“Send her in,” he said.
Pam looked up and made a sweeping gesture towards the door. Star grimaced, pausing a moment outside the door before she bit the bullet and entered.
“What do you want, Star?” Damian sounded exhausted.
“I wanted to explain,” she said quietly.
“I think what I saw was quite evident,” Damian replied.
“Really?” Star said, a small amount of sarcasm entering her tone.
“Tell me you weren’t meeting with Christian to discuss Skylar; tell me you haven’t agreed to let him meet her?” Damian said, his eyes never leaving Star’s face.
“Well …”
“When, Star? When did Christian contact you? It was obviously before this morning, as you were having lunch with the girls!” Star didn’t like the tone in Damian’s voice, but she understood his growing anger.
“Yesterday,” she said, breaking his gaze and looking at the floor. She felt like a naughty schoolgirl, who had been caught cheating in a test.
Damian shook his head. “Were you ever going to tell me?”
Star stayed silent; she didn’t want to lie. She would have told him this evening, but she wasn’t sure that was what he wanted to hear.
“I thought we were past this,” Damian said sadly. “Did you not trust me enough – is that it?”
“It’s not that,” Star said quickly.
“What is it then? I don’t understand.” Damian paused, before running his hand through his hair and saying, “I can’t do this right now, Star. I need you to go.”
“Please, Damian, we need to talk about this.” Star sounded desperate, even to herself.
“No, Star, we don’t. You’ve made your decision. I hoped I meant enough to you for you to include me in your choices going forward, but I was wrong.Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. You made a decision for us seven years ago that changed both our lives. You have done the same today. You don’t trust me, Star, and without trust we have no future.”
“Damian, please, this is about Skylar.”
“No, Star, this is about you.” Damian got up from his desk and walked towards her. Taking her face in his hands, he dropped a chaste kiss on her lips. “I’m sorry, but I can’t do this anymore.”
A sob caught in Star’s throat and she raised her hand to his cheek. “I’m sorry, Damian,” she whispered.
“I know you are,” he said flatly, before taking her hand and walking her to the door. “Goodbye, Star.”
∞∞∞
Star stumbled out of Damian’s office in a daze. Her mind was racing, unable to keep up with what had just happened. Damian had broken up with her.
Pam got up and came round her desk, taking her arm and leading her away from prying eyes.
“Want to explain what’s going on?” Pam asked.
“Not really, but I’ve messed up and I need to find a way to fix it,” Star said, her voice cracking.
“I’m not blind, beautiful girl. I know when two people are in love, however much you’ve tried to hide it.” Star stared at Pam in shock, but she just smiled in return. “Don’t worry, I don’t think your secret is out with anyone else. But whatever the issue is, I’m sure Damian will come round.”
Star shook her head sadly. “I don’t think it’s going to be that easy. I’ve really screwed up this time, Pam.”
Maybe this was for the best. Damian was going to head back to the US soon; their time together had always had an expiration date. Maybe this was the easiest way for them to part. Her heart, however, had other ideas. The pain was suffocating. Star knew it would be a long time before her heart recovered from Damian Hunt and she had no one but herself to blame.
∞∞∞