Welcome to November Rain... Let's get started...
Damon is happy. He brushes a kiss to her hair then raises his eyes to the ceiling again. Here he is lying in bed with a beautiful woman having had the conversation. It feels like a dream, a wonderful dream. He's not sure if he proposed by himself or if Vanessa brought up the topic. It doesn't matter. He's so lucky, right? An eccentric, overzealous historian such as himself needs a caring, understanding and supportive woman. The fact that she's highly presentable and that she's well acquainted with his work, having worked with him for years is a welcome bonus in and of itself. It is also a boon to him that she's fully aware of his tics and his mannerisms too.
However, there is one little tiny snag.
Snuggling in closer, Vanessa searches his suddenly clouded face, "Aren't you happy?"
Dropping his eyes, he forces a smile for her sake. "I am," he assures her. "Of course I am. But… you know, first I have to…"
"Get a divorce," Vanessa finishes for him and they both submerge themselves in thoughts. His stomach churns so hard that he can feel bile bite at the back of his throat.
"You know, I should have done it a long time ago, I'll have the papers mailed to her as soon as Alaric can get them drawn up, alright?" he turns to her, trying to cheer her up.
"Right," she gives him a smile. "That's gonna work."
Standing in front of the room, his back to the class, Damon starts scrawling today's lesson on his white board. When he finishes he turns around. Internally rolling his eyes when he sees a ginger flirting with him, he sighs and begins his presentation.
Alaric Saltzman approaches Damon's classroom. He peers though the door's window just in time to see Damon completing his lecture. He enters and stands at the rear of the room. Damon pauses for a second when he sees his best friend. He's grateful when the clock finally signals the end of class.
Just before the students begin to filter out, Damon adds, "Read 'Michelangelo and the Pope's Ceiling" by Ross King. If anybody's got questions, I'll be in my office for the next hour and a half." He's grateful when the bell finally rings. With an almost imperceptible nod to Ric, he moves over to his desk to start gathering up his notes, raising an eyebrow when the same girl drops a piece of paper on the desktop.
When the classroom clears, Ric approaches as the last of his students leave the lecture hall.
"Hey Ric, everything alright?" Damon steps closer. After dropping his ass to sit on the desktop, he adds, "It's been three weeks, what is taking so long?"
"I'm good. That's why I'm here, Damon. The papers I sent you.. I also sent her. It seems we might have a bit of a problem."
"I don't understand? Did she call?" Damon asks carefully. He can't imagine why would they have a problem with her. It's been years since the last time they saw each other. On top of that, she's the one who asked him for a divorce first. At the time, he didn't want to rush anything but now, it's just a formality.
"Well, not exactly. She mailed them back."
"I don't think I understand. What's the problem then?" Damon is beginning to lose patience with this conversation. The subject of his marriage has been safely locked away from his conscious mind for a very long stretch. He hates having to dredge it all up again.
"The problem, Damon, is that she didn't sign them."
Confusion clouds his face. Thinking that he misheard him, Damon looks him squarely in the eyes. "What? Did you just say…?"
"She. Didn't. Sign. The. Papers." Ric explains, annunciating every word for effect. She mailed them back unsigned."
Damon tries to make sense out of it but his mind comes out blank. After a few seconds of silence, he clears his throat. "Did she write a note or anything to explain?"
"Nope."
"Well? What will we do now?" Frustrated, Damon takes off his glasses and pinches the bridge of his nose. He shakes his head back and forth as anger begins to burn deep inside. After blowing out a breath of air, he faces Ric. "You either call her or that manager of hers?"
"I can try, but if you tried…"
"Oh hell no, I'm not calling her. And I'm certainly not going to talk to him. Do what you have to do, try to reason with her but know this... I want it done and over with. I don't ever want to have to think about it again. It's ridiculous that I'm married to…"
"You've made yourself perfectly clear so yes, Damon, I get it. But I would suggest that you prepare yourself. I really rather doubt that she'll want to chit-chat when she hears that I'm on the phone."
"You're not afraid of her, are you?" Damon chuckles, remembering that one occasion when she almost slapped Ric out of their house when he tried to take Damon's side in another one of their stupid arguments.
