Chapter 10

Damien on the other hand was having a peaceful time of his life. All he did was follow Joana everywhere and protect her. It had been a month and he had noticed a few things.

Apart from being surrounded by riches, she had no man in her life. Well, one man, her ex-boyfriend has continued to be a pain in both of their lives.

Joana had said she blocked him but he kept loading up her phone with other people's numbers and threatening her. He was nothing but obsessive and overprotective.

Sometimes it led to Joana crying most times that would require Damien to soothe her. They slowly began getting close. He got to know a few things about her. Her likes, her dislikes but they kept it professional. Damien was there to work and he concentrated on that.

It was a Saturday morning, and Damien was busy working his way around the kitchen. He recently began cooking because he did not want Joana to spend money just for a meal when the money could save them a bunch just by cooking it at home.

Because he stayed with Rebecca, he was able to learn how to cook. The first few months of his marriage to Rebecca, he was idle. He had sent applications to various companies and some had rejected him immediately while others had not called him back so he chose to help around the house.

Rebecca's mother was nice then and even when he wanted to help, she had issues with it but Damien insisted. She taught him how to prepare a few dishes and so did Rebecca after he pestered her to teach him.

Their attitude only changed a few months ago after the managerial position was offered to Rebecca. Being in the kitchen always brought back those memories but he knew nothing was going to come out of it so he pushed it back, time and time again.

Today was no different. The moment when he had messed up the eggs and made the kitchen smoke filled his mind. Rebecca and her family had laughed at him when they saw how confused he looked.

It took a while for him to join them too in laughing but he felt extremely bad about it and quickly learnt and did not mess it up again. There was no pressure from the family then but he pushed himself.

Damien shook his head as he stirred the eggs with his other hand holding the frying pan. In a minute, he took it out of the fire and poured it in two plates one bigger than the other.

After he toasted some bread and served breakfast. He got into the living room where Joana was taking her morning coffee while working on her laptop.

“Breakfast is ready," he said with a smile as he cleaned his hands with a towel

“You know you are not being paid for this part right?" she joked, getting on her feet

“Well, I'm not complaining, am I?"

They got to the dining and Joana took the smaller one. “No," Damien said and exchanged the plates, giving her the more filled plate

“You know I don't eat much, Damien"

“And I'll help you overcome that," he said

“It's not a disease" she smiled

“Could be" he took a seat

He did not start though. He watched her eat for some time and then she caught him. “What?" she asked

“Is it good?" he asked

She nodded. “Your cooking is Damy. You can even run a restaurant doing it" she said

Even though he appreciated her compliment, Damien knew it would be impossible for him to cook for a restaurant. He was not that good. He only cooked for a few months. After he got the designer job, he rarely cooked anymore.

Now, he doubted he still had the little knowledge he had gathered from the teachings he got. He was lucky she liked it.

They are silent for some time. Damien was a fast eater, unlike Joana who took her time to crunch every piece of food that for into her mouth. He finished first and washed his dish.

“Let me go take a bath. I'll be back" he said receiving a nod from Joana who was seemingly enjoying her meal

Damien rushed up the stairs into his room.

He spent ten minutes in the shower and stepping out with just his boxers, he heard commotion downstairs.

Quickly, he tossed his towel on the bed and dashed out of the room.

“Leave Gabriel" Joana's voice echoed

Just hearing that name, Damien flared up. He was tired of hearing that name. With each passing day, that was all he heard and it was not even of good light.

This Gabriel of a person always made Joana cry and he was tired of it. Damien was ready to beat the living daylight out of him once he got down the stairs.

Joana was enjoying her meal when the young man appeared out of nowhere in the kitchen. She guessed it was the spare key he had when they were still dating and he refused to leave continually bugging her.

Not only did he do that, but he beat her when she disagreed with him. She trembled when she first spotted him but remembering that Damien was just upstairs, she was bold enough to stand him.

She walked out of the kitchen and began asking him to leave. “Baby, c'mon. It was just a little hit. There were no bruises this time" Gaberial said 

“Leabe Gaberiel. Our relationship was over months ago" she said

“But the marriage failed, did it not?" he mocked

“I said leave!" she pointed at the door

He took a step forward. “Did you just yell at me?" his voice threatening

“She did and you will have to heed her words" Damien said matching down the stairs

Gabe laughed. Damien got down and stood beside Joana. “Did he touch you?" he asked and Joana shook her head but looked frightened a bit

“Leave young man," Damien said

“And who are you, twerp?"

After a brief silence, Damien blurred out, “I'm her boyfriend" he said pulling Joana close by the waist