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Something’s wrong with Damon.
It’s becoming more obvious as the day goes on. He’s been giving these short responses to all Eva’s attempts to make conversation, which is unlike him completely. Then there’s the way he was stuck on the same page of his book for twenty minutes— yes, she counted— with his eyes unmoving. The most obvious indicator something is wrong, however, is now at dinner. Eva has been watching him shift his food around on the plate mindlessly for the past two minutes instead of simply stabbing the piece of chicken with his fork and taking the damn bite. It’s an irritating noise to Eva, the sound of the fork scraping the plate. But the more important thing to her is the well known fact Damon hates people playing with their food.
So why is he?
“If you don’t like it, you don’t have to force yourself to eat it.” She finally speaks up in the silence. Her speaking brings a halt to the irritating scraping of the fork at long last. Damon lifts his head to meet her eyes.
“It’s not that. You did great tonight, Eva. I like this new recipe.” He offers her a smile for some comfort, before turning his gaze back to his plate and finally stabbing the piece of chicken he’s been playing with and raising it to his mouth for a bite.
Eva sighs exasperatedly. “Okay, Damon, I can’t keep doing this. Something has been bothering you all day and it’s obvious to me, yet you won’t say. That’s not like you at all. You always communicate very clearly how you’re feeling. What is it that’s bothering you?”
Damon’s mouth pops open as she speaks and hangs open as he waits for her to finish. When she does, he responds slowly. “I’m sorry, Eva. You’re right, I’ve been … holding back today, for lack of better words. I’ve been trying to think of how to approach this conversation I feel we should have. I suppose this is how it’s going to happen, though.”
His words make Eva anxious but she does her best not to let it show. Her expression is serious. “So let’s talk. What’s bothering you?”
“Eva, we’ve been together for quite a while now, and I don’t intend to leave you. I’d be lying if I said the prospects of marriage haven’t been crossing my mind…”
Pause.
What? Huh?
Marriage???
He continues speaking. “I guess today it’s just all on my mind a little more than usual. The little things.”
“Like what?”
“Like for starters, your last name. I don’t expect you’d want to be Eva Maitsu.”
That sentence feels like a gut punch to Eva in more ways than one. Hearing her name next to his last name brings to mind images of matrimony. Thoughts flood her mind of walking down the aisle with her father, being handed off to Damon to be his bride, his wife. The look in his eyes as he watches her walk up to the altar to meet him is dreamy and threatens to shed a tear. They’d exchange beautiful vows that move the room. And when he leans in for their first married kiss, he takes her in his arms and dips her low with a passionate kiss, like something out of the movies. She can hear the happy cheers and applause of the audience…
She snaps back from the fantasy. Foolish thoughts, and yet, they may become real sooner than she expected. She gets a chill.
“Why would you assume I wouldn’t want to take your family name?”
Damon’s eyebrows raise at her answer. “The name Eva Tsunaka is a name you really made for yourself. It’s the name you established yourself as the Ultimate Mathlete with, got accepted to Eden’s Garden Academy with. The name you published all those papers you worked so hard on with. I don’t want you to feel like you have to abandon all of that for me.”
Eva’s nose scrunches as he talks. “Are you kidding, Damon? Sheesh, you want to marry me but you don’t seem to know me at all.”
Damon’s face drops, looking more worrisome now.
“… What?”
“You’re putting words in my mouth now. Telling me about my Ultimate title, my papers I’ve written, all these pity medals I’ve won… Tch.” She sneers at the thought of all these things. There’s a silence as her face softens. “I didn’t want any of that anyways. All those awards I won, and for what? It didn’t get me anywhere anyways, did it?”
“Eva, don’t—“ Damon begins to interject.
“Damon.” She interrupts. Her eye contact is held tightly as she speaks these next words in earnest. “I’ll happily abandon that name… and that life… for something better.”
“But what’s better?”
“…A life with you, obviously.” She replies with no hesitation, then sighs. “Sheesh, You’re so dense sometimes for someone so smart.”
Nobody moves or speaks for the next few seconds as they stare at each other with different emotions bubbling beneath their eyes. Damon is the first to look away. Without words, he lifts himself from his chair with his dinner plate in hand and steps away. Eva watches him scrape what remains of his meal into the trash before heading in the direction of the kitchen sink. He flicks on the water and begins washing his dinner plate. Eva feels confused, contemplating her next move. She decides to follow his actions, trashing what little scraps remain on her plate and standing next to Damon by the sink.
“Damon, did I say something to upset you? You know I’m always joking. I think you’re very smart, even when you don’t understand me. I tend to not make sense, anyways.”
He keeps scrubbing the plate slowly and carefully. It starts to make her anxious. She notices then that his face is … kinda red in the cheeks. Now she’s really nervous. She puts her plate on the counter and reaches for his hand with her free one.
“Damon, a-are you okay?” She asks again, tripping over her words this time.
He looks up at her, face redder than she’s seen it be in a long time. He’s… blushing. He squeezes her hand back with a tight grip.
“Eva, have I told you enough that I love you?” He asks.
Eva immediately turns her head away to hide the blush that quickly spreads on her face. Are you serious? “Stop it, that’s cringe.”
“I’m serious, Eva. I love you. I really want to marry you someday.”
She winces hard. “I heard you the first time! Stop saying that, you’re making me embarrassed.”
Damon smirks. “Ha. Embarrassed to be my wife?”
“Damon!!!” She chokes out with a nervous laugh. “Seriously, when you say things like that, it…”
“Hmm?” He hums.
“It makes me feel weird. I guess I never imagined being loved this way. loved for who I really am and who I’m not. Some parts of me don’t want to believe in it.”
Damon lets out a smile. “I get that. I guess I’ll just always refer to you as Eva then, if that makes you feel better.”
“No.” She responds, her voice firm. “Please. When I am, I want to be your……… wife.”
That makes Damon smile harder, though he immediately takes his other hand to hide it. “God. That was kind of lame, huh?”
Eva slaps Damon’s arm playfully. “Oh, please, you started it! You should be lucky if I take on the Maitsu name. I can cite all my research papers under Maitsu then. Just don’t get a big head about it, it’s Maitsu E. after all.”
Damon smirks. “Too late. I’m already boasting about it to anyone who can listen that I have the coolest wife-to-be to bring further success to my family name.”
Eva lets out a snort. “Don’t get ahead of yourself. I’m still just your girlfriend. I expect a proper proposal.”
“Right. I’m going to start thinking about that.” Damon turns off the sink and begins to walk away before stopping and turning back to his lover. “In the meantime, you’ve got to find out your ring size for me.”
Eva blushes deeper. “Okay. Oh, and Damon?”
“Yes?”
“Turmeric.”
He tilts his head. “What?”
“The recipe I tried tonight. I put Turmeric in it. I think that’s what makes it so good.”
He ponders it. “That might be it. You did great, again. I’ve got some work to finish up real quick. Let’s keep talking about this after I’m done, okay?” He responds, before walking away into his office with a notable pep in his step.
Eva turns back to the sink to finish off the last of the dishes and place them in the dishwasher. The whole process is so much more fun, she finds, when you’re fantasizing about your future wedding to marry the man you love. She giggles to herself like a little kid as she loads the dishwasher, reaching in her pocket for her phone to call Diana when she’s done. She’s going to freak out, for sure…