"No of course not but I have a feeling that you're not exactly eager to confront her personally either."
"You're right about that." Raking his hand through his hair, he sighs, frustration building. "She's being difficult because she can. But I am done playing this game with her. I suspect that she's trying to get back at me for refusing to sign the papers all those years ago. At that time, I just thought that we shouldn't rush into anything, you know?"
Standing up, Ric moves closer to Damon. Squeezing his shoulder, he tightens his lips. "Alright man, let me see what I can do. I'll be in touch. You and I both know her so if I were you, I wouldn't hold my breath. I'll let you know what happens." With that, he slaps his friend's arm and then walks out of the lecture hall.
Standing up himself, Damon picks up his coffee mug. Although he wants to throw it, he grips it for a few seconds before finally setting it back down. He heads towards his office and when he sees a group of students clamoring to see him, he locks himself inside, wondering how on earth he's going to explain this mess to Vanessa. She didn't sign the damn papers.
A little less than a week later, Ric texts Damon to meet him for drinks at their favorite bar. Staring at his phone, an uneasy feeling begins to gnaw at his gut. He suspects there's more to it than just having a few drinks together.
"Spill," he utters once he sits down armed with a glass of his favorite bourbon.
Ric waits till he takes a sip then meets his friend's stare. "I didn't talk to her."
Damon is about to protest but his friend stops him with a lifted hand. "I didn't talk to her because every time I tried to call she was 'unavailable', I did however talk to Enzo," he weighs Damon's reaction, when he says nothing, Ric continues. "He said he would give her the message."
"And?"
"He did call back... She says that she has nothing to talk about with me and as for the papers, she needs to focus on finishing her latest movie. According to Enzo, she said and I'm quoting now, "She won't let herself get dragged into your drama."
Damon almost drops the glass. "What the… Who in the hell does she think she is? My drama? Who's the drama queen here?"
Ric raises his hands. "Don't kill the messenger. I wasn't thrilled with the call either. That guy is as agreeable as a snake and just as slippery," Ric grimaces in disgust.
Damon knows all too well how slimy he is. Enzo is probably a good manager and he's always been incredibly loyal to his wife but what a pain in the ass! Damon is still perplexed about what she ever saw in him.… No, he won't go there.
"What do you propose I do? How is it even possible that she is refusing to even talk about it?"
Ric, hesitates. He takes a long pull from his glass, savoring the taste as it goes down. "We could do some things but all of them would lead to a lot of publicity. You can't exactly sue a popular someone with a star as big as hers. Most people have no idea that your marriage even exists. It will attract the media, you do know that, right?"
Damon raises his hand, "Yeah, I got it. No publicity. I don't want my name in the newspapers and especially not in connection to her, no way. So, are you suggesting that I have to stay married to her?"
Rick sighs, "I know you don't like it but in my opinion the best chance you have is to talk to her yourself. Try to call her, or Enzo, if that doesn't work, you know where to find her."
"You are kidding, right? There is no way on God's green earth that I'm going to fly to LA. I have no intention to talk to her either. Two can play that game," he mumbles.
Ric shrugs, nodding when the waitress asks if they want a refill. As soon as she steps away, he adds, "Well, either you talk to her or you'll have to stay married."
"Fuck! Damn it."
The left corner of Ric's lip lifts. "You know Professor, you look like an old fart most of the time but when it comes to her…"
"Don't remind me. I refuse to let her ruin my life anymore than she already did. I was a fool for thinking that she would grow up and start taking life seriously. I was naive to think she might actually put her family, me first. I was willing to forgive and for…," he closes his eyes for a second, "No, instead she runs away to LA to build her precious career. She never bothered to look back.. for years."
"Did you want her to?" Rick asks quietly.
"Wanted what?"
"Did you want her to come back?"
"Of course, I mean… I don't know. Probably. In the beginning. Maybe it was for the best," Damon closes this nonsensical conversation. "I'll think about it. I'll let you know what I decide." He finishes his bourbon, no longer in the mood to stay, he stands up, waves at Ric and walks away .
Rick watches him go. Despite Damon's protestations, he knows those old wounds are still raw and simmering just below the surface. Worse, there's probably a lot more than Damon's willing to admit even to himself.
