Chapter Eleven

Chapter Eleven
Jasmine's Pov

I was eating alone. I mean I always ate alone, back at home. but now, I was living with a man that was my second chance mate, but still sort of a stranger, and he left me to eat a lone on our first breakfast. He even took his friend, that I sort of liked.

"something to tend to, my arse." I muttered angrily, and reached for my glass of milkshake. I mean, I understood that this wasn't an affair of love.  I knew I wasn't living under his roof because he loved me, or because he desired love in return. But if this was going to be something that happened often, I wasn’t sure how I felt about it. Because for some reason, his absence right now had me feeling like he didn't think I was good enough to have breakfast with, or to keep company.

"let it go, Jasmine." I said to myself. It was too soon for me to be dwelling in depression. But should the chance present itself, I was going to give him a piece of my mind.

Without my job as a nurse, I was left with very little to do. So after I had breakfast I went to my room. I didn't know when I'd be able to go back to the life I knew, but at the moment, I chose to see my time here as some kind of mini vacation in a castle. The maidens constantly trying to please me surely made it look that way. And I suppose if removed the not so friendly "prince" then this was one hell of a mini vacation.

Ut even I had to admit that I would go mad if I had to do this for a long time. And I'm supposed to be the man's luna?

I wasn't sure what led me to the window, but I had gone to the window just in time to see  both Damien and Liam coming from behind the house, and in their middle was a strange looking woman. I called her strange not because of her appearance. Although the hair she wore in a very high bun, and the cane held did make me question her btu no it wasn't all that. Rather , it was her aura, the way she seemed to  have that made me watch her. She seemed very self-aware, but also like she couldn’t give a damn.

Unbothered queen. I thought.

I watched them until they were out of sight, but still didn't leave the window, until I heard a knock on the door.

"come on in." I said, and was surprised to see that it was Damien who had come to see me.

Well, that was fast. Because wasn't he just with the lady he had stood me up for?

"you look like you just saw a ghost." he said gently, and I troubled with my lower lip.

"not a ghost. I'm just shocked to see you here." I said softly and thought for a moment, "why are you here, by the way?"

He didn't reply immediately, and then simply shrugged, "we were supposed to have breakfast together, and then I got… caught up."

"caught up ? Are you sure that is the correct phrase?"

"I had a meeting that needed my presence urgently." he uttered, a bit gruffly, and I rose a brow.

"the meeting didn't go well?"

"it went well. Well enough. But I didn’t come here to talk about the meeting. I… you seemed a bit upset, I wanted to know how you were faring."

Later on, I was going think about the fact that he had caught on with my change of mood. But right then, I chose to act like it didn't matter. Because to act like it mattered would possibly be misconstrued.

"I wasn't upset Damien. I just…" I began and sighed, "look, we're living together, and we are going to get married soon. Mate, by the looks of it, and maybe even make babies, I think this whole thing would go a bit more smoothly if you and I didn't live like strangers. If you and I actually tried to get along."

"and here I am, trying to do just that. Sort of."

"sort of." I murmured and nodded softly, "I'm faring well enough then. How was your meeting?"

"fine. It was fine. However, because of it, I didn’t get to eat, so I'm hungry. The milkshake was good?" he asked, somewhat excitedly, and the look of excitement did nice things to his face.

"strawberry. It was really good. I think you should try it."

"I plan to." he replied, and stretched out his hand toward me, " join me."

I looked at his outstretched hand before looking back at him, "I'll explode if I have to eat any more."

"then don’t bother about eating . Just keep me company. And Liam. I can tell you like Liam fine enough."

The side of my lip raised , "Liam is okay." I answered, and took his hand.

"great." he replied, and started leading me out of the room.

DAMIEN's POV

I wasn't sure what had come over me, or why I suddenly craved her presence. But I did, and I decided there wasn't much of a reason to fight it.

It wasn't like I was declaring love and every dimension of my heart.

"Ah! You found her!" Liam exclaimed when we got to the dining table, and I rose my brow to communicate that he mellowed down, but that only made him more excited.

"Jasmine dear, I was almost afraid you would turn down the idea of keeping us company."

"Damien convinced me." she said softly, and something about her comment caught me off guard. it was the way she said my name. I think I liked the way she said my name.

"didn't think he had such in him." Liam replied, and I decided that I had had enough of him already.

"drink your milk, Liam. I believe this entire breakfast will pass amicably if you aren't talking off track."

"I think Jasmine disagrees. But yeah, I'll drink the damned milk."

"sorry." I said, and turned to Jasmine, and she was smiling. And hell if she didn't look beautiful.

Damned if I didn't feel like her beauty was the answer to the very few prayers I had made in my lifetime.