18
Bea
“I think I might be in love…” I said dreamily, almost as if I was saying it to myself, but it was also the case that I had my best friend on the phone.
I just had to tell someone and, living in a restrictive bubble as I did, Claire was one of the only people I could call, even though it was late at night and we were both in bed and supposed to be trying to sleep. I also needed some firm acknowledgement, no matter how tenuous, of this new chapter in my life, because I knew that my parents would never accept it.
Not in a billion years.
Arriving home in a state of happy delirium, with the wannabe President still out somewhere networking, forming alliances and negotiating favors, I was in a complete state of bliss. I wished I could take Damon up to my room and carry on making love some more, but I held back from any great show of affection in case another on-duty Service agent saw us. The dizziness of sensual delight stayed with me, though, as I hummed some love song on my way up to bed that I couldn’t quite remember the lyrics to. After that, I’d laid there looking up at the ceiling, but my eyes were still seeing the stars of a clear night sky, my fingers still running through Damon’s hair and my insides still trembling from the throes of ecstasy. It had been Claire’s idea to attend the nightclub where I’d first met Damon, not in the circumstances we had pictured, but I wanted to thank her nevertheless. Also, by letting someone else in on my secret, it was a small way of defying my parents and giving me just the slightest hope that our relationship might not always be forbidden.
“I can hear it in your voice,” Claire replied, having dismissed the slight irritation that had been there when she’d been woken up initially. “You’ve got it bad. If you had the nerve to sneak drugs into your parents’ house, I’d say you were high.”
“I’m high on Damon,” I replied. “Let’s face it, with the small amount of men I’m approved of socializing with, I was always going to fall for forbidden fruit in the end.”
“Can’t you cover up the whole nightclub incident? They didn’t listen to your story anyway.”
“It’s a bit more complicated than that.”
“Why?”
“Because of how we met up again,” I said, getting ready for the big reveal. “Damon is one of the Secret Service agents working for my family now.”
She gasped. “Oh my god! So he’s around the house lots?”
“Uh-huh.”
“I’d give anything to see the look on your Dad’s face when he bursts into your room to find Damon’s ass going up and down.”
“We’ll be more careful than that.”
“Oh yeah? You sure about that?” she said with a teasing tone.
I grinned. “I’m hanging up now.”
“Temptation, Bea…”
Right now, having Damon in my room was a nice thought, regardless that Claire seemed to be making me feel like our relationship was poised to turn into some kind of cheesy soap opera. For now, I kept all concern of my father away, drifting off to sleep thinking only of love and candlelight.
***
The next day was another session in the office, and I was glad to have work to do, fearing that at any moment the happy alternative reality I’d been building up in secret was about to come crashing down for any number of unforeseeable reasons. Neither Damon nor myself had been ambitious enough to try and make any plans, deciding to play our next meetup by ear, while remaining cool if we happened to cross paths around the house or grounds with others present.
Hope must have still been directing me, however, in spite of being unable to see the way forward. Just as I’d called up Claire the night before, as a subtle ally against my father’s draining presence, I also realized that I could now go and tell Felicia. Unless Damon had spoken to her already, then she would surely be another ally and, seeing as we’d got off to a great start as colleagues, I saw the revelation as doing nothing other than strengthening the bond between us. I also thought it would feel good to see Felicia told some good news about her brother, after recalling the sadness on her features when she had spoken of his difficult life before.
As soon as I was in the office, I fired off an email just to ask for five minutes of Felicia’s time at some point in the day. I knew the new head would have a lot on her plate for days and weeks to come, but I was overlooking how highly the practice of good people skills featured in her priorities, because Felicia called me just thirty seconds after the email was sent and told me to come right on over to her office.
“Hey, Bea,” Felicia greeted me warmly as I stepped inside. “What can I do for you?”
“It’s, um…it’s actually not work related,” I replied.
“Oh, really? All good I hope?”
“Yes. I just thought you should know something, though.”
“I’m intrigued.”
“I didn’t know the last time we spoke or I would have told you. But I just realized yesterday…I’m actually dating your brother.”
“You mean Gerald?”
“No, I mean…” I realized from Felicia’s surreptitious expression that she was kidding.
“Of course, I know you mean Damon,” she said, laughing. “I knew he was dating someone called Bea—I think he’s quite taken with you, you know.”
I smiled, relieved that the news was taken in good humor, though wondering if Felicia hadn’t guessed more beforehand anyway.
“There’s a few coincidences, actually,” I went on. “Damon’s working as one of the Secret Service security agents protecting my family. So I know he’s had a bit of a rough past, but he has a proper, legitimate job now, which I’m sure you’re very happy with.”
“He’s…he’s what?” Felicia asked, leaning forward in her chair and appearing to look more surprised at this piece of news than on learning of our relationship.
“He’s working for my family,” I replied, wondering why she didn’t already know what her own brother was doing for work. “It’s not without its complications though; my parents don’t know yet, and…well, my father can be difficult. I’m not quite sure how we’re going to handle it all.”
“How you’re going to handle it? Oh…yeah, I can see that would be complicated,” Felicia replied, almost absentmindedly. I got the impression her mind was elsewhere, thinking on another complication entirely.
“So…you’re okay with it?”
“Oh, Bea, I’m over the moon. I’ve been wanting Damon to meet a nice girl like you for a while now. It’s just…I didn’t know that about his work. But um…never mind. I’m happy for you.”
“Great! Well, I’ll leave you to your work,” I said. “Thanks for your time.”
“No worries.”
I left the office then, but I still thought there was something Felicia wasn’t saying. For someone who had been so upfront on our first meeting, it seemed strange that she was suddenly being so guarded, and yet there only seemed to be happy reasons behind her brother finding a loving relationship. Maybe she just couldn’t picture being related to a politician’s family or something; some of the most down-to-earth people had problems with that concept, and I’d occasionally come across what seemed like a needless cold shoulder from certain individuals, both at school and at college, just as another friend of mine had whose father was a cop.
I saw no reason not to shrug off whatever it was, however. If the price of a loving sister was that she was also overprotective of her brother, then who was I to judge? The real complications we faced were firmly in my father’s court, not in Damon’s.
It’d all be okay, though. It just had to be…because I was really falling for Damon.