341 A Tough Negotiation

Wallace ran his paint-messy fingers through his luscious long and silky hair that women were envious of and waited for Damien's response to his bold invitation. Truth be told, he already expected rejection but he would push his luck and use the favor that Damien asked from him in his favor. He was just being resourceful, the Billionaire couldn't blame him for that.

Damien looked at the man in front of him as if he had grown another head. "Date?" he probed, thinking that he misheard Wallace the first time. "What?! No. Why would I do that?"

"Because you're asking me a favor." Wallace shrugged nonchalantly, the smile on his face showed his mischievous side.

Damien could see through the other very clearly, knowing that he was being taken advantage of because of the favor that he asked. He already agreed to be the subject of his painting today, did he also have to be Wallace's date too? He disliked people who took advantage of him. "Isn't that a bit too much?"

"Talking to my father after so many years of ignoring each other is a bit too much."

"Sitting here to be a subject for your art piece is already the extent of my bargain for the favor I asked from you."

"Now now… Damien, it's still not being fair." Wallace lowered himself on the armchair to Damien's left and propped his elbow on the rest at the same time that he crossed his long leg on top of the other. "After all, talking to my father is one but asking something from him—like asking for access to the restaurant's guestlist which you and I both know is supposed to be confidential—is another thing. So you sitting there as my subject only covers one half of the favor. You need to fulfill the other half too. It's only right, don't you think so?" 

Damien narrowed his dark eyes at Wallace, his stare showed irritation at this transaction. He wasn't spending any money but it felt like he had lost a ton especially when he saw the other's knowing smile— Wallace looked like he was already winning and Damien didn't like it. He was already halfway through. How could he back away? Closing his eyes and picturing Katherine in his head, he convinced himself who he was doing this for again.

"I will go to the auction but we're not on a date," he answered, his eyes turning stern and cold as soon as they opened.

"We will go to the auction together," Wallace demanded, matching Damien's stare.

"You and I will arrive in separate cars."

Revealing an attractive smile that could make women faint, Wallace insisted, "We will walk side by side as we enter the venue and pose for a picture together."

Scoffing, Damien curled a corner of his mouth upward to hide his already growing irritation at Wallace's game but he was determined to keep his distance from him as much as possible. The whole world knew that Wallace liked men and Damien didn't need the unwanted scandal. "You and I will stand two feet apart."

Clenching his jaw, Damien let out a sigh, exasperated from this negotiation. He couldn't believe he was actually in this situation with Wallace White. "Fine."

"And you'll stand next to me the entire party."

"You're enjoying this, aren't you?"

"Of course. What are you going to wear?"

"Damn it, White. I'm not going to coordinate colors with you. This isn't a date." Damien gritted his teeth before he took a large gulp of water, shaking his head and huffing. Where was Katherine right now? What was she doing? He should have brought her here. @#$%!

"But it would be cute, no? We're going to be matchy-matchy. How fun!" Wallace chuckled as he got up from the chair, a satisfied smile brightened his face while he made his way back to the easel several meters away.

Damien rolled his eyes at Wallace who's looking so manly yet using the words 'matchy-matchy'. "No, it's not cute. Let me know what you're going to wear on the morning of the event."

"So you can find a color similar to mine?"

Damien ran a tired hand down his face. He was almost at his wit's end. "No, idiot. So I could choose something totally different. Can we get over this already? I need to be somewhere."

Wallace's beautiful laugh echoed in the large room. "You know… being so irritable won't make me hate you. You're only becoming more attractive the more you act like that."

At this point, Damien was too exhausted to even make a comeback so he decided to keep his mouth shut and just sat there expressionless, waiting for this hell to be over so he could rush back to Katherine as fast as he could.

Seeing how tamed Damien looked at the moment while sitting on the red couch and looking at the side—his mind floating somewhere only he knows, Wallace found it so perfect. So beautiful. So serene. Damien wore a shirt and a pair of jeans — very casual and so contrasting to the luxe red sofa that he was sitting on yet he had this air around him that made him look like he belonged there. This made Wallace happy. "Truly beautiful…" he whispered to himself, his skilled fingers using the fine tip paintbrush to draw the details on Damien's face very carefully.

…

Katherine's old apartment

While Damien was away, Katherine spent the afternoon talking to Amelia and Styles regarding Chris and his plans. Knowing that he was doing something behind Parker's back, they thought that they could use it to their advantage. However, to do that, they had to know if they could trust Chris's words — so Damien's success that afternoon was necessary.

As Katherine thought about this, she wondered where Damien could be at the moment and why he didn't bring her with him. If it wasn't dangerous, then why did he go by himself and left her out of it? He didn't even tell her where he was going. She knew she shouldn't be so bummed about it, given that she also hid things from him for a while, but she couldn't help but feel helpless. This must be how Damien was feeling the entire time… And now she felt even worse.

Whipping out her phone, she contemplated if she should send him a text and when she had decided, she quickly typed in a short message.

[Katherine: Everything okay? Please be safe.]

She waited… and waited… and waited for a few minutes but she didn't receive a response when Damien would usually give her one very quickly most of the time. Thinking that he might be busy at the moment, she sent Markus a text message.

[Katherine: Hi, Markus. This is Katherine. Can you send me Damien's bank account number? I need to return something.]

It only took less than a minute for Markus to reply.

[Markus: I will ask the Boss first.]

Katherine's brow twitched. The ever so loyal assistant always had to ask his Boss's permission first. She huffed and was about to toss her phone to the side when she received an email notification. Tapping her screen, she opened the email and quickly read through it. It was an informal invitation to an art auction that was scheduled for next week. The email included an assurance to receive the formal invitation in the next few days that would be used as her ticket when or if she attends the said event.

She was sure that Damien also received the same invitation and this was going to be her first social event in the exclusive club. Katherine wondered if the two of them would be going together. 

After all, she didn't have to hide her identity now that she was Katherine Young. Her last name was at least worth it to stand next to Damien in events like this, right?