Chapter 4

                                    

                                          
A few days later, Damian was sitting in his office, having coffee and working with his friend and attorney, Ric Valdez, who was successful enough to have his own law firm. They had been friends since childhood. Though Ric's family moved away right after they completed high school, he and Damian had stayed in touch, well, at least as much as possible.
His morning was spent drawing up contracts with his builders and working on the specifics of some land acquisitions. Finally, after a gruelling argument over the various clauses in the agreement they were working on, Ric let out an exasperated sigh.
"King, you're nothing but a slave-driver! I curse the day I agreed to work with you... no, no, I curse the day you were born. You're nothing but a white supremacist taking advantage of me because I'm Mexican. Damn you and damn all the Kings!"
Damian eye-rolled at his friend's tirade. Though Ric was born and brought up in the US, he always garnered sympathy with the ladies by playing the race card. He was a total Casanova and an attention whore with his olive skin, long black hair, and dark eyes.
In high school, they'd been a formidable pair. Both were excellent sportsmen and also quite good in studies. Despite his tirade, he knew Ric was happy he had contacted him for help in setting up his business.
Though Ric had a funny way of showing his thanks, and by no means was his snit over with. 
"Did you so much as ask 'How are you' when you met me? With you, it's work and more work. Did you offer to take me out for drinks for old times' sake? We spent our youth together, man! Remember when we used to sneak into bars? Huh? Why don't we do it now when we don't even need fake ids?"
"Don't fret, princess," Damian drawled, shaking his head. "Your King's chariot awaits! It'll take you wherever you wanna go, but we need to finish these contracts first."
Unsurprisingly, that led to more complaints, until it was Damian's turn to let out an exasperated sigh.
"What do you want from me? Isn't it enough that you are milking me for all it's worth by charging me by the hour? What else do you want?" he inquired, running his fingers through his hair.
He was restless today. Mia hadn't answered any of his calls, and he wasn't sure if she was deliberately avoiding him. The only way to get some respite was to immerse himself in work. But his friend was in no mood to allow him that.
"Well, to start with, I want to know what's bothering you. You've asked Natalie at least three times in a couple of hours if there were any messages left for you. And then you act like nothing's happened." 
Ric pressed his lips, scanning Damian's face as if the answer was written there. "What's going on with you? You lost touch with everyone. No one had any idea where you'd disappeared. And now that you've resurfaced, seemingly out of nowhere, you refuse to talk about what you were up to."
"Uh-uh...!" Ric raised a hand as Damian opened his mouth to speak.
"Don't tell me you were an apprentice in your uncle's construction firm in Joburg. For God's sake, why did you move there? And what the hell happened to you there? You were never this serious, man!"
With a grimace, Damian moved to the window. Who better to confide in than his best friend? And he did need Ric's help in matters more than just official.
"Do you know any attorneys who handle civil cases? I, uh- may need one as my dear wife wants a divorce."
Ric choked on the coffee he was drinking and almost sprayed it all over their documents.
He turned to Ric with a displeased scowl. 
"Damn man, control yourself!" he scolded.
"Control myself? Damn you... you... you!" Ric wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and stood up.