451 Damien Snapped

Tuesday — November 20 at Bayside Resort, Florida

Katherine had a long day ahead of her. She could choose to cut down what she had planned, but she was determined to work her ass off while she was here. At seven in the morning, she was having breakfast at the balcony of her suite in Bayside Resort. She was on her second croissant when she started watching a video on her laptop and scribbling down her notes on a steno pad.

Felix appeared from behind her; he was staying in the suite next to hers and they had an adjoining balcony. With his breakfast plate in hand, he joined her on the table and he glanced at her while she seriously worked on her mission. "You look like you're studying for a test," he remarked just before he took a bite of his bacon and toast.

"Mhmm. A test I don't ever want to fail. I'm doing this as if my life depends on it," she answered without lifting her eyes from the screen and continued to eat the pastry that she had with strawberry jam.

He looked at her and couldn't help but admire her diligence. Since he had known Katherine—especially recently—he had grown to like the kind of person she was. Despite her stubbornness, she was strong-willed and kind-hearted. He couldn't imagine what she had been through in the past and he didn't want to ask her either. She was like a sister to him already and even though he wouldn't admit it, he would protect her even without Damien's paycheck.

Clearing his throat, he asked, "You do know that you don't have to do this, right? You can simply—"

"I know that…" she interrupted, forming a small smile on her face as she glanced at Felix briefly before returning her gaze at the screen of her laptop. She was nervous, but that wouldn't stop her from what she planned to do. "But… I've never worked so hard in my life like I'm doing now. I don't want to do anything half-assed."

And that's what she did. She worked hard all week while she was away on her trip. 

Taking a sip of his orange juice, he asked, "Is there anything I can do to help?"

Her hand paused from taking down notes and she looked up at him, contemplating for a second before she probed, "Actually… Hmmm… How good are you with computers?" Felix arched a brow at her, unsure of where she was going with this.

From time to time during the week, Katherine would send a message to Damien and called him before going to sleep. She knew that he was also busy with his work so they could only catch up whenever they had free time—which wasn't a lot.

…

Meanwhile, back at Harbor City, Esmea, Damien had been having his meals over at the 61st floor penthouse. Before work, he would go down and join his mother for breakfast, and in the evening, he would drop by and end up having dinner with everyone—Amelia, Styles, and Markus.

…

Thursday — November 22

It wasn't until Thursday that Damien began to feel even more uneasy with Katherine not being around him. Was she in Harbor City? Or was she even in Esmea? Where the hell was she?

Earlier that day when he had an hour break, he sent her a text message and even tried to call her but she did not pick up her phone. Compared to the other days, he didn't hear much from her today and it got him all worked up. She didn't respond to his text until hours later, and he didn't see her reply right away, so when he tried contacting her number, she was out of reach. 

He was getting frustrated with all the waiting. He wasn't usually this clingy—okay, maybe he was, but the thought of her being away to god knows where and not knowing what she was doing or whether she was safe at all, was making him anxious. Sure, she would make sure to text him and let him know that she was fine, but that didn't stop him from worrying about her.

Felix wasn't any good either. Damien had succumbed to the temptation and he tried to contact the former. Although Felix wouldn't answer his calls, Damien would receive a text message soon after:

[Felix: We're okay.]

[Felix: She's okay.]

[Felix: Stop worrying. You're going to get ugly.]

The last message ticked him off.

Damien was sure that Katherine told Felix not to say anything. And for him, not knowing anything felt like hell.

He had been tempted several times to have her tracked down but he would remember his promise. However, when evening came and he still hadn't heard from her, Damien snapped.

Golden Phoenix Residences

With headphones on, Styles played Red Dead Redemption on his Xbox—at the same time, he munched on some potato chips. "Let's go rob ourselves a bank!" he said in a Southern drawl attempt.

He was concentrated on the game he was playing when all of a sudden, the door to his room burst wide open and hit the wall as Damien waltzed inside angrily. Styles jumped up in fright that he had a mini heart attack and his potato chips flew out of the bag.

"Where is she?!" Damien bit out.

Styles's eyes were wide as he looked at the man—he almost shit his pants from that fright. "Shit. You scared the bejeezus out of me!"

"Where. Is. She?" Damien repeated.

Styles patted his chest, calming down his heart. He liked King Charming but if this keeps up, he would die early.

Setting down the bag of chips—or whatever was left in it—on the desk, along with his Xbox controller, Styles wiped his fingers with wet wipes and sighed. "You're not supposed to know. You know that."

Damien clenched his jaw and the crease on his forehead deepened. "I don't give a fuck. Just tell me—"

Styles crossed his arms in front of him, waiting for Damien to finish his sentence.

Sighing, Damien toned down his voice. "Don't tell me where she is. But can you at least check if she's somewhere safe?"

"Turn around."

"What?"

"You can't look at my screen. Turn around."

Damien reluctantly turned around and Styles did his magic. The tapping of his keyboard stopped and Damien waited but the other didn't say anything. "Styles?"

"Huh… She's um... She's fine."

"Why did you hesitate?" Damien was about to turn around to look at the screen but before he could do so, his smartphone rang—it was Katherine.

He picked it up right away and heard her voice from the other line as soon as he pressed the receiver to his ear, "Hey, Damien. Sorry, my battery died earlier. I just got back at the hotel. How was your day?" Katherine's voice was so gentle that it washed away Damien's worries as soon as he heard her.

"It was… fine… How was yours?" Damien's voice went from angry to soft real quick. He left Styles's bedroom and continued to talk to Katherine on the phone.

"Tch," Styles clicked his tongue. "How cruel."