‘So you’ll be waiting forever then,’ I laugh. ‘Anyway, let’s just forget about her.’
I look at myself in the mirror and take one last deep breaths as I hear Ryan running down the stairs.
‘You ready Pops?’ he asks knocking and sticking his head through the door.
‘Oh...sorry! I didn’t realise you had friends in here.’ He backs slowly out of the door.
‘No, it's fine. Come in.’ I stand to face him and almost faint when I see how stunning he looks in his tux.
‘Wow,’ he mumbles staring at me. ‘You look...nice.’ He looks gobsmacked.
‘Nice? She looks bloody amazing,’ Lilly says, a tad aggressively.
‘Oh, yeah...she does,’ he says, staring at her as if she's mental.
‘Ryan, you remember Lilly,’ I say rolling my eyes as Lilly waves at him.
‘So, you guys been having fun getting Poppy ready?’
‘Fun? More like a mission! She takes a lot of work,’ Jazz snorts.
‘Don't be mean Jazz. You know it's been fun,’ Izzy says, applying some more gloss on my lips.
‘Anyway, it was nice to see you again Lilly, but we should get going Pops.’ He looks anxiously at his watch.
‘Yeah cool.’ I edge out of the bedroom, trying to ignore Lilly mouthing ‘he’s so hot’ to me.
When I glance back into the room to say bye, the three of them are dry humping each other, whipping their hair back and forth, tongues out, giggling silently. My God, they’re immature.
I’m almost at the door when I remember I’ve forgotten my bag.
‘Oh, I’ve forgotten my handbag,’ I say turning round.
‘Don't worry, I’ll grab it,’ he says, as he edges back into the room.
‘No! I’ll get it!’ I say as I run after him.
As he enters Izzy, Lilly and Jazz are still pretending to dry hump and immediately jump out of position, pretending instead that they were touching their hair, or looking at the ceiling.
‘Got it, let’s go,’ I say grabbing my purse off the side.
‘Your friends are weird,’ he laughs as we leave.
‘You don't know the half of it.’
* * *
‘It’s the highest gynaecological killer of women in the UK and the fourth most common cause of death from cancer in women. Around two thirds of those diagnosed will die from it.’
‘Oh yes, it's terrible,’ I say to the bald man lecturing me on the facts of ovarian cancer.
‘It's thanks to firms like these that support us and bring our cause more awareness.’
‘Oh, yeah. My house mate has just joined the firm and he says they’re all really nice,’ I say desperately trying to change the subject.
‘They are indeed. But we need more firms like these and more donations. Tell me dear, have you ever considered doing a fun run? We organise one every year and I’d love to put your name down on the list.’
‘I....I’m not sure.’
‘Why? Why wouldn’t you want to run for a good cause?’ he asks his eyes narrowing.
‘I...well; it's not that....it’s just...’
Oh God, I’m running out of excuses now. Maybe it would be easier to just agree with it and then break my ankle a week before.
‘Poppy, I see you’ve met Harold,’ Ryan says, swooping in with two glasses of champagne.
‘Yes. This charming young lady was just volunteering to do a fun run for us.’
‘Really?’ He smiles at me questionably, as if he sees through my act.
‘Um...’
‘Yes – a very charitable girlfriend you have here,’ Harold says, smiling approvingly.
‘Oh, I’m not – ‘
‘Oh, she’s not – ‘
We both speak at the same time and look at each other embarrassed.
‘We’re not together,’ Ryan says, smiling at him. ‘Ooh, I love this song.’
He quickly puts our champagne down and pulls me onto the dance floor. I let him lead me away from Harold, breathing a sigh of relief.
The band is playing some old rock and roll number I don't recognise. He pulls me into the centre of dancing couples, twirling me all the way. He begins to dance and I’m shocked with how easily he moves. Especially when he’s supposed to still be taking it easy. He pulls me into him, twirling me round and out every so often. I laugh hysterically the whole way through, totally exhilarated by the evening. I want to scream from the tension between us.
The song ends and they slow it down, singing ‘the way you look tonight’. He reaches his hands out to me.
‘Shall we?’
‘We shall,’ I say putting my hand into his frame. I melt as he puts his other arm round my waist to my lower back.
