The Devil Behind Me (5 page)

“Why can't you stay the hell away from him?” Clara was always dressed perfectly with her perfect hair and perfect makeup. Her uniform skirt was always shorter than the rest. She wore a white button down and a cardigan sweater. Her two other friends had cornered me in the bathroom while another waited outside to make sure no one entered. Clara walked over to me and glared. “You know you’re the ugliest thing I've ever seen,” she said in disgust. “I don't know what he sees in you. I don't want to see you anywhere near him.” She grabbed at my hair, but I grabbed at her arm and held on tightly. “You bitch, that hurt!” she hissed. Her friends grabbed my arms and forced them by my side as she pulled my hair, wanting to hurt me.  I stayed silent, waiting until they were done. It wasn't the first time I was bullied by her, or by others for that matter.

“Ah, the same, silly.” She waved her hand at him. My presence was ignored like I was the ‘other woman’ who the rich people don’t talk about.

“
So when are we going to see you in the Hamptons?” she asked, smiling and batting her eyes.

“I don’t know,
” he said to her, but then turned to me. “Addie? What do you want? Do you want to go to the Hamptons?” he asked. Daimon’s 180 appeared again. Clara turned and narrowed her eyes, disgusted I was there in front of her. 

“
Aren’t you the poor girl from high school?” she said repulsed.

It w
as like high school all over again. Daimon reached for my face and caressed it softly. I’d like to think he was soothing me from her remark, but I knew him better; he was playing his part. I turned toward him and offered him a smile as I eased into his touch. Daimon took my face into his palm and made me look at him. 

“So
, about the Hamptons?” he asked so lovingly that I had to remember I was playing a role. 

“
Too many stuck up people,” I smiled.

“I agree,” he winked.
“So I guess it’s a no for the Hamptons, Clara. Maybe I’ll see you around.” He tried to dismiss her but she was not one to dismiss so easily. 

“You can’t
seriously still be fascinated with her?” she growled quietly, not wanting to make a scene. His hand never left my face and he continued to leisurely feather my cheek. 

“Can’t help it,” he answered her
while looking at me. “Now if you don’t mind, Clara, I’d like to enjoy the rest of my meal.” He took his eyes off me and frowned at her.

  “
Fine,” she hissed. 

I yanked my face away from his han
d and looked down on my plate. My vision blurred. Stupid tears. Fuck, I hated high school and here I was right back where I hated it the most. 

“Addie?”
Daimon called out. 

“What?”
I nearly snapped as I looked up at him.

“Not bad.
You might be worth more than I paid for.” And there it was, the jab he was waiting to give me after my comment about him not being able to get a real girl. I said nothing and continued to look down at my plate as I ate, remorseful at what I had done to myself.
 

After lunch, I had asked Daimon to take me home. Well not exactly asked him, more like demanded. I was too exhausted by his presence and the way the day turned out. Clara had brought me right back to memories I had tried desperately to forget. Daimon, however, had other plans. He refused, which didn’t go well with me. 

“You know the rules,” h
e hissed, pulling me close to him.

“Do you honestly want me to be with y
ou even if I'm not in the mood? I'm exhausted, Daimon. This day was too much for me,” I snapped.

“You’re exhausted?
” he said sarcastically. “No wonder you can’t make any money,” he jeered.

I bit my inner lip to stop mysel
f from crying in front of him. I wasn’t ever going to tell him about what had happened to me. Ever! Daimon Evans was just a paycheck to help me get Sofia through her first semester. Yes, granted, it was only for one semester, but at least she’d be there and then who knows what could happen.

“
Go fuck yourself, Daimon,” I bit out.

I left
him standing in front of Delmonico’s brooding. I was certain I was going to pay for it later. The question was what would he do to me? In high school, he would pull my arm hard, yanking me around to face him, or cut off my elastic, which held my hair up. He cornered me and made me listen to him whenever he felt the need to speak, threatening me if I didn’t do as he said. It didn’t matter about my mood or my assignments. Only he mattered and he made sure I knew it then and now. 

As soon as I arrived back home I
took off the stunning little dress, which for the first time in my life made me feel like I was a woman. I went straight to the shower and washed every area Daimon touched. Why the hell did I remember so vividly every inch of me that was touched by him? Fine, yes! Daimon was sexy; he was beyond sexy. It wasn’t about how he looked so much as how he was: strong, dominant and virile. Nothing ever stood in his way, he always was the one to go out and get what he wanted, no matter what the consequences. Hearing about his dilemma only made me wonder more. If Daimon didn’t want to marry, he wouldn’t have, unless he was cornered.

