349 Surprise Center

Damien called Felix over and whispered something to his ear. He had stepped aside so Katherine couldn't hear what he said and she waited patiently, watching as they finished talking and Felix saying something to his men through his earpiece. 

Damien went to talk to Styles and his mother, Amelia, only for a few seconds before he turned back to her and grabbed her hand. "Let's go."

"Where are we headed? What about them?" she wondered as she looked back and saw the others moving away while she was being dragged by him somewhere else. 

"They're heading back to your penthouse. What do you want to eat?"

"Um… Pancakes?"

"What?" He stopped in his tracks and looked at her with a bewildered expression plastered on his face. It was fûckin' half past seven in the evening and this woman wanted pancakes. Her response was truly a surprise. "Pancakes?"

Katherine realized that she should have said something like ribeye steaks or lobsters. You know, the obviously expensive food that she could spend her money on to quickly lessen what she owed him. But no… she was craving for some pancakes. Her sweet tooth was begging for her to eat something that could satisfy her taste buds. "Y-yeah?"

"You are so weird," he muttered, but he was already searching something on his phone.

She watched as he quickly tapped on his phone screen and noticed him sending a message to someone before he put his cellphone back into his jeans pocket. Her observant eyes did a swift sweep of him, taking in his casual form. The black trench coat was a great match with his black jeans and the white t-shirt that's hugging his torso was a great match with the white t-shirt that she was wearing.

Subconsciously, she lowered her head ever so slightly and inhaled, catching his scent from her t-shirt. It was as though she was wearing him on her, enveloping her top with nothing but Damien. The thought made her blush, realizing that this was one of the things that she loved back then and until now – being around him, smelling him, or wearing his scent. If only she could bottle up his scent and spritz it all over her whenever she craved for it, she would. 

Damien snapped his fingers in front of her face, interrupting her daze. She was staring at him and did not respond to his question. "Where did you go just now?"

"Oh. Um. So? Where are we going?"

"Follow me." His fingers interlaced with hers and he started walking forward, away from the shopping district, with Katherine in tow.

"Wait... your car is parked that way!" She pointed to the opposite direction but Damien only continued to stroll forward.

"I know. We're going to walk. The night's beautiful, Kitten. Let's enjoy it." He smiled, briefly looking at her sneakers to make sure she was okay to walk a few blocks from there. 

There were so many people that night in that part of the district that if he let go of her hand, they could easily separate. He was determined to tread through the mass and keep her safe, so he pulled her closer, putting a protective arm around her shoulders and guarding her against strangers with his large frame until they safely arrived in a less crowded place that was two blocks away from the shopping center.

"God, I thought we were never going to make it out of there," she huffed, disliking the hectic Friday nightlife in Harbor City.

"You don't like crowded places?"

"You know I don't… you don't either. Why are you smiling?"

"I think I'm starting to like it." His smile grew wider. Maybe he didn't really like it but it was so much more tolerable—especially because he got to keep her next to him the entire time.

Unsure as to why he was acting that way, she only gave him a quizzical look which only made him smile more handsomely. "Come on, they reserved us a table already," he said, holding her hand again before he casually placed it inside the wide and deep pocket of his trench coat.

Her hand instantly became warm and she enjoyed walking with him on the sidewalk. She also plastered a beautiful smile on her face, liking the way they strolled in the city without caring if people will see them together. She used to be conscious about this a lot back when she was still working for him–back when she was just known as Katherine Miller, the nobody–but now, she couldn't care less anymore.

"Are we there yet?" she asked when they almost reached the end of the fifth block. She looked up at him and saw him nod towards the corner saying, "Look."

Turning her head to the direction he was pointing, Katherine saw the familiar-looking street. Her brows knitted in curiosity as they hastened their steps until they reached the corner. That's when she realized where he took her. It was the same crowded and narrow street with a lot of vendors that they went before—when it was her official first day working for him.

They took a right turn and continued to walk through the crowd and she knew that in just a couple of minutes from now, she would find that special place where Damien took her for the first time – a rundown diner. Katherine felt so nostalgic being there again. It had been half a year since but it already felt like years. 

The two didn't waste time and found themselves inside the diner. They were immediately seated at a table and placed their orders. While they were waiting, Damien kept his eyes on her, watching her as she watched the inside of the diner so curiously.

Katherine still found the inside of the place very interesting. Just like how she remembered when she was here the first time, this place still gave off a homey feeling and a vintage vibe which she found comforting. "What?" she asked when she caught him staring at her.

"Tell me something about you…"

"What do you want to know?"

"Anything that you haven't told me yet." He was sure that there were a lot of things that he didn't know about her yet and he was dying to know more. Katherine was like a hard candy with a surprise center — the more he ate, the more surprising things he discovered.

She rested her arms on the table and pressed her index finger to her chin while the gears in her head worked. "Let's see…"

Damien leaned forward, seemingly excited as to what she was going to tell him.

"Ah…" she chuckled, her eyes twinkling as she met his gaze. She didn't think she was going to tell him tonight but it was all she could think of. "218…"

The smile on his face disappeared at the same time that his back straightened. He didn't know why but his heart started beating faster as he waited for her to continue. Those numbers... After five long years, was she finally going to tell him? "Yes?"

"It's not really two-one-eight."

"What do you mean?"

"It's… twenty-one and eight." She watched as his baffled expression only continued to deepen. "It's my birthday… Eight as in the eighth month—August. And twenty-one as the day. My real birthday is August twenty-first."