The Devil Behind Me (9 page)

The little rush of customers
I had ended and I waited for more to come. The day was long and my mind kept wondering over to Daimon. My phone sang its suspenseful song and I knew it was him. For some reason my heart skipped as I reached for my phone nervously. 

There was no way I could do it. I had no one to replace me.

I waited knowing he’d be pissed or even worse misunderstand.

Shit

I tried calling him, I even sent him more texts explaining why I couldn’t, but he wouldn’t reply to me. 

I watched as the clock st
ruck at the hour I was supposed to be there. I knew I was in for it. He would make me pay. I waited, but nothing happened; not one call, not one text, which only made me feel more uneasy. I finished the night and headed home.

There in front of my house
was Daimon, waiting. I lowered my shoulders knowing I was about to get into a fight. I was too tired and didn’t have any energy for it. I walked up to him like I was his puppy and he was my master, waiting for him to rail into me.

“What’s with th
e face, Addie? Feeling guilty?” he said gruffly.

“
Just yell at me and get it over with already,” I breathed.

“Lead the
way,” he extended his hand.

“What way?” I looked up at him
, not knowing what he meant. 

“This is your house
, right? Don’t you remember what I said last time? Now lead the way Addie and let’s meet my lover’s family,” Daimon smirked, but I knew he was angry.

“Daimon, please. Please, Daimon,” I pleaded. I grabbed onto his hand and held on.

“This is new
, you’ve never begged me before,” he huffed and released his hand from me. He walked up to my wire fence and unhinged it. 

“
Daimon,” I cried out, but he continued on his way until he reached my door. I ran to catch up to him, but he had already knocked. We both stood on my porch, glaring at each other. The silence was broken by my father.

“Addie? Addie
, sweetheart, did you forget your keys?” My father opened the door and stood back, surprised to see Daimon was there.

“
Hi Daddy,” I said softly as I entered. My father looked weak and tired as he headed back to his armchair. “How are you feeling?” I asked as I helped him sit down. 

“
Better,” he smiled, but didn’t meet my eyes. 

“
This is Daimon. He wanted to meet you.” I smiled, trying desperately not to show how angry and betrayed I felt. 

Daimon
stepped in and offered my father his hand. He shook my father’s hand and sat down across from him. 

“Hello
, sir. I'm sorry to intrude on you so late at night, but Addie makes it almost impossible for me to see her. I wanted to introduce myself to you and tell you that I'm seeing your daughter,” Daimon said flatly.  

“My daughter doe
s work hard. I'm sorry for that,” my father said ruefully.

“Daddy
, it’s okay,” I murmured.

“It’s not
, Addie, but I understand. It’s nice to meet you, Daimon,” my father said. “Addie? Why don’t you get the young man something to drink while he’s here?” my father said, sending me away.

I'm sure
he wanted to do the fatherly duties and ask Daimon all the questions he wanted without me being there. I left the living room and headed inside the kitchen to prepare some tea and coffee. 

“
So what do you do, Daimon?” I heard my father ask.

“I own a company in Lower
Manhattan.”

“I see and how did
you meet Addie?” My father was just getting started. 

“
In high school, she was a classmate of mine. She never told you about me?” Daimon seemed surprised.

“Addie
has hardly ever spoken about high school,” my father offered.

“Really?”
Daimon said seemingly annoyed. 

“
So why come introduce yourself, Daimon?” My father got right to the point.

“
Because I care about her and I wanted to meet her family. Addie hardly tells me anything so I make it my business to find out as much as I can about her,” Daimon said rather calmly.

“Addie
rarely tells me how she feels and if you think you can change that then I would be grateful.” My father chuckled knowing it was an impossible task. 

I came back into the
room as I heard footsteps upstairs. For sure, Sofia would come down and want to see who was here. I put the tray, which had the coffee, and tea onto the coffee table just as Sofia came running down the stairs.

“
Sofia, I'm assuming. I didn’t get to talk to you the last time we met.” Daimon stood and extended his hand to her. 

“
Yes,” she said quietly. She moved her head to the side and looked at me.

“
This is Daimon Evans,” I stated.

“
Oh, so is this who Frank was talking about?” Sofia looked right at him trying to challenge him. 

“Frank
, the ex you mean?” Daimon fired back, ready for her. “Yes, I met Frank, an interesting fellow.”

“
Sofia,” I called out her name as a warning. 

“
Whatever,” she said as she ran up the stairs.