I had stepped out of the bathroom and saw
Sofia had come home. “How was work?” I asked, drying my hair with a towel. 

“Boring.
You? How was your job interview?” she asked smiling.

“It went relatively well.
I think I left the boss with a good impression of me.” I smiled thinking about his face as I abandoned him on the street.

“Dad?”
I asked, throwing my towel in the laundry basket.

“Dad said he’ll
close up then come home.” She crossed me and went to the kitchen. 

“
Sofia?” I called out to her.

“
Yeah,” she cried back.

“I think if I get this job
, then I'm almost certain I’ll have the rest of the money for you to go to college,” I said cautiously, hoping not to get into another fight.

A few long moments of silence
passed.

“
Okay,” she said quietly. I knew that voice, Sofia was happy. Finally, something I did right.

I stayed up wai
ting for my father to get home. At least he had the presence of mind to close up early today. The moment he walked in, he looked beat.

“
Daddy?” I breathed.

“
Yes,” he said quietly. 

“
How was work?” I asked, worried about his mental and physical health.

“
It was a good day, Addie,” he lied. I knew he was lying, only because when he lied he would never once look at my face. 

“
Daddy, come here and sit. I want to talk to you.” I motioned for him to come and sit down next to me.

  “
Can’t it wait until after I go to the bathroom and shower?” he asked, holding onto the railing of the stairs. 

“I'm going to work at the bar
, so how about we talk tomorrow at the store?” I smiled and walked over to him and kissed him on his cheek. 

“
Tomorrow then.” He gently smiled and slowly went up the stairs, making slight noises of discomfort with each step he took. When were those stupid steroid pills going to kick in and start helping him?

***

I made it to bar just in time to start my shift. I ran inside not bothering to look around. I needed to get dressed in my little skanky uniform and take over my section. 

“Hey Elissa, sorry I'm late
-ish,” I smiled brightly at her. She was a co-worker who was slowly becoming a friend over time as we worked together. 

“Yeah
, you better be sorry. I just covered for you. The drinks at table eight have already been punched in under your code. Jace should be finishing them up by now,” she half-snarled, but I knew she was faking her anger. 

Elissa was an amazing person, someone I had
really wished I could be like. She had left home from Seattle with three hundred dollars in her pocket and found her way in Manhattan. She worked by night at the bar and went to NYU. The girl had a plan and she followed through. I honestly wished I had her drive and her ability to never look back.

She
turned around quickly, flashing me with her dirty blond hair and trying hard to ignore me as she made her way to her section.

“I'll make it up to you,
” I jokingly pleaded, following her as I laughed.

“Yeah
, how?” she turned and wagged her eyebrows. 

“I’ll
do the closing shift today, okay?” I didn’t want to, but I didn’t feel right about not working at the restaurant. I guess this was my self-induced guilt thing appearing. 

“Yeah
, what about tomorrow when you have to wake up at like five in the morning?” She almost bit my head off. 

“So
? I don’t go home, no big deal. I’ll do the closing shift,” I smiled. 

“Listen
, bitch, you want to dig your own grave that’s fine, but not on my watch. Besides I’ve grown to like you, but just a little bit.” She jumped and hugged me. She held me so hard that she nearly choked me with her breasts. 

“Can’t… breathe…need air…boobs…choking m
e…” I tried pushing her away.

“Ah
, you like it and so do my boobs,” she laughed hard as she let me go.

I ran over to the bar
. Jace had just placed the last drink on the tray for me. 

“Hey babe, saw you almost die
in a boob choke hold by Elissa,” he laughed. 

“Man
, she’s got strong boobage.” I felt my throat and it felt sore. 

“Good to know
, maybe I’ll try her out sometime,” he grinned.

“Shut up
,” I snapped as I picked up the tray.

Massive Attacks’
“Lately” started to play, the beat was slowly murmuring through the speakers. The singer’s voice was soothing and jazzy as she sang her melody over the heavy bass. The crowd was great and the energy of the bar was incredible, I felt rejuvenated. Today’s ‘first date’ hadn’t nearly broken me. I was back into my element and happy to be here. 

I weaved in and out of the small huddled groups of friends as the
y drank and laughed. I moved to the beat as I made my way to the table. I held the tray high above me to avoid people bumping into it. I finally made it through the last crowd and saw table number eight. I zeroed in making my way when the tray flew into the air up above me, while I fell to the ground, the drinks spilled all over me and the glasses broke around me. Never in my life had I dropped a tray or even fallen. My ankle throbbed like someone had tripped me. I heard laughter from behind me. I looked and there was Clara and her band of friends, pointing and laughing. I stood up, my skin already feeling sticky and wet from all the alcohol that had spilled over me. I began to pick up the broken glass on the ground. My hands were now starting to bleed. I must have landed on broken glass or maybe something had cut me. 

