Paint My Heart

It all started with Damien's own unreasonable jealousy. He knew he was being petty, but he was unable to help himself. After breakfast, yes with pancakes and lots of  chocolate syrup, just how Liam liked, Damien had to leave for an urgent meeting. Though he had asked Smith to clear his day, still this was a deal he couldn't afford to miss. Therefore he had to reluctantly leave Liam.

The boy was in a pretty chirpy mood. All through the breakfast he chatted excitedly with Adler (Damien's butler), and Pablo (head chef) regarding different cuisines he had tried and would love to eat.

Usually breakfast was a silent affair in the Bishop manor with Damien catching up with the day's proceedings, discussing with Smith and planning his next move. But for the past week or so, more and more of his staff members joined them and as if lured by Liam's pure aura, they laughed merrily with him circling the breakfast table much to their boss's displeasure.

Initially they were hesitant and looked at Damien as if he would explode at anytime. But Liam was such a chatterbox and he could draw smile even from Jacob who generally stood behind Damien unsmiling and on guard.

Smith had become a steady presence at their breakfast table upon Liam's insistence. Though Damien tried to glare at Smith showing him that he didn't at all approve of Smith sitting with them but he conveniently ignored Damien with a fake innocent expression as he gobbled up pancakes.

Currently Liam was  discussing with Smith if chocolate eclairs were better than soufflé for the night's dessert while Penny, his pastry chef looked at Liam indulgently as if her world revolved around making the boy happily fed. In the whole process Damien was totally ignored as if the insignificant human didn't exist at the head of the table.

With a loud screech Damien drew back his chair startling everyone circling his boy. Jacob stood in rapt attention behind him. The merry atmosphere instantly was charged with tension. Damien checked his watch, he was already late. Smith arranged the files required for the meeting in one hand and grabbed his Ipad with the other getting ready to follow his boss.

"When will you be back?" Damien heard a soft voice behind him. Elated he turned back only to see Liam looking at Smith with an adorable pout.

"I am so.. so bored, Can't you stay back? We could play the new game Damien bought for me together." Said Liam.

Clenching his teeth in irritation Damien replied before  Smith could open his mouth, "No, he cannot stay, he is paid to do work not play around." Last part he added for Smith's benefit. How dare he get close to Liam! Liam should only want Damien not Smith, and not anyone else for that matter.

"Oh don't be so grumpy!" Said Liam casually waving his hand. "I just wanted someone with me to pass the day, I get lonely you know, and you don't have to be so rude to Smith".

There was a pin drop silence in the room. No one had ever dared to talk back to Damien and lived to see the day. The staff members held their breath anxiously. None wanted to see the aftermath of Damien's temper.

Liam was such a breath of fresh air into their life. Even most of the guards had warmed up to him. There were few like Matthew and Hazel who had tried to spew hatred but they were severely outnumbered by those who just adored the boy with bright, sunny smile and gentle soul.

Smith looked at Damien nervously. Damien looked positively terrifying with clenched jaw. His lips pressed firmly as the veins in his temple protruded throbbing erratically. He had to do something to diffuse the situation. Again he opened his mouth to placate Damien. But he was interrupted by Damien himself again.

"Fine!" Said Damien. "Smith, cancel my meeting, I am staying for the day." Turning to Liam, ignoring the collective gasps from his people and knowing smirk from his insufferable assistant he asked, "so what game are we playing today?"

Liam was startled. He didn't expect Damien to stay back. He wanted Smith with whom he had  an easy companionship, almost similar to a friendship. He was even okayish with the ever grumpy Luke and the funny giant Remi who were supposed to be his bodyguards. He thought of unwrapping his new PS5, a gift from Damien no doubt, though he would never know for sure, cause he just found it on his bedside table one morning with no note whatsoever. But the surreptitious looks Damien gave him solved the mystery.

Now as Damien discarded his overcoat and rolled his sleeves revealing his strong veined arms, Liam suddenly felt as if he had been invited to play a game of chess with Devil himself. Gulping audibly he said, "oh no! I wouldn't want to bother you. You were heading for something important weren't you? Go on I will be fine on my own."

Damien's expression darkened. "So you are absolutely okay with Smith staying back?" He asked ominously.

"Ummm...yes?" Said Liam unsure of why was Damien asking that question. Well he knew Smith was Damien's assistant and surely he was required in the meetings with Damien but people came to meet Damien didn't they? He had watched few meetings when it was conducted in Damien's home office and all he saw was Smith standing at Damien's back while the man himself dominated everyone with confidence. So surely Smith could be exempted from one meeting?

