Chapter 91

Chapter 91
In the restaurant, Raven and Damon shared a quiet meal after her hospital visit. Raven felt tired and hungry, so Damon insisted they stop by the restaurant even though all she wanted to do was go home and curl up on the couch.

Somehow, she wasn’t surprised when the image of her in Damon’s arms while they watched a movie went through her mind, and it gave her a feeling inside that she didn’t recognize.

They spoke softly and occasionally reached for each other's hands, their fingers entangled with each other. She was lost in thought while she watched their hands together and absentmindedly ate chili fries. She failed to notice the smudge of sauce on her lips until Damon took the napkin, gently dabbing it for her. He paid attention to every little need she had. At first, he did it for Mason, knowing that he would have done the same for him, but soon, his motivations changed.

His feelings for Raven changed.

"Thanks." Raven smiled at him. "I zoned out a bit."

"You seem to zone out quite often lately. If anything is bothering you, you can always talk to me about it."

"Thanks, Damon," Raven said maintaining eye contact. "I'm glad I have you here with me. Especially with everything that’s been going on lately, I felt like I was losing my mind without you."

"You don't have to thank me, Raven. I wouldn’t be anywhere else and I’ll always be wherever you need me... That sounded wrong, I didn’t mean it like that-”

Raven chuckled.

“I know what you meant,” she smiled at him.

Damon took a deep breath and tried to regain his composure.

“What were you thinking about?"

"I've been thinking about starting to design again. I've been so caught up with… everything that I forgot about my dreams."

"So, do you plan on going back to Australia?" Damon asked. A part of him had hoped she'd say yes, that they could run away together for a happily ever after but he knew that would be a selfish thing to do.

As much as he was falling for her, he didn’t want to compete with his best friend. Until she was ready for it to be just the two of them with no ex with amnesia between them anymore.

"No, I'm done running away from my problems. I plan to take back what is mine. It's time I focus on my life and move on. I want to be able to raise my babies on my own.”

“You’re never going to be alone; you won't have to raise them alone. You have people in your life who want to be there for you,” Damon said, watching for her reaction. She offered him a small smile before pulling her hand away and reaching for her hand. "I spoke with Margaret, she filed a complaint against Lenora for attempting to kill her. You can also step forward and press charges against her. We have enough evidence to prove she's guilty."

Raven nodded thoughtfully.

“I'm going to take the agency back," she said with so much determination. "Lenora needs to pay for what she did to my parents."

“What about Blair?”

“What about her? She showed her true colors; she’s still going to stand by her mother over me. Nothing has changed between us, no matter how much I wanted to believe I had a sister. If she wants the agency, she’s going to have to fight me for it.”

Damon smiled, taking her hand again.

“I love the new badass side of you. Very sexy,” Damon teased, only half kidding.

Raven laughed out loud, finally having a moment of laughter without fear or bitterness.

\~~~~

Across the room, Julie’s eyes narrowed as she caught sight of them. She clenched her jaw, and couldn’t ignore her irritation... seeing them together. Emily noticed the change in Julie’s demeanor and touched her hand gently.

"Is everything okay?"

"I'm not comfortable with how close Raven and Damon have become," Julie said, nodding toward where the two sat together, laughing. “I think they’re having an affair.”

"What makes you think that?"

"I saw them kissing once. I tried to forget about it but... just look at them now." Julie said, her gaze fixed on Damon and Raven. "I just... I can't watch this go on for much longer."

Without another word, she got up and, while Emily caught her chair before it fell, started walking towards their table. Emily followed quickly, looking slightly alarmed by Julie's furious look. Julie was always so even-tempered, Emily had never really seen her angry. Not like this.

"Julie, wait, don't create a scene," Emily called out, but she wouldn't listen.

"Julie?" Raven said, her eyes widening in surprise as she noticed her. "You're here."

Julie’s gaze hardened. "Why? Don’t I have the right to be here?"

Raven blinked, exchanging looks with Damon and trying to understand the sudden hostility. "What? No, that’s not what I meant."

"Hi Raven," Emily greeted.

"Oh my God! You guys made up." Raven squeaked, jumping to her feet and reaching for Julie. She hesitated when Julie stepped away from her. "Why didn’t you tell me about it, Julie?"

"When should I have told you? While you were always out with Damon?" Julie asked.

"What?"

"Don't act like you don't know what I'm talking about." Julie crossed her arms. "So this is it, right? The reason why you don't care about Mason anymore."

"Julie, what's going on with you? You're not acting yourself." Damon finally spoke.

"I'm acting strange?" Julie scoffed. "Wow."

Raven’s brows knitted, confusion flashing across her face. "Julie, can you just calm down? If you have something to say, just speak clearly. You're not making any sense right now."

"Don't tell me to calm down!" Julie’s voice rose, drawing a few glances from nearby tables. "I suspected you were seeing someone else, but I didn't want to believe it. I didn't want to believe that you would do something like that to Mason. Especially not with his best friend! How can you be in a relationship with your husband's best friend?"