Damian and Maya sat with his mother and hers, sorting through the various clothing options for the wedding. Maya's fingers traced over the rich fabrics, her mind only half-focused on the task.
When she picked the maroon blouse as her wedding attire, Damian's mother gave a small, knowing smile, while her mother stayed silent, neither questioning her choice. It was as if they already knew—knew what had happened earlier when Damian had followed her into the room.
The memory sent heat to her face, and despite her best efforts to stay composed, her gaze drifted toward him. He was already looking at her, his eyes holding a mischievous glint. When his lips curved into a smirk, she quickly averted her eyes, her cheeks burning with embarrassment.
After a while, once they had all chosen their wedding attire. The decision was made, and both families agreed to move on to the next step—preparing the wedding invitations.
The wedding was only two days away, and the invitations had yet to be sent out. While their close relatives didn't need invitations, Damian's side of the family was unaware of the wedding, so they needed them. his mother, suggested they get the invitations out as soon as possible.
Now, the task of sending out invitations was something her father and Joga, were more than willing to handle themselves.
"Maya, do you want to invite anyone?", Out of nowhere, Damian asked,
"Yes, I want to invite my friends," Maya replied
Joga feigning niceness, responded, "Yes, we've already listed all of her---."
"Did you invite Grace? I want her to come to my wedding." As if she had dropped a bomb, the room fell silent. Well, her whole family went silent.
Damian's family didn't even know what she was referring to. her mother touched her arm as if to tell her to quiet down, but she didn't even look at her.
he noticed the interaction and said, "Grace will be invited."
Maya looked at Damian, shocked, and then smiled when she saw the understanding in his expression. He didn't even ask why her father and brother were so keen on not inviting Grace. He didn't question who Grace was, why she was inviting her, or why her father and brother were so opposed to it. He simply supported her, and that made her feel good.
It was in the evening when Damian and his mother went home. They had decided everything—everything—for the wedding. Before going home, after everything was settled, she quickly went to her room and shut the door. She moved to sit on the bed.
Sitting on the bed, all the memories of the day made her breath hitch. She had never, never thought that this could happen, and she had never done anything like this before. It felt so... good. And that was just the beginning. She wondered what else Damian was good at.
She quickly took out the phone Damian had given her before going back. A mobile phone, just like the men in her village had. She now had one too. No one knew he had given it to her so they could talk when they were apart. She quickly opened it, just like he had taught her.
The wallpaper was a photo he had taken of her on their first visit to the city. It was a picture of her eating street food. She felt giddy and giggled. He had saved his number.
She quickly and carefully handled the phone with care and switched it off. he had told her he would call her tonight, so she didn't want to drain the battery.
She had never had this type of luxury and was afraid of carelessly dropping it or losing it. Yet now, she knew how to call him and turn the phone on and off. But he had promised her that he would teach her everything about this phone.
It was eleven at night when Damian went to bed and took out his phone, wondering if he should call her at this time. He was unsure whether she was already in bed or not before calling her. After pondering for fifteen minutes, he decided he would call her and dialed her number. He had given her the phone so they could talk at night.
If they had been bonded, they could have communicated with each other even without any technology, using a mind-link. However, since they had not yet bonded, they had to rely on human technology. Maya didn't have a phone, so he gave her one and also taught her how to manage basic things on it.
She is smart and quickly understood how to receive a call and how to call him, so why was she taking so long to pick up?
"Hello,"
Finally, after the sixth ring, the call was picked up, and her breathy voice came through the phone.
"Maya, what took—"Before he could finish, she spoke. "Damian, give me five minutes. I'll call you back."
There was a sound as if the phone was put down on the surface, followed by the sounds of a door being shut, some ruffling, and shuffling coming through the speakers.
"What is she doing?" he wondered, listening keenly.
After a while, she spoke again. "Hello, sorry about that, Damian."
"It's okay. Did you eat?" It was good to start the conversation with a light topic.
"Yes, it's 11 at night, okay? Why wouldn't I have eaten?" she replied and He smiled upon hearing it and switched the call to video mode.
"What is this, Damian? What—"
"Swipe up the green icon.
"After a while, Maya's face appeared on the screen, but she quickly turned the camera away from her.
"Maya, pan the camera towards you. I want to look at you."
Now, the camera was facing the ceiling and the fan—nothing more. He could hear the shuffling in the background.
"Wait, why didn't you tell me it was a video call?" came her reply, her voice distant.
"Maya," he demanded again, and this time, Maya's face came back into the frame.
After adjusting the camera and framing it, she sat down in front of it, her back supported by the headboard of her bed. Her hair was loose, cascading down her shoulders, and she wore a comfortable white blouse and a skirt. Damian couldn't help but smile at the sight of her. She seemed relaxed and natural, yet there was a hint of shyness in the way she hesitated.
"What is it?" Maya asked when he remained silent, smiling to himself. It seemed like he was lost in thought, and she raised an eyebrow, curious.