“
She met Frank.” My father turned to me, his face somber.

“
Dad,” I said hoping he’d understand and stop. 

“I
guess Frank was a regular,” Daimon said rather bitterly.

“
He was a regular, but he isn’t anymore.” My father grew angry. 

“
Dad, please!” My father groaned under his breath moving his hand onto his belly.

“If
you would excuse me,” my father said as he stood up. I could hear his stomach react to his anger over what had just happened. I ran up to Daimon, seized his arm, and made him face me.

“
Why? Why did you do this?” I could feel myself starting to sob as I shook. Daimon just stared at me. 

“
Your father?” he asked.

“
Yes! My father is sick. He has a severe case of Crohn’s.” I admitted to him. 

“
How long?” Daimon looked at me with concern.

“
Long, really long,” I said quietly, biting down on my lip in an attempt to not cry.

“Addie…
” Daimon stopped.

“Don’t
. Don’t you dare look at me with pity. I don’t want it, especially from you. You’ve done your punishment, can you leave now?” I asked, begging him to go. Daimon took my hand and led me outside, closing the door behind me. 

“
Why didn’t you ever say anything?” he said bitterly, his angry eyes were cold, chilling me to the bone.

“
My personal life is my own. What business is it of yours?” I attacked. 

“
Addie, if you are to be mine, I need to know all aspects of your life. Don’t you understand I need you to be safe? In order to do that I need to know everything.” He leaned in close so I would hear him clearly. His words rang loudly in my ears and in my heart. The more I was with him the more I had to remember this was a game we were both playing.

“
Leave,” I said roughly. 

“
This isn’t over, Addie. Tomorrow you better tell me every fucking thing about you,” he said angrily. 

“
Not on your fucking life Daimon. That’s giving you way too much power. I'm only playing your girlfriend. You don’t need to know everything,” I hissed.  A muffled fuck came out of him as he stood quietly glaring at me.

“
Is this why, Addie? Is this why you didn’t go to Yale? Is this why you work as much as you do?” Daimon barked after a few minutes of silence.

“I do what I have to for those I love.
I work because my dad can’t,” I choked out.

“
So sell the damn thing!” Daimon yelled in a hushed voice.

“
Don’t you think I’ve tried? He doesn’t want to,” I snapped. 

“
You have to be fucking kidding me right? You’re telling me you work every fucking day in that shithole so your dad can do what, Addie? Make money?” he challenged. 

“This is
of no concern to you. Why do you even care what we do? In a few weeks this will be all over and I won’t need to even see you nor will you need to see me,” I said coldly. He brooded as he looked at me his lip twitching.

“
Anything to do with you, concerns me,” Daimon said fiercely.

“Why?” I bit out. “Why does it concern you?”

Daimon stood silent, his eyes never wavering. He let out a loud sigh and left me standing on my porch as he entered his car and drove off. I was completely stupefied by his behavior.

I reentered my
house; my father must have gone to sleep. I went up to my bedroom to a waiting Sofia who looked angry as she sat on her bed waiting. 

“So that was
Daimon,” she spat out. 

“Yes
, that was Daimon,” I said, already annoyed at her.

“Frank…”

“Enough with Frank,” I hissed.“I don’t ever want to hear the fucking name again. Frank and I are done. We were done ages ago. So who I choose now is none of your business. I'm twenty nine and I'm not about to ask you for permission on who I date and what I do.” I unleashed all my frustrations out on Sofia; the girl pushed the wrong buttons at the wrong time.

I could see her about to cry
, not because I yelled, but because she was frustrated. I knew how she felt about Frank. But Daimon was the one I was seeing now, I was seeing him for her. So she could go off and do the things I couldn’t.

“Fine!” s
he barked and threw herself onto the bed, turning off the light on her nightstand and burrowing herself under her covers.

My time was always taken up by something and the only thing I had left which made me feel whole was running. I hadn’t been able to run since the moment Daimon entered my life. I was so angry at Daimon for so easily entering my home and finding my father at his worst. I never wanted Daimon to see that part of my life, afraid he would ridicule it like he did everything else. 

“
Earth to Addie! Hellloo?” I snapped out of my daze and saw Elissa waving at me. 

“
When did you get in?” I asked as I waited for Jace to finish up my drinks. 

“
A while ago, I was telling you I was pregnant and that’s when I knew you were off in your own land,” she laughed.

“
What? Wait? What?” I freaked.

