The Perfect Beat

SOME UNEXPECTED PLANS

As I came down I saw Damien opening up the front door. I asked him where he was going off to while I was walking down stairs. He got startled and immediately closed the front door. ‘What? There’s no one outside’ he was being suspicious. I walked right up to him and said ‘That’s not what I was asking about and what’s even outside?’ I pushed him aside as he was blocking the door, when I opened it I saw a delivery boy holding a packaged box. ‘Delivery for Mr. Damien Banner’ the delivery boy exclaimed. I asked Damien what’s in the package but he only said it was nothing important that it was just a towel he ordered online.
Something felt wrong, why would he buy a single towel online? and how could it even fit in that tiny box. Damien signed the forms and the delivery boy headed his way. I was still curious what was in that package. I was about to ask him again but he quickly slipped it in his bag and asked about what my dad was doing. ‘Oh he’s busy doing some work for his boss again but he already ate don’t worry about him’ He was looking around the room then put his gaze on me and asked if I wanted to get some fresh air. I told him that we could go outside and that my dad told us to go out anyway to buy some food for us both. ‘Okay, I’ll just freshen up a bit then we could go’ I agreed with him. I did need to freshen up as well. Before I could head up stairs he told me that I should at least wear something pretty, something not too formal but not too casual; something in between.
I put on my mid leg length wraparound maroon dress and two inch black heels. I may have put on just a tinny tiny bit of make up because why not? I’m already wearing a pretty dress might as well fix my face. Before I could head down stairs I stopped by dad’s room to tell him that we were going into town. Without looking at me he told me to keep safe and to be home by eleven o’clock. I said goodbye and met Damien outside the front door. The moment I saw him my eyes widened, he was wearing a freakin’ suit!
As I was standing there thinking that how had he packed a whole suit in his bag he turned to me and exclaimed. ‘My my Miss Cambrook you look stunning tonight’ he took my hand and kissed it gently then he brought out a purple tulip in front of me. ‘Please do accept this flower as it looks vibrant as you milady.’
I felt my stomach make a giant flip. I took the flower and was about to ask him something when seconds later a car parked in front of us. I asked Damien if he knew who it was, when the car door opened I was shocked to see that it was his butler. ‘Monsieur, Mademoiselle your car is ready’ I was confused and told Damien that we were just going to go and get chinese food. ‘I thought we were just walking’ he looked at me and gave a soft smile ‘You look too beautiful right now just to go to a chinese place’ we gazed into each others eyes then he brushed my hair to the side. I seriously thought that he was about to kiss me right at that second. ‘But you still need to fix your hair, It’s a mess.’
Oh yeah I forget about my hair, guess I hoped too soon. We got inside the car and drove to this fancy restaurant; A five star restaurant. As I sat there looking out the car window stunned Damien opened the door for me and extended his hand helping me out of the car. ‘I made a reservation for us to the last minute, thankfully they made some adjustments to the seatings. Shall we?’ I placed my hand on his arm and we headed inside. I stood their in awe the moment I saw a giant chandelier hanging from the ceiling. ‘Wow, this place is beautiful but isn’t this place expensive?’ Damien came close to me after he asked for our table at the receptionist. ‘Hey, don’t think about it much what’s important is that we’re here and we’re gonna have a great time. We can even order take out for your dad.’ I asked if he can do it here and said to me that he’ll make things work for dad. It was so sweet of him to still think of my dad.
He showed me the way to our table which was on the second floor. Damien pulled out my seat and help me in; such a gentleman that’s why I love him. He looked so fine and sophisticated as I looked at him from across the table. The candle light dinner was an ideal date night if it was even a date for once. When the menu arrived I got very uncomfortable with the course meal. The words were hard to pronounce and to even look at and at that moment I could say to myself that if I would have married a rich man I know couldn’t keep up with this kind of life. But Damien? boy was he a natural like he was some kind of prince that got out of a fairy tale book. I was excited when our food finally arrived but then my excitement faded when the waiter place the plate on the table. The plate was just filled with small pieces of vegetables with yellow drizzles and it wasn't even that plenty. I know it’s a course meal but I’m just not used to eating little portions at a time, I’m more like a king sized burger kinda girl. It was on to our third course when I guessed Damien noticed that I wasn’t too talkative earlier because he was having a troubled look. I suddenly heard violins playing then a few waiters were coming upstairs I was thinking that someone here was going to propose. All of the sudden Damien got up and excused himself to use the gent’s room. Even his wordings were swoon-worthy. I told him that he should come back quickly because someones going to propose.
