72

Kara opened the door and left without saying anything to him. The whole day she avoided even coming in front of him. James could only look at her dull face that she tried to hide behind a fake smile while talking to the colleagues.
When Damon came to the office, it was already filled with hushed whispers about the whole fight between Kara and James. And when he came to the department, it was not hard for him to recognize the sadness in her eyes. His stern, furious gaze turned to James who was sitting in his office, his gaze coming constantly to Kara.
Without a second thought, Damon stormed inside James' office. His hands came down to rest on the table when he asked with clear anger in his voice, "You did that to her again, didn't you?"
James leaned back in his chair, unaffected by Damon's dominating frustration, "And how do you know it is me?"
"Because nothing else can cause her that fucking heartbreak which shows in her eyes." Damon hissed furiously, "Over so many fucking years, so many mistakes over and over repeated by you, you still haven't learned how to treat her right, have you? I do know her well enough that no one has the power of destroying her as much as you do. She never gave it anyone else."
For the first time in his life, James was silent in front of Damon. Damon continued without a disregard for his reaction. All the pent up anger and frustration he had in his chest because of James poured out like burning lava because he could not see the sadness in Kara's eyes once again even after having to give her up to James,
"I saw her all those years when she had left this country after the death of her mom and dad. Nothing ever destroyed her. Nothing blew her happiness away in all those years she lived with us no matter how you behaved. She never showed any effect because she thought you were the closest to her and only you had the right to hurt her in any way. God damn it, had you even seen her face when her parents had died and you were not here by her side? She never left the bedside of her parents but she also did not stop asking about you because she was worried sick that something had happened to you as well. Even when the doctors shouted at her in anger, everything fell to deaf ears. All she kept talking about was her parents, and you! Now you tell me. How many times are you going to hurt the only person who loves you so madly?"
By the time Damon finished his angry rant, James was staring right at Kara who was smiling at something an employee had said. He knew that the smile on her face was not a real one but she was still trying to conceal her pain to not show others. And then in that brief moment, he saw the glimpse of the changed person that Kara had become. The mature girl instead of the innocent one who stayed by his side all the time when her parents were still here. And he did not like this shade of hers. He did not like this Kara who was filled with sadness and anguish and so much maturity that looked forced upon her. The realization dawned upon him that he missed the old childish Kara who tried to look independent and strong but was vulnerable from inside. Who always wanted him to protect her.
And now he hated the situation he had forced her in and he hated himself for being the cause of it.