The melodic piano plays softly in the background and seems to make everything around me seem so romantic. The lights seem dimmer, the people more in love. The whole scene makes me feel like I’m in a romantic fifties movie.
‘You know, Harold must be the fifth person to think you were my girlfriend tonight,’ he whispers in my ear.
I try not to convulse from his breath on my ear.
‘Really?’ I mumble back, him taking my breath away from his touch.
‘Yeah, and it's funny because they all seem really shocked.’
‘Shocked?’
Why would they be shocked? Shocked that he’d date someone as average as me?
Oh my God. It dawns on me why. They must all still think he’s gay.
‘Yeah, but it's probably “the way you look tonight”,’ he laughs, quoting the song playing.
I blush, even though he’s only taking the piss out of the song.
‘Because....you look beautiful tonight. They’re probably shocked I could get someone as good as you.’
I laugh awkwardly. ‘You’re crazy.’
‘Am I?’ he whispers back into my ear, sending shivers down my spine.
I ignore the question and instead bury my head into his chest, hoping that I’ll never have to leave it to face reality. This song is really how I’m feeling. Tony Bennett is right, I’ll always feel a glow just thinking of Ryan and tonight. I didn’t realise I could feel so happy and so sad at the same time. Happy that this feels exactly how I want it to be; me and Ryan dancing together happily, our bodies pressed together. Sad because I know this isn’t going to last, this isn’t real. It's only for tonight. When midnight strikes, like Cinderella I’ll be back to my dowdy life.
When the song ends I pull back to look at him and for a second it's as if we’re the only people in the room, his eyes enveloping me. I look away, intimidated by his stare, not wanting to set myself up for disappointment again.
‘Another drink?’ he asks, smiling awkwardly.
‘Yeah, cool,’ I mumble.
He goes to the bar and I move over to the side of the room. I spot Harold edging towards me and so I weave through the crowd, hiding behind a group of three women.
‘Well, he brought that woman, but he’s definitely still gay.’
‘Oh yeah, it's so bloody obvious.’
‘Yeah, she’s probably just his fag hag.’
‘Such a shame – Ryan’s so lovely.’
‘Excuse me,’ I say tapping them on the shoulder ‘but were you just talking about Ryan Davis?’
They all turn and I’m horrified to see that one of the girls is Tabitha.
‘Oh hi again. I’ve forgotten your name – Polly or something isn’t it?’
‘It's Poppy actually. Anyway, look, Ryan’s not gay, OK? You need to tell everyone that he’s not gay.’
‘But you told me he was?’ She looks at me as if I’m insane.
‘I know I did but I was wrong, OK? He’s definitely straight,’ I protest, sweat starting to form on my forehead.
‘She’s obviously just saying this to save his feelings,’ her blonde friend says, looking at me sympathetically.
‘No I mean it. He’s not gay!’
‘Yeah right,’ she scoffs.
‘Listen to me! HE IS NOT GAY!’ I shout, just as the music comes to a standstill.
Silence, apart from a few muttered giggles fills the room and Ryan is suddenly at my side with two more glasses of champagne.
‘Who’s not gay?’ he asks quizzically.
I feel myself sink into the floor as I wait desperately for the band to start playing music again. After about thirty seconds, but what feels like a lifetime, they start playing again.
‘Poppy?’ he says, looking from face to face, ‘who’s not gay?’
‘Um...’ I’m starting to sweat profusely.
‘She was talking about you,’ Tabitha says, amused.
‘Me? Well, of course I’m not gay. Why on earth would you think that?’ he says, both amusement and embarrassment on his face.
Without realising I’ve started to back away slowly, a sickening feeling creeping into my stomach. Intuition’s way of letting me know something bad is coming.
‘Because she told me you were.’ She sticks her long bronzed finger out to point at me.
Ryan follows her finger and turns to me, disorientated.
‘Poppy, what the hell is she talking about?’
I’m blinded for a moment, numb and dizzy from the consequences of my own actions.
‘Um....it’s a bit of a long story...’
‘Excuse us a minute, will you ladies.’ He smiles at them as he grabs hold of my arm and begins to drag me.
‘Ow! Ryan, you’re hurting me’ I try to protest. He continues to drag me out of the banquet hall, ignoring my pleas. He opens the doors to the hallway and throws me angrily against the wall.