-"Hey"

Cillian turned around when he felt a finger touching his shoulder.

-"Uh...Hello?" he said in a calm but confused tone while looking at Ela standing there looking at him differently than before, not in an angry manner, more like a concerned type of look.

Ela felt like she was interrupting him, and all of a sudden that feeling started to make her feel too sober.

-"Oh sorry, I didn't mean to bother. I uh... well you just looked a bit down, and uhm, not that we're close or anything, uhmmm I just wanted to check in, I'll leave you to it". She felt embarrassed she had thought she could just come up to him and expect him to be comfortable instead of weird, also considering he had most definitely noticed several times during the evening she had a crush on him. Oh, she felt mortified. Just when she was stepping away he spoke.

- "You're not bothering, I'm just perplexed you're here". Oh, so it's that, he's uncomfortable because I'm not in their group of friends and they're sharing personal stuff, and a stranger like me it's hanging around getting to hear it. Ela was feeling even worse now, maybe she should have checked earlier with Paul confirming that everyone was actually okay with him inviting her to join them, surely Cillian wasn't, she got that, it was weird, she just thought that everyone had been so cool earlier that she didn't notice.

-"Oh, I'm sorry, maybe I got carried away, I didn't notice I was making you uncomfortable joining for the evening, Paul said it was alright, my bad really, I'll leave", again Ela was turning around to say her goodbyes when he spoke a bit louder this time making her turn back around.

-"No no! That's not what I meant, you're great, it's fine you're here, I meant you being here, coming over to talk and check on me, I got the feeling you were the one that was uncomfortable".

Now she was the perplexed one, had she been rude at any point in the evening to make him think that? She had been laughing all along and joining their conversations, wherever did he get that idea?

-"Oh no! I've been having an amazing time, I've had the time of my life actually, everyone has been so cool and welcoming, why would you think I was uncomfortable?"

This woman was really confusing to Cillian, she was being kind and seemed to be confused about the subject, had he misunderstood something? he thought it had been clear, her angry looks at him, or not looking at him at all, getting angry red when they met and also when he spoke.

-"Well not uncomfortable by the others, just me... you were looking pretty angry earlier whenever we interacted..."

oh god, have I been making weird faces at him? oh god, maybe by trying to keep it together I messed it up altogether, he never noticed the crush at least.

-"Oh... I didn't even notice, if I acted strange please forgive me. Know that I'm really happy tonight with all of you, it has been amazing really" she conveyed her answer without revealing she knew she had been weird but for completely different reasons.

-"Oh! Well that's good to know then" he was still confused about it, and why she had only been acting like that towards him, but if she said everything was alright, he'd go along with it.

Cillian was smiling, oh god please keep it together and don't act weird was all Ela could think about to prevent another misunderstanding, so she jumped into the conversation again. Talking would keep her mind occupied from looking too much at his lips, she'd focus on his eyes instead, which wasn't too helpful given they shimmered beautifully.

-"So... having sorted that out, are you alright? You did seem sad a moment ago".

-"Oh... nothing really, maybe I was getting lightheaded from the drinks, I'm better now" he was not about willing to disclose he had been down about her acting weird in his presence.

-"Good good, I'm glad then..."

They looked at one another for what seemed like a long time but felt like a second to them, it felt natural, even calming for both.

Wow purple does suit her, her eyes look good with that shade, wish I could see them without her glasses, are they truly all brown? are those specs of green? she smells good too, sweet, but deep, what is that scent? Maybe if I get closer... Cillian was actually leaning very slowly to take in her perfume and that's when it hit him what he was doing, and he looked away pulling back and breaking the spell What the fuck am I doing?! cursing himself in his mind.

Ela broke away from the stare as well, what had happened? She had gotten lost in his eyes without noticing, had he leaned forward? maybe it was just her mind playing tricks on her, she shook her head slightly and coughed a little to gain composure, trying to act cool so she wouldn't make weird faces again, but she couldn't help but notice a moment ago he had held her gaze too.

-"So uh... would you like another drink?" Cillian offered trying to lighten the mood and distract them both from their thoughts.

-"Sure thank you" she answered quickly in a slightly higher-pitched voice she cursed herself for. Gaining composure was proving to be hard around him.

-"Another beer, cocktail maybe?" He offered looking through the bottles on the bar instead of her while he also cooled down from the intensity of the moment.

She thought a beer would be safer considering the amount of alcohol she had already consumed, but cooling down would require something a bit stronger.

-"Cocktail would be nice, a Cosmopolitan please" she said sounding more like herself, which helped to calm her down more.

-"Alright, here you go", he said while serving it after taking a few minutes to prepare it, which Ela was pretty amazed by, he knew his way through cocktails, that was an even sexier treat, oh god, he's got a lot of talents.

-"Thank you so much" she said looking at the glass instead of him to prevent blushing as much as she could. "So how did you learn the fine art of bartending?" Yes, good, talk, talking helps with nerves, talking to avoid blushing, and don't look at him too long in the eye, dangerous territory Ela. Her self-pep talks were always helpful.

