A beautiful storm *COMPLETE*

Invitations

DAMIEN POV

I pulled into the pay-to-park lot, opened the app on my phone, and gave myself a few hours time there. Looking at the clock, I realized in my rush to avoid conversation with my mom, I left 45 minutes early. I stepped out of the car, basking in the heat of the mid-morning sun. I walked along the boardwalk, heading for the popular Navvare pier. I used to come here a lot as a kid. Dad always took me fishing. I walked slowly. Nothing had really changed. The little bait shack was still sat at the beginning of the pier. I stopped to buy a cold water, before continuing my way down. The benches that lined the sides still looked the same. I walked over to the one on the right, finding the initials I carved in it when I was nine. My dad took Collin and I out here for a day of fishing. We were bored, the fish weren’t biting, so we decided to carve our initials into the bench while my dad wasn’t looking. Or so we thought. He noticed as I was carving the underline of our C+D. To say he was furious would be an understatement. I was grounded for a month for defacing city property. Collin’s dad laughed it off, saying that we were just kids, and my father was too harsh. In my dad’s eye, he was raising me to be a good man. I ran my hand over the letters. I’d like to come out here fishing again. My dad never took me back after that day.

I walked down to the end of the pier looking over the edge. I spotted a few dolphins leap out of the water. I heard a squeal to my left just as one of them shot water high into the air. I looked over and saw a girl looking excitedly at her phone. She leaned back over the pier, snapping photos of the dolphins. She had beautiful, long, pitch black hair. She was wearing a tank top and short jean shorts that showed off her long legs. I walked over to her. “Never captured a dolphin shooting water out before?” She looked over at me, instantly blushing. “Seen them plenty of times. Never captured one on camera!” she responded excitedly. She had striking green eyes. Her excitement over capturing the dolphins made me smile. “Mind if I see the picture?” She scooted a little closer to me, handing over the phone. She had impeccable timing. It really was a great picture. As I handed her phone back, I noticed her tank top was from the SANDbar. I glanced up and she was giving me the ‘I caught you staring at my boobs’ look. “Do you work at SANDbar?” She looked down and back to me, just realizing that I may not have been looking at her chest. Not that I didn’t notice, but you know, not my intention exactly. “Yeah, actually. I’m the assistant manager.” she beamed. Well, lucky me. My new boss is gorgeous. I smile, moving my glasses to my head, and outstretching my hand “I’m Damien. Your new bartender.” She looks surprised, but smiles “Nice to meet you, Damien, I’m Madeline. It’s kind of nice to put a face to a name.” She stared at me for a while, her eyes roaming head to toe. I smirk internally. She’s definitely checking me out. At least the feeling is mutual. “You as well. I look forward to starting training tomorrow.” Just as I finish my sentence, Madeline’s phone begins ringing. She steps to the side a bit, but not too far. I can still hear most of what is being said. She keeps looking up at me and back at the phone nervously. “Gemma, while I was out admiring the dolphins, I ran into our new employee, Damien.” she said. I didn't miss her trying to give hints to her friend. “Girl, hand him the phone!” she ordered. Girl was a bossy one, I thought to myself. “Damien, this is Gemma, our boss.” Madeline said. I smiled and nodded, looking for permission to take the phone from her. “Oooooh, easy on the eyes. That’s going to go over well with the crowd. I’m Gemma, nice to meet you.” she said. I couldn’t help the heat spreading on my cheeks. I chuckled “Nice to meet you as well. I’m Damien, as Madeline already mentioned.” “You know what, Damien. You should join Madeline and myself while we celebrate tonight. Since you’ll be a very integral part of our team, we should get to know you a ‘lot’ better.” I asked them what we were going to be celebrating and apparently today is Madeline’s 21st birthday. I agreed to go. I mean, what could I lose from one night hanging out with my future bosses. If anything, this will make working together easier. I noticed Madeline typing quickly on her phone. She knitted her brows, shaking her head lightly. “Do you mind if we trade phones? I will put my contact in and you can do the same?” She nodded, handing me her phone as I handed her mine. I looked down and saw her text thread with Gemma. I tightened my lips, hoping not to give away that I had seen them both agree that I was ‘Hot af’. After adding my contact, we exchanged phones back, and she left to get ready for the evening. I waited a few moments before realizing that I was now late for lunch with Colin. I hustled down the pier and found him waiting at a booth in the little restaurant.

“Hey man. Long time no see. How have you been?” he asked, standing up for a hug. “Was still living in Raleigh. Been bartending for the last few years. Living my life. How about you?” He laughed “Gave up my partying ways for a woman, if you can believe that. She’s great though. We’ve been together for three years, engaged for the last six months. Bought a house not too long ago.” he explained happily. “That’s awesome man. I’m happy for you. Glad everything is working out for you. Where’d ya’ll meet?” “She’s a physical therapist. I hurt my knee playing baseball and she made it better. In more ways than one.” he winked, then continued “I asked her out on a date. She agreed to go out with my sorry as*, and the rest is history. I mean, how could she resist my charm.” he said, wagging his eyebrows. I shook my head “You are just like I remember.” He looked at me seriously “Hey, I’m sorry about your dad. I saw his obituary in the paper. How is your mom doing?” I took a deep breath “It’s all good. She’s doing better than I expected, but I haven’t really wanted to talk about it.” He nodded, understanding. Collin had seen how my dad could be. He loved me, but he was harsh. He always wanted to teach me a lesson. He lacked in compassion and I think ultimately, that’s where we grew apart." The rest of the lunch went well. We talked for a while, exchanged numbers, and promised to meet up again soon. Now, it was time to get ready for this birthday dinner.