POV Erin
Bianca takes the empty seat beside me, smoothing out the front of her black evening gown before resting her black clutch on her lap. "You can't imagine how shocked I was to see you."
She runs her finger along the glistening diamond necklace around her neck. "You look fantastic by the way."
Last time I saw Bianca, my life was falling apart; I could barely feed myself, and I was making bad decisions. And while that was happening, I was falling in love with her brother. "I'm surprised you even remember me."
A soft smile touches the corners of her full red lips. "You can blame my brother for that. He's made it impossible for any of us to forget who you are."
Don't bite-don't bite!
Keep it together-keep it together!
I will never forget the day I showed up at her brother's door and Bianca thought I was the paid help and he didn't correct her. I mean, technically I was, but by that point things had changed between us.
"Who did you come with?" She asks.
I'm not sure what to say-not that it's any of her business-yet I can appreciate her curiosity since I'm not a celebrity or socialite. "My dates a DJ."
"Wow." Her eyes widen but her tone is flat, and she sounds neither impressed nor interested.
And as expected, she has no interest in asking who, and I'm glad she doesn't care enough to ask since I don't want that information getting back to Styles. I'd prefer he know very little about my personal life. And him living in New York has been a blessing for me. It's meant I haven't had the fear of bumping into him around Sydney.
She rests her elbow on the armrest and leans over it towards me. Then she runs her finger along her necklace again as the diamonds sparkle from the movement and the bright lights overhead.
"You know, my brothers a different man now. He's been through a lot over the last year. What happened between you and him shook him deeper than any of us ever could have expected, including him."
I nod. "Good for him."
"Oh. You sound-"
"Uninterested," I say.
Then I wave to the server coming my way. "That's because I am." I take a glass from the tray and drink, ignoring the tang of the champagne as it hits my throat and hopefully fills me with the courage to get through this night.
I gulp and gulp until I drain the glass. Then I hold it up in front of me and say, "See this glass, it's empty because I just drained it-- just as your brother once did to me." I wipe the damp from my top lip before I continue. "So, what you're telling me is pointless. I no longer care."
The thought of seeing him again makes me all kinds of anxious.
And yet, I'm not sure how to avoid it, short of leaving or hiding from him. Which, obviously, I realized I can't do since I'm here with Zach.
"You should know that I've moved on. And the only thing I want is for him to keep his distance, especially tonight," I inform her. "If he doesn't, I'll call security."
Her blue eyes widen. "Isn't that extreme?"
"No more extreme than hearing about a man I have no interest in." I rise on my heels. "Excuse me... I need to find my date. Have a nice evening."
Her eyes near burn holes through my back as I make a dash towards the crowd. Not that I care if she misjudged my honesty for rudeness. I just need to put distance between us and get myself together.
The thought of seeing Styles makes me giddy-or is it too much champagne? Either way, I'll do everything I can to avoid him.
Was he the real reason she approached me; to inform me of his arrival here tonight? Or was it to find out how I got an invitation.
Where are you, Zach?
As I move through the crowd, I grab another glass of champagne to calm my nerves as I keep walking. The more I search for my date, the more anxious I become.
As I move around the edge of the room, my hands begin to tremble.
I keep walking until I am back at the entrance.
The sound of clicking cameras and someone calling out "Come on, Mr. Styles, give us a picture, please." Has me coughing on my fruity champagne.
I pray it's another person with the same surname, but the sudden uproar inside of me tells me it's him.
Styles. He's here.
And one glance over my shoulder confirms it. The sigh of his powerfully built body hidden beneath a black suit with a white shirt and the top button undone, sends a shudder through me.
The physical reaction hits me before my brain can commutate a thought.
My hands tremble even more as he walks in my direction, tall, proud, and bursting with confidence and an obvious air of class.
And then, I feel the hit to the chest as I take in the tall woman at his side. The gorgeous blonde with the short white dress is all legs and hair as she struts along the burgundy carpet. They look well suited: gorgeous and very imposing as they ignore the photographers as if they've done this a million times before together.
