XXIII: Midnight

Seductive Poison:

Simone’s Notes:

Infidelity that does not involve sex or conception may be referred to as a romantic friendship or an emotional affair. Some people consider virtual sex, which is an impersonal on-line relationship, as infidelity. An office romance, work romance, or corporate affair is a romance that occurs between two people who work together in the same office, work location, or business. Though office romances are generally considered to be unhelpful to business and work relationships, inter-personal relationship at work are quite common. These relationships are usually discouraged as part of company policy, and at times even prohibited. The suspicion that an advantage is gained by 'sleeping with the boss' in a competitive environment ensures that these relationships occur by stealth.

Manami was proud that the first month of the Harvest was a success. August was the best time to start a lusty dark harvest. All of the fallen ones had become stronger. But it wasn’t enough. September was now here and they all needed more sources for their reign. Manami began searching through all of Ai-Oni’s past victims for more sources. One name came into her head. The fallen princess smiled at that name. “Damon Sanders!” she thought with a smile on her face. “He’ll be easy to use for my purpose!” But first, the fallen princess had to test him out first. There was only one way to do that. So she rose up from her throne and headed down into the city.

Manami found Damon in a graveyard. He was visiting the grave of Tanya Sanders. The col. was in heavy sorrow. It was so long ago. But yet, the day she died still haunted him to this day. The man had heavy tears in his eyes. “Tanya,” he murmured to the tombstone. “I am so sorry…”

“Was Tanya your sister?” a voice asked behind him. Damon froze and looked up. Manami was standing over him smirking. The soldier got a good look at the woman. Her long pink hair was flying loose. She had on a black corset top, black jeans, and black stiletto boots. Her make-up was done up like a hooker’s. Damon thought it was a little inappropriate for a woman to come here dressed like that in a graveyard. But then, the col. noticed something right away

“You’re Ai-Oni’s kid, aren’t you?” he asked. Manami looked at him as if he had hurt her feelings.

“Awww,” she said. “You don’t sound happy to see me.” Damon was glaring at her.

“Spare me the crap!” he barked. “What the hell do you want?!?” Manami lightly batted her eyes at him. She definitely had her mother’s charm.

“Nothing much,” she replied. “Just for you to pick up a small item for me.”

“No!” Damon said quickly. Manami looked at him in surprise.

“You don’t even know what it is yet!” she said back. Damon narrowed his eyes upon her.

“Whatever it is, the answer is still no!” he said.

“At least listen to what it is first!” Manami insisted. The col. sighed out loud.

“Alright,” he said. “What is it?” The fallen princess smiled at him kindly.

“Oh,” she replied. “Just a certain little stone,” Damon became suspicious.

“What certain little stone?” he questioned. Manami looked around quickly to see if they were really alone. The fallen princess leaned in close to him.

“The diamond!” she said. Damon looked at her confused.

“What?!?” he asked. Manami just shrugged at him.

“Just a simple diamond ring,” she said. “I want to look good for the new kingdom along side Edward Elric and Azrael! The biggest rock when with the ashes of a corpse in particular.” Damon quickly put it all together. He quickly turned away.

“No!” he snapped. “I’m not your little minion and I’m certainly not your mother’s either!” Then, the col. stormed off in anger. However, Manami had an ace up her sleeve.

“It would be bad if Ginny found out that you were married with a son!” she yelled out. Damon froze up in a rush. Manami smiled in wicked victory. She had him now. Time to draw him in.

“It would also be bad if Carol found that you went back to your old ways!” she said. The col. whipped around to her. The fallen princess was smiling at him coldly.

“Glad I have your undivided attention!” she called. Damon sighed. He was trapped now.

“Fine!” he said. “I’ll buy you the stupid ring!” Manami smiled at him brightly.

“Thanks sweetie!” she called. Then the fallen princess kissed Damon on the cheek. The col. just sighed. “What have I gotten myself into?” Manami smiled to herself wickedly at that thought. “My world, Damon,” she thought. “My world,” Then, the col. walked away.

“Do your best, Damon!” the fallen princess called out. Sanders hurried away faster. Manami smiled wickedly to herself. The odds were in her favor even more.

Damon walked around the city in guilty stress. “Why the hell am I doing?!?” he thought annoyed. The col. stopped in his tracks and breathed in hard. He needed… He needed to call someone. So he pulled out his cell phone and dialed a familiar number. The col. waited for the phone to ring. “Please be there! Please be there!” he kept thinking over and over again.

“Hello?” Ginny answered on the other line. Damon breathed out easily.

“Oh Ginny!” he called to her. “I’m so glad you picked up!”

