Chapter 18
Jade’s POV
After I ended the call with Claire, I wept bitterly. The warning she gave me, continued to repeat in my ear. The most annoying part is that Claire is not even in my level or class by any means.
If not for what transpired between us, we would not have crossed paths in the first place. I am a celebrity. But now, I’m being ordered around by a commoner.
I lay on my bed thinking all through the night. Which other way can I separate Damian and Valerie? I don’t even want to come back to Damian. He can have Valerie for all I care.
I’m just doing this because I don’t want Claire to leak my secrets to the whole world. She has a handful of information about me and if she exposes those secrets, it could ruin my career. I can’t risk that.
Oh God! I hate being manipulated.
Now it’s either I look for another way to cause enmity between Valerie and Damian or I risk being exposed.
Damian’s POV
After the memorable moment I had with Valerie in the afternoon, I slept like a baby. I woke up by 9 pm, feeling refreshed. I haven’t felt like this in a long time.
Valerie was not in bed but I could see our clothes littered all over the bed. I smiled to my self.
Valerie was bathing in the shower when I entered.
“Can I join you?”
“Sure! You’re awake. I didn’t want to disturb your sleep.” Valerie responded.
I hung my bath robe on the door and came inside the bathroom.
“Hold on, let me help you.” I said, taking the sponge from her.
She giggled. “Damian, you don’t have to. I can wash myself.”
I insisted and after washing her body, I poured the shampoo on her hair and gave it a light scrub.
Then I turned on the shower and rinsed off the soap suds. The shower was still pouring down on us when I drew her in for a kiss.
The kiss lingered on and on until she stepped back.
“Someone is knocking.” She said.
“That’s your imagination.” I said as I grabbed her waist and drew her closer which made her laugh.
“Damian, I’m serious. I heard it loud and clear. Just listen.”
I heard the knock this time. Who could that be?
“I’ll go and check who is knocking, Okay?” I kissed her again.
“Damian, I’m all yours. Just go and check the door and come back to me.”
I wore my bathrobe again and went for the door. When I opened the door, a waitress was standing outside.
“Sorry to interrupt you, Sir. But do you have any orders for dinner?”
“Hold on, I’ll be right back.” I closed the door and went to ask Valerie what she’d love to have for dinner.
“I’ll just take some snacks. I’m not really hungry.” She replied.
“Okay. I’m not hungry either but I think I’ll take snacks too. I can’t be hungry when I have dinner waiting for me.” I said winking at Valerie and she bursted out with laughter.
When I went back to the waitress, I gave her our orders and went back to the bathroom. Valerie was drying her body when I came back.
“Babe, there is something I want to show you. It’ll probably be after eating. Just remind me later.”
“No problem”
About thirty minutes later, we had finished eating and I decided to show her the recording of what happened at Jade’s place the previous day.
After playing the recording for about twenty minutes, Valerie heaved a sigh of relief.
“I can’t believe that Jade could lie to me, or even you about being pregnant. Just to get your attention.” She said
“Some people can be desperate. But I have handled everything now. It’s under control.” I said in reassurance.
“But I’m still confused about how she figured out my workplace. I mean she doesn’t know me from anywhere. She just suddenly showed up at my store. Someone must have told her about me.” She said with a frown.
“Who do you think it might be?”
“I don’t know but one day I’ll find out and that person must pay for it.”
“Although, I never knew Jade to be like this. I never knew her as someone who was so scheming. Jade was a sweet soul and she was very funny too. She used to make me very happy.” I added.
“Oh, really…Then, go and get married to her since she makes you happy.” Valerie as she moved inches away from me.
“I said that she “used to”. That denotes past tense. It’s all in the past now. Speaking of which, you never told me about your past relationships.” I said as I drew her back into my arms.
“Relationships? Ha! I’ve only been in a relationship two times. You made it sound like I have a lot of ‘exes’.
“How old did you say you are again?”
“I’ll be Twenty -four soon. In four months time. My last relationship was when I was still in college. We were happy. But after graduation, he travelled to Australia and I haven’t heard from him since then.”
“Actually, he left without notice. He just waltzed off. I heard the news from his family members and when I reached out to him, he said it was quite urgent. That was his petty “excuse”. I was heartbroken but I healed eventually. She explained further.
“Don’t worry, I’m here for you now and I’m not going anywhere. Not without you, anyways.”
We hugged each other and enjoyed the peacefulness that came from listening to each other’s heartbeat.
The night was far spent and I needed to sleep early so that I can get to work tomorrow. We bade each other good night and slept off.