‘Yeah I think she’ll say no.’ He went down stairs when I was waiting for the band to come up but seconds later the music stopped. I wonder what happened maybe the girl left before they could even come up. I was playing around with my cornish cod when Damien arrived. ‘You’re right, I think the girl left before the band could come up.’ He fixed his tie and straightened his posture before asking me if I wanted to get out of here. He held my hand as we went out of the restaurant running. Once we were outside we quickly went to the car and he told his butler to deliver the food to my house. His butler was about to open the door for us when Damien stopped him, saying we were walking home instead. We saw his butler drive off and we continued to walk home.
As we were walking we chatted for a bit then he made this stupid magic trick that made me burst into laughter because it was so lame to look at. It was a coin trick; he got out a quarter and hid it in one of his hands. He asked me to pick where I think which hand the quarter was in. I chose his right hand then he suddenly placed both of his hands right below his chin like he was a little girl posing for a picture. It was hilarious that I couldn’t breath anymore, I was laughing for what felt like 3 minutes. I was still catching my breath when I saw Damien make a turn. ‘Hey, wait up!’ I shouted. As I caught up to him I asked we he’d make a turn here, I know for sure that we didn’t drive pass here. ‘Just follow me.’ He said while he was still walking in front of me. I don’t like this part of town and I have to admit that it did kind of scared me. I was walking very slowly as I looked around, observing my surroundings. The road was dark and there were some street lights flickering. Damien was way ahead of me then I heard a loud thud. I quickly pulled up my dress and ran as fast as I could to Damien while shouting his name. I stopped running when he suddenly got to a stop at a curve. ‘Hey man! why did you leave me there? I could have died!’ I was fuming with rage as he didn’t bother to wait for me. He turned his head to me then approached me ploddingly. ‘It’s part of the experience Emma’ wanting to know what he meant I asked him ‘What experience? Experience to have been scared to death?’ I said with an irritated voice.
He stepped back and turned around from me ‘Why do people tend to be happy when a storm had finally passed? It’s because of the storm itself. Sometimes you have to go through the downs before you appreciate the ups in your life. Why do you think a cup of brewed coffee tastes better when you had a bad day?’ he turned to me and smiled. I stood there speechless and I didn’t know what to say but what he said turned on my curiosity. If what happened to me was the storm then what comes after this?
I started to hear music from a distant ‘where’s that coming from?’ I asked Damien then he grabbed my hand and led me to a place not too far from the city. There was this open air stage with a band playing and people dancing around; there were hundreds of lights hanging across from tree to tree and also there were food carts. I asked Damien what this place was called and told me that it was an outdoor nightclub. ‘I always come here every Saturday night you’re gonna love this place’ He tried pulling me into the dance floor but I refused to do so. I told him that I’m not that comfortable dancing around so many people. He respected my decision and danced away. I could see the spark in his eyes whenever he would move his body to the beat of the music. I told him that I was just going to grab a burger because I was still hungry especially with all that running.
As I got to the burger stand a familiar music started playing then I just stared at the band playing when I heard someone ask ‘Do you know this song?’ It was the band vocalist, I replied with a yes then he jumped from the stage and gave me the microphone ‘The song is all yours’ he said as he looked at his band mates and pointed at me. They began to play electric touch right from the top and the vocalist pushed me up on stage. I was terrified, this was the first time I got to sing in front of so many people; alone. ‘Screw this Emma this is your chance! Just sing’ I said to myself as I closed my eyes and composed myself. Moments later I started singing. I could just hear myself at this moment and when I opened my eyes I saw people staring at me including Damien even the singer’s jaw dropped as I continued to sing. Before the chorus everyone started to count ‘1,2,1,2,3 Jump!’ then they started jumping. I caught my eye on Damien standing in front mumbling the lyrics then I asked him to join me in singing. He was still refusing to but when I leaned down and pointed the microphone in front of him. My eyes widened, he sang it flawlessly. I never knew his voice sounded this good. My heart melted the moment I heard him sing like this, he was really everything -- he’s perfect. The singer pulled Damien up on stage and gave him his own microphone. I could see in the singer’s face that he was amazed. We sang the rest of the song together and when we finished the crowd cheered for us.
