“I…ah” Damien had no idea of what to say when Zach turned away from him after throwing out his insulting question. He left the door open though and just as Damien was wondering if that was an invitation, the latter turned to him with a snap. “What are you waiting for? An invitation?” Damien quickly entered and he was gobsmacked by what he saw. He couldn’t believe that such a room was in a school building as it was so different from any room he had seen so far. “Look who we have here,” Collins said mockingly as he stood some distance to a dart board, casually throwing red, little darts at the board. He was dressed in all black, his outfit contrasting with the creamy-wine colour of the room accentuated by the low lights. Damien was distracted for a moment as he wondered why the darts were not falling off since they had no visible spike that could make them stick to the board. He turned his head and looked in amazement when he saw a tennis table to another side of the wide room and an
“He is coming!” Damien was still smiling in amusement when he stepped out of the elevator that took him from the floor where the pampered kids had their lounge. The loud whisper made him jerk his head toward the voice and he was amazed as he saw some boys tapping each other as they gave him a once-over.“Wow, he came back in one piece after all! Oh no, my money!” one of the boys lamented as he brought his money out of his pocket and most of the others standing by did the same.Damien was still wondering what was going on when Sky came out of the class with a smirk on his face as he said “Hand it over, boys”More groans followed before all of them gave Sky 100 dollar bills each. “$100 is nothing to me anyway. It is only losers like you that value paper money like this” one of the juniors said as he gave the person collecting the money his crinkling $100 bill. He immediately turn away though and beat a hasty retreat before Sky could take a step in his direction.“Yeah, that is right. G
Damien was the first student to leave the class when the closing bell rang that day. Of course, he did not acknowledge the demeaning thought that he was running nor did he acknowledge the booing sounds of his classmates when he closely followed the heels of the geography teacher.He knew they were looking forward to having their type of fun but he was not willing to accommodate them that day.Even Helios amused taunts went unheeded as he hurried out of the school premise before anyone could stop him.Andrea might have intercepted what would have been an exacting punishment for him the day before but Damien knew that he shouldn’t push his luck with the Head Gardener.He already knew his way back to the Macmillans and since he left the school premise on time, he knew that he needed not to take the small car. Not that he had any money with him anyway.Damien did his best to take his mind off what would probably be waiting for him at the school the following day as he power-walked to his
Isabella Astrid Kovarick had no idea of what was going on. She was sure she had seen him. It was him!The man or was it a boy? Whichever he was, she knew that she had seen him. She was sure that she could see him just as she could see her head maid in front of her at that moment, gaping when Isabella stopped her exclamatory statement of “You again?” in midsentence.Or was that what she intended to say? Isabella couldn’t remember how exactly she had intended to phrase her statement. She just knew that she had been unable to get out more than “You…”And then she was standing there gawking like an idiot as her staff gaped at her. She knew that they were much too afraid to ask why she stood there with widened eyes and her hand suspended in the air as she stared at nothing in particular.Because it was nothing in particular. The man-boy was gone again! How does he do that? Or was she going out of her mind?“Princess, are you okay?” Her head maid asked anxiously and she jolted out of her re
Isabella supposed that the man was so preoccupied with currying favour from her father through her that he didn’t realise the fact that he was doing the job of the lowly people that he deemed inconsequential.Isabella felt tempted to point it out as she nodded regally and smiled briefly as the others came forward to greet her. All of them repeated a different version of what Benthall had said. Isabella wondered what was it that they all wondered from her father this time.She almost blurted out that they shouldn’t bother wasting their breath and bootlicking on her but then she firmly ignored them and turned to the staff who had been relegated to the background a smile.“You are highly welcome, princess” the man at the head of the staff finally said as he stepped forward seeing that attention was directed at him. “I am the manager of….”The man’s voice was droned out when a revving car engine approached. Isabella turned back to see a sleek white sports car parked and a young man came o
With his hand still held to his face in shock, Damien turned towards the direction of the voice. Same as his assailant. Damien wondered who the tall, beautiful woman was. She looked so sophisticated in her short-fitted, peplum gown with red pump heels. Her red hair rested gloriously against the white of the clothes she had on, curling at the edge as if it had a mind of its own, the contrast so sharp that he blinked to be sure that he was not imagining the vividness of the colour.Damien looked behind her to be sure that he didn’t get it wrong. And yes, he was right, she was coming from the direction of the Azalea garden.Damien hoped she wasn't a trespasser that decided to check on the gardens. He was sure that the Head Gardener would not take it lightly with her even though she was….“Mum?” Damien turned back towards Sybil when he heard her incredulous question and he turned back to look at the woman.This young-looking woman was the mother of this hellcat? The mother of Andrea? His
Leticia looked at Damien again, and tilted her head “It depends on my mood and your attitude during my stay. On the other hand, why should I? Come, drive me to the house. I craved the walk moments ago but not anymore” she said as he went to her daughter’s car.“You are leaving soon, aren’t you?” Sybil asked, distracted for a moment as she looked at her mother who only shrugged and climbed into the car. “Of course, you are” she answered herself then gave Damien a deadly glare. “What are you gawking at, freak? You better don’t get comfortable because I will make sure that you leave!”She spat at Damien before she moved towards the car.“You said it depends on my attitude, right?” Damien heard her say as she entered the car. “You had better don’t …”Her voice faded as she drove past.Damien had no idea what to think of Sybil's mum’s attitude. Was he about to be sent away? Will Aliamin be in trouble? Will the butler be scolded because of him?Uncertain of what his fate will be before the
Head Gardener Salem had two workers drag Damien behind him to the butler’s allocated office. Everything within Damien rebelled against the injustice. Not only because he was accused of doing what he did not do but also for the fact that he was being rough handled like that by people who would not even be able to lift his finger if he decided to show the extent of his power.“Sir, I was not the one,” Damien said again with the hope that the man would believe him or at least listen to reason.He wondered why he even bothered when the man turned back to him and yelled at him to keep his mouth shut unless he wanted to increase his punishment.“One more word from you and you will be rue the day you were born. You criminal!!” HG Salem shouted before ordering the men to get a tighter hold of him.They pulled him along and Damien was momentarily mesmerised by the difference in the structure that housed the HG office and that of the butler as they approached. Not only that, he could see the ma