"So you are okay with him but not me?" Repeated Damien again with more force and before a bewildered Liam could open his mouth this time Smith hurriedly said "oh I am sure Liam is very, very, extremely happy that you stayed back, right Liam? Please tell me I am right before the Devil goes on rampage." He added the last part whispering in Liam's ears, shrinking under the murderous glance of Damien.

"Are you perhaps Liam in disguise of Smith? Or have you taken up a new job role wherein you answer on behalf of Liam!" Said Damien glaring at Smith.

"S...sure I am gr..grateful" stammered Liam to diffuse the uneasy situation. He didn't understand what made Damien angry. Of course he never thought Damien would leave something important to just simply spend a day playing games with him. So he didn't want to bother the man. But since Damien decided to stay, he felt that at least he might not be bored and lonely today.

"Ummm... so I was thinking, perhaps we could play shooting games?"asked Liam in an eager hopeful voice which partially melted Damien's displeasure.

"Shooting huh?" Said Damien in a condescending voice, his lips pulled up in his signature smirk. "Are you sure Liam?" He asked again in a challenging tone. The audience watched with palpitating heart that Liam countered Damien with his own mischievous smile as he faced the demon head on, "bring it on dude, am absolutely certain!"

How difficult would it be? He was an expert shooter and could hit bullseye ten out of ten times even with his eyes closed. How challenging would it be to beat a tiny seventeen year old? Hmmm.... He should mould the situation to his advantage thought Damien with malicious glint in his eyes as he eyed the unsuspecting boy.

"How 'bout we make a bet Liam?" He asked innocently.

"Bet"? Asked Liam curiously.

'Oh God noooooo!!!!' thought Smith, desperately trying to telepathically warn Liam. Through the corner of his eyes he watched as Jacob shifted restlessly, an alarm alerting him to the ploy Damien designed. 'The monster would eat him alive' thought Smith, but he had no way to warn the innocent being who looked at Damien with trusting doe eyes.

As if reading his mind Damien looked directly at Smith while answering Liam, "yes a bet, just to make the game a little more interesting."

"Okay, so what do we bet on?" Asked Liam.

"Hmmm..", Damien pretended to think. "For each game you loose, you have to kiss me, on my lips, in front of everyone."

As expected Liam's cheeks instantly painted with a lovely hue of red. He hadn't expected Damien to openly ask Liam something like that. But then again this was Damien who didn't understand the concept of civility and decency. Liam felt at least a dozen eyes watching him since they were still in the dining room. Eyes downcast Liam countered in a shy voice, "what if you loose?"

Damien was taken aback. Did the boy think he could defeat Damien? Amused he said, "then do you want me to kiss you?"

"Ummm... n..no," stammered Liam, the red hue spreading further on his neck and ears. "I will tell you when you loose, deal?"

"Should we seal it with a kiss babe?" Said Damien lifting a brow and laughing out loud when he saw Liam scampering off like a squirrel towards their games room.

The games room was a fairly large which had every indoor games possible. It had billiards, chess, pool, a table for playing cards and what not. There were also couple of huge screens where PC games were played. In a house where people with high testosterone resided together, a room like this helped the guards to relax and use their energies in healthy competitions.

When Liam discovered this room he was jubilant. It was dream place for a teen like him. If he could, he would have spent all his waking moments playing all the high tech games in this room. But Luke was very strict. He would start scowling after couple of hours and insisted that Liam should spent sometime out under the sun. Liam would fake tummy ache, insist he had hurt his foot, swear he had high fever but nothing deterred Luke from dragging the grumbling boy out from playing games all day.

When Damien entered the games room he saw it was unusually full. It was as if all his staffs and guards have crowded the room. They tried to act very casual and nonchalant but Damien didn't miss the charged up energy in the room. Damien Vs Liam, it was something almost everyone was excited to witness. Under a different circumstances Damien would have ordered them to empty the room, but he was feeling unusually childish. He wanted to flaunt his victory over Liam to everyone and he wanted everyone to witness Liam kissing Damien. The mere thought of Liam's lips against him made him aroused. He hurried towards the boy who was busy selecting the game and checking on his console.

The game was simple and easy enough. The premise of the game was that the zombies attacked a town and thus it was Damien and Liam's chivalrous duty to eliminate as many zombies as possible. The one who kills more under three minutes would win. They each had one control and Damien felt it was too easy a win.