-"Oh uh, my uh, my wife, she uh thought me years ago".

Ela didn't feel like talking anymore, she took a significant sip of her drink, she knew he was married, it was known, but somehow it made her feel a particular kind of way hearing it from the man himself.

C'mon! don't be rude, he has been kind, you can have your secret crush like always, you know he's married, now don't be petty and talk. Yeup self-pep talks were always good.

-"Oh cool, that seems like fun, so she knows a lot about it then?" Ela really didn't feel like talking more about his wife, but it would be rude to change the subject, besides, it was alright, he was married, he had children, it was normal to talk about those things.

-"Uh yeah, she's brilliant at it" that's all he could manage to say, talking about her was not something he wanted to do now, or ever for that matter, their separation was not known by the public yet, although it had been many months from it only friends knew, so Ela wouldn't know and he didn't want to bring it up, it would be weird, so he kept it simple while serving a Cosmo for himself, a heavy one at that, using significantly more vodka than usual.

-"Cool, so nice to have that talent at home, I guess you guys don't have to go out as much to get that treat" Ela was really trying to keep it cool not to show her discomfort with the topic, she wanted to be respectful, but anyone could sense the feel of their conversation had grown colder.

He took a bit gulp of the drink trying to swallow some discomfort with it, not accomplishing it very well, but feeling his veins pump a bit of heat, or maybe he was just getting too lightheaded.

-"Yeah, we don't go out anymore" he said looking away.

Okay, this was getting weird, but Ela didn't know how to make it better either, her conversational skills flaking due to the drinks.

-"Sure... drinks at home, you're a private person too, makes sense" That was about all she could manage to say, and then they both gulped some more of the cocktails trying to not look really uncomfortable, then Cillian just blurted it out.

-"I go out, just not with her".

Silence. Pure definite silence filled the air between them.

Conversation and laughter could be heard from the rest of the attendings, the music had been turned up downstairs too, but Ela just looked at him blankly really not knowing what to say anymore, so she didn't, she remained quiet, anything she said could be problematic or wrong, or both.

Fuck. Why did I say that? Cillian shut his eyes cursing himself.

-"That came out wrong, it sounded terrible" he said

-"Don't worry" Ela said trying to figure out what else to say, so she went for the safest bet "The subject is too personal, no worries, it's alright".

-"No, I uh" he didn't want to share the whole context but it had sounded like he was a womanizer, getting around while being married "I go out with these guys, other mates from work you know, dinners and stuff, her... uh... it's... we're... sorry it's hard to explain" he was getting more and more flustered trying to come up with a sentence that made sense.

Ela could feel his uneasiness, it was clear there was more to the story, but he didn't want to disclose, and she had to intervene to reassure him he didn't have to.

-"Cillian, it's fine really, we just met, I don't think anything bad of you, no need to explain anything, you're fine, we're fine" Ela tried her best to reassure him it was Okay, although she was indeed curious on his sudden stutter around the subject, first saying something like that and then trying to correct himself very poorly, she blamed it all on the alcohol, she didn't have any other option either way.

He smiled sheepishly not only because of her understanding on the matter but also the way his name sounded on her.

They continued talking a bit more comfortably, it was around 1 am when as if per god's gift the most particular song started playing, it was actually Blaime it on the alcohol, and although she was not the biggest Jamie Foxx fan the song had the greatest sound to it, and with an enormous need to dance Ela stood up really quickly gasping a little, and it was definitely the alcohol speaking again when she blurted out to Cillian, "C'mon let's go downstairs, dance with me", Cillian's eyes widened and although he seemed to be glad about the proposal, his instincts pushed him toward accepting, but his senses were stronger and he said, "I'm sorry, it'd be too risky for me downstairs"; Oh that's right she remembered, "sorry, I forgot you were famous, bummer really", he smiled while she motioned to sit back down, and Paul who had been close enough to hear Ela intervened, "Hey Ela, you want to dance?", "Just that song really" she admitted. "Take Elijah with you, he needs a break, tell him it's an orderrrrr" he said slurring his words a bit, wow everyone is pretty hammered she thought, but accepted quickly and ran excitedly towards the door grabbing Elijah by the hand and screaming it was an order from Paul for them to dance, Paul also screamed from the room it was true so Elijah complied and both ran downstairs.

Hardy noticed the exchange and asked Paul "Hey chap, what was all that about?" Paul turned his eyes looking a bit tired but he was in the mood as well, "Ela wanted to dance, since Cilli wouldn't I borrowed Elijah, I think he can dance", and with that everyone looked at each other and they almost ran to the little balcony except Cillian he wanted to veil the fact he wanted to see everything go down too, but he did walk quite fast to join the others.