“
What the hell are you doing?” I heard loudly over the music. I looked up to see Daimon brooding over me.

“
Go away, please,” I said as I looked back down to pick up the pieces of glass. 

“
Get up now!” he barked, but I ignored him.

“
Fuck me, Addie.” He reached down for me and picked me up. “Let one of the busboys do this,” he hissed. At that exact moment, Darren showed up with a busboy. 

“Are you ok
ay?” Darren asked me as he put his hand on my shoulder.

“
Yeah, I'm fine,” I said, slightly shaken as I tried to act like the whole bar wasn’t looking at me. 

“
No, you’re not. You’re fucking bleeding!” Daimon bit out.

I yanked my hand away from
Daimon, but he held on tight. He looked over me and shook his head. I saw Elissa walk over to my table with a tray of replacement drinks.

“
You know, Darren, you should hire help who actually knows how to work?” Clara mocked. 

“I’ll see you get the bill for both sets of drinks
,” Darren said without missing a beat. 

“What?
Why?” she hissed and her friends scoffed.

“Because you
fucking tripped her, that’s why,” Daimon snarled as he pushed me behind him and nearly lunged at her.

“It’s like we’re
in high school all over again,” she cried out. “Poor little Addie needs all the boys to help her. Please give me a break, she’s a fucking loser.”

“Clara
keep the fuck away from her,” Daimon growled at her. I could feel him tensing up as his body began to shake. I reached up and placed my hand on his back as I tried to soothe him.

“It’s
okay,” I said quietly. 

“It’s not
FUCKING OKAY!” he yelled at me. “She is my woman. Mine and nothing ever touches her but me,” he shouted at Clara. Clara leaned away as a threatening Daimon glared at her.

“
Daimon,” I said softly. 

He said nothing as he pulled me to the back of the bar where Darren
’s office was and sat me down. He took a bar towel from Darren’s desk and began to gently clean my hand. 

“
You’re bleeding everywhere,” he said curtly. 

“I'm fine.” I tried taking away my hand
, but he looked at me and gave me a murderous stare. I looked at his icy blue eyes and was transfixed. I looked down to stop myself from looking directly at him. 

“That was
quite the performance out there,” I teased. “And here I thought I was going to be in trouble for leaving you in front of the restaurant.”

“I'm a good actor,” h
e said coldly. “And don’t worry, you will pay for it. It’s only a matter of when,” he remarked. I winced as a piece of glass scraped my palm. 

“That’s it
. I'm taking you home,” he snapped.

“No
. I need to work. I’ll go to the washroom and clean up.” I stood up from the couch that he placed me on. I started for the door, but Daimon put his hand out and stopped me.

“I’ll pay for your
fucking day today. What is it, a hundred dollars, maybe two? Whatever it is, I’ll give you the damn money. Now just let me take you home,” he berated me. 

It
ached; what he said made me ache, the words he said hurt me and what little ego I had. His face began to change as he kept looking at me. I sighed heavily and pushed past him opening the office door. I heard a loud thud against the wall behind me, but I ignored it as I walked over to the bathroom. I went over to the sink and washed my hands. The blood slowly dripped onto the sink as I removed the final shards. I took a few paper towels and placed them on my hands. I held on tightly as I looked in the mirror of the dimly lit chic bathroom and wondered where the hell I went wrong. I watched as tears began to form. Just great. Since when did Daimon’s words start affecting me so much? I quickly wiped them away as Elissa walked in.

“
Holy shit! Are you okay?” she asked, taking my hands gently and looking them over. 

“Yeah
, I'm fine,” I said meekly.

“St
upid rich bitch,” she said hatefully. “You know I ‘tripped’ and dropped my drink on her,” she winked at me. 

“You didn’t?” I asked not to
o surprised, the girl was a Scorpio. No one messed with her even on her good days.

“For you
, baby girl? I’d do anything. I told you I like you too much,” she smiled and helped me clean up. “Look, Darren said to go home. There’s no point, the night is nearly done and the bitch is still out there,” she said softy.

“Fuck
,” I muttered. “I really needed the money tonight. The fucking rent is due for the restaurant,” I said feeling exhausted again. 

“
I’ll give you money,” she offered.