Chapter 14

Damian was driving his car with Rhea navigating next to him to make sure his anger won't lead to anything dangerous. Finn and Mina were sitting in the back. JD took his own car with Dom to avoid any fighting during the ride. He was still mad but just seeing Mina had appeased him a lot, he was now more worried about her feelings and exhaustion. The only time he had seen her lose her composure was when they all rescued her almost a year ago, since then, she had always stood her ground and appeared strong.

- "I think she works too much" Rhea said while pointing at the backseats.

He took a look in the inner rear mirror to see that the tailor was deep asleep on Finn's shoulder. His arm wrapped around her shoulders to prevent her form falling. She seemed appeased and peaceful as he tried to remove all the threads that were tangled in her hair. "Lucky you, Finn" he thought while focusing back on the road. He didn't say a word until they arrived at the hotel's parking lot. He stopped the engine and opened his door while Finn was carefully waking up Mina. He saw her get out of the car with difficulty, take her purse and head to her hotel room almost automatically.

Once he was finished with his shower, he heard Finn knock on his door and told him to come in.

- "I think you should talk to her, lad. She is scared you might be mad at her." He said while patting his shoulder.

- "Why would I be?" he asked.

- "Just do it. She is clearly overworked, and you don't want to make her feel bad and guilty on the top, don't you?

- "Yeah, I'll go see her if she is not already sleeping." He sighed. Finn knew way too well how to make him change his mind about something without even being threatening.

Finn left the room and he followed him in the corridor. He headed to Mina's room and after breathing deeply a couple times, he knocked on her door. He heard a faint "Come in" and entered the room. She was already in bed, struggling to not to fall asleep. A smile lightened her face when she saw him, making his heart melt.

- "You should lock your door" he chuckled.

- "I always let it open for you. I was scared you wouldn't come tonight." She answered while making him some space next to her.

- "I will never miss an opportunity to sing with you" he warmly said as he leaned forward to kiss her forehead. "Still up for a song?".

- "Sure thing" she answered. "Are you mad at me?"

- "No way Princess" he answered softly while picking up Lordi's Hard Rock Hallelujah.

He sang almost on his own as Mina fell asleep on his shoulder in the middle of the track. He kissed her forehead one last time before quietly leaving the room and heading to his own.

The next morning, they all gathered in front of the gym, leaving Mina at the hotel on purpose. They had all agreed that she should skip the gym to get some rest, Damian had purposedly turned her alarm clock off before leaving her room. He kept avoiding JD for almost all the session, not wanting to cause a ruckus after what happened last night and the Irish man was wise enough to do the same.

Mina and her friends shove their luggage in the bus before going to their seats. They were going to Summerslam and the ride would be long, so they all took something to keep them busy or to sleep comfortably. Pondering her head on the pillow she had put against the window, she started scrolling on her phone for something to listen to. The name of a band she adored when she was younger appeared on the list and she decided to listen to it again, just to see if their music would still have the same effect on her now that she was an adult. She closed her eyes, letting the music transport her to a world of imagination and poetry. This band still sounded awesome to her ears, alternating powerful riffs with soft ballads. Thinking that she had to ask Damian about his opinion on this band, she fell deeply asleep, curling against her pillow.

"She is so adorable" Damian thought when he turned his head to see the dress maker curling her legs on the seat to be more comfortable. He wanted to ask her what she was listening to but she fell asleep so fast that he didn't want to disturb her. He spent a lot of time detailing every inch of her body. The shorts she was wearing revealed her nicely shaped legs, the curves of her thighs, letting guess the beginning of her buttock. One of her arms curled under her head and the other holding her mobile phone made her bosom look more prominent, almost overflowing from her adjusted black top. He noticed the thread tattoo that was meandering around her breasts to end somewhere close to her heart. He wanted to follow that thread with his fingers caressing her skin so badly but couldn't. Not yet. He raised his gaze to her face, half hidden by her black mane, seeing her emerald-green eyes closed letting him see her long lashes. Her face seemed appeased, far away from every torment she had been through, her reddish lips were slightly smiling, as if she was having a beautiful dream. "If only I could have this vision every morning." He closed his eyes, trying to imagine the happiness he would feel just by waking up next to her in the morning, hearing her beautiful voice, hugging her tight, tasting her soft lips. He stopped his fantasies when the vision of JD kissing her came back to his mind. "I have to tell her, tonight." His decision was made, now, he was wondering if he would still have the courage to do it when she would be looking at him with her mesmerizing eyes that had this incredible power of making him the weakest boy on the planet.

When they all arrived at the arena, Hunter stopped Mina and the Judgment Day, giving them papers explaining the promo segment that would be on the giant screen just before their entrance.

- "Why are you explaining that to me too, Boss?" Mina asked.