"What are you doing?" she asked, leaning a little closer to the camera, her voice soft.
he smiled, then replied, "I just took a shower. What about you?"
her eyes softened as she answered, "Just got ready for bed".
After talking for a while, Damian decided it was time to ask Maya something that had been on his mind for a long time. It was about Grace.
He had been meaning to ask her about the situation but didn't want to come across as judgmental. He took a deep breath, carefully choosing his words.
"Maya, can I ask you something?" Damian began, his tone calm and gentle, not wanting to make her uncomfortable. "It's about Grace... I've been wondering for a while. When you told everyone you wanted to invite her to the wedding, everyone seemed pretty shocked. Can you tell me more about her? What's the situation with Grace? I mean, why do your family members seem so... opposed to her?"
He asked the question, making sure his voice didn't carry any judgment, just genuine curiosity and concern.
Maya fell silent, her mind racing. She knew this conversation would come she wasn't sure how to approach it. Grace was her friend. She stared at the phone, trying to gather her thoughts, but the words felt stuck in her throat.
How could she explain it? How could she tell him that Grace wasn't just any ordinary friend—that she worked in a profession most people judged without a second thought? she wasn't ashamed of Grace; she was her friend. But how could she make him understand that?
She could already imagine the judgment in his eyes, the questions about her choices, about what it said about her. What would he think of her? Would he see her differently? Would he question her character because of the company she kept?
Taking a deep breath, she began to speak, her voice barely a whisper. "Grace is my friend, and I don't want you to think less of her, or me, because of it."
he listened carefully to her words, his expression softening as he realized just how much this meant to her. He could sense the weight of her internal struggle, the vulnerability in her voice, and it made him more determined to show her that he wasn't going to judge her for her choices.
"Maya," he said, his voice steady but filled with sincerity, "I will never, ever think less of you for the people who are important to you. They are important to me, too."
He paused for a moment, his thoughts drifting toward his secret, thinking about how she would react when she found out that the man she was marrying was not the man she thought he was.
Barely whispering, Maya said, "Grace is a prostitute. She works on the outskirts of the city, and everyone in the village doesn't like her."
Her voice was barely above a whisper. If it wasn't for his supernatural hearing, he might not have been able to hear her at all.
"So this was a big secret you were very hesitant to tell me about?" Damien replied.
Maya looked at him, shocked, and asked, "You're not going to judge me for who I'm friends with, are you?"
"No, I'm not going to judge you," Damien replied. "So what if you're friends with one of the girls? I'm sure it's nothing. Listen, Maya, you have to understand that you can tell me everything. We're getting married, and I will support you, no matter what."
"Would you not support me if I said the same thing about you? Like, if I were in your place, would you have not supported me?" Damien asked, hoping she would understand his perspective on the matter.
"I don't know. Honestly, I don't know," Maya replied. "But I would have thought about it. Like, if you were friends with a prostitute, that's one thing. But I'm a girl and friends with a prostitute, people are not going to question whether I'm sleeping with her or not. But if you're a man and friends with a prostitute, it means you're having an affair with her."
This was not the response he was expecting. He was shocked by her words, but he understood where she was coming from. Indeed, the world would likely judge a man for being friends with a prostitute and assume he was sleeping with her. He could see her perspective.
"But I know you're not friends with a prostitute, are you? Are you?" Maya asked, the question lingering on her tongue. She wanted to ask but wasn't sure if she should, and quickly added, "No, no, you don't have to answer it. I mean, of course, you had partners before me. I'm just asking."
his mind began to race. Of course, he had many partners before her, but how could he tell her that? He didn't want her to know. But there was no one else but her, and in the future, there would be no one else. She is his mate.
If he had known that he would find his mate like this, he never would have made himself available to any other woman before her.
"Maya, I'll be honest with you," he began, his voice sincere. "I didn't anticipate that we would be having this conversation over the phone. But I want to tell you personally that there were many girls before you, but they meant nothing to me. It's just you."
she could tell he was being truthful and sincere. She tried to be logical about it—after all, he was seven years older than her, had experienced more of the world, and of course, he would have been with other women before her.
She should understand that. But still, the thought of them being near him made her jealous. She considered ending the call but decided to be more reasonable."Hmmm, I know... I mean, I understand," she replied, though her voice strained despite her best efforts to sound casual.
It didn't quite come out as intended.
Damien could see that she was bothered by this conversation, even though she tried to hide it. Her expression showed more than her words did.
"Maya, please don't—" He was cut off by her voice,
"I just have one question, just one question. Please answer this truthfully. I understand everything you said, but for my peace," she spoke quickly, almost as if she didn't trust herself to ask but felt she needed to.
he fell silent, sensing the weight of the question. Whatever she was about to ask, he knew it would likely change her impression of him.
He silently hoped he could answer in a way that would preserve her trust in him.
Maya took a deep breath and asked, her voice heavy with anticipation, "Have you ever visited a brothel?"
The question hung in the air like a storm cloud. Damian felt his stomach tighten. For a brief moment, he regretted opening the video call.
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