Chapter 5

Chapter 5

How the heck did he get my number? A second text came through.

"Meet me at the beach in 10 minutes." I rolled my eyes. He can't just demand that I drop whatever I am doing to meet him. No, I am staying and having another glass of wine.

Fifteen minutes later I received another text.

"Adeline, please." I sighed and decided it was the least I could do since he didn't really deserve for me to write the article the way I did. Besides, I had already had 3 glasses of wine and should really be done.

I said goodbye to the girls and left TIFF's, heading towards the beach. I was stumbling a bit and thought I really needed to pull myself together before I got there. Thankfully, the beach wasn't too far away. I definitely didn't want Damen to see me like this. I slowed down and concentrated on walking normally. I finally had it mastered by the time the water came into sight but I was still tipsy. Maybe it would give me the courage to talk to him without blushing and avoiding eye contact the whole time.

When I made it to the sand I started looking around for him. There was hardly anyone on the beach since it was starting to get dark so I easily spotted him. He was standing at the water's edge with Shadow at his feet. My stomach started to flutter. Both from how gorgeous he was and the sudden nerves I had. I was sure he had wanted to talk about the article and I didn't know what I would say about it. I wrote it out of anger and a bit of jealousy. How could I explain that without letting him in on the fact that I was into him? I took a deep breath and made my way down to the water.

"Hey," I said when I came to stand next to him, crossing my arms over my stomach.

"Hey," he replied, not turning to look at me.

We stood there in an awkward silence for what seemed like an eternity.

"Let's walk," he finally said, turning to start making his way down the beach. Why wasn't he looking at me?

"So what did you want to talk about? Everything okay?" I asked, following him.

"Did I do something to upset you?" He asked.

So it was about the article.

"Look, Damen…" I began with a sigh, but he cut me off and turned abruptly to face me. His eyes searching mine.

"Adeline, I want you to be completely honest with me. No bullshit." He said.

I gulped and let out a big breath before responding.

"No, you didn't." I said, not looking at him. How was I going to explain?

He started walking again and looked as if he was mulling over my answer. I don't think he expected me to say no.

Huh," he finally said.

"What?" I replied.

"So, you say I didn't do anything to upset you, yet, you wrote an article about me that suggests I'm just an arrogant jerk. Even though you and I both know that's not me at all."

Ugh. Now I felt like crap. Why did I have to let me feelings get involved?

"I..I don't know what to say…" I stammered.

"How about starting with an apology?" He stopped again and turned to face me. I still couldn't bring myself to look him in the eye.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have wrote about you like that." I said.

"Do I get any kind of explanation?" He pleaded.

Of course he would want me to explain. My head felt like a ping pong ball was bouncing around in it. Do I tell him I like him and that seeing him with someone else made me jealous, or do I make up an excuse? I decided I would just start to explain and whatever came out, came out.

"Look, Damen, I…" but I was saved by the bell. Or rather, the ringtone. His phone started ringing and cut me off.

He pulled his phone out of his pocket to see who was calling and frowned.

Hang on, Adeline. We aren't done here but I really need to take this." He walked a ways away out of ear shot and began talking to whoever it was. Probably his girlfriend wondering where he was.

It was a split second decision and even as I was doing it, I knew I shouldn't. He deserved an explanation but I just felt that now wasn't the time to give it to him. I needed more time to think it through carefully so I didn't make any mistakes. I ran. I took off back down the beach and back to my apartment. The sense of deja-vu along the way was overwhelming. How many times was I going to meet him on the beach and then sneak off while he was on the phone?

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I didn't hear from Damen at all the rest of the week. I wasn't really that surprised given how hurt he seemed, but then again, we never did finish out conversation. I figured he would still want an explanation. But maybe he had just had enough of me and decided it wasn't worth the trouble. Besides, I think he was more upset about the damage to his reputation than anything.

As Friday quickly approached I started getting nervous. I had agreed to go to the Mix & Mingle event at TIFF's with the girls but was now regretting it. Why was trying to date so hard? Maybe I should just tell them I wasn't feeling up for it. Yeah, that's what I would do.

I made my way down the hall to Marissa's desk to tell her I changed my mind and found Claire and Jessica there as well. Of course, they were always at her desk.

"Hey guys," I said.

"Hey Adeline! Getting excited for tomorrow night!?" Asked Jessica.

"Uhm, about that….. I don't think I'm feeling up for it. I'm probably just going to stay home…" I said, looking at the floor.

"WHAT!?" Exclaimed Claire.

"No girl, you totally need to go! Trust me, it'll be loads of fun!" Promised Marissa.

"I'm sure it will be, but I don't have anything to wear and I don't know the first thing about makeup or anything like that. It's really better I just don't bother." I said.

"Girl, don't you worry. I'm going to take you shopping after work today and we will find you the perfect outfit! And I'm going to call my stylist right now and see if she can squeeze you in to get your hair done. My treat!" Said Marissa.

She was so excited to help me that I couldn't say no and deflate her enthusiasm. Besides, it's something Kate would do for me and having someone like her help me would make me feel better about not having Kate here with me. So I agreed.

After work Marissa and I went around to store after store until I finally find something that struck a balance between my style and what she wanted me to wear. It was a royal blue form fitting dress that showed a little bit of cleavage, but not too much. Just enough to leave something to the imagination. It had long lace sleeves and a gorgeous silver sparkly belt that allowed it to give me the appearance of the "hour glass" shape. I also bought a pair of silver sparkly heels to go with it. Honestly, it was perfect. Wearing that dress made me feel better about myself than I had in a long time.

After shopping Marissa took me to see her stylist. I had never had my hair dyed so I was a little nervous. My natural hair is a light brown and comes down to the middle of my back. The stylist suggested giving me some natural highlights and just trimming the ends a bit. Since I didn't really have any idea what I wanted I let her do exactly that.

"Oh my gosh, Adeline! You look absolutely stunning!" Exclaimed Marissa.

The stylish spun my chair around so that I could see myself in the mirror. Marissa wasn't kidding, my hair had never looking looked that good!

Maybe the Mix & Mingle event wouldn't be so bad after all.