“
Relax, I was joking, trying to get your attention. Come on, Addie. Me? Pregnant? Girl, I'm allergic to that,” she scoffed.

“Holy shit you scared me.
You having a child would turn my already screwed up view on life askew,” I mocked.

“
You’re a funny girl, you know that?” she teased.

“I try
.” I shrugged.

“
So are you ready for tonight?” she asked. Elissa had asked me to go out with her after work and I said yes. I figured what’s another day without sleep. 

“
Yeah, I am,” I said, still lost in my thoughts.

“
What? Afraid Mr. Moneybags won’t let you go out?” she asked with annoyance.

“
Hey! Owner of Addie,” she cried out. “You mind if your girlfriend comes out with me?” she yelled to the other side of the bar. I looked up to see an intense stare from Daimon. When did he get here? 

“
Why not?” he cried out. “It’s not like I can control Addie.” He continued to stare at me, fusing me where I stood. He lifted his glass and drank his alcohol, his eyes focused on me. 

“
Thanks,” waved Elissa. “I honestly don’t know what the fuck you see in him. Yeah, he’s hot and loaded, but man there’s this asshole vibe which comes right off him,” she said disapprovingly. “Addie? Addie? Are you even listening to me?” She pulled at my arm, taking me away from Daimon’s eyes. I half-smiled and shrugged. 

“
What is it with you and shrugging today? Are shrugs free? Is that it?” She shook her head. 

“You’re up
, Addie.” Jace knocked on the bar to tell me my drinks were ready. I took the tray and went off to my tables. 

The
night was great, except for a rowdy bunch of men who weren’t New Yorkers. I couldn’t tell where they were from, but there was a twang in there speech.

“
Come here, girl,” shouted one of them. I looked over from a table I was finishing up with, to see a big burly man waving me over. I sighed at the idea of having to deal with half drunken men. I slowly made my way over. I dragged my feet, hoping they’d forget I was coming. But it didn’t happen as they watched me walking over to them.

“
Yes,” I smiled the fake smile all people have when working with the public.

“
Why don’t you sit with us, sweetheart?” he smiled and the rest of the guys laughed. The man was big but stout, making him seem slightly overweight.

“Can’t
. I'm working,” I lied. Darren wanted us to be efficient in our work but also seem friendly when it was needed. On this occasion it wasn’t needed. I wanted to spill my drinks all over them if I could.

“
Oh, come on, sweet thing.” He went to grab at my apron but I moved back and all he clutched at was air. 

“
Thanks for the offer, though,” I smiled but inside my head I was swearing at him. I started to make my way back to the bar when the overbearing man slapped my ass. Hard! I yelped out in pain. I turned and our eyes met, he laughed, but I glared at him.

“
Did you just do that?” I seethed. 

“
Oh come on, angel. It was only a slap on the ass, nothing more,” he chuckled. At that moment, I felt the room shift as I was pulled back. Daimon flew over me, grabbed at the man’s collar, and punched him hard on the face.

“
Daimon!” I cried out in surprise. I dropped my empty tray and went to pull him off, but Darren held onto me.

“
Don’t worry, Pete’s coming,” Darren reassured me. Pete and two of his new guys arrived and pulled Daimon away from the slaphappy bastard. “Don’t worry, sir, we’ll take good care of them,” Pete said to Daimon. The two guys ushered the gang outside while Pete dragged the unconscious slaphappy bastard away.

“
Are you okay?” Darren asked as he looked me over. 

“
Yeah, I'm fine. I wasn’t expecting my ass to get slapped, that’s for sure.” I half-laughed, adrenaline still pumping inside me. 

I looked over to
Daimon. He stood far away from me as he looked me over, his white shirt slightly askew while his jeans had some blood on them. I moved away from Darren and walked over to Daimon.

“
What were you thinking?” I asked surprised at my feelings of concern and worry that had taken over. He moved in closer to close the gap between us.

“I was thinking someone
was touching what was mine and I didn’t like it,” he gritted out. 

“
Daimon…” I said, but he stopped me.

“I told you I didn’t
want you working here anymore. I don’t like the idea of men looking at you the way they do,” he hissed.

“
Daimon, you’re bleeding,” I said as I took his hand, but he yanked it away from me and left. He walked back to the bar and ordered another drink.

“Addie
, whatever you two got going on, a part of me is happy, the other is afraid. I haven’t seen Daimon act like this since high school,” Darren said cautiously.

