It Was Inevitable - Chapter 1
I am finishing the last touch on my make-up when Daryl calls from the hall.
„Hurry up or we’re gonna be late!“
„I’m coming, Jesus, give me a minute,“ I shout at him and look in the mirror. My hair is starting to get out of the bun but I don’t have time to adjust them and I know it would be useless. I’ll try to do something with them on our way to the event. I take my purse from the bed and head to Daryl. He is standing near the door in his velvet suit looking gorgeous as always. He’s looking at me with wonder in his eyes and when I get closer to him, he puts his arms around my waist and looks me in the eyes.
“You look stunning, darling,” he whispers and kisses my cheek.
“You don’t look bad yourself,” I reply and step away from him. I need to put my shoes on and I know that we are incredibly late and there is no time to waste.
Daryl takes both of our coats and opens the door for me. We get out and quickly make our way to the car where is waiting our driver.
“Good evening, Mike,” I greet the driver when I get to the car. He smiles at me through the rearview mirror and nods his head. I always liked Mike. He was kind, funny and I was never bored during our rare rides.
As we head to the event, Daryl and I are discussing what we can expect there. It is a private party before the awards season in Britain and everyone who means something tries to get there. Daryl, as this rising star in the film industry, got his invitation two months ago and invited me to go with him. I didn’t really care about these events but at that time as his best friend I wanted to be there for him. No idea why I did that when I know no one there except for him.
“Don’t worry, Evan, Cath and Lucy will be there and they can’t wait to see you and spend some time with you,” Daryl reassures me as if he knows what goes through my mind. I smile at him and take his hand.
“Okay. I can’t wait to see them either, you know that, I haven’t seen them for so long. It’s gonna be great.” He beams at me and tilts his head so he can kiss me lightly.
It is still so new for me, this relationship. We have been friends since I started working as a manager assistant in the theatre where he was directing many great projects and we got on well right on the spot. We spent all of our time together and became best friends. We were inseparable, even though we are nine years apart with Daryl’s 34 years. He was an amazing friend, I’ve never had anyone who I could tell everything. Our friends didn’t understand how we could not be together. They were saying we were perfect for each other. But we always laughed it off, there was never a spark between us. Yeah, I knew he’s handsome with his black hair, dark eyes, stubble and a smile which made many knees weak. But he was just my friend.
Until we got so drunk one day a month ago and I wasn’t able to go home so I went to his place instead. He took care of me, offered me his bed as a gentleman. And the whole night was too much for me and suddenly I started kissing him. And he didn’t pull away, just sighed into my mouth and said “finally.” That night started something that was unimaginable for me.
And so here we are, a month together, on our way to some VIP party. As we start discussing this year’s awards and chances of many films, Mike announces that we reached our destination.
“Just call me when you want to take back home,” he says as we’re getting out. We thank him and close the door. Daryl comes to me and offers me a hand. With our hands entwined we walk the stairs to the building. At the entrance, we say our names and they let us in. We put our coats in the cloakroom where they direct us to the hall.
I have to say the hall is incredible. The decoration is themed as underwater, so the whole room is tuned in blue and green and turquoise colours. The lights are dimmed and slightly flickering. There are tables with food, huge bar and even bigger stage with the set-up for some band. I have no idea who is supposed to play tonight but I can’t wait because I love live music.
We head to find our designated table where we can sit. Daryl smiles and I can finally spot Evan, Catherine and Lucy.
“Hi guys,” we greet them. They grin at us and almost shout “Carol! It’s amazing to see you again!” They get up to greet me with a hug.
I always liked these three. Evan is a favourite cameraman of Daryl and Cath and Lucy are actresses in his new film which should hopefully get many awards this year. I was quite often on the set and I got to know them and was fond of them since day one. And I could say the feeling was mutual thanks to their greeting.
I want to sit but Daryl stops me. “What do you want to drink?”
“I’m going to stick with white wine tonight, please,” I reply and he kisses me. When I sit, Lucy has a beaming smile.