What Damien conveniently skipped to mention was that he was not novice to such games. It was part of his training, giving him psychologically charged scenarios wherein he needed to kill or save complying to the rules of the games.

"Smith, do you mind being keeping the time for us?" Said Liam cocking his head.

"Jacob is more than competent to do so." Said Damien, hating the existence of Smith every second.

"But that wouldn't be fair, Jacob always listens to what you say." Said Liam, scowling very prettily. His pink lips jutted out in a pout and his brows furrowed in annoyance.

"How bout Luke?" One of his guard blurted out. When Damien looked at him, he just trembled like a leaf for speaking out of turn.

Before Damien could react Liam exclaimed jubilantly, "Luke, yesssss! Am sure he doesn't like you, he doesn't like anyone for that matter, so Luka would monitor the time, it's decided."

Luke looked at Liam with an empty emotion and stoic face as he waited for Damien's final word.

"My Gawd Luke, cheer up, we are not going to the olympics. No one would shoot you if you are wrong, right Damien?" Said Liam cheerfully patting Damien's back. Luke almost flinched, but was able to maintain his face of indifference. What Damien's subordinates failed to understand was how Liam got away with treating Damien as almost like his peer.

While Liam was completely unaware of the perilous situation he was into, similar to the rich Arab Princes keeping lions as their pet, arrogance deterring them to realise the true danger, Smith and Jacob realised that the lion though appeared fierce was completely tamed by a naive seventeen year old kid who unknowingly held the leash and whip both.

"Let's begin the game", said Damien simply trying to overlook his guards giving him weirded looks.

Oh it was easy! So easy, thought Damien. He effortlessly meandered through the rough terrain and shot the green faced alien looking monsters. He was concentrating hard and tried to ignore the feeling of another warm body playing beside him. The zombies were apparently very dull as they flocked at a group of three and more and were an extremely easy kill.

One

Two

Twelve

Twenty two

Fifty eight

Damien kept shooting until he heard Luke saying in his usual deep voice to stop.

He killed 128 zombies to his satisfaction. More than contented he looked at Liam with a smug smile, prepared to capture the soft supple lips between his teeth.

His smile faltered when he looked at his opponent's screen. Liam had killed 382 zombies. It was a landslide victory.

"Gosh! You are really bad at this. Are you sure you know how to shoot?" Sassed the boy, as most of the guards and maids suppressed their snickers.

"I let you win, I was not playing seriously" said Damien, trying to salvage his pride.

"Yeah... yeah", said Liam rolling his eyes.

"How bout another round?" He said gritting his teeth.

"Sure" said Liam trying not to smile. "But you lost this round and I won fare and square, so time for my reward, don't you agree Damien?"

Damien had never been in such a situation which was not under his control. He was always the one driving the plot, manipulating, moulding it to his convenience. So in front of his people who trembled in his name, who thought he was absolute, he should have felt humiliated but instead he felt a deep stirring in his heart as he watched Liam's lively sparking eyes and a truly happy face. If this was his reward for loosing he was prepared to loose again and again and again.

"So what do you want?" Asked Damien truly curious, smiling at the boy who offered him a mischievous smile of his own.

"How about for each game you loose I paint on you?" Said Liam dipping a paint brush in pink glitters. And that's how Damien ended up with two pink unicorns on both of his cheeks, a blue mermaid on his forehead, a Winnie the pooh on his chin and a big rainbow on his sharp nose after loosing five games consecutively.

He ignored the smug looks of Smith, and awed looks of his staffs and almost pitiful eyes of Jacob as he cradled Liam on his lap while the boy concentrated on giving a final touch on the rainbow, his pink tongue sticking out in concentration.

Damien tried to glare at his employees assuming a look of, I..AM..YOUR..VERY..STRICT..BOSS..AND..I..WILL..MAIME..YOU. But he appeared hilarious with all the glitters and cartoons painted on him. Strangely he didn't mind. He felt like human not a machine devoid of emotion as he held Liam in his arms. He looked at the boy who sat fearlessly on his lap cupping his face drawing on it with utmost concentration. Damien knew at that very point he had lost, not only the stupid game, but his heart and his soul and there was no return from this feelings. It was absolute, it was terrifying, it was exhilarating. It was as if Liam was not painting his face but his throbbing heart.

A few more chapters, the story would take a very dark turn. Enjoy the lovey doves while it lasts.