Page 131 of The Compass Series

DAMIAN

I started my morning with a workout in the gym on the property. Lifting heavy shit and dropping it was one of my favorite pastimes. Some people went to therapy—others went to the gym. I was the latter.

After my workout, I usually showered and then prepared breakfast, but on my last set of deadlifts, the doorbell rang, making me grumble with annoyance.

I headed to the foyer and opened the door to find an older woman standing there with huge photo albums in her hands.

I knew her—well, I didn’t know her, but I’d seen her at the funeral and when she did the wedding ceremony.

She lived in the guesthouse on the property.

She had a head full of gray hair and wore a flowy hippie-type dress with white platform sandals. Even with the inches on the shoes, she only stood about five-foot-six. She was a tiny woman, but her energy felt larger than most.

“Hi there.” She smiled. “Even though I married you to Stella, we haven’t officially met and held a conversation. I wanted to give you time to settle in. I’m Maple, Stella’s grandmother—by heart, not blood.”

“She’s not here,” I commented.

“I know, it’s Saturday. She’s in town taking an art class.

Can I come in?” Maple asked. Kind of asked, I should say.

Come to think of it, it wasn’t a question at all as she pushed her way through the door.

“Did you just finish your workout?” she asked, making herself extremely comfortable in said house.

“I wasn’t quite done yet,” I lied.

“Does lying come easy to you?” she asked, moving toward the dining room. She set her basket down on the table as I followed her. She turned my way and placed her hands against her hips. “Or does it make you feel a bit dirty?”

I don’t feel much of anything.

“Yes.” She looked at me with such a genuine look of concern as if she could read my mind. “I can see that.”

“I’m sorry, do you need something or?—”

“I brought you some photo albums of Kevin’s photography. I figured you might like to see it, seeing as how you’re a photographer, too.”

How did she know that? I didn’t talk to anyone about my photography hobby. Maybe she’d seen my cameras lying around or saw me outside taking photographs at the coastline.

She smiled. “I’m just gifted at reading people, son. Don’t let me freak you out too much. I only believe in good magic.”

What was she talking about?

“Anyway, I’m also here about my Stella,” Maple said, though I was still stuck on the magic comment. Was she a witch? What in the hell…?

“Oh?” I asked, trying not to be freaked out by this odd woman.

“Now, my Stella, she is sensitive. You can tell her feelings simply by looking at her face, and she is one to speak on her feelings, too. She communicates them. She wants to make sure everyone in every situation is comfortable, even if it’s at the expense of her own comfort.”

“Why are you telling me this?”

“Because I’m not like Stella. I’m more like you.

A pessimist. A bit cold to the world.” She smiled and nodded once.

“Someone who doesn’t feel much of anything.

But for the small number of things I feel, for the small number of people I care for, I feel everything for them.

So I just came here to say, if you hurt my Stella?—”

“Maple—”

“I don’t like being cut off, son.”

I shut my mouth.

She continued. “If you hurt her… I will hurt you.”

The fire in her soul almost made me feel as if my own skin was set ablaze. “I understand.”

The harshness of her words evaporated a bit before her face eased up. “I’m sorry that the world hurt you.”

“Did Stella tell you that?” I huffed.

“No.” She shook her head. “That’s just how people like you and I are made. The world makes us jaded. I’ll get out of your hair. I just wanted to introduce myself and warn you about what would happen if you ever hurt my girl. Hopefully the message was received.”

“It has been, and don’t worry. I won’t hurt her.”

“Thank you, Damian.”

I nodded once.

She turned and began walking away but looked over her shoulder. “You’re a good man, Damian. Like your father.”

I grimaced. “You don’t know me.”

She smiled. “But I knew your father.”

“He didn’t raise me.”

“Yes, but if he had known about your existence, he would’ve loved to be your father. Being a parent was all he ever wanted. I hate that he missed that opportunity with you.”

“What do you mean by he didn’t know about me?”

“Just prior to his passing, he found out about your existence. He had no clue you were in this world until the news was brought to him.”

A knot formed in my gut. I spent most of my life hating my father, thinking he’d abandoned me.

