Chapter 8: My Now Damned Life

Mia's POV

It took about a few seconds before Lila grabbed my phone before I knew what was happening.

I had completely lose guard staring at the contract and she was just staring at the screen with her mouth hanging open.

"Lila give it back," I said as I lunged for the phone but she twisted away from me and kept reading, her eyes moving fast across the screen.

"He actually sent it," she said, turning the phone toward me so I could see the contract in the message like I hadn't seen it a thousand times and over.

I snatched it from her hand and sat down slow because my legs had gone weird under me.

"You have to sign this," Lila said, sitting beside me and grabbing my arm hard enough that I flinched.

"Mia listen to me, you're twenty two, you're not a kid anymore, you need this money and you know you need it, so stop looking at it like it's going to bite you."

"It feels like it's going to bite me," I said and she rolled her eyes at that.

"Everything feels scary until you do it," she said, "then it's just Tuesday."

I read through it again and my thumb hovered over the screen for a long time before I finally typed back that I'd come by his office.

Lila squeezed my shoulder on my way out and told me she was proud of me, which felt like a strange thing to be proud of somebody for, but I didn't say that out loud.

His office door was already open when I got there so I knocked once on the frame just to announce myself and he looked up from whatever he was writing.

"Sit," he said without looking at me properly, and I did, my bag still on my shoulder because some part of me wasn't ready to stay long.

He slid a printed copy of the contract across the desk along with a pen and while he was reaching into his drawer for something else I caught sight of a photograph sitting near the edge of it, two boys standing beside two older men, all of them smiling at whoever was holding the camera.

Before I could even ask about it he flipped it face down without a word and shut the drawer harder than he needed to.

"Sign at the bottom," he said blankly.

I picked up the pen and even my hand was shaking a little as I signed my name as he watched me do it.

"Good girl," he said, low and that annoyed me more than anything.

Who the fuck does he thinks he is.

There was a knock at the door right then and before he could even answer it Noah pushed his head in, holding up my notebook.

"Hey you left this in the lecture hall," Noah said, stepping in without waiting for permission because that was just how Noah was, he I snshg one easy and comfortable person everywhere he went.

"Thanks," I said, standing quick to take it from him, my face burning for no reason I could explain.

Noah's eyes moved from me to Damien and then to the contract still sitting open on the desk. I saw the second he clocked it, his easy smile faltering just slightly.

"Everything okay in here?" he asked, and I nodded fast so as not to cause any suspicion.

 The paper was far off, so I doubted if he actually saw anything.

"We're finishing up," Damien said, with his usual cold voice.

Noah lingered another second, glancing between us like he wasn't really satisfied with the answer, then he said he'd see me in class and walked out, leaving the door open behind him.

The second his footsteps faded down the hallway Damien stood up from behind the desk and came around it slow, and I stepped back without meaning to until my back hit the bookshelf.

"Who is he to you," Damien said, not really asking, more like stating something he already wanted an answer for.

"He's just a friend from my department," I said, and I heard how thin that sounded even as it left my mouth.

Damien reached out and took my chin between his fingers, tilting my face up so I had no choice but to look at him properly.

"Don't bring him around me again," he said quietly.

"You don't get to tell me who I talk to," I said, trying to pull my chin free but his grip only tightened slightly, not enough to hurt, just enough to make sure I stayed put.

"I just did," he said, and he let go of my chin and stepped back.

I grabbed my bag off the chair and turned for the door, my hand already on the handle when his palm slammed flat against the wood beside my head, stopping it before it even opened an inch.

"I wasn't finished with you," he said, his voice right against my ear now, close enough that I could feel the warmth of his breath against my skin.

I stayed frozen with my back to him, my heart slamming so hard I was sure he could feel it through the door.

"Sit back down," he said and I could've sworn I almost peed on myself.