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• 🌌 Her •225Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu75QlVS8xo
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The ball was going swimmingly, of course, this guy ran the show, so what did you expect? I usually had some silly tart on my arm at these things, you know, to complete the image. A man with a beauty tied to his waist is the expectation of the shallow society we live in. But I had come to a decision that I wasn't gonna pander to people's assumptions anymore, plus it was nice not having pointless conversations. Every time I bought one of these women to these things, we both knew the conversation wasn't necessary. The night would end like it always did; in her bed.
I'd grown tired of the same outcome and repetition, so to spice things up a notch, I thought it was about time they saw me for the island I was. Problem was, I didn't quite know what that meant, as I wasn't one of those hidden paradises that wallowed in the tropics. I'm more one of those frozen solid no man's lands. Barren and unwanted that no one would step foot on. The only beauty to be found was in whatever the beholder deciphered in the ice. All I'd ever known was innuendos, pickup lines and snarky remarks. However, I was certain I walked alone and needed no woman by my side for support picking up my ego, or a Reece and his newly found girlfriend for that matter.
The décor was a wolf in sheep's clothing, chandeliers and white sheathes draped the high ceilings, along with more fucking fairy lights. The white from the clothed roof was the only shed of purity in that hall. Everything beneath it was just fooling itself into thinking the sun shone out of its and their arses, myself included. It was littered with tables dressed in exotic greens and blues, while centre pieces made of bird of paradise flowers, spread their wings to take centre stage. It was presumptuous and pompous, just like the fuckers behind the gala and it's creator.
I hated that event more than the crappy bow tie. The town council were swines and I wanted anything but to be a tool for their lies. But by the time I found out their plans, I'd already cashed the cheques and was knee deep in their shit. They advertised that gala as a fundraiser for a local charity, but only a small percentage, in fact it was barely a decimal point, that was actually going to the cause. The rest went in their greedy pockets and toward their lavish lifestyles. Corruption plagued the town and now my bank account which, of course, didn't help me with my new-found burden and left me in an extra irritable mood.
The event started to wind down, most of the fat cats had already rubbed my shoulders and kissed my arse. Swigged at their cigars like they were goodfellas, wearing their designer suits as though no one had ever told them; you can't polish a turd. Their women dangled on their arms like their lives depended on being seen but not heard. They ambled through the event, knowing they screwed people over and that seemed to turn them on.
I stood where you could always find me, at the bar with my mistress, whisky. I was the embodiment of sheer arrogance, as I leaned against the bar, while my shirt was not buttoned up fully and that ridiculous bow tie incomplete, as it hung without purpose. Come to think of it, the bow tie sounds a lot like me. Three's a crowd came to mind as Reece and Lauren nattered away about some crap to each other.
"When are you going to settle, Easty?" That Irish diction annoyed me rotten. All I wanted was that night to end and for me to be left alone, to shower the grime off my retched skin.
"What makes you think I haven't?" A smirk in my voice, as I raised my glass to insinuate that whisky was the only thing I needed.
"Awww but you're such a catch, bro. I mean, I would." Reece shaped his mouth into a kiss as he nudged me with his elbow, knowing full well, I'd tell him to fuck off.
And that's exactly what I did. I placed the tumbler back on the bar, removing it from the pedestal I had placed it on and saluted that ugly finger. The middle one. The one that you lift when you don't give a fuck. The one that says a thousand words but without muttering one.
"You're so cute when you're mad." Reece's tone winked at me as he pinched my cheeks before planting a wet one on my unfortunate cheek.
I wiped away the residue left by Reece with the back of my hand. My face shrivelled in disgust as my tropic blue eyes sent tidal waves his way.
"All it takes is the right touch, Easty." Lauren reached out to fix my bow tie and her words attempted to do the same, before I shooed her away.
"Marry him already, why don't you, babe." Reece folded his arms, his insecurity was as apparent in his voice as I was uncomfortable being a witness to it. The statement was as unfitting as that tux was on him.
Lauren span around as the hem of her pastel blue dress followed. Her hair fell onto one of her bare, powered shoulders as her eyes filled with Reece, which they only ever consisted of despite how blind he was. She pulled him around by tugging at his waist and squeezed his baby face in her hands, before depositing a deep peck on his lips. It was adorable, which made my organs squirm under my shirt.