It takes Damon exactly three days of seeing Vanessa's unhappy looks and despondent demeanor for him to make up his mind. The need to end it once and for all gnaws at his insides. He somehow manages to swallow his pride. He's not sure when the most appropriate time to call a Hollywood star would be but he does know that he has to wait till Vanessa leaves for the evening.
Their living situation is another thing he should probably address soon. If they're going to marry, they might as well live together right? The thought awakens a strange feeling. If he didn't know better, he'd say he's nervous, but Damon doesn't do nervous. He's rational and collected. It's normal right? he tells himself. This is a life changing event after all.
He picks up his phone and… Does she even have the same phone number? He didn't ask Ric but he rations that he would have told him if she had a different number. He stares at the phone for a few moments, weighing the pros and cons. He knows he has to do it but he doesn't want to. He finally pushes the button to dial her number. It's labeled by a single syllable, it always has been. All he can do is listen and wait. After a minute with no answer he loses his patience and ends the call, throwing to phone on the couch. No voicemail. He's not even sure that he called her.
Why would a Hollywood star of her caliber have the same number after three years? He pours himself a stiff drink and throws it back to bolster his nerves before he metaphorically steps into the lion's den. He plops down on the couch and picks up the phone. His gut is roiling. "C'mon Damon," he mutters and finally dials Enzo's number. Two rings later, he hears that voice.
"Damon, it's been a long time, he begins cheerfully. Damon fists his free hand in frustration, he would gladly strangle him if he was in reach.
"Ehm, Enzo."
Damon can hear him chuckling in the background. "You called for a reason, what is it that you want?"
The bastard's enjoying it. "I was wondering… if you could tell her to pick up the phone. Or just have tell her to sign the papers so we can be done with it."
"You know Damon, I'm not her dad. If she doesn't want to sign your divorce papers or even speak to you, that's her choice. Trust me, I would like nothing better than for her to be rid of the… inconvenience in the least painful way and as soon as possible myself. But you know her just as well as I do, she isn't going to sign anything till she's good and ready."
"Yes, Enzo, I can imagine you personally have only her best interests in mind," Damon can't help the biting tone he uses, but Enzo doesn't seem to lose his good humor.
"Okay pal, why don't you fly out here, bring the papers and try to convince her by yourself? She won't talk to you or your lawyer for that matter and I'm not putting our relationship in jeopardy because of you. Or you can keep pretending you're a bachelor and continue to live your boring little life. Frankly, I don't care... well, actually I do care but I'm leaving this in her hands."
"Are you being serious right now? Do you really think that I have nothing better to do than run to Hollywood to chase after a prima donna? I have classes to teach, lectures to give, a symposium in Paris coming up, let alone my own research and a book to be published. But I don't think people like you understand the concept of hard work."
"Listen to yourself, Damon. How can I blame her for not wanting to talk to you? Your time, your choice. We have a movie to finish and unlike your books and lectures, half of America expects her movie to premiere by the end of the year. Have a good day." Enzo ends the call before Damon can even blink. What is it about this guy and his ex, or wife whatever that drives him crazy?
As much as he dreads seeing her again, he knows that he has no other choice if he wants to make a life with Vanessa. Next month he'll be in Los Angeles for a lecture.. And to face his past.
I hope you all enjoyed the first chapter. There's much more to come.
Huge thanks to all of you for the friendships, support, follows, favorites, encouraging words and everything you all do for Eva and me. I can't say it enough, YOU ARE ALL THE BEST.
Synopsis quote courtesy of Nicholas Sparks.
Story title courtesy of Guns N Roses.
Huge thanks to Eva. You are brilliant and so insightful. There's an ocean separating us so often she's up into the wee hours of her mornings, plotting, planning, writing in our effort to hopefully deliver entertaining stories for all of you. We're deep into writing "Welcome to the Jungle". It'll be a little while yet because I like to have most of my stories written before I post but we're both excited about it.
I also updated 'Eyes Without a Face' today.
I hope you all have a fabulous day. We wish you all nothing but success and happiness in 2018. Thank you all again, we'll see you soon.