of it…”
“You told me… past is past. But, even you couldn’t do it,” Melody pouts.
He chuckles. “You know how to use my words against me, don’t you?”
“I didn’t. I just tell the truth,” she grins.
Damian smiles slightly. He laid down and put one arm under his head as he stared at the ceiling. Melody stares at him for a moment before speaks.
“Dam, what are you thinking of?”
“Nothing. Just wonder how I ended up here letting someone lay on my bed,” Damian replied.
“Aww, is it bad?” she blinks her eyes.
Damian rolls his eyes, “It’s not… it just… not what I expect in my life. This whole marriage thing…”
Melody stares at him for a moment. She knows he didn’t ask for this, but why did it hurt her even though she had known this since earlier? She clears her throat and laid on her back.
“Hey, can I ask something?”
“As long as it’s not weird, then fine,” Damian answers.
She paused for a moment, “If a year passes… you got what you want… will you let me go?”
Her question makes Damian tense. He didn’t expect her to ask him that. That’s what bothered him right now. He got what he wanted already, and he didn’t need Melody anymore.
But why…
Just why he can’t do it?
Instead of answering it, Damian grabs the blanket and covers her with it. She whines and pushes his hand away.
“Go to sleep. We got something to talk about tomorrow,” he turned away from her, giving his back to her.
She huffs, “What is it now? I didn’t do anything wrong,”
“You didn’t, don’t worry. Sleep, Mel,” he demands.
“But, when I remember it again, I did break some-”
“Sleep. Now. Melody,” Damian says firmly, looking at her over his shoulder.
Melody rolls her eyes and closes her eyes. “Fine.”
After a while, he could hear a soft snore coming from her. Damian opened his eyes and turned to her. She sleeping facing him, looking so deep in her sleep. Her question still lingers in his mind.
He reaches his hand out to her. His hand was just above her cheek, thinking about whether he should touch her or not. In the end, he touches her cheek.
His finger traced her soft cheek.
“You mess with my life…”
__
Damian taps his finger on the desk. Matthew keeps looking at him with confusion. It has been a few times he saw his friend like this.
“You okay there, Dam?” he inquired.
“Yeah…” Damian pinches the bridge of his nose. “Just… thinking of something….”
“About letting Melody go again?” Matthew asks.
He lets out a deep sigh. “I just…. didn’t know what to do. I want to let her go, divorce her but I just… couldn’t.”
“You should tell this to Melody. So that both of you can discussed about it. I bet she doesn’t want to divorce also,”
Matthew’s words catch his attention. He furrows his eyebrows and lifts his gaze to him.
“Why did you say that?”
“Because… I can see she’s getting comfortable here. You know…. the way she interacts with you… like something else, don’t you think so?” Matthew explains.
“Besides, you seem… attached to her-”
Again. They said something like that again. Damian felt annoyed when he said that. Not because he hates it but because what they say is true. He just couldn’t deny that, and his ego was too high.
“Don’t say something nonsense, Mat,” he pauses for a moment, “If you are saying there’s something spark… between us-then you are wrong.”
“Dam-”
“No. You guys keep saying there’s something between us. I feel nothing about her. If you saw me being gentle toward her, that was because…” he halted, not knowing what to say.
“Because?” his friend arches his eyebrows.
“Because… Because I did that to let her stay longer with me. So that she doesn’t make any decision to leave early,” Damian continued.
Matthew sighs, “You can’t lie to yourself.”
“I’m not lying. You know, both of us are just wife and husband on the paper. I use her for my own sake. That’s all,” he added; he became even more defensive.
“If that’s all then tell me why you can’t let-”
“I can. And I will. I will let her go. I divorce her right away,” Damian says firmly, feeling like he is being challenged. “And guess what? I don’t need her. Not even a bit.”
“What…”
Both of them were stiff when they heard that voice. They looked at the door and saw Melody standing at the doorway with disappointment and sadness. Matthew clicks his tongue, knowing this will be much more tense and awkward.
Damian’s eyes widen to see her there. His mouth is open, but no words are coming out. Melody drops her hand to her side. She clears her throat and looks away, not wanting to see him in the eye.
“I… I’m sorry for eavesdropping. I came because you said you want to see me….” Melody says softly.
“Mel, I-”
“But, you seem busy. We will talk later…” She didn’t let him speak. The door shut closed leaving the two men in awkward and tension in the air.
Matthew let out a low whistle. “That was… bad…”