"You're the only one for me, Reece Adler. Now quit being foolish." She flicked his nose like you would a dog, her tone ended in the same abrupt manner as her gesture.
Before I could have whipped up some dickhead response, the hall filled with the synth pop melody the band on the stage had decided to conduct. The iconic beat of Yazzo's, Only You, which annoyed me further. It wasn't what we agreed when we had sat down weeks prior when going through tracks. I dragged my hand down my face to wipe the annoyance away, suppressing it, as by this point it was too late.
"Ahhh! Oh my god! Ree-Ree, I love this! C'mon!" Lauren squealed as she tried to drag him to the dance floor.
"Ree-Ree?" I sniggered at the term of endearment, which actually suited his soppy arse.
"Shut your fucking pie-hole, Easton!" Reece got up in my face with a puffed chest, pointing his finger inches away from my mouth.
"..It's rude to point." Lock-jawing my words and going in to take a bite out of his finger but the little shit had managed to retract it.
Reece still stood in my personal space as my knees gave way to the laughter, clutching at my stomach. I calmed myself down and I held my hands up to surrender but only because I was laughing so hard I felt faint. Holding white flags but my face still trying to hold the hysterics by the reins, Reece stepped down before he looked back at Lauren.
"Sorry but I can't take you seriously right now, mate. Fucking Ree-Ree." Wiping the tears from my eyes where I had laughed myself stupid.
"We'll talk about this later, Easton. For now, my girl awaits." Reece pissed with me but smug with the fact he had someone waiting for him.
With that he walked away and straight into Lauren's arms. The black and white chess board flooring refined beneath them as they shared words. They reformed into a coupling, not looking back at me once.
Watching them with their Eskimo kisses and their mutual laughs as they held each other on that dance floor, made a stupid grin appear on my face, before I buried it beneath my smoulder. Why on earth would you want to rely on another living being to be happy? Happiness comes from within, doesn't it? Humans are ugly things; they lie, cheat and fake it to they make it and their dependency was never selfless. Meanwhile, all I had to my name was a pub, a half empty glass of whisky and a list of women, whose names weren't important or rememberable. But yet, I found myself questioning; why do I feel like I am missing a trick?
Guys like me aren't what women look for a commitment with. We were a one-night thing or a weekend, as that's all it took to figure out, we weren't what they wanted for the long run. A bit of fun but not enough to keep around. But what happens when you want to prove them all wrong? But yet, you're too far up your own arse or stupid to tell yourself you do? That's one thing I envied about Reece, he had everything going for him and he didn't have to prove himself to no one. All of this twirled in my head as I mimed the motion of my thinking with the contents of the glass.
"Let me fix that for you." Her voice radiated and broke me away from my thoughts.
She twiddled with the buttons on my crisp white shirt, tidying the mess, then she made her next move. She fastened the fabric into a perfectly formed bow beneath my chin, as though weaving magic into the material. She finished her touches with a pat on my chest as though to say "voila".
Dazzled by the sheer front of this woman, my eyes trailed their way up starting from her feet. She levitated as she stepped back on her heels, each footing was nimble yet playful. Her legs were probably the best set of pins I'd ever seen, and trust me, I'd seen a whole lot of leg. I followed them up slowly, savouring each new bit of skin they discovered, until my sights were on her silk dress that kissed her knees. Ivory embellished with beads of silver that glittered under the lighting. It hugged her hour-glass figure, to the point I was jealous of a dress. But I still had an inkling that it would have looked better on my bedroom floor.
Her hair casually pinned back into a dream of pure class, that showed off her delicate neck, which left me wanting to nibble the fuck out it. Long strands of umber, autumnal leaf brown intertwined with bronze as they brushed against it. She probably had the prettiest chin I'd ever laid eyes on, if that's a thing, and her nude pink lips were the kind that you begged to whisper sweet and dirty nothings in your ear. They could of chewed mine right off anytime.
As I continued to take a journey of her face, I wasn't prepared for her smile no matter how many rehearsals I was given. Those dimples on the curves of her lips, as she shoved that smile of hers in my face, was enough for me to throw in the towel right there and then. She had the kind of smile that made a man question; what the fuck had he been playing at all his life?
