Which is what he did now as I went into his open arms for a hug.
“Hey, I thought you said you couldn’t make it.” I tried to sound light-hearted but it was hard when my heart was pounding at the thought of introducing my new boyfriend to my ‘other’ family.
“The meeting finished earlier than I thought it would…it’s not a problem is it? I thought you would want me here for support.”
“Of course it is…I mean isn’t…umm…let me start again…” I mumbled making RJ roll her eyes at me behind him, when he laughed. I don’t know why but I always got the impression from RJ and Jack that they didn’t like him as much as they had…erm… you know who.
Although of course they never said so in as many words, but I guessed it was because there were just so many differences between them. I mean, take now for example. We were in a Goth club and Alex was wearing a suit without the tie. Okay, he had probably just come straight from the office but still, he stuck out like a sore thumb…which made me wonder what he saw in me sometimes?
Like now, I was wearing a pair of grey skinny jeans that I could only wear under something that covered my bum or they would be classed as indecent, given the extra pounds my chocolate habit had managed to put on. I matched this with a tight long sleeved dress in cherry red that was just like an overly long t-shirt with a bit of flare round the bottom, which kicked out like a skirt. My sister had bought it for me because it had a black lace back in the shape of a massive skull that showed off most of my skin underneath. We both agreed it would be perfect for Afterlife should I ever have the guts to go back there again, which brought me to my outfit choice.
“You look different honey, what is it?” He asked, holding me back at arm’s length to take me in.
“I dunno, maybe ‘cause I left my hair down.” I prompted as this was something I still rarely did, but even more so after that night.
“That’s it, so this is a special occasion then?” He asked giving me that look. Alex didn’t think it healthy that I was still in such tight contact with my Ex’s family, but other than a few snide comments, ones I ignored, it hadn’t caused too many problems…until now.
“They’re my friends Alex and I want to look nice for them.” I said keeping my voice low. I saw that little tensing of his jaw that told me he wanted to say more, but then just like that he was back to smiling and kissing me on the forehead,
“Of course you do and you look lovely.” I smiled back up at him before taking his hand.
“Well, we might as well get going.” I said knowing that I couldn’t prolong it any longer. So, with my hand in his, we snaked our way through the crowd until coming to the left side of the double staircase. The guard at the end nodded to me, no doubt remembering me and moved aside to let us go on up. If I thought my heart was pounding in the bathroom, then now it was jack-hammering itself against my chest cavity, trying to break free. Maybe it was scared about what going up these steps again would do to the remainder of it, as the last time didn’t go so well.
As we got up to the VIP floor, the sight took my breath away and Alex had heard it.
“You’re sure on this, we could go back?” I felt his hand at the small of my back and the feeling gave me comfort enough to do this. I shook my head as my answer and continued to walk through until I saw the top table coming into view, as for some reason, everyone seemed to be up out of their seats standing.
When I saw Vincent and Sophia I couldn’t help the massive beaming grin from forming. I pulled Alex a little quicker, trying to get through the unusual crowd who looked as though they were all waiting for something.
“Sophia!” I shouted making her turn her head and find me. I saw her lean over to Vincent and whisper something, making him turn my way, but what surprised me the most was the expressions on their faces…worry.
“Hey, sorry we’re…late…” I stopped dead in my sentence as I came to the front of the top table just as another was coming to the head of it. Everyone around us sat down at once with just a nod from the man now stood in front of me. I wanted to cry, I wanted to shout and I wanted to throw something or self-combust taking half of the room with me!
But I didn’t do any of these things…no, for all I could do was let my mouth drop for a few seconds before letting out a breathy name, one not said in far too long…
“Draven”
Chapter 5
Back to the Beginning.
“Draven.” I swallowed hard and managed to say the name I had avoided for all this time. I even had to lock my knees together to prevent myself from breaking down and falling to the floor. I felt completely disarmed and stripped naked of the armour I had erected around the broken remains of my heart, trying in vain to preserve all I had left.