Later that night, Damon walked into the Athena suite, the faint scent of alcohol clinging to him. Caelia stood by the window, the moonlight tracing delicate patterns across her silhouette.
She turned as he walked in, slightly surprised as she saw him. Part of her had thought that he wouldn't come back at all, he seemed like he had a lot to do when he set out, but it seemed like reverse was the case.
Caelia pulled the bathrobe closer to herself, she had been standing in front of the window for a while, she couldn't even remember why or what was on her mind.
Damon approached her with a lopsided smile playing on his lips. "Join me for a drink, Caelia?"
Caelia turned, her eyes meeting Damon's with a mixture of concern and understanding, in another setting, she might have turned him down, but there they were, far away from the Wrights mansion, far away from the prying eyes his family, her mother and of course snooping Margaret. "Of course, Damon."
She settled into the plush armchair, Damon poured her a drink, she wasn't sure what it was, she wasn't a regular drinker. She didn't even think she had a favorite drink, or knew what Damon poured into her glass. Damon sat down in the other plush armchair, there was only a coffee table between the two of them.
"It's nice to see you like this..."
"Like what?"
Caelia asked as she took a tiny sip.
"Relaxed."
Damon motioned.
Well, he was right about that. The bath had done wonders for her. She was more relaxed than she had ever been and the thought of mopping floors and dusting furniture now seemed like a distant memory.
"It's nice to leave Staunton."
Damon smiled.
"I'm sure you want to leave permanently someday."
She nodded.
"Very soon."
"What about you?!" She asked, "When we met, you mentioned something about not wanting to stay long.."
She could remember vividly, when they had talked, it sounded like he was just staying for the holidays. Maybe that was true, maybe his lack of a bride made it harder for him.
"My responsibilities are tying me down..."
He answered honestly and Caelia could guess what those responsibilities were...
"Do you miss having no responsibilities?"
Damon chuckled.
"I do. I really do, but even when I had none, I always had it in the back of my mind that there was something I was supposed to be doing..."
The sipped their drink in silence for a while. The drink, whatever was in it, it wasn't that bad. It had a little kick but it warmed her insides as she sipped it. It wasn't that bad.
"Do you ever wish you could be somewhere else?"
Damon asked.
"Where?"
He shrugged.
"Anywhere else. Where would it be?"
Caelia chuckled, to be honest she had not given it much thought. But she always wanted to go to Greece.
"I always wanted to go to Greece..."
"It's a special place to be."
"Have you been?"
"I have."
"You must have traveled a lot.." Caelia stated,
She was a bit jealous of him, she would give anything to see somewhere new, somewhere that was not where she had been before.
"I have. I've been to a lot of countries too..."
Caelia reached for the bottle of whisky on the coffee table, Damon gave her a look.
"Go easy on that, it works fast and you look like you're a light drinker."
She was, as a matter of fact, he could tell.
"You're probably right."
"But it's not everyday I get to leave the house, come to the city, have a nice hot bath in a luxury suite and also have a drink with the Damon Wright himself."
Damon smiled.
"Oh well, you can have one more drink if you'll give me more compliments!"
Damon said. Caelia started giggling. She was giggling! Damon thought. It was a beautiful sound!
"You're loosening up now! I like it."
Caelia smiled shyly, suddenly, something crossed her mind.
"I want to ask you a question Damon." Her voice was serious, her tone firm.
Damon sat up, "What is it?"
She had the vaguest memory that she had probably asked him some sort of variation of the question she wanted to ask him, but she asked him anyways.
"We're here... if you happened to run into me across the street or in a bar, do you think we'd have a better chance of being together than now?"
Damon raised his eyebrow.
"You don't think we have a chance of being together now?"
"You're deflecting from the question."
"I'm sorry. I just..."
He trailed off.
"Do you remember where we met Caelia?! For the first time?"
Caelia scrunched her nose, then she remembered that night on the hill, the handsome stranger she had met, it had been Damon.
"Yes. Yes I do."
Damon nodded.
"Well... you have no idea how much I kept praying and hoping that I would run into you again after that night."
Caelia couldn't help but blush.
"Does that answer your question?"
She nodded.
"But I'm afraid I have another question."
"Ask away."
"You met a girl in that masquerade ball you had... you've mentioned her before I'm sure, but what do you really think of her?"
"You're curious about her?"
Damon asked, it was more of a surprise to him than it was a question. And he thought himself foolish that he had not realised it earlier. Caelia was jealous of Ella, his runaway bride. He didn't know if it was the alcohol that made her forget, but this was her second time of asking about her and his time at the ball.
"If you saw her again, what would you do?!"
Carlos asked softly.
Damon smiled.
"You know sometimes I'm up in the night and I ask myself if she was ever real... or if she was just woke figment of my imagination that I made up."
Caelia listened to him quietly.
"I thought she was beautiful. I thought she was magic, that was what I thought of her. And she might've been a witch because she really didn't leave my head after that night. She was a mystery..."
"So if you saw her again??"
Damon shrugged.
"I don't know..."
That was a lie. If he saw her again he would marry her and complete the ritual.
Caelia nodded. Part of her wondered if he had gotten the ring she sent him. When she had rechecked the mail it was missing, it appeared that he had taken it. Did that mean he had given up on her? Even though that was what she wanted... it was still pretty sad to think of, that he might have given up on her.
"And you? What do you think about Caelia?"
"What goes on in that pretty little head of yours Caelia."
Damon murmured and Caelia shrugged.
"Oh it's nothing..."
"Nothing?! Come on! You don't expect me to believe that."
“Well it’s the truth! I’m not thinking about anything right now.”
Damon pouted, “Even me?”
Caelia’s cheeks reddened. “Why would I think about you?”
“Why wouldn’t you?”
Damon asked as he pointed to himself.
“Have you seen me?”
He added and Caelia scoffed.
“Oh you’re not all that!”
She said jokingly, carrying her face away. Damon chuckled.
“But do you?”
He asked, his tone was serious now, Caelia could tell that he wasn’t joking.
“Think about you?”
She asked and he slightly nodded.
“I do.”
She replied, as honest as she could. And for their sake, she hoped that Damon wouldn’t continue their conversation, because she was scared of what it would lead to. But her soft silent pleas to God fell on deaf ears.
“I sometimes think… of what we would be if we pursued what we have…”
Have. He used present tense. Not had, but have.
She smiled nervously.
“We can’t all get what we want.”
She muttered.
“What if we can?”
Damon asked.
Caelia raised her eyebrow.
“What do you mean.”
Damon moved closer to her, so close that she could smell him, she could see his eyes up close.
“We’re here. All alone. For the first time since we’ve met. What are the odds that I’d come to this particular hotel and find you just casually standing in front of it? What do you think?”
“Are you… are you trying to say fate brought us here?!”
Caelia felt Damon sounded funny. It wasn’t fate. It was just a coincidence! He should know better, after all he was a vampire.
“You believe in fate?”
Damon shrugged. He couldn’t say he really believed in fate, or anything really, but he couldn’t deny the existence of something bigger than him. Some invisible hands behind the scenes pulling on strings.
That, he could not deny.
“Kind of…”
“So you think fate brought us here together. For what?”
Damon looked straight into her eyes.
“What do you think?”
Caelia looked into his eyes, then his lips and then his eyes again…
Damon drew closer to her, dangerously close. They were inches away from each other, with Caelia’s heart pumping so loud it was all she could hear. The sound of her heart beating so loud.
Damon was so close now, close enough for her to see his lashes resting delicately on his high cheekbones.
She closed her eyes…