They all saw Ela and Elijah join the dance floor, at first Elijah was pretty stiff, he didn't know how to behave exactly, he wanted to dance but he didn't seem to know how close to get, then Ela noticed and smiled at him, she moved her glasses to her hair, turned around and grabbed his hands placing them on her hips while she moved to the beat of the music raising her arms and then placing them on the sides of Elijah's head enjoying herself, relaxing to the music, closing her eyes and singing the lyrics.

In the balcony, it was as if they felt the music through her, and they swayed to the music a bit as well, then Hardy spoke again "And you said no to dancing with her Cill?" everyone looked at Cillian expecting his response, "seems pretty dumb now ha?" he said trying to chuckle a little and the rest chuckled too but they all knew they couldn't go down there, too many people, the lights were not dark enough for them to not be recognized, "Well, lassie has the moves, that's for sure" Hardy finally said and they all enjoyed watching. Pretty dumb indeed Cillian thought.

Cillian felt a bit hypnotized watching Ela dance, he knew she was restraining herself a little, probably knowing she could move more but not wanting to make Elijah uncomfortable, although, from the looks of Elijah, he was past that point. The way she body-rolled, and her smile while singing was a sight to behold, there were lots of people dancing around, but none of them were quite as good as her, she was feeling herself for sure.

From the dancefloor, Ela opened her eyes rejoicing at the song, and looked up a moment, although the balcony was a bit obscure and she didn't have her glasses on she could tell they were all looking down at her dance, Cillian's eyes were fixated on her movements, she felt hot, she looked elsewhere and it was unquestionably the alcohol in her system which prompted her to give him a show. For once feel a bit more conscious of her wide hips to move them a little more alluring but not suggesting, just when the song came to:

Shawty got drunk, thought it all was a dream

So I made her say I, I, I, I

Now she got her hand on my legs

She looked me dead in the eye-eye-eye

Ela removed her hands from Elijah's temples, placed them briefly on her collarbone, and then moved them to her legs caressing them slightly rolling their bodies a bit slower, sexier, while looking at Cillian on the balcony with a seductive gaze and parted lips that only lasted 2 seconds, now he wished he'd dance with me she retreated from her tactics when she noticed his eyes had widened a little, she moved a bit away from Elijah turning around to face him and noticed he had also been enjoying her show, she laughed it off, and they finished the song, her back facing the balcony and being completely unaware that now all the attention was on her ass that hadn't stopped moving most temptingly.

Cillian was indeed captivated by her moves, and when he noticed Paul was looking at him looking at her, he retreated a little while still looking at her but trying to act nonchalant, on the other hand, he did laugh a bit when he noticed Nat and Sophie almost howling excitedly at Ela's dancing.

When the song came to an end Ela had all the intention of walking in the direction to the stairs to return to the room ready to join everyone else but then the unthinkable happened, OMG by Usher started blasting the speakers and she knew she just had to dance, wow the Brits do know how to light up a pub, feeling like a club here she thought while looking toward the balcony almost asking for permission to stay a bit more and when she saw Nat, Sophie, and Hardy gesturing her to go ahead really excitedly was all the confirmation she needed, she grabbed Elijah's hand again guiding him toward the dancefloor, this time they were far more apart but she was still pretty sexy dancing and jumping a bit during the chorus.

Cillian kept looking at her, so full of life, her youth in full display through her energy and happiness, it was contagious, he was smiling while watching her, and then he noticed he was not the only one, other men on the tables nearby and some others that were dancing kept on watching her, he knew it was normal, she was beautiful and her moves great, she had that exotic look to her, and her vibrance certainly deserved attention, but he felt a heavy bump in the pit of his stomach noticing the looks were lascivious, he was even getting angry but tried to control himself, nothing had happened and she hadn't done anything wrong.

Paul noticed something was off when he looked at Cillian getting upset, Cillian noted Paul was noticing his mood change, so he sipped from his cocktail and a beer nearby to take the edge off, but this just made it weirder for Paul going from confused to uneasy so Cillian shot him a small smile which Paul returned looking away from him but feeling something was going on.

When the song was ending Ela smiled at Elijah and motioned for them to return to the room, she had a good time but was ready to go back upstairs. Just when they were making their way up, a guy from the pub took Ela's forearm and motioned for them to dance together, she respectfully declined letting go of his grip, but the guy grabbed it again pulling her with him to the dancefloor, everyone upstairs looking down at the scene got angry but Cillian shot on his feet immediately, ready to help her when he noticed Elijah quickly moved between then and released her from the guy's clutch saying something to him in an intimidating manner. The man walked away, and everyone was relieved, especially the blue-eyed man who just noticed how his blood pressure had shot to the rooftop, he drank a sip to compose himself, but everyone had noticed his outburst and he knew it, Paul and Hardy looking at him curiously from the corner of their eyes and then at each other but deciding it'd be best not to make a big deal about it.

Cillian ran his hand through his hair while finishing his beer thinking What's happening to me? Why am I acting like this?