“What is it?” I ask her and she shakes her head.
“You’re just so cute together. Really glad you got together. If you waited a week longer, I would make my move. But here we are, you two the sweetest thing in a while.” We laugh at her explanation and start talking about our time we haven’t seen each other.
The evening is very pleasant with these four people around me. It can be maybe two hours after we came when someone gets on stage. It is a host of a sort and is welcoming everyone. He starts to talk about a surprise for tonight and that is a concert. So I guess no one really knows who’s performing tonight.
“Hey, Carol!” I hear behind me during moderator’s speech and I turn around to see Christopher, my friend whom I’ve known maybe six years.
“Chris, oh my god, what are you doing here?” I get up and hug him tightly. I haven’t seen him in ages and it is amazing to see him here. We kind of lost touch after school and I was always bummed about it but didn’t know if he wants to see me. We didn’t end well after me confessing my love to him and he didn’t reciprocate.
“I actually wrote a script for one of the films that are hit this season,” he smiles humbly.
“That is so awesome! I always told you there’s something in you!” I look him in the eyes and beam at him. He nods at me and laughs a little. “So you did. But anyway, what are you doing here?” he asks.
“My boyfriend, Daryl, is a director so he got an invitation. And here I am.”
“Here you are,” he grins and hugs me once more. I hear some clapping around us as a reaction to what’s happening on the stage but I am not paying attention to it. I am so glad that I met Chris and it looks like we could start spending time together once more.
“Oh, Carol, I am so pleased I met you here. I missed you so much,” he whispers to my ear and I smile.
“So did I, Chris, so did I.” After a while, we let go of and I notice very nice music playing live. I turn to our table and see that everybody is looking at us expectantly.
“Guys, this is Christopher, my old friend from school. Chris, this is Daryl, Evan, Lucy and Catherine,” I introduce them and ask Chris if he wants to sit with us.
“I should head back to my group but I will definitely come later if you don’t mind.” I smile and nod at him. Daryl takes my hand.
“Is it that Chris who broke your heart?” he asks curiously. I slightly nod and he squeezes my hand. I know Daryl isn’t a jealous type and the squeeze is reassuring so I smile at him thankfully. The singing voice is making me want to fly.
“Don’t worry, it’s okay. We definitely moved on and I would like to befriend him once more.” He doesn’t reply but kisses my hand. He stands to refill our drinks at the bar.
After that, I finally look at the stage to the man whose voice is soothing my nerves and makes me want to sink in it. I stop breathing and my heart literally stutters. My eyes linger on the most mesmerizing person I had a pleasure to look at. His curly hair looks messy even though it is definitely a purpose. From here I cannot see his eyes but I know they will be a death of me. I laugh unconsciously at his dorky moves and swaying of his body. I feel like hypnotized and can’t stop look at him, his performance, his everything. I am so out of space Cath has to call my name many times before I notice anybody is talking to me.
“Earth to Caroline!” I blink and look at her. All of them are looking at me with funny expressions.
“Why are you so interested in the stage, Carol?” she asks.
“I-I’m not! It’s just the music, it surprised me how good it is, that’s all,” I stumble over my own words. Evan smirks and looks at the stage.
“Hell yeah. Who would think that a former One Directioner could sing and look that amazing, heh?” he says and looks adoringly on the stage. I start nodding before I realize what he said.
“Wait, he’s from One Direction? “ I ask. All three of them look at me.
“Uhh, yes! It’s Harry Styles. Where did you live, in a cave?” Lucy asks me disbelievingly and I shrug my shoulders. I’ve never been a huge fan of boy bands and thanks to me being from a different country, we weren’t actually devoured in this fan mania. Sure, I saw some video clips and heard many songs but never was a fan and didn’t know any of their names. But this boy, this boy was something different.
The song ends and he bows. We all start clapping and he smiles. Jesus fuck, are those dimples even real? I frown and right then he decides to look right at me and winks at me. And I know for sure that I am really and irrevocably fucked.
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