“He was an asshole in high school
. All he ever did was bully me to no end,” I said, trying not to sound as bitter as I felt.

“
Addie…” he waved his hand and exhaled. “Forget it.”

I
walked over to the bar where Daimon sat and took his hand without him noticing I was there. He flinched as I touched him.

“
Relax, Daimon. I want to see if your hand is okay.” I looked at his hand, turning it and examining what he had done to himself. 

Talk
about flying off the handle. Then again, appearances mattered to Daimon and no one ever mishandled what he thought was his, which meant me in high school, or me tonight in this bar. To him I was his personal toy, his entertainment, which meant no one was to touch me. I resented him and his attention. I hated him then, but now my hate moved down a notch and I only disliked him…sometimes. He watched me as I cleaned off the blood, which had dried up with a clean, moist bar towel.

“
What are you doing?” he whispered low, his rough voice making my heart skip.

“
My job,” I said without thinking. 

“
You always do your job well. Don’t you, Addie?” he said spitefully. I stopped what I was doing and looked at him. His eyes were ice cold, his face hard as he scowled.

“
Why? Why do you hate me so much? I don’t get it?” I asked under my breath afraid others would hear us. “In high school you treated me like shit. Now you come back into my life and corner me into this ridiculous situation. Sometimes I think you’ve changed, but then you turn back to being the Daimon I knew in high school. Why? What could I have ever possibly done to you?” I asked defeated and tired of his shit, but all Daimon did was glare at me. “Fine, Daimon, reduce everything I do to the least common denominator. I'm all about money then. If that’s how you see me then that’s who I am.” I threw the towel on the bar and left. 

***

“It doesn’t look like you two are doing too well,” Elissa admitted. She took me to French Roast on 11
th
street close to the West Village. When the waiter finally came with our order, Elissa nearly grabbed the plate out of the waiter’s hand; she was hungry for her Croque Monsieur. She licked her lips and rubbed her hands together as she stared at it.

“
It’s just a rough patch,” I said quietly as I picked at my croquettes the waiter had placed in front of me. I was happily thinking about when this farce with Daimon would end.

“
It might be a rough patch, and he is an asshole, but at least you both have the sizzle,” she said, cutting into her sandwich. 

“The
sizzle?” I wondered.

“Yeah
! The sizzle. It’s pretty awesome to watch you two go at each other,” she laughed. She put a fork full of food in her mouth and moaned at the flavors. “So good,” she muttered as she chewed. “So tell me about Frank,” she said, looking over at me.

“
How do you know about Frank?” I asked, nervous at what she knew.

“
I overheard Daimon and Darren talking, something about your old boyfriend sniffing around you,” she said nonchalantly.

“
Frank…Frank.” I stopped and exhaled.

“I'm assuming
it’s pretty bad.” She put her fork down and waited.

“
Frank was really nice when I first met him. Sweet even. He was supportive with everything. He knew how much I had to work and why and didn’t care. Said I made him happy. That’s until the whole economy decided to go south. He lost his job and lost, I guess, his confidence. He went out looking for work, but no one was hiring. He started to drink and kept taking from his savings. I tried to help as much as I could, but he changed, becoming strange and obsessive. Telling me I’d leave him.” A memory came back and I cringed.
‘You stupid bitch, you’re going to leave me too, now that I'm a failure.’
I shook it off and continued. “He started to…hit me. At first it was a slap here and there. I kept making excuses for him. Trying to rationalize it all, but it kept getting worse. Until one night,” I said grimly.

“
What happened that night?” Elissa asked softly. The bistro sounds became muffled as I closed my eyes, remembering that night as it flooded back. The memory became vivid and so real. I took a deep breath and exhaled, reminding myself of it was long ago.

“
He was pretty drunk. I remember beer bottles everywhere. I had enough and thought maybe tough love would work. But it didn’t. He beat me and then reached for a beer bottle and…” I stopped and opened my eyes; my body shook at the recollection of that night. “My father was with me when I woke up in the hospital.” I swallowed the giant lump that was nearly choking me.

“Jesus Christ
, Addie,” she murmured. 

“He
was arrested and I was left with a scar on my lower back for it. I hadn’t seen him since, until now,” I admitted.

“So what does he want now?”
Elissa’s voice trembled with worry.

“I don’t know,
” I murmured. “I really don’t know.”

The suspense song came ringing through my
iPhone. Elissa looked at me curiously making me smile. “It’s his ringer.” I shrugged as I took it out of my pocket and read my text.