And perhaps they have back in New York. Maybe she's more than a bed filler. Maybe she shares her days and life with him?
"Coco, one picture please." A photographer calls out.
If I don't move, they'll be running me over within seconds.
So, with my gut clenched tight, I shuffle backwards until I hit the wall. The sight of a huge leafy plant to my left has me taking two steps to hide beside it.
Through the leaves, I peek at them, now able to notice the finer details of his strong jawline and those pale blue eyes that had chilled me more than once from a glance.
Not even the heads up about him being here could prepare me for this.
I have so many emotions surging through me. But I'm mostly sad and angry: sad because of what happened between us, and angry because of the twisted person he turned out to be. I should have listened to my instincts when we first met since I didn't like or trust him. Yet I found myself sucked in by his charm and good deeds that were nothing more than lies to hurt me.
Not that it matters anymore, because he's nothing to me-nothing. And I refuse to let his presence ruin my night.
Besides, what would Zach think if he could see me hiding from one man, when a room full of people are now witness to my stupidity?
On that thought, I step away from the wall and into view. Let him see me, see how well I'm doing. The only drawback, Zach is not by my side.
Ashley comes to an abrupt stop when he sees me.
I gulp.
My stomach flips and something hits me deep at the core as my heart thrusts against my chest. I wish I could say that seeing him again doesn't affect me, but it does, of course it does; I'm a living being with way too many emotions.
No sooner has our eyes locked, things start to pump and tingle inside me, reminding me of how much he can affect me.
Damn it!
I hate that he can still affect me this way. Even if what I'm feeling makes me want to scream at him and then kiss him. But that would be stupid-- that would be ridiculous since we're over and it's those kinds of thoughts that got me tangled up with him in the first place. And that can't happen again!
We're no good together.
Without letting my thoughts over think the situation any more than it already has, I spin round and walk, fully aware of the times I've lacked restraint when it came to him. And I can't let that happen again.
So I stick to the outer edge of the room, between the crowds of people and the circular wall as I scan for Zach's Moe hawk in the crowd of heads; but even then, he's not so easy to spot since there are a lot of tall people in the room.
Where are you? But it's difficult to find him amongst the sizeable crowd.
"Erin, wait."
The sound of the male voice has me walking faster. "Erin! Stop!"
"Go away!" I hiss.
I don't want to cause a scene, but I will if he doesn't leave me alone.
"Give me a minute, please?"
"No!" My tone is harsh, which gets the attention of several people.
"Erin! Please!"
"Go away! I'm here with someone."
The sight of Zach has me rushing towards him with a sigh of relief.
I throw my arms around him and bury my head between his neck and bony shoulder blade, taking in his woody scent as his arms tighten around my back. He may not be as well built as Ashley Styles, but his lean frame and solid arms feel safe right now.
"Thank fuck I found you," I whisper to him.
"Everything ok," Zach asks.
My trembling hands grab hold of his jacket as I say, "has he gone?"
"No, I haven't," Styles retorts. "I'm still here, Erin.'
"What's going on," Zach runs his fingers along my jawline in a soothing gesture before his finger lifts my chin and our eyes connect. "Tell me?"
"It's him," I whisper. "And I'm not interested in talking to him, Zach. Tell him to leave me alone."
Zach's eyes shoot to Ashley as if he's staring head on at a ten headed monster that's about to eat us where we stand. His posture stiffens and straightens against my body.
"Clearly you're causing a problem since my girl has no interest in talking to you. So why don't you move on before this becomes a bigger issue," Zach's tells him with a clear threat in those simple words.
"Your girl."
"Yeah, bro, that's what I said. So now that you know, fuck off!"
"Zach." I cup his head in my hands, knowing this is getting out of hand all too quickly. "Don't, ok. Not here. Please.... let's just walk away."
"You can walk away, Erin." the proud voice behind me states, "But I'll only follow you until you speak with me."
"Mate!" Zach's nostrils flare.
"Zach, calm down." I pull away from him, putting myself between the two of them as I turn to face Ashley.
"What!" I shrug. "What do you want from me?"
