The Vale

C46

Damian carries me inside a modern cabin house that's facing the ocean,  through the full size kitchen and living room, he drops me in a room. "Make yourself comfortable and come out to eat when you're ready." He barks and leaves.

I glare at the direction he walks off, having a hard time deciding if I should curse him out verbally or internally.

Kicking off my canvas, I place my feet on the down and feel the cool smooth surface of the wooden floor beneath me. My eyes follows the arrangement of woodwork to the ceiling, it's the same pattern. My eyes widen when I see my backpack sitting in front of the drawer beside the queen sized bed. I look back at the direction he went and shake my head.  When did he get my stuff?

I return my gaze to the bed and frown at the four pillows arranged in front of the headboard and the cute candy shaped throw pillow in the middle of the bed. Moving closer to the bed, I stop to run my hand over the soft woolen blanket convering the bed. The tree shaped bed lamp catches my attention before moving my gaze to the floor to ceiling window, giving me the clear view of the ocean.

He has a place like this and he let me stay at that place. I slept with one eye opened and this place exist. Oh, Damian. How did he even get this place? I thought the island was ancient but this place has a touch of modern like the bed lamp and the brown fur rug at the foot of the bed.

Sighing, I walk over to grab my bag from the floor and drop it on the bed before unzipping it. I unload it, looking through the clothes I brought. No one told me I was coming to an island, but thank God most of the clothes I brought fit the environment. I pick a baggy white T-shirt and matching mini skirt, and lay them out on the bed before heading to the bathroom.

I open the door that leads into the bathroom and wait before going in. The bathroom is tiled to my surprise and it's cute, small but comfy. Straight ahead is a bathtub with a white transparent curtains draping over it edge. Beside it is the toilet and above is an open cabinet that I can see contains some soaps, shampoo, hair conditions, towels and... Tampons? Wait... Did he prepare this for me?

I shake my head and approach the bathtub. I prepare the bath before taking off my yoga bra and tights, and tossing it somewhere around. I step inside the bath and relax. How I've missed this  I love my bathroom at The Vale but there's no bathtub and nothing beats this.

Taking my time to scrub my body, remembering the awful shower I had the morning. I wash my hair and clean myself. After I'm done, I pull the drain and step out of the tub. I reach to grab two towels, wrapping one around myself and the other for my hair. I return to the room and change into my clothes. I dry my hair with the towel before going to dry them on the hanger in the bathroom.

I walk outside the room and follow the sound of water running to the kitchen. The whole place looks like a log home that traded concrete and steel for natural things. Damian is standing in front of the sink washing onions before moving them to the chopping board sitting on the countertop. He moves to the other side of the room where the storage cabinet are and opens the top, taking out glass bowls. I sit on the bar stool with my elbow bent on the counter and watch him dominate the kitchen.

"Who owns this place?" I ask after realizing that Damian won't say anything until I do. He enjoys the silence, I do too especially knowing what type of jackass he is, but I need answers.

"Mine." One word answer. His daddy taught well.

"It's different from the rest of the buildings here, why is that?" Not just the structure of the place, the location too. This place is the only visible house around. I noticed it when he was bringing me. It's like he specifically chose the other side of the island to be alone. The walk from the swamp Treta almost killed me to this place is pretty far.