Our eyes met as the lyric "Only You" hung in the air and fuck me, she couldn't have timed her entrance anymore perfectly if she had tried. That's where I lost myself all over again in a matter of nanoseconds. That smile was one thing but her eyes were a whole other story. Her opal upturned globes were the vision of looking up at the stars through a canopy of trees, while lying on the forsaken ground, and for once in my life I was doing just that; looking up rather than down. Greens and golds sprinkled throughout those orbs, they were a star-encrusted galaxy of their own. Riddled with mystery and milky-ways and I wanted nothing more but to be lost counting the constellations within them. That's where she went from a her to "her".
"The kindness of strangers, right?" Her silvery notes, went up and down my spine as my brain memory banked her words and the sound they made.
Completely starstruck by the boldness of her I grabbed my glass from the bar only for my eyes to still be clapped on hers. She didn't even seem fazed as I stood there speechless with a face that probably fizzed "piss off", but that wasn't because of her. Like always, I was pissed with myself, plus this odd feeling had come over me and somehow she had awoken it. It was as though both red and blue flames cindered and froze my heart, as I struggled to understand what breathing was. But again, I fooled myself into thinking it was just indigestion from the whisky.
"What's ya name, stranger?" Again her voice smiled as it lit up my surroundings, pushing boundaries and breaking ice.
"..Guy." Remembering what my name was, despite it not feeling important. Due to that, the delivery was rougher than normal.
It's all in the delivery, Guy.
I looked down at my drink as I couldn't handle looking at her anymore.
"That's hilarious!" Her laugh was filthy and fresh like an angel frolicking in mud, as she threw back her head, not holding back once.
"..Didn't your mother teach you not to talk to strangers." As my lips pouted into a sulk. I took a mouthful of my drink and damn, for once, it wasn't strong enough.
"Obviously not. Did yours ever tell you not to dance with 'em, fella?" She crossed her arms as she flashed more leg through the slit of her dress. Her smile now nothing but a sneer as she backhanded my remark.
"..That's a given if you're not suppose to speak to them." I rolled my eyes as she glided straight into that one, followed by a smile as broad as my shoulders, ripped at my jaw.225Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnlwH1SvRSz
"..What's your name anyway?" My tone and shoulders shrugged which diminished the smile that my jaw was suffering from.
I changed the subject before she could have backtracked to my name, but little did I know she had been poking fun at it all along.
"Well, fella, it's all yours if you dance with me." She offered her hand as she blew a wink at me.
I took her hand. I didn't even think about it. It was like second nature. An instinct even. I grasped at it, in fact, I hung onto it for dear life as she guided me to that fucking dance floor. I'm surprised her hand didn't snap off at the wrist from the force that I had grabbed at it. Desperate as though someone had offered me a lifeline. My feet were doing the talking like usual, they tried to back step to the bar but my body and soul surged me to go with her. Focusing only on the back of the gown she had on, cut into a v that revealed her lightly tanned flesh. A fine line traveled down the centre of her spine before it disappeared beneath the sheet of silk, as though to tease me. Every step she took was lighter than air and heavy as rainfall. I'd barely call what she done walking.
I don't dance, so fuck knows what possessed me into thinking it was a good idea to do so. She spun herself round like a leaf in a breeze to face me, wearing that smile and every angry cell that built me that night, melted, but by that point I thought I was drunk off my arse. Now we were in the centre of the mass of bodies, but yet I felt it was only the two of us. She took my hands once more to place them on the dips of her waist as she giggled, before she left her own to rest on my solid chest.
She led of course, I didn't have a clue what I was doing. Guys like me don't dance, in order for me to do so, would mean a truck load of embarrassment and awkward side steps. Meanwhile, she was almost translucent in her movements and I was as expected; rigid as an oak tree. My roots planted to the ground as she danced her way around me as I attempted to shuffle. My eyes meanwhile, swayed to a different beat. They took in every detail they could of her; like the way her lashes were as elegant as the rest and her breathing was more serene then any ocean tide could be. I could feel my pupils dilate into saucers the longer I stared at her which was their cue to leave. I had always been told it was rude to stare.
