CHAPTER 2

CHAPTER 2 

The Silence 

Elena's POV 

“I tried my best.”

Those were the last words from Damon before we walked out of that lounge, or rather, he chased after me. 

I didn’t answer him then, and I don’t intend to answer him now. Not because I had nothing to say, but because I was too hurt to talk. 

The car door shuts with a loud noise, which was obvious he did it intentionally. Funny enough, someone that was drunk was the one that walked around to the driver’s side. Gets in, and starts the engine like he didn't taste any alcohol. 

Neither of us spoke to each other. It seemed his drunkenness disappeared the very moment I appeared at the door, but unfortunately, mine didn't. Though it wasn't alcohol, but a loss of hope. 

“Put on your seatbelt,” he says flatly, without any remorse. 

I clicked it into place without looking at him, because I needed to be alive first before tackling my problems. Then, we returned back to silence, the kind that could make one dumb. 

I stared ahead more than the one driving, but I wasn't actually seeing the road. My mind had drifted back to the snow, then to when I met Mr Edwards, his grandfather. 

**************

“Dr. Carter?”

I had looked up from the patient’s chart that I was holding that day, I smiled, though I was slightly annoyed at the interruption.

Before me stood an elderly man outside the hospital room, to my surprise, impeccably dressed, even his posture was straight for a man of his age.

“Yes?”

“You must be the cardiothoracic surgeon who handled Mr. Liang’s emergency bypass a month ago.”

“I am.”

“He’s alive and that's all because of you.”

“That’s my job, sir.”

He studied me carefully, in a way that made me very uncomfortable, but I said nothing. 

“You’re very calm,” he observed after a few seconds.

“I prefer efficiency to that.”

He smiled faintly, like he didn't mean to. “That's very good. My grandson needs exactly that in his life.”

I frowned, trying to make a meaning out of what he was saying. “Excuse me?”

“My name is Edward Hayes.”

Well, I didn't flinch like I recognized him, because the name meant nothing to me then.

“I would like to discuss a proposal with you.”

“I don’t invest, so I'm not the right person to talk to,” I replied, already turning back to my chart, as it was one of my busiest days. 

“It isn’t anything related to business,” he said calmly 

“It’s rather a marriage.”

That made me pause what I was doing, as I turned to stare at him fully now.

“I’m sorry?”

“My grandson Damon, has been single for a while now, and he needs a wife.”

I almost laughed, because to me, it was a joke. 

“I’m sure you know that I'm a surgeon, not a matchmaker.”

“You misunderstand me. I don't want you to matchmake him with anyone else, I want you to marry him.”

The absurdity of it stole my breath away, as I tried to understand how he made that up, and walked up to me with it.

“I don’t even know him, and I'm not looking forward to marrying anyone soon.”

“You don’t need to love him to marry him.”

That line alone should have scared me, but for some reason it didn’t. It was actually what bought my full attention. Then he continued, 

“There are… rumors about his personal life. It's not just any kind of rumor, but damaging ones. If by any means the press gets hold of them, it could in a terrible way affect the company. I need stability for the company, while he needs protection.”

“You’re saying people have the idea of him being gay?”

“Yes.”

“And he’s not according to you?”

“No.”

“And you want me to come in, and fix that?”

“I want you to help him fix that.”

As of that time, his gaze on me wasn't like that of a pawn, but as the solution to their problem. .

“You’re steady yourself,” he said. “You won’t chase after him because of his money. You won’t also embarrass him just to get back at home. You won’t leave when the contract isn't over”

“But I don’t do fake marriages.”

“It won’t be fake per say,” he replied calmly. “It will only be strategic.”

“And have you discussed this with him, what does Damon think?”

“He’ll agree to the plan.”

“Why choose me?”

“Because you won’t fall in love with him during this period, as you have your job which you are passionate about to distract you.”

That was the mistake, as I immediately believed him, because I was also hiding something that the contract would help me with. I believed I could remain untouched, detached and professional till the end of the contract. 

Then, I met Damon exactly three days later. He had walked into the hospital office very charming and bossy, wearing a charcoal suit, eyes cool, and assessing at same time. 

