Page 64 of Taeja

Refusing to accept that answer, Taeja marched toward him. She craned her neck to look at him, her eyes flashing many emotions. “What did you say to him?”

Memories slammed into him, and he narrowed his eyes at her. “Are you taking sides?” he asked, his voice sounding foreign to his ears.

Taeja shook her head. “What? No! Mi naa pick nuh side. I want to know what you said to him that made him angrier than usual.”

Damon’s gaze flickered to Liza, who was frowning at the floor, then he looked at Taeja. “I didn’t say anything to him that he doesn’t already know.”

Taeja scoffed and crossed her arms, making her breasts more defined. She snapped her fingers before his face, breaking his brief trance. “Mi eye up here so, Damon. Wa yu seh to Zain?”

“I told you.”

“That isn’t an acceptable answer.”

His lips parted to tell her that the answer was acceptable to him, but it slammed shut when Liza joined their conversation.

“I’m going to… go,” Liza said, her voice low.

“I’ll drop you home,” Damon offered, wanting space to clear his head.

Liza shook her head. “No, that’s fine. I’ll call a taxi.”

He wanted to insist, but he decided against it. He knew how Liza got whenever she caused an argument between him and Zain. Damon nodded.

Liza smiled, looking at Taeja. “I’ll see you around, Tae.”

“Safe journey home, Liza,” Taeja said, not looking away from Damon. Once Liza was out of earshot, Taeja asked more calmly, “What happened, Damon? I don’t like that you guys are arguing… Did I do something?”

Damon’s brows crinkled as he looked at her. Taeja was immensely worried; she even looked scared. Her timid expression was slowly but surely melting the ice that was overcoming him.

“No, baby,” he said, pulling her close to kiss her forehead. He liked how she feltin his arms — so small, so perfect, and calming him in that way she always could. Unwillingly pulling away, he told her, “This is between me and Zain. You didn’t do anything.”

“Was it Liza?” she asked, and he tensed, the action not going unnoticed by her. “What did she do? I only heard bits and pieces, so I don’t—”

“Don’t worry about me and Zain, Taeja. You didn’t do anything. Focus on that, okay?”

“But—”

He gave her a pressing look, silencing her. She sighed, then hugged him.

Damon wrapped his arms around her, rubbed her shoulders, and kissed her atop the head. “I’m going to the office to clear my head for a bit. Will you be okay by yourself?” he asked, and she nodded. “I’ll try to be back in an hour. If I’m going to stay longer, I’ll let you know.”

“Okay,” she said and pulled away. She tipped and placed a kiss on his lips. Settling on the soles of her feet, she gave him a small smile. “Don’t work too hard.”

“I won’t,” he said, chuckling.

Taeja followed him to the door, waving until the house disappeared out of view.

Locked in a confined space with nothing but silence keeping his company, Damon’s thoughts were consumed by Zain. He understood that Zain experienced a traumatic event; it wasn’t his right to tell Zain how to process it. But did it make sense for Zain to be angry at someone who didn’t partake in his torture? No, Damon didn't think so.

Damon’s grip on the steering tightened as more thoughts of Zain settled at the front of his mind. He tried to ignore them, but they were like a big red blob on a pristine white sheet. He couldn’t dismiss them; he couldn’t ignore them.

Even though they weren’t identical, Zain was his other half. Whenever they argued, Damon’s entire being was thrown off. He wanted to go to Zain’s house and apologize, but he forced himself to continue driving in the opposite direction. When he arrived, he made a beeline for his office and immediately began working on the many files stacked on his desk.

The workload dragged on for minutes, but it didn’t quell Damon’s frustration as he hoped. Sighing, he stood and stretched before powering down all his devices.Damon exited his office and made his way to the underground car park. A handful of cars occupied the huge space. He was in his car and driving out within minutes.

A dark blue sky greeted him, and he cursed. Checking the time on the dashboard, Damon cursed again. “That didn’t feel like four hours,” he muttered, moving a hand from the steering to grab his phone and dial Taeja.

“Hello?” Taeja answered.

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