We looked at each other as both of us were catching our breaths. I got close to him and asked since when did he’s voice sounded that good and that high. ‘I might have hired a private vocal coach just so I could sing with you someday’ I smiled and placed my hand on his cheek. ‘You’re silly but sweet’ I got lost in his eyes again when I pulled back my hand moments later the vocalist came up on stage and said ‘Okay everyone give it up for’ he turned to us quickly and asked for our names ‘Give it up for Emma and Damien thank you for jamming with us! What a perfect couple!’ I cut him short and said ‘Oh he’s not my boyfriend.’ the singer squinted his eyes and moved the microphone away from his face ‘Is he though?’ I assured the singer again then he mouthed something to Damien. I didn’t know what he said then Damien just gave him a shrug. ‘Bummer, we’ll thanks for your performance. You guys did amazing!’ the singer shook hands with us then we got down from the stage. The band played another song that all of us can dance to. Damien went to the back of the stage and got me a chair ‘So you won’t need to be standing all night’ he placed the chair behind me but I refused to sit down. He did something out of his comfort zone just for me then I have to at least try to know how to dance for him.
‘You know what, I’ll come with you’ he backed up a bit when he heard me say those words ‘Are my ears deceiving me? You’re really gonna dance?’ ‘Yup, how hard could it be?’
We went together to the dance floor and I started to dance a little. Damien must have noticed that I was a little nervous so he came close to me ‘Girl, my grandma can dance better than you. What have I told you before? Just let the music take over and move you’re body. I followed his advise and closed my eyes then suddenly my feet started moving then my legs and before I knew I was dancing. ‘See, you got the hang of it already’ I continued to dance and moments later I saw Damien just standing there, staring. I stopped and asked him if something was wrong, he shrugged and said ‘I just couldn’t get this thought out of my head as I look at you while you’re dancing. Emma! you’re a good dancer why have you not tried to dance before?!’ I laughed and asked Damien if he was joking but surprisingly he wasn’t. He was really serious about what he had said to me.
I paused for a second. ‘Really? I am?’ I uttered in disbelief then he came closer to me and gave a gentle knock on my head ‘Ah hello, aren’t I the expert here? What I say is what I see and I never lie when it comes to talent’ I smiled at him looking deep into his gorgeous eyes that was sparkling underneath the dimmed lights hanging above us. I suddenly felt his hand touch mine. ‘I will never ever lie about someone’s talent and -- there is also one thing that I will never lie about. As he tried to come more closer to me the upbeat music suddenly changed into a love song. I was standing there still and I felt that the world had stopped as if I was in a movie, just me and him and --- rain drops?
People started to run for shelter from the rain that instantly poured down on us. I took Damien’s hand and dragged him to the nearest building that was 50 yards away from us. The moment we got to the building we were already soaking wet from the rain. We looked at each as we were breathing in double time and started laughing. ‘We’re gonna get sick tomorrow I’m sure of it’ I said to Damien. ‘On a Sunday? I will never let my body give in to some cold.’
We could tell right away that both of us were freezing. I could feel my legs trembling and hear my teeth shaking. Damien took of his blazer, gave it a wring and wore it around my back. ‘But you’re freezing’ I said to him with concerned voice. ‘Emma between you and I, you’re the one who’s nearly freezing to death.’ I smiled at him and thanked him. We got silent for a moment as we hear the sound of rain falling to the ground and chatters of other people behind us. I broke our silence when I asked him what he was going to tell me earlier. He straightened his back and said it was nothing important. ‘I’ll just tell you some other time’
After 15 minutes the heavy rain stopped and we decided that we should head home if we didn’t want to get a cold the next day. We walked through the same creepy street but now he never left my side. As we were at the main street we saw a car coming towards us. It stopped and we were met by his butler. He said he had came back for us the moment it started to rain. He was driving for minutes trying to find where we took shelter. ‘Might I suggest for Mademoiselle and Monsieur to get inside the car for warmth as both of you are drench’ his butler uttered as he opened the door for us. We drove home and they dropped me of at my place. I said my goodbye and thanked Damien for this unforgettable experience that he made possible. We said goodnight to each other then they drove off. I entered my front door and noticed dad’s still awake. I locked the door and made my way up stairs just to find my dad all dozed. I turned of the lights and saw on his laptop that he already sent the presentation to his boss so I closed it and placed it on his night stand. I didn’t want to wake him up so I ever so gently closed his door. I went inside my bathroom to take a shower, got into my pajamas and went to sleep. I'm pretty sure I'm not gonna have nightmares tonight after this unforgettable day.