Mikayla entered her new apartment and her mouth gaped open. If her jaw wasn't attached to her body, it would have literally fallen to the floor.

The apartment was beyond what she thought it would look like. The stunning entryway led into an even more impressive large open floor concept. The ceilings were high, with large floor to ceiling windows that allowed generous amounts of natural light to flow into the space.

She adored the oak-coloured hard wood floors, but loved the kitchen even more. The kitchen had two islands, one of them featured a sink while the other had a raised portion that made up a breakfast bar. The stove and oven were off to the left against the wall, while the rest of the appliances were tastefully hidden.

There was a large dining area just off the kitchen and to the right side of the room was an even bigger living area that came with a massive flat panel TV as well as a beautiful fireplace. To round it off, a huge balcony would allow her to have an amazing view of London.

Mikayla noticed that her luggage was placed neatly against a wall next to a wide corridor that she assumed would lead to the three bedrooms. Turning to face Damien, her heart raced as she realised that he had been watching her shocked expression the whole time, a small smile on his lips as he leaned against a wall.

"I–I can't accept this flat..."

A small frown began to form on his face as he walked towards her, "Why not?"

Opening her arms wide to gesture around the room, "Look at this place Damien, I can't afford to replace anything in here! I break, it I buy it remember?"

Damien laughed softly, "Don't worry about it, really. You're a great employee Mikayla, everyone loves you and you're such a hard worker. I mean you've only been employed with me for a few weeks and the amount of work that you've gotten done is amazing! Even Mrs. Clemons has been joking that she can retire earlier than planned."

Mikayla could not help but giggle at the last part before she sighed softly, her brown eyes looking up into his, "But... What will people say when they find out that I'm living in the same block of flats as you? I mean, I won't even get my first pay cheque until next week! There's no way I could even fake being able to afford this..."

It was clear that she was starting to panic.

Her eyes widened while her words came out slightly rushed, "What if they say that I'm sleeping with you in order to get to live here?"

Sighing as he ran a hand through his hair, Damien moved even closer to her to hold her hands, "Who the hell cares what people think Mikayla? We both know the truth."

She bit her bottom lip, "That's easy for you to say, you're not the one who'd be labelled as a gold-digging whore."

"No, I'd just be the poor bewitched sap who's getting all his money stolen by an enchanted Goddess," Damien tried to make a joke before saying more seriously, "I know, I know, your reputation is important. But let's face it, how far would any of us get in life if we paid attention to what other people said about us?"

"You can say that because you're rich Damien, things are different for us normal people," Mikayla stated simply.

With a groan of frustration, he used his right hand and gently cupped her face, "Then just tell them that your very rich, arrogant and overbearing boss demanded that you live closer to the office and he had an available flat that you couldn't refuse otherwise he'd have fired you." Damien's aquamarine eyes locked with Mikayla's as he smiled at her.

"Ugh! So instead of being a gold-digging whore I'm a brainless obedient servant that submits to your every command? Just great!" Mikayla grumbled.

With an amused look he could not resist saying, "The thought of you submitting to my every command is intriguing."

Mikayla rolled her eyes a bit as she shook her head ignoring his comment, "You're right though. I should not let the opinions of others dictate what I do with my life, my mother drilled that into my head ever since we moved to England."

"How did you end up living in England anyway?" He inquired curiously.

"My mother met an Englishman during our local Carnival season back on our island. His name is Roger and they had a long-distance relationship for about 2 years before they decided to get married on a beach in Tobago. Once I turned 12, we moved to England so that I could start secondary school. We often returned to the island every summer where I would spend time with friends and family." Mikayla paused for a bit before continuing, "Since Trinidad and Tobago was a former British colony the education system was the same so that part of the move was easy. Making new friends, not so much."

Damien nodded as he listened.

