Devon was looking at Papa square in the eye with an expression foreign to my knowledge and my father looked back at him with the most frighteningly solemn face that I've seen of him. My stomach was churning grossly making it the worst unusual kind of panic and restlessness I've ever been through.

How many megawatts of Herculean strength do I require to drag Devon away before he opens his rash mouth?

"Sir," spoke Devon, "Ma'am," he turned to Katherine, "Pleasure to meet you both."

Well, that was good.

Papa rubbed his temple with his index finger. Clear sign of his being stressed.

"I can tell my daughter is absolutely crazy about you but I'm intrigued as to why do most of the people here at this party seem like they'd rather not want you here."

Fucking shit.

But Devon stayed eerily calm at that remark. "People easily believe what they see and what they hear. But one must never forget that the actual truth is known only to the few, right Eleanor?"

Somehow I wasn't able to move my jaws when Devon looked at me. If I wasn't not imagining things then a fleeting look of tremor crossed Katherine's face. No wonder Devon's insinuating blunt tongue managed to shock her.

"I'd like to speak to you further in private about this, Devon," said Papa in a grim tone.

"After you, Sir," responded Devon calmly.

My stomach weaved itself into an uneasy knot as I watched the two of them walk away with Devon following Papa. This doesn't look good to me at all. I'm not sure where things will stand when I see both of them next.

"So, bad boy, huh?" Katherine remarked, reminding me of her presence.

I didn't know what to say so I kept quiet.

"Don't worry, hun, fathers tend to be extra cautious when the boy dating their daughter is overly attractive," said Katherine lightly.

Again the word 'hun' coming from her made me feel uncomfortable.

"I can't live without him..." I said anxiously to myself, waiting for them to show up.

"Ofcourse, Devon's got the looks."

"Or maybe, I like him because of the person that he is and not just his looks unlike some people out here," I snapped in reflex and then instantly froze realizing how rude it sounded.

"I-I'm so sorry...I'm really sorry," I mumbled nervously.

"Relax, Eleanor," she said kindly. "I didn't mind at all. Was just trying to pull your leg. I'm sorry if you're hurt."

I felt so shitty about the whole thing that I couldn't look her in the eye.

"Eleanor!!"

I looked sideways to see none other than Jackson racing upto me.

"Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you! My wish to God is to give lots of presents to you!" Jackson jumped up and down with a beaming face and little eyes twinkling bright like stars.

"Thank you so much baby," I giggled, bending down to give him a long bear hug. "but it's not my birthday."

"But you're looking so beautiful!"

"And you're looking very handsome today," I said, pulling his soft cheeks,

Jackson gave me a lovely greeting card that he had made for me which was honestly so cute and extremely sweet of him.

I brought the kid ice cream from the ice cream counter and we got talking and laughing. It was pure joy to hear him chirrup. Kids can be excellent stress busters 'cause they make you happy even when you're tensed.

"I'm guessing Cheryl Parker is Devon's stepmom 'cause she looks too young to be his mother, " Katherine had come upto me.

"You're right," I responded.

"I don't like her," she said in a blunt tone, "I was just speaking to Mr. and Mrs. Parker and she didn't go down well with me for some reason from the very first word. Mr. Parker seems pleasant though."

I didn't get to think of a response since I caught sight of Devon and Papa and I automatically strode towards them.

"He's joining us for dinner," said Papa in a tone of approval. I grinned back at him.

"What did he ask you about?" I asked Devon curiously when Papa was out of earshot.

"Nothing much. Just general stuff," he shrugged unimportantly.

O...kay?

Later that night, Papa and Katherine joined my friends and me for dinner. Devon was there too, although he stayed quiet as he usually does in social. What I didn't expect was Katherine to get along so well with my friends and they too seemed to have taken a liking to her easy going and spontaneous nature. The table crackled with jokes. I'd never seen my father laugh so heartily and I could tell it was all because Katherine was by his side.