- "Because I want you to be on the promo segment. Not only as a dress maker, but also as a shadow member of the Judgment Day. I would like to involve you in a full storyline with them." He explained.

- "A full storyline?" Rhea almost exploded. "She is working more than everybody else here, how can you ask her to be in the storylines knowing that it would just give her more work?"

- "Relax Rhea, I'm planning on hiring another tailor to help her. What do you think Mina?" He asked while looking at her.

- "Count me in Boss, but only if I can have somebody to help me in the workshop. Otherwise, I won't be able to be on time with the garments. What do I have to do?" She answered with determination and pride.

She didn't like to say it, but she loved appearing in the segments, even if it was only for a couple seconds. It made her feel legitimate in the crew and since the first time she had appeared, she had developed a liking for pretending to be someone else, especially when she had to scold wrestlers who would normally intimidate her because they didn't take care of their attire. It was thrilling for her, the little dressmaker nobody ever noticed for anything else but her style, the lady that had often be bullied because of her appearance and her job now running after Otis in the corridors with a steel chair. It made her feel important and appreciated. It was also a sweet revenge on Greg, who had put her lower than ground; she had been able to get up and to climb to a new life of adventure, to go all the way from being a victim to being a survivor and to show it to the whole world. "Quoth the Raven: Nevermore".

The arena was sold out and the crowd applauded as the promo segment of the Judgment Day appeared on the giant screen. In a dark room filled with smoke stood five wrestlers, faces hidden by darkness as a shadowy figure walked behind them, wearing a long black cloak with a hood masking half of her face. She passed to every member of the Judgment Day to wrap a black and purple cloak around their shoulders. JD first, he looked directly at the camera as the shadow attached his cloak, then turned around to show his initials embroidered at the back. Dom did the same movement, giving attitude to the camera. The shadow then headed to Finn, putting a crown of tendrils on his head, letting see her revealing attire and a smile on her face, then attached the cloak on his shoulders, with the seriousness of a priestess. Rhea came then, giving her best badass attitude as the spiked mantle was put on her by the face-hidden priestess. The camera then focused on Damian, serious and proud, being dressed in a shiny long black cape, huge spikes decorating the shoulders and forming a collarette behind his head. As the hands of the shadowy dressmaker finished fastening the garment around his neck, he looked straight to the camera, then to the ground where Mina was kneeling in front of all of them. Their music started as they made an incredible entrance, emerging from the ground and surrounded by smoke. Huge fans provided wind to make their cloaks twirl behind them as they slowly marched toward the ring, revealing their wrestling garments, covered in, buckles, fishnets and leather details.

The show was grand and Mina was looking at every matches from backstage, as a reward from Hunter for her hard work and for accepting to be in a full storyline. Actually, her situation had given him plenty of ideas to develop interesting stories between every character, starting with the Judgment Day who needed a little mystical push to appear even more threatening. Mina had expressed her concerns about his first idea of making her appear as a great priestess of the faction, arguing that it would make her look like she is the one pulling the ropes in the shadows, which was completely the opposite of what they always said, that there was no leader. She came in with the idea of the shadowy valet, serving the five of them as if they were a cult. He had to admit that she would be good at writing storylines and followed her idea, they had spent most of the night working on this storyline, Mina helping him gather his ideas and shaping them so it would mix with other storylines too. The sun had always raised when they finished, so they headed to empty locker rooms to have a couple hours of sleep before shooting the promo clip. Mina woke up two hours later by a phone call: it was a worried Finn asking her where she was, that she didn't answer at her door and that Damian hadn't seen her last night. She had to explain him everything and apologized for the scare. She was beyond exhaustion when the six of them went back to the hotel after celebrating the end of Summerslam.

After a quick shower, Damian headed to Mina's room. She had told him about a band he never listened to and she wanted his opinion about it. He breathed in in stress, he couldn't talk to her last night, so tonight would be the perfect time. "Come on man! Put on your big boy pants, you can do this!" He knocked on the door and waited for Mina's answer before entering the room. She was coming out of her bathroom, wearing an oversized T-shirt and smiled at him.

- "You have to listen to that old band!" She said, showing him her phone.

- "Kamelot" he read on the screen. "Never listened to it. He replied, thinking that his confession could wait a few minutes longer.

She invited him to join her on her bed and picked a song called Love You To Death. "Is that a message?" he hoped.

- "I was listening to this one on the bus and it still takes me away!" She happily announced while taping on the play button.

"When they met she was fifteen, like a black rose blooming wild. But she already knew she was gonna die."

He felt his heart tighten at the first sentence, the lyrics echoing to his past.

"What's tomorrow without you? This is our last goodbye. She got weaker every day. As the autumn leaves flew by.Until one day, she told him, This is when I die"

Tears started to form in Damian's eyes, he was trying his best to keep his composure.