With a sigh she looked out the window, "I don't exactly have long straight hair and pale skin so as you can imagine it was a little bit of a shock for a child moving from a place with a handful of white people to the majority of the population looking that way, not to mention the fast-paced accents."

Damien's hand moved from her face to her curly hair, "I love the colour of your skin and I love your curly hair. It truly fascinates me the various styles that you put it in. I must confess that they can be a bit distracting for me sometimes."

In truth, he often found himself mesmerized by her hair and noticed that other people in the office were as well. He often observed some of the female employees asking her if they could touch it.

"Sorry," she said softly.

"Don't be, I've always wondered though, if you don't mind me asking, what exactly are you mixed with?" Damien asked inquisitively.

"Well my mother is of Indian descent and my father is of African descent. On my island they call someone like me a dougla," Mikayla said, happy to share her background with him.

"Dougla..." Damien let the word slip off his tongue, "Interesting, I have never heard that word before, it's fascinating."

She smiled at his response.

A sudden thought seemed to register in his brain as he paused for a bit, his eyes lighting up, "Does that mean that you can make curry? I like curry."

Mikayla burst out laughing, not having expected him to say such a thing, "Yes, I can make curry, my grandmother taught me very well. I make a mean paratha roti, or buss up shut as we call it in Trinidad. Just know that if you want curry you will need to help make it."

"Gladly!" Damien said with a happy smile. He nodded as he continued, less jokingly, "I can only imagine what it must have been like, having to move to a new country. At least you spoke English and didn't have to learn a new language right away," he said a bit sadly as he went on to speak about his own background.

"I was born in France and moved back and forth between London and Paris as a child due to my father's businesses. While it wasn't the same situation, I did feel out of place sometimes," Damien hesitated for a moment, "Even though I was among other rich children, there was still a hierarchy based on how much wealth your family had and I couldn't tell if the friends I made liked me for me or for the money. But as time passed, I learned to quickly assess the genuine people from the not so genuine."

He had also gained experience in knowing how to dodge women who just saw him as a meal ticket to elevate themselves, this included women of different ethnicities from all walks of life both rich and poor.

"Gold-digging whores included," he added as he playfully winked at her.

Mikayla scoffed and light-heartedly pushed him away, "Ass."

"I'll leave you to unpack, come up for lunch?" Damien asked.

Mikayla agreed and watched as he pulled out another key card. This one was black, the apartment logo etched in gold, it was obviously a key to his penthouse.

Damien attached the new card to the key-ring with her apartment's key card and handed it to her as her stomach grumbled at the mention of food.

He laughed heartily, "I'll take that as a yes, come up whenever you're ready," he stole a kiss from her lips, leaving her speechless as he exited the apartment.

Throwing herself down on one of the plush couches and pinched herself, "I must be dreaming." Mikayla held up the two key cards in her hand and wondered why he had given her a key to his place. "Probably to run from the office and come pick him up a new tie or something asinine like that," she softly joked.

————— ▲ —————

An hour and a half later the elevator doors opened directly into the penthouse foyer. As suspected, the penthouse suite was the epitome of wealth.

It was a duplex apartment she noted, observing elegant stairs leading to a second floor. What she noticed immediately was that there were a lot of dark colours, the floor being grey marble. The foyer was large with a bulky and ornately decorated mirror, there were also vintage pieces of furniture scattered about.

Damien's voice broke Mikayla out of her trance, "I'm in the kitchen! Take the corridor on the right."

Following his voice, Mikayla entered into the kitchen area where one side of the room was lined with elegant black cupboards that also housed stainless steel appliances. She could not help but notice the state-of-the-art stove and the three big wall-ovens that he had.

There was an immense centre island which housed a breakfast bar next to which Damien currently stood. The bar had two pizza boxes on it. As she approached, she noted the familiarity of the logo imprinted on those boxes. The room had a door that led out onto a massive patio which seemed to wrap around the entire floor. There was also a sitting area with nice sofas and a flat screen TV.