“So you’re the doctor my grandfather arranged for me to marry.”

“You make that sound romantic when you say it that way.”

“It’s not.”

He was honest, and very blunt, and I respected that.

“You don’t have to do this if you don't want to,” I told him, even though I saw it as an escape from my reality. 

“You don’t either, but you agreed”

“Then why are you agreeing to such a plan?”

He looked at me carefully, studying me. “Because it’s rather convenient.”

We signed the necessary papers two months later. There was no romance, no expectations, just an arrangement to fool the public. 

************

The car slowed at a red light all of a sudden, making me blink and come back to the present. 

Damon’s hands were resting steadily on the wheel like he never took even a drop of alcohol. He didn't even look at me, less talking to me. 

Then my mind drifted again, this time to the days we were trapped in the snow. 

************

The first morning in Japan was magical, as I had woken up to white all around me. Thick, endless white that made my heart shutter. 

According to him, our flights had been canceled, and the roads blocked. 

“It looks like we’re trapped,” he had said that morning, standing by the window.

“Trapped, how?” I had asked innocently. He turned to face me, toward me and foolish me, for the first time since our wedding, he smiled...a very soft and genuine smile. 

“This isn't the worst place to be stuck.”

The villa had been private, and warm, to the point we can't feel anything snow. Steam was curling through the open-air hot spring made available in the room. 

I remember how I got off from the bed, stepped into the water, with heat wrapping around me, and he followed suit. He was close, too close for the kind of contract we signed. 

“Your shoulders are a bit tense,” he murmured right behind me, in a way that actually made me stiff.

“You’re only imagining things.”

His hands carefully slid slowly over my arms, very firm at first but still gentle.

“I’m not.”

That was actually the first time he touched me without hesitation, holding nothing back.

There was no obligation for us, no duty or want, just steam rising between us. Then, he turned me toward him, his fingers carefully brushing my jaw. 

“Maybe the storm wanted us here at this moment,” he whispered to my ears.

“You don’t believe in fate, and shouldn't be the first.”

“Maybevi do now.”

He followed that with a kiss, devouring my lips slowly and carefully. 

It was more like he was learning me.

*********

Every day after that felt different in ways I never imagined. He made it his duty to always wake before me just to make tea.

He insisted and made it a culture of walking through the market holding my hand. No second passed without him kissing my knuckles when they got cold.

He went as far as memorizing the small things.

“You frown especially when you concentrate on your work.”

“You talk sometimes in your sleep.”

“You hate cilantro so much.”

“You also blush when I look at you too long.”

He noticed everything. He actually paid full attention to all the details about me. 

At night, he became even more attentive, unhurried, and too intentional to be real. His touches were sweet, like I was fragile,and still strong at the same time. He showed that he needed me, not just wanting my body. 

And I fell completely, stupidly and foolishly. I forgot it was a strategic arrangement, that was supposed to stay detached. 

For one month, he stayed warm, giving me reasons to live with him completely. And when the snow cleared, and we returned home, he changed. 

It came slowly, increased work load, trips to Europe, which he spends six months each time. I had no choice but to bury myself deep in surgery schedules. And now, I know why he changed. 

It has been Jasmine all along. 

************

We walked inside the house like strangers, like we never shared a kiss even for a day. He didn't look at me, didn't attempt talking or apologizing to me. No explanations were made. He just walked upstairs, entered the bathroom and showered. When he was done, he walked up to his own side of the bed, pulled the blanket higher, turned his back on me, no explanation, no apology. He said nothing to me, then he slept off, or he was pretending to sleep.

I stare at the ceiling in the dark, trying to wrap my hand around what actually happened today. 

The Damon who loved me with careless abandon me must have died in that snow before we returned. 

Or maybe...he never existed in the first place. Or, he was trying to forget her, to replace her, or even price something to himself. And foolish me, I happened to be the easiest person to practice on. 

Why go that far to keep me, when he can always have her without anyone interrupting? Why was there news of him being gay when he actually has a woman in his life? 

There seemed to be more that I'm yet to uncover.