"What was summer like for you? She asked him with a smile. What's tomorrow without you? He silently replied.

She said, I will always be with you I'm the anchor of your sorrow There's no end to what I'll do Cause I love you, I love you to death."

Mina had her eyes closed while muttering the lyrics. Damian started to sob, letting his tears flow on his cheeks.

"But the sorrow went too deep. The mountain fell too steep, And the wounds would never heal. 'Cause the pain of the loss was more than he could feel."

This part was too much for Damian, he moved away from Mina and cried everything out. This music was the trigger that blew away all the walls he had built in his heart. Mina instantly stopped her phone and rushed to him to embrace him warmly. He couldn't resist and buried his head in her neck, crying and sobbing like a child.

- "I'm sorry" she said while stroking his hair, hugging him tight. "Did it bring back something?"

He nodded yes, unable to answer properly yet. For now, he just wanted comfort and feel her warmth. They stayed like this for several minutes, until Damian felt ready to talk again.

- "I have to tell you something" he whispered in her neck. "I planned to tell you another time, but it's now or never I guess". He sat up, looking at her worried green eyes. He felt fear seizing him but there was no coming back.

- "I'm here for you" she answered. "You can talk to me."

Her sweet voice gave him courage and he spat out everything about Frederica; how they met, how they were together, when she got sick, his behaviour towards her, how he cheated on her, the phone call announcing her death and her funeral. Mina quietly listened to him, squeezing his hand to give him courage and comfort. After all these years holding back his emotions, he was feeling both relieved to be able to talk about it and torn apart by the memories and the fear that it would make him lose the only woman who has been able to reach his heart.

- "I tried so hard to forgive myself and to move on but I was unable to. Even her mother told me that Frederica was happy I won't be alone after her death. Can you imagine that? I've been a total ass to her and she was still happy for me! I should be the one buried in the graveyard, not her. I didn't deserve her." He said, finishing his story and now expecting Mina to run away from him, or slap him or telling him to leave her alone. Despite being terrified, he looked at her in the eyes, finding sadness, comprehension and infinite kindness.

Instead, Mina grabbed him and hugged him tight, stroking his back softly.

- "She must have been an incredible lady" she whispered. "I understand why you fell in love with her."

- "And I screwed everything up" he responded.

- "Damian, look at me. You made a mistake for sure. A big one, but a mistake, nonetheless. I'm sure she would hate to see you torture yourself for years over that. She loved you so much, do you think she would want to see you living in torments and sadness for the rest of your life?" she said.

- "I… I don't know. I was sure I could avoid any kind of relationship… until I met you." He stuttered. He had told her, it was done. He felt anxious at Mina's eyes widened in surprise.

- "You suffered more than enough. You deserve to love again… and to be loved in return" she said calmly.

Damian felt the tears coming back to his eyes, Mina words had touched his heart so deeply he couldn't hold back any feeling anymore. At this precise moment he felt as weak and vulnerable as a child needing protection. He sheltered himself in Mina's arms, his head against her chest, letting the faint sound of her heartbeat guiding his thoughts as he started crying again. The tailor embraced him, stroke his hair before lying back on her pillows to be more comfortable, still holding him. Right now he needed comfort, not to have another emotional rush about her feelings for him.

- "Do you hate me for this?" He asked out of fear. "I would understand if you…"

He was cut short by Mina gently wrapping her arm around him, pulling him back against her. With the other hand, she pulled the blanket over both of them, setting a nest of warmth and comfort around him.

- "I wouldn't do that if I hated you. I let your past where it belongs, just as you did for me. I would never hate you because of your past" she said before kissing his head.

He sobbed quietly, overwhelmed with his emotions. He felt Mina's hand gently stroking his hair, her chin resting at the top of his head. He heard her starting to hum some sort of lullaby as he started to close his eyes.

"Lay down your head and I'll sing you a lullaby.

Back to the years of loo-li lai-lay.

And I'll sing you to sleep and I'll sing you tomorrow.

Bless you with love for the road that you go.

May you sail fair to the far fields of fortune.
With diamonds and pearls at your head and your feet.
And may you need never to banish misfortune.
May you find kindness in all that you meet.

May there always be angels to watch over you.
To guide you each step of the way.
To guard you and keep you safe from all harm.
Loo-li, loo-li, lai-lay

May you bring love and may you bring happiness.
Be loved in return to the end of your days.
Now fall off to sleep, I'm not meaning to keep you.
I'll just sit for a while and sing loo-li, lai-lay

May there always be angels to watch over you
To guide you each step of the way
To guard you and keep you safe from all harm
Loo-li, loo-li, lai-lay, loo-li, loo-li, lai-lay."*

Even if Damian was already deep asleep, she finished her song before switching off the light.

*The song is Sleepsong from Secret Garden.