"I hope you're in the mood for pizza? I found out from Mrs. Clemons that you really enjoyed the Super Pepperoni Special and the 4 Cheese Deluxe from the brick oven restaurant down town. I had them deliver one of each." Damien said as he got them some plates.

"Aww, how romantic," she teased him while dropping her bag on the counter, "I'm always in a mood for pizza, it's perfect!" Mikayla silently melted at the sweet gesture.

"I got some nice wine to go with it as well," Damien said as he plated them up and moved them to sit by the couch.

"This place is magnificent," Mikayla said before she bit into her pizza, a soft moan escaping her lips.

Damien smiled at her reaction to the food and said between bites, "Thanks, I'll give you a tour once we're done."

Mikayla and Damien enjoyed each other's company as they sat and had lunch, bonding even more over pizza and wine. They spoke about their past relationships. Damien mentioned that he used to be a serial dater in his twenties and that he had had two semi-serious relationships to date, but things did not work out as the women turned out to not be what they pretended to be.

When it was her turn, she told him that she only had one serious relationship to date, and gave him a rundown of what had transpired between her and Jason in terms of their dating history. She did not go into detail about what happened between the sheets or lack thereof. Mikayla also gave him a summary of her failed attempts at dating afterwards, explaining why she buried herself in her job.

Damien had agreed that she should not spend all her time working and to give dating another chance. He of course referenced himself as the one to benefit from such an attempt.

They soon finished eating and Damien took her to have a look around his home. There was a tastefully decorated powder room just off the main foyer. Mikayla loved the large dining room; the massive oak table could easily seat eighteen people and she could only imagine the kinds of dinner parties he had there.

Along the walls were also a few display cabinets that matched the décor of the table, exhibiting some gorgeous designer dinnerware. The main living room had vaulted ceilings with sky lights, plus sectional couches and an overly gigantic flat screen TV. There was also an elaborate brick fireplace that was the focal point of the room and just off to the side of it there was a sophisticated room with floor to ceiling shelves that Damien used as his study.

As they continued to explore the penthouse, Mikayla could not believe that Damien had an indoor pool; it looked to be about six metres wide and eight metres long. The room itself was like a work of art, the marble floors in were white with grey etchings, with a jacuzzi attached to the pool.

The pool itself also had a marble floor that tied together the décor of the room. Where the windows were concerned, they were floor-to-ceiling arched glass panes that showed a patio area with lounge chairs and am electric fire pit. It was truly a magnificent yet relaxing sight.

Damien dragged Mikayla out of the poolroom and took her upstairs to show her the bedrooms. There were five in total and Damien's master bedroom left Mikayla absolutely speechless. The corridor leading towards the bedroom contained a massive master bathroom to the left and an equally large walk-in closet to the right.

"Wow! You really do have phenomenal taste!" Mikayla gasped out as they entered his bedroom, as she walked around the room she said, "Your penthouse is luxuriously decorated without having that stuck up rich people feel to it."

Damien chuckled knowing exactly what she meant, seeing as he had had a hand in choosing all the designs, "Thank you."

His bedroom, like all the other rooms, was big. But unlike the other rooms three of the four walls were made solely out of windows with one of the panes being a door that lead to the outside. The custom-made bed was situated against the opposite wall of the windows with an elegant floor to ceiling headboard, it was elevated via two steps. The only other pieces of furniture were beautiful side tables and an L shaped divan that sat in the left-hand corner.

"I suppose this is where the magic happens yea?" Mikayla joked, though she could not help but silently wonder how many women had laid in ecstasy across his bed sheets.

She ignored the slight jealous feeling that suddenly came over her as she walked to the right side of the room, where glass doors led out onto the patio and admired the view.

"Mikayla," Damien came up behind her. He slowly wrapped his arms around her waist as he gently kissed the exposed skin of her shoulder before softly speaking into her ear, "I've never brought a woman back here."

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