“Why? What’s wrong?” she asked. Damon pressed him together on the other line.

“I need to see you again!” he said. “I just have to see you!”

“But…” he young mistress spoke up.

“Please!” Damon pleaded. “I really need this!” There was some silence on the phone.

“Okay,” Ginny said at last. “But you’ll have to come with my friends and I tonight to the juice bar again!” Damon held the phone tightly as he nodded.

“Yes, anything you say!” he said.

“Okay!” Ginny said. “Love you, bye-bye!” Then they hung up. For once, Damon felt sick after talking to Ginny. It was guilt and shame. They were finally catching up to him. The col. just couldn’t understand it. “Why do I keep digging a deeper and deeper grave?” he thought. However, he would it even worse for himself. Damon dialed up home on his cell phone. He waited for her to pick up.

“Hello,” the answering machine said. “No one is home to take your call. So please leave a message after the beep.” The beep followed after the message. Damon swallowed hard. This made things even worse. Now, he would have to lie to a machine that Carol would have to listen to later. Well, it was too late now. He had no choice but to go through with it now.

“Hi sweetie it’s me,” Damon said to the machine. “I won’t make it home tonight. I be out late at work. So don’t wait up for me. Love you, honey. Bye!” Then, Damon hung up the phone. His heart and stomach ached even more. The col. shook his head hard. This was just a cycle he could not get out of. The only way it could was if he broke it himself. That proved to be a difficult thing to do. Damon really needed help. But where could he go? His options were pretty thin now. The col. sighed and shook his head.

Then, he spotted a jewelry store up ahead. Damon began to relax some. Part of his problem was now solved. Manami would get her stupid ring after all. The col. smiled to himself in relieve. “Finally!” he thought. “One less problem to worry about!” The man hurried to the store just in time. The jewelry store hadn’t closed yet for lunch. Damon straightened himself up some and went inside.

The whole place was a glitter. The col. looked all around. He had his reason ready in his head. Damon approached the counter. The jeweler looked at him smiling.

“Can I help you today sir?” he asked the consumer. Damon smiled back at him.

“I want your best diamond ring,” he replied. “The purest and best rock you have! It’s for a very close friend of mine.” The jeweler smiled at him brightly. He didn’t bother to ask why, he was happy to help.

“Coming up, sir!” he replied. Then, the man went to the counter and looked around for a moment. Damon waited in silence. He was feeling better already. Maybe now, Manami could get off of his back for a while and he could go on with his life in peace. The jeweler came back with a ring. Damon feasted his eyes on the huge rock. This was clearly the best out of all of the merchandise. The light had no choice but to shine upon the diamond. The diamond was cut just perfectly. The stone was upon a white platinum band. The jeweler smiled at Damon richly.

“Is this the one you want sir?” he asked him.

“Yes!” Damon said quickly. “I want this one!” The jeweler kept smiling at him.

“That’ll be 90,000 cenz!” he chirped. Damon tried his best to keep his smile. The prize was painful, but it was all worth to keep Ginny, Micah, and Carol from finding out about each other. Damon pulled out his debit card and handed it to the jeweler. The man swiped it through the machine and rang up the rock. He handed Damon the receipt and the signed it. The jeweler kept his smile.

“Do you want me to box?” he asked him.

“Yeah, do as you like,” Damon replied.

“Great!” the man at the counter said. Then he boxed and bagged the ring and handed it all to Damon. The col. just turned away and left.

“Have a nice day!” the jeweler called to him. That made Damon walk away even faster.

The col. came all the way back to the graveyard. Manami was waiting by Tanya’s grave. She looked up at him smiling.

“So?” she asked. “Do you have the ring?” Damon reached into the bag and pulled out the box. He handed it right to her. Manami opened it wide and became really excited right away.

“Oh wow!” she called. “I would kiss you right now if I wanted!” Then she took the ring out and slid it on. It was a perfect fit. The fallen princess happily leapt forward and hugged the col. tightly. *Sweat drop Damon’s head out discomfort*

“Happy now, yes?” he asked.

“Hell yeah!” Manami yelled out. Damon breathed out in relief. His secret was safe for now. He looked down at the fallen princess.

“So this means you’ll leave alone now, yes?” he asked. Manami smirked to herself as she let him go.

“Yeah,” she replied. “For now!” Then, she walked away laughing evilly. Damon just watched her looking pale. “I knew she was going to say that!” he thought nervously.

“We’ll be in touch!” Manami yelled out to him from the air. The col. really thought that he was going to be sick now. “I don’t like the sound of that,” he thought. “Don’t like it at all!” Then he walked away to Central Headquarters for work.