As we made our way round the floor, somehow, Reece and I were opposite each other as we locked sights. A cheeky grin played on his face as he mouthed;
"You sly dog, you." From behind Lauren's head.
My hand hesitated to leave her side but my pride whistled for it and it came running. I slid my finger along my throat, letting him know he couldn't hide behind his woman, as my mouth soundlessly pronounced;
"You're a dead man walking." I delivered a death stare his way over her shoulder, leaving it to terrorise him for the rest of his days.
Reece automatically gulped hard as his terracotta eyes bulged in horror. He legged it from the dance floor, leaving a poor, clueless Lauren behind.
She teared herself away from me in that instance, her face withered into a worrisome picture and her droplet eyes waltzed in terror. It didn't seem natural for her to wear such an expression as she had been nothing but fearless. Her hands were still on my chest as my heart and breathing went out of control, almost, if not more erratic than the infamous tune that continued to play. At this point I blamed it on asthma, but then I rapidly recalled, I wasn't asthmatic.
Fuck... what did I do?
She looked up at me and then turned her gaze to the corner of the room, which I followed. I witnessed a commotion taking place and some blonde haired wanker was the centre of it. He was thrashing his way through the crowds as though looking for someone's blood to spill.
"I've gotta go, fella." With those words she pushed herself away and it fucking slays me still to this day.
Before she was out of reach and out of sight, I grabbed at her hand. My face felt like the pinnacle of confusion and gut-wrenching uncertainty. My eyes scanned her's for a clue but no breadcrumbs were left. I just wanted to know one thing;
"What's your name?" As I knew, it would of played on my mind forever, like a fucked up game.
As though she had flicked her hair, she placed that smile of hers back on, the corner of her hypnotic pools caught mine and the name she uttered left me at mercy. It was like I had been given the answer to every question in just one word. I mean, it was nothing out of the ordinary but it was her name and now I knew it.
She cut a divine shape as she made her way through the web of people. Her footfalls never touched the ground as she gushed through the gaps, while my hand was still out reached as though her's was still there. I crept in a ring on the dance floor as those two minutes and five seconds replayed in my head. I had tasted what it was like to walk among stars, as she carried my weight, leaving me lost for air and desperate for more. But yet I still didn't follow her.
"Go after her, you muppet!" Lauren's distant call, plummeted me back to Earth.
The words punched me in the stomach and may as well, pulled me by the hair as my head reeled round to face her. One of Lauren's hands was on her hip while the other pointed in the direction she had left me in.
With a click of my neck I ruptured through the crowd as though ripping through time and space wasn't enough. My hands throwing people out of my way as I bumped shoulders. Drinks went flying as I continued my way through the living traffic. My eyes raged with determination to find my way back to her.
"Do you mind!" A plummy male voice reeked to high heaven of self importance as we collided.
"..No, not really." I really couldn't have resisted. I smacked the bottom of his wine glass so he could wear it, before I strutted off with a contented sneer on my face.
As the music faded so had she. How could I of lost sight of her? Finally at the doors, hoping to find her on the other side of them, I yanked at the handles like, I later realised, she had my heartstrings. Outside in the dark with nothing but an obsess of black and blue broken up by dots of sterling, I stood alone like the island I wanted to prove I was. I shot left and right only to find that she had vanished as beautifully as she had appeared. Leaving me with nothing but her name...225Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcTK2Ox2Y3o
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"What was that name, Guy?" Gabrielle's words become clearer the more I mentally pull myself away from reminiscing.
"..Her name?" I can't even look at Gabrielle as that question faces me. It's the equivalent of a gun being held to my head.
"To face your fear, you must first speak it's name." Gabrielle urges as she sits on the edge of her seat, gripping at a cushion.
Breathe, Guy, breathe.
I rise to my feet and clobber over to the window. Leaning my head against my forearm on the window frame as I look out on the high street. Her name a vortex in my head as it slashes a fresh lesion to my ticker.
"..Her name you ask?" I chuckle, as they say; if you don't laugh you'll cry. Peering over my shoulder at Gabrielle who is still seated.
"..Her name fits her like I wanted to fit into her life. What else would it be, other than Stella? Because she is stellar..."225Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFutTXdUFIm
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