Hailey
When I woke up, the bed beside me was empty, and the coldness seeped into my bones like a quiet threat. His warmth had cocooned me through the night, but now it was just the absence of him-sharp and undeniable. I sat up slowly, scanning the dark room. He hadn’t turned on the lights or moved the curtains. But I found him. He stood by his watch drawer, slipping on a timepiece before effortlessly adjusting his tie.
“Where are you going?” I asked softly, my voice tentative, trying not to startle him. His body stiffened for a moment, and then he turned toward me, his gaze a strange, unreadable thing. Kinda cold contrary to how I’d expected it to be.
“My office,” he replied, nonchalant, as he grabbed his suit jacket and slid it over his shoulders. “Got tons of shit to do.”
I nodded, feeling a knot twist in my stomach. “Your office is near my college, right? Should I get ready so you can drop me off?”
He froze for a heartbeat, then continued adjusting his suit, but there was something in the way his jaw tightened-something restrained. His eyes didn’t meet mine as he answered, cold and clipped. “No, the driver will take you today. I’m leaving now.”
A chill spread through me.
Last night had been full of warmth-now, nothing but coldness pressed down on me.
Was I overthinking this? I couldn’t be sure. But it didn’t feel right.
“Is it something important?” I asked, trying to sound casual, though I could feel my heart racing. He didn’t look at me, his focus still fixed on his own reflection. “Do you… need to go somewhere?”
“Nothing you need to concern yourself with,” he said, his tone slicing through me like a blade. It stung more than I wanted to admit-more than I could even control. And still, a stupid part of me ached to feel his warmth again. That part of me, the one that beat faster for him without explanation.
“Are you… okay?”
He didn’t answer immediately, leaving the silence to fester between us. After a long pause, he finally spoke. “Of course. Why wouldn’t I be?”
“Is it because of what I said last night?” The words were barely a whisper. “Are you uncomfortable?”
He didn’t react, but I saw him walk over to his shelf of colognes. I waited for a response, thinking he might not even hear me. Then, just before I could repeat the question, he spoke, his voice as cold as his gaze.
“It’s your life, Hailey,” he shrugged, his voice indifferent, but his words felt like an ice pick to my chest. “What would I have to do with it? Everyone has their own experiences. Yours and Madison’s… just seem a little tougher, that’s all. Doesn’t mean I need to feel anything about it.” He paused, glancing at me with a detached, almost bored expression. “I don’t concern myself with things that aren’t mine to deal with.”
The cruelty in his casual tone hit harder than I expected. It made my insides freeze. It was like he’d slapped me, right there, with no care at all.
I didn’t know what to do with it. How to process the way he spoke-how he didn’t even bother to meet my eyes, like I was something unworthy of his attention. Maybe I should never have opened up to him. Maybe I should have kept my life buried deep inside where it couldn’t hurt like this.
So many things could be going on in Damien’s mind but I didn’t have the courage to ask it because I feared the answer might completely break me.
“Got it,” I murmured, the words barely leaving my lips as I tried to keep my voice steady.
I slid out of bed slowly, gathering my composure. As I moved past him, still not daring to meet his gaze, he didn’t even flinch. He was busy spraying himself with his cologne, as if I no longer existed. Without another word, I walked toward the door, closing it gently behind me, trying to hold the shattered pieces of myself together.
***
The day at college had been ordinary, just like every other day. I spent the rest of it at home drowning in homework, practicing routines, and reading anything I could find to keep my mind occupied. Still, the emptiness clawed at me, and when my stomach grumbled, I knew I couldn’t ignore it any longer. It wasn’t just a craving-I was genuinely hungry.
The reason? That was obvious. I hadn’t eaten anything the entire day, so it’d be only natural for me to be hungry.
I pushed it aside as I left my room, heading toward the kitchen for something-anything-to quiet the ache. But as I passed Damien’s closed door, my steps faltered. There, carelessly discarded outside his room, was a pair of crimson high heels.
They glared at me like a warning, twisting a knot tight in my throat. I told myself to walk away, to shrug it off, but before I could take another step, a loud, brazen moan pierced through the air.
I froze. My heart clenched, and my mouth went dry.
Another moan followed. And then another. The sounds made it painfully clear what was happening behind his door.
His voice came next, low and rough, murmuring words I couldn’t quite make out-and didn’t want to. My stomach, which had been growling moments ago, turned hollow in an entirely different way. The hunger disappeared, replaced by something heavier.
I turned on my heel and rushed back to my room, my pulse thundering in my ears. My breathing quickened, and my chest ached, but the worst part was the burning in my eyes-tears I refused to let fall.
Even behind the safety of my closed door, the sounds haunted me, growing louder with each passing second. I collapsed onto my bed, pulling the duvet over me as if it could block out everything. I pressed my hands to my ears, but it wasn’t enough to silence the noise.
And that’s when the memories came.
I was a little girl again, huddled in the corner of my room, covering my ears to drown out the screaming. My parents’ voices-sharp and venomous-filled the house. Their arguments always started the same, with shouting and accusations, but they rarely ended without the sound of shattering glass or worse.
Back then, it was fear that kept me curled up, trembling in the dark. Fear that I’d hear something I couldn’t forget.
But now? This wasn’t fear.
No, this was something else. Something sharp and raw. Something that burned just as deeply as those old memories but left me hollow in a way I couldn’t describe.
I squeezed my eyes shut, willing it all to stop. But the sounds didn’t care about my pain-they carried on, cutting through me like jagged glass.