Party 'til you pass out / When the party's over

2.7

His anxiety was nearly palpable for me, and I almost felt the urge to walk up to him and comfort him. Almost. But then I was harshly reminded again on the fact that we were no longer a couple, we had a past and I had nothing to do with him anymore besides surviving this photoshoot.

*

Oliver

There was no way. This was not possible. There was no way that out of all photographers on earth, it was Alison doing this photoshoot.

She had ran off, looking just as upset as I all of a sudden felt. I had told myself for the past two years that I had been over her, but just seeing her for the first time in all those years again made me realize I certainly wasn't. And that threw me off. She had been in the back of my mind all the time, but I had pushed every thought of her away as soon as it came to the surface every now and then.

A shiver had run down my spine when I just felt she was looking at me, but I had ignored the restless feeling in my body and my heartrate running on and off. Not even trying to calm myself down by taking some soft breathes had helped me. Everything about this had made me want to leave, run off and not come back. I had only continued with the shoot because I didn't want to disappoint the young guy that was so obviously enthusiastic about working with us. He was talented, I had to give him that. But I wasn't surprised, seen as he was Alison's apprentice, so he was learning from the best.

Alison had hidden behind the monitors, judging every photo that came in. I found myself looking at her often, while she was pointing out things to some people from Rolling Stone. Sometimes our eyes met, and I hated that bolt of lightning that ran through my veins every time it happened.

Her eyes were still as bright as they had always been, their colour just as intense as I remembered. But behind them hid a depth of pain and insecurity that hadn't been there before we broke up. She had changed a lot, but she was still the same Alison that set my heart on fire whenever I saw her. Her long hair was now cut in a short, messy bob, that went just past her jawline and highlighted her sharp but feminine features. It showed part of her small neck and enhanced the beauty in her face. When she had put it behind her ears, I noticed she had a small, golden ring as a helix piercing in the top of her left ear, that had never been there when she had been with me. Her entire presence made me restless and agitated, solely for the fact that she was still so gorgeous, and I couldn't even stand to talk to her.

When the shoot was finally over, the rest of the band had loosened up to the fact that she was here with us, and went to talk to her. I watched her smile happily and hug all of them as if they were her long lost brothers - which might have felt like that to her.

'How long will you be in New York?,' Jordan asked her.

'Oh, just one more night. We arrived yesterday and will leave tomorrow again, it's just a quick work trip,' she answered.

'Just a quick work trip, says the geeky photographer girl who flies around the world to establish her name.' Nicholls put his arm around her proudly, and she smiled shyly and shrugged.

'Yeah, well... Working with you guys at the start really set off my career, I guess.'

'Huh, you've never told me you've worked with Bring Me before,' Peter said, looking up from the photos on her laptop screen and frowning. Alison chuckled.

'It's been a few years,' she said, her eyes falling on me. I narrowed mine at her and she tore her gaze off me again.

'Ali, why not go out for dinner together tonight so we can catch up?,' Jordan spontaneously proposed. My heart froze at that.