Her Baby's Daddy

Chapter 5

The club throbbed with pulsating music and sweaty bodies, a surprising scene for a Monday night. Damian weaved through the crowd, making his way to the VIP section, where he expected to find his friend Stefan. As he anticipated, Stefan was already there, holding a bottle of vodka and two glasses.

"Sup, bro?" Stefan greeted him with a hearty bro hug as soon as he spotted him.

"Good, I guess," Damian replied as they settled into their seats. He grabbed an empty glass, pouring it full to the brim before taking a long swig. The familiar burn of the alcohol slid down his throat, but his mind was too preoccupied to dwell on it.

"Your mood seems off and I'm guessing it has something to do with your mom, she's been blowing up my phone all day asking of you," Stefan observed.

Damian wasn't surprised since he had shut since phone down since he closed form work. His mother had interpreted his 'soon' to be evening so he had gotten tired of her constant calls.

"She won't stop pressuring me about Lauren. Every time she calls, it's about her and when we are getting married, even after repeatedly telling her I don't want to marry her," he vented in frustration.

"Tell your dad to talk to her. What does Lauren think about it?" Stefan inquired.

"Is that all, or is there something else on your mind?" Stefan asked. Him and Stefan had been friends for as long as he could remember, they practically know so much about each other.

"Why do you think complaining about my mum is not the only reason I called you out?" Damian asked before taking a sip from his glass.

"I know you, man. It's more than that. Otherwise, you wouldn't have called me out on a Monday night just to get drunk and complain about your mum," Stefan said as he, too, took a sip from his glass.

"Alright, I met someone. I can't explain it, but I feel an overwhelming urge to see her again," Damian confessed, feeling relieved to finally share with someone.

"What's holding you back from seeing her?" Stefan inquired, turning to look at Damian, who lifted his glass to his lips for another gulp.

"She is a pole dancer," he said, noticing the judgmental look on Stefan's face. Hastily, he added, "And that's not the reason. I just don't know how to approach her." He took another sip from his almost-empty glass, realizing that the alcohol would soon start taking effect.

"So, Damian Lillard, the notorious Casanova, doesn't know how to approach a lady and tell her he likes her?" Stefan teased, earning a glare from Damian.

"It might seem funny to you, but this is the first time I've felt this way about any woman. She just captivated me, man," he muttered.

All through the day at work, he busied himself by browsing through her social media. Although she wasn't much of a social media person, she was always tagged by someone named Annabelle White, who he assumed was her friend. Looking through her pictures and innocent looks, it was hard for him to reconcile such a face with the pole dancer who had captivated him.

"Before we even consider you asking her out, what are you going to do about your parents? We should have addressed that first," Stefan pointed out.

Damian took a big swig from his glass, finishing the drink. He poured another one and downed it halfway, deep in thought. He had thought about it a whole lot, though he wasn't sure if what he was feeling was long-term or just a passing infatuation.

Even though he had told himself countless times that it was just a passing phase, the idea of dealing with the media fallout, which would not only affect him but also his parents and her, weighed heavily on his mind.

"I still don't know if what I'm feeling for her is just lust or something more, but if it's long-term, I think my dad would be accepting of her since she is a business management student. But my mom, I don't know," he replied.

"What I really need right now is to get her out of my head for a while. It feels like I'm going insane with desire," he added before taking another gulp. As he reached for the bottle to refill his glass, Stefan took it away. Damian could feel the effects of the alcohol creeping in.

"I've never seen you like this, man. You've got it bad for her," Stefan said, shaking his head. For as long as he could remember, girls had always been after Damian, so seeing him in this state over a girl didn't seem right.