He stares at me as if he has forgotten what it is he wants to say, or maybe it's the shock of my new detachment from him. Either way, he gulps, his Adam's apple knocks against this throat.
"Give me two minutes, Erin. Alone."
"Not that you're getting it!" Zach spits out from over my shoulder.
"Shut your mouth!" Ashley shouts, his threating voice ripples around the crowd, muting the voices and drawing the attention of anyone with working eardrums.
Before a brawl erupts, I relent. "Ok. Fine! But only if you settle down."
"No way!" Zach retorts. "You don't need to do that because he wants it."
With a shake of my head, I say, "It's fine, Zach. Besides, it's not for him, it's for you. I'll only be a minute.'
Zach doesn't deserve this. And causing a scene in front of his peers cannot happen. And judging by his sudden protective stance, he's ready to do more than throw out a few words.
"Can you give us a moment, please?" I give his hand a gentle squeeze, able to feel the throb of adrenaline swirling through him.
His eyes dart from Ashley back at me. "This is fucking bullshit, Erin. You hate this dude. Not to mention you're meant to be here with me."
"Two minutes," I say giving his hand another squeeze, "that's all."
Zach nods through flaring nostrils before dropping my hand and storming off.
Perfect! Now he's gone off in mood.
Why can't he see I'm doing this for him-to avoid the embarrassing fight that was about to occur if I hadn't agreed.
I knew coming here would be an issue, and I wasn't wrong. We've been here less than twenty minutes and it's a bloody disaster.
As angry as I am with Ashley for approaching me, I'm more upset by him getting pushy and expecting that I should drop what I'm doing to talk to him.
I turn in his general direction but do not make eye contact with him. Instead, I stare into the crowd, press my clutch to my chest and fix my gaze on a woman standing a few feet from me. "This is very inconsiderate," I say, my voice shaky. "Especially when I'm here with someone else. Why do you wanna talk to me anyway. I mean what could be so important that you had to interrupt us like that?'
"I saw you and I wanted to say hello." Ashley's tone is low once again. "It's nice to run into you again, Erin. I mean that."
My eyes roll.
Then they narrow in on a woman who looks like Margot Robbie passing me. Yep, it's Margot? I feel sick. Damn. I can't focus, let alone think straight right now.
"Are you with him?" he asks.
I draw in an anxious breath and breathe out. "Yes. And I'm not interested in discussing that with you."
He nods. "I get that you're still angry with me; but I thought time might make things better between us?"
Breath, exhale, breath, exhale.
"Of course you did. But you should know that no extended period will change what happened between us."
"So it's true, you hate me?"
My head snaps around, but I have trouble meeting his eyes. All I can think about is we never stood a chance of being a couple-not with the lies and secrets we were keeping from each other? Fact is, we both ruined what we had.
"You think I can even focus on you when Margot Robbie is right there," I say, able to hear the tremor in my voice.
Fact is, I'm so flustered, my cheeks are burning.
"I don't care who's here, Erin. I just wanna know if you hate me?"
Suddenly, everything that had happened between us hits me as I turn to face him. "I did. But I don't anymore. Truth is, I no longer care enough to hate you."
He nods and looks out over the crowd as if taking a moment to absurd what I said.
"I'm not entirely sure I believe that, but..." his gaze meets mine again. "But we'll soon see if that's the case over dinner, wont we."
I pull a confused face. "Dinner. I never agreed to that."
Suddenly, his lip turns up and he grins a lopsided smirk. "Then your date should have had the seats changed prior to the event. Unless of course he didn't bother to check who he would be seated with."
My eyes widen and my bottom lip drops just enough from me to suck in a breath of anxiety at the thought of sitting with him and his date for the evening. "And you didn't have anything to do with us being seated at the same table now, did you."
He frowns and then grins. "Now it's hardly my fault we've landed at the same table. "
With fury rising up in me, I wave my finger in his face. "I dont know what you're up to, but I have a boyfriend. Understand."
He chuckles to himself. "You don't mean him, do you."
"Well, I certainly don't mean you," I snap before spinning on my heels and disappearing into the crowd.
Please don't forget or leave a comment.