I spent my teenage years trying to track him down simply so I could tell him to piss off.

Then within one breath, I was told that he hadn’t even known about my existence.

I didn’t know how to process that information.

“Damian, I think it’s important for you to know that Kevin would’ve wanted you. He would’ve been in your world day in and day out if he had the opportunity.”

I cleared my throat. “You said you were like me. A pessimist and cold.”

“Yes.”

“But then you do and say things that are the opposite.”

“Ah, yes. I know. I see myself slipping into my softer side sometimes. It’s the Stella effect. Spend enough time around her, and she’ll get to you, too.”

She left the house, and my chest still felt heavy. My heart was beating at an insane rate, and the palms of my hands were sweaty.

“Maple,” I called out, finding myself standing on the front porch, looking out toward her as she climbed into her car. She paused and looked my way, waiting for me to continue. “I won’t hurt her,” I repeated, speaking about Stella. “You have my word.”

“I feel like your word is important to you.”

“It is.”

“Then thank you for giving it to me.” She smiled Stella’s smile. Even though they weren’t related by blood, I saw the similarities. “I believe you. Protect her, too, okay? If she needs it?”

I didn’t know why, but I promised I would.

Later that afternoon, Stella returned home, and somehow the space didn’t appear so dark anymore. I was in the kitchen cooking dinner, and she walked in with a bag filled with fresh vegetables and fruits.

“Oh, hi there,” she said, seemingly surprised to see me.

“Hello.”

“It smells delicious in here,” she mentioned as she began to unload her groceries. “Pasta?”

“Yes.”

Her stomach rumbled, and she chuckled a little. “And here I am with a pack of ramen noodles for dinner.”

“Maple,” I said.

She raised an eyebrow. “What?”

“She stopped by this morning. She brought me photographs of Kevin’s work.”

“Oh.” Her hands fell to her chest. “That must’ve been a lot, seeing that stuff.”

“I haven’t looked through it.”

“I see.”

She didn’t say anything more, but she kept staring at me. Her stares made me uneasy because they felt like a comfort I didn’t know existed. I shifted my feet and returned my focus to my pasta dish. “She’s kind. Maple.”

“She’s one of the best people I’ve ever known. She actually stopped by my art class today and mentioned you to me, too.”

“What did she say?”

“She made me promise I wouldn’t hurt you.”

Well, shit, Maple.

Way to pull on my tattered and bruised heartstrings.

Stella finished unloading all her groceries and then tossed her reusable bags into the pantry. As she walked past me to head out of the kitchen, her stomach rumbled again before she headed to her bedroom.

About fifteen minutes later, I knocked on her bedroom door.

She opened it and smiled. “Hi there.”

“Hello.”

The same words we always exchanged. “Hi there” and “Hello.”

“Can I, uh, help you with something?” she asked, confused by me knocking on her door. “Is everything okay?”

“No.”

“It’s not?”

“I mean, yes.”

“Okay…?”

“I mean,” I grumbled and rubbed the palm of my hand against the back of my neck. “There’s extra.”

“Extra what?”

“Food.”

She smiled more and narrowed her eyes. “I feel like the point you’re getting to is right there, but still, I need to be guided a bit more.”

“There’s extra food if you want it. I made a lot.”

“Don’t you normally save it for leftovers? Isn’t Friday your meal prep day for your upcoming week?”

Did she watch me that closely?

“I have business lunch meetings this coming week. I won’t need it.”

“I don’t want to impose, but if you want me to eat with you?—”

“I don’t.”

Her eyes dimmed, and the corner of her mouth twitched as if I made her nervous by snapping. Maple was right. Stella did showcase every single emotion across her face.

“What I mean is, I have work to do. I’ll be eating in my office. But you’re free to eat any remaining food.”

“That’s very nice of you, and I’ll take you up on the offer. Thank you, Damian.”

“Yup.”

“If you ever do want to eat a meal together?—”

“Not interested, Stella.”

“Okay then. Have a good night.”

I wanted to tell her, “You too,” but I couldn’t bring myself to say it.