An excited Lucy rushes over to Nadia and Damien at their usual brunch spot.
“Hey, guys! Sorry I’m late,” Lucy says, as she sits across from them in their booth.
“…again,” Damien mumbles under his breath, causing Nadia to dig her heel into his foot. “It’s no problem, we just got here ourselves! So, how’s everything going with the wedding planning? I can’t believe my baby girl’s getting married!”
“Nadia, I’m like 3 years older than you,” Lucy says while rolling her eyes, “But… Everything’s going surprisingly well! Eros provided us with a wedding planner, and I swear she must be one hell of a planner getting us a spring venue in New York!”
After finishing their meal, they head outside.
“Sorry, I gotta go! I’m running late for work as it is. See you guys next week, same time!” Nadia’s voice fades as she jogs down the street, flagging down a taxi.
Damien shifts on his feet, the air’s filled with a heavy silence, “Yeah, um… I’m gonna head out, too.”
As he starts to walk away Lucy grabs his wrist.
“Wait… Damien…”
He turns to face her.
“I need to talk to you,” she says, scrunching up her nose – trying to figure out what to say. Damien looks pointedly at her hand still wrapped around his wrist.
“Oh! Sorry…” She pulls away, tucking her hands into her coat pockets.
“I just wanted to say… I’m sorry.”
“I’m pretty sure you just did that.” Damien smirks.
“No! Not that… About before, about… everything.”
3 months ago at Archer & Hopps…
Lucy walks over to where Damien is sitting at the bar.
“So… I didn’t see you at brunch today,” She says as she sits down next to him.
“That’s probbly cuz i dint show up.” Damien slurs, motioning to the bartender for another drink.
“Listen, Damien! You need to stop. I care about you too much to let you do this to yourself…” Lucy rubs her left hand up and down Damien’s arm comfortingly.
Damien looks down at her hand, staring at the giant diamond on her finger that probably cost more than he’s made in the past five years. “Not enough apparently…” He mumbled, then took another shot.
“Look, Luce, I’m a big boy. You don’t need to worry about me.”
“I… I know that I don’t. But-” Before she can finish, her phone rings, “I’m sorry it’s the wedding planner, do you mind if I…?”
“No, go ahead.”
Lucy walks a few paces away and takes the call. When she held the phone up to her ear, Damien noticed something strange.
I could’ve sworn she had a mark on her wrist…
After Lucy finishes the call, Damien walks up to her.
“Hey, Lucy… Didn’t you have a sca-”
Lucy abruptly cut him off, “Sorry, Damien! Duty calls. I’ll talk to you later!”
“Yeah… Later…” Damien mumbles as she walks away.
Later on at Damien’s…
Damien leans over his dining table – drink in hand, looking over several folders and articles that are splayed out across the table.
After a few sleepless hours, he gives up tossing everything on the floor and walks into the living room.
“This doesn’t make any sense!” Damien says, throwing himself into his beat-up recliner. He scrolls through his phone, until he finds the voicemail that’s left him rattled the past 3 months. Exhausted mentally, Damien slowly falls asleep.
3 months earlier…
Damien plops onto his couch, listening again to the 3 voicemails Lucy sent the night before.
Lucy Park – 09/24/2017 12:44 am
“Hey D, it’s Lucy. I know it’s pretty late, but I talked to Nadia earlier, and she helped me figure some stuff out… I hope it’s okay with you if I stop by in the morning. I need to tell you something… Don’t worry, it’s good news – at least I think it is…? So yeah! I’ll stop by around 10? I just need to talk to Hayden first. I’m gonna do that tonight… I think it’s ov- actually… never mind, we can talk tomorrow. Heh, bye!”
Lucy Park – 09/24/2017 2:15 am
“Damn it, Damien! Pick up the damn phone! Something’s not right… I’m outside Hayden’s building. I can see Hayden in the window… But something’s not right… Oh, shit. I think they saw me! Damien, I need you. Please, please get over here.”
Lucy Park – 09/24/2017 3:50 am
“Hey, Damien. It was a false alarm. I’m okay. Don’t worry. Hayden’s taking me upstate for a surprise. I will talk to you later. Goodbye.”
Damien awakes to a ice-cold cup of water dumped over his head. Nadia looks at him disapprovingly, “Look, D, I know you’re hurting but you’ve gotta let this go… It’s been 3 months! She made her choice and she’s happy. Don’t ruin that for her.”
Damien sighs, rubbing his hands over his face.
“I… I know… It just feels like something’s off.”
Nadia sits next to him on the couch putting her arm around his shoulder, “I know you’re hurting, but it just feels like you’re making up a case as an excuse to… I don’t know, change her mind? You need to deal with this in a healthy way,” she says as she removes her arm and nudges him with a smirk. “You know, like getting wasted and hooking up with strangers.”
Damien smiles sadly, “Heh, maybe you’re right.”
Nadia laughs getting up and starts to head out.
“I usually am.”
Meanwhile, at Eros…
The lights flicker in a sub-level room that looks like it’s been vacant for years – something straight out of an old psychological thriller.
The only thing present is someone that looks severely malnourished with a black cloth bag over their head, sitting down arms handcuffed around a concrete support beam – smack dab in the middle of the cobweb-filled room.
Their head perks up as they hear heels clicking against the hallway’s cement flooring. After a moment unlocking the door, in walks Cecile.
“You know, the average human can go 2 weeks without food… Are you sure you want to push those limits, or are you ready to tell me what I need to know?”
She struts over to them and takes off the bag covering their head.
“…Lucy.”