A Night To Remember || Ella & Charlie
Ella nodded in response to his thank you and smiled. She had genuinely meant the compliment… He had always been attractive, but they’d never gone somewhere formal, so she had never seen him looking the way he did now. Everything about the night was only intensifying the feelings that she was trying her hardest to keep secret. She watched him, thousands of thoughts running through her mind, as he looked over the menu before quickly glancing down, hoping he hadn’t noticed.
She let out a small sigh of relief and laughed along with him at his comment. Ella was glad he had found her logic funny rather than weird. “Well thank you, I guess it’s a good thing not to change too much?” She thought there was a difference between maturing and changing who you are. She had always said she never wanted to change so much that people didn’t recognize her, even as she grew up. Watching as Charlie whispered his order to the waiter, Ella grinned, excited to find out what he was actually ordering. At his question, she thought for a moment. Not too many interesting things had happened besides her getting her record deal, which she’d already told him about. “Well, it’s not that glamourous but… Hm, I’ve been pretty good, I guess. Busy, obviously, with recording and everything… but that’s pretty much been my main priority for the past year. Before that, all I really did was go back home to visit my family and then head to Nashville to try and get my name out there.” She shrugged. Suddenly remembering something about her album, she smiled and said, “Oh, I don’t know if you remember… but you know that song I played for you when we were at Monarch? Well, it’s going to be on the album.” She let out a laugh before meeting his eyes and saying, “So, tell me about you. What’s happening in the life of Charlie Styles?”
Charlie nodded at her comment about change. He could tell that she meant it, because she didn't seem to have changed a whole lot. Her personality was the same as in high school, more mature of course, but she was still that same girl that Charlie had taken a liking to. Admittedly he did like the way that she used to wear her hair in curls back in high school, but straight hair seemed to suit her too. She just always seemed to look beautiful, which surely would earn her some jealousy from others. But Charlie just liked to admire that, and he took the chance to look at her discretely whenever he could. As she answered his question, he leaned forward a bit. "That sounds amazing, El." He said, genuinely happy that her record deal was working out. Ever since he had heard her play for him that first time, he had wanted her to pursue a career in music, and he was glad that that was where her life was going. When she mentioned the song she played for him, he nodded; of course he remembered. "Sparks Fly, yeah? That's awesome!" He grinned at her. "So I can say I heard it waaaaay before anyone else, yeah?" While he always did have this sneaking suspicion that the song was about him, he decided not to bring it up, just in case he had been wrong or she no longer had those feelings.
When it was his turn to talk, he let out a bit of a sigh. "Well..I've been travelling a lot. Going from place to place; seeing the world." Charlie had wanted to do that since high school, but at the time he wasn't aware of why. Now he had a better understanding of himself, and he almost didn't want to admit it to Ella. She seemed to have her life in order, and in a way he was scared of admitting that he didn't - as if saying so would make it true, and he really didn't want it to be. "And, well, you know about Rosie." Just saying his daughter's name brought a smile to his face. "She's like my little perfect princess." He knew it sounded cheesy, but he didn't really care. If there was one thing he could count on being stable, it was having Rosie as his daughter. Before he had time to continue, the two were interrupted by the arrival of a waiter bearing their dessert. Charlie kept his eyes on Ella, watching her as the waiter placed a chocolate fondue set between them, with an array of different fruits to dip into the melted chocolate. Once the waiter had poured them each a glass of wine and left them alone, Charlie grinned at her from across the table. "I was kind of craving some chocolate." He admitted with a laugh. "I hope you don't mind."