All was going well until Josh accidentally addressed Katherine as 'Mrs. Sanchez' which caused an uneasy silence to spread over the table. Although he apologized to me for the goof-up later after dinner, but back then at the table, I can't even explain how immensely unsettled that had got me. And the fact that everyone knew about it made the whole thing much worse.

I desperately wanted to feel good in fear of cracking up when my gazes happened to lock with that of Devon's resolute ones. And I got so absorbed in the depth of his fiery irises that I didn't know what it felt like to be in turmoil anymore.

But then, while everyone was leaving, I happened to catch sight of Devon conversing with Katherine at the side of the driveway. I didn't feel good about it and retreated indoors.

I was at the foot of the staircase in the living room. I closed my eyes trying to break free of every feeling that made me miserable.

What's bloody wrong with me? Why the hell am I freaking out so much? Katherine seems to be an amazing person and she makes Papa happy. Why the fuck am I over analyzing her every word and action just to find something bad in it?

I was sitting by the kitchen counter with a chilled Ferrero Rocher labeled box. Papa told me he would come over and that we would do lots of talking while munching into these chocolates. I couldn't wait to finally spend time with him.

I was eagerly waiting for him but he just wasn't turning up. It had been quite sometime now. He couldn't have fallen asleep since he was still jetlagged. Maybe I should go and check on him.

I went upstairs and walked left from my room. At the end of the short corridor was my father's room. The door was slightly ajar. I had to only open it a little more to realize what was going on inside....

Papa and Katherine were stood next to the bed, kissing. And a second later, they fell back on the bed with him over her as they continued to smooch. Katherine took off his tie and Papa was unbuttoning his shirt when I turned my back to the scene.

I clenched my fists as pain slashed through my heart. So this was why Papa hadn't turned up to talk to me?

I was walking away from there. ...

"Eleanor,"

I heard Papa's voice from behind. And by the embarrassed tone of his voice, I could guess they knew I had seen them at it.

My stomach lurched in heavy awkwardness and I forced myself to breathe to let it pass.

"Eleanor, I-I know you're upset.." I heard his heavy voice from behind. "I was just---"

"Just answer my one question, Papa," my voice was harder than I expected, "Were you in Europe for this long because of her?"

There was a dead silence after my words which made my heart sink 'cause the answer had become so clear to me.

"Eleanor, I..."

"You don't have to say anything, Papa, I knew it already. Just wanted to confirm it..."

I got to my room and rang up Devon.

"What happened, baby, you sound stressed," came his concerned velvety voice from the other end.

"I hate my to-be stepmother, " I said bluntly.

Devon chuckled after a brief pause. "Welcome to the prestigious club,"

"Papa was away for this long because of Katherine," I ranted. "Infact, just a while back, he was too busy making out with her to even think about spending time with his daughter whom he came home to after months. Papa was never like that, Katherine is the bitch here trying to spoil my relationship with my father and he is too carried away by her goody two shoes act to realize that."

"Or maybe Katherine is indeed goody two shoes and because she might have been in a bad shape after the party, your father failed to keep his word to spend time with you."

Devon's frank tone shocked me. "Really? Why would you even say Katherine was upset?" I countered, dismissing his words as complete bullshit.

"I noticed she was wiping her silent tears a couple of times during the party."

"Puh-lease!" I chuckled dryly," She's is an attention seeker then. It's funny how you of all people easily fell for her tricks."

"If you've already made up your mind on her being a bad person, then I see no point in talking about it any further," he said quietly.

"What is that supposed to mean, Devon? So you think I'm being the bitch here? I can't believe you're taking her side!"

"Eleanor, you need to calm down, " he said, "and no, I'm not on anybody's side."

"Ofcourse you're on her side!!" I snapped, "I thought if not anybody else, at least you will surely understand my predicament very well. It's scary how our lives are similar in more ways than one and yet you don't empathize with me."

"Our lives are not same. Has never been," Devon said quietly, "Don't make it sound similar."

"It was a mistake to give you a call. I saw you talking to Katherine anyway. So you wouldn't want to hear a word against her."

I hung up, feeling shittier than before.

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