Normal dinner

My eyes wandered around the room searching for the man with hair like charcoal and eyes like an ocean.

I was thinking the dinner was just for him but the room had around five people present already.

I recognized a couple, my father usually did his business with them. The woman was tall and slim with a fake smile plastered on her burgundy lips chatting with my mother who had a similar smile playing on her lips. 

Her husband was a buff man with a frown always glued to his face. He was chatting with two men I failed to identify.

A tall man with sharp grey eyes, curly brown hair joined them with a glass of white wine in his hand. He passed a brief look in my direction with a soft smile, I gave a smile to my dad in return as well.

I stood near the stairs awkwardly not knowing what to do when someone came in my direction. 

A guy slightly taller than me was standing with a shy smile, "Hi. I am Adam."

I smiled at Adam, "I am Eleanor."

"I know," he gave a big smile with his thin lips, but it disappeared, "I know because our parents are friends and they have mentioned your name, not because I am a stalker or anything."

I giggled in return.

His dark brown eyes shined as he grinned, "It is good to see someone who is not talking about work all the time, usually people who come to these parties or dinners are super serious."

"I can understand," I added with a smile.

Adam seemed like a nice guy and easy to chat with so we continued talking for a while. I was laughing at something he said when someone cleared his throat.

Adam and I looked at the man standing in a suit that was the same color as his hair. He was giving a hard look to Adam who gave a small smile to him.

"Damien," I called.

His eyes turned soft as he looked at me, "You look beautiful."

"Thanks," I felt my cheeks turning slightly warm.

"I am Adam, it is nice to meet you, sir," he chirped.

The scowl returned on Damien's face but he did not answer him.

Before it became more awkward my mother asked us to join everyone for the dinner and I was thankful for that.

My father was sitting on the chair at the end of the table, Damien took a seat on the chair towards his left. I took a seat in front of him with Adam next to me.

It turned out Adam was the son of the couple that I recognized earlier.

Everyone started eating while chatting in between. 

"So, Mr.." my father started.

"Please call me Damien."

My father smiled, "Damien, what brought you to this town?"

I took a small bite and waited for him to answer the question, but I was not the only one everyone seemed to be waiting for his answer.

He wiped the corner of his mouth with the napkin, "I came here for something that's mine."

He glanced in my direction briefly then went back to eating his dinner.

"And what might that be?" Adam's father asked in a heavy voice.

"The house where I am living," Damien gave a half formal smile, "it belongs to my family. I have joined my father's business recently."

"More like a haunted house," Adam whispered in my ear.

I giggled. His house was surrounded by forests and after what I heard that day, Adam's words seemed right.

Damien was glaring at Adam, holding the spoon so tightly that it bent backward.

I stared at it speechless.

Before anyone could see it Damien's phone started ringing.

"I am sorry, this is urgent. I have to leave," he stood up abruptly, "thank you for inviting me for the dinner."

He did not answer the call then what was so urgent that he left before finishing his dinner?

His food was almost the same on his plate but the bent spoon was not there.

He gave one last look in my direction. A small part of me was sad to see him leaving.

Giving me a smile that showed his dimples he left.

"That was rude," Adam's mother commented.

My mother agreed with her as well.

The rest of the dinner continued with the normal conversations, some about the business, most about Damien.

Adults were chatting with each other after dinner while Adam and I were sitting away from them.

"They are talking about him," I pointed towards the adults sitting at the other end of the room.

He shrugged, "I think it is wrong, they should not judge him. He is just doing his work here."

I stared at Adam, who went back to typing furiously on his phone. 

I put the cushion on my lap, "He was not polite with you and yet you are taking his side."

He stopped typing and turned his head in my direction, "Maybe he was having a bad day or maybe he is just not talkative. It's not about taking sides, I just don't care honestly."

He went back to looking at his phone. It was refreshing to talk to someone like him. 

I smiled looking at him. 

Adam bit his bottom lip as he read then typed something on his phone with complete concentration.

"Is everything fine?"

"Hmm?" he looked at me with eyebrows raised slightly and bottom lip still between his teeth. I suppressed the urge to laugh.

"Some kid found blood marks just a block away from here today," he showed me a picture of the dumpster with the dried blood near it on the ground.

"But it was raining today..."

"Yes, that's why most of the blood got washed away."

I shook my head, furrowing my eyebrows, "Whose blood was it? Was it even human's blood?"

"Yep," he answered popping the p, "people have been going missing in the town recently."

I returned the phone silently to him, "What are you talking about?" I asked too shocked by his words.

"They are keeping it a secret otherwise people would get alarmed and the kidnapper as well."

Adam locked the phone.

"How do you know about this stuff then?"

"I am the Sherlock holmes of this town," he answered with a toothy grin.

I chuckled softly at his answer. 

"It was nice meeting you, Eleanor but it looks like we are leaving now," he replied looking towards his parents. His mother was hugging mine.

He stood up from the couch and I followed his action, "It was great meeting you as well."

After Adam and his family left I returned to my room as well. 

I cleaned my makeup and changed my clothes while thinking about what Adam said. I went towards my bed but stopped as my eyes fell on something. A purple rose was resting on my pillow. 

Slowly I picked it up and looked at the window, it was open. An alarmed feeling passed my body, I checked every corner of the room.

Running my tongue over my dry lips, I shut the window and put the purple rose in the drawer with the previous one.

Inhaling a sharp breath, I went to the bed and closed my eyes but then remembered a detail that seemed to skip from my head.