Sarah was wearing one of her favourite dresses. The fabric shimmered and was silky to the touch. It was a royal purple colour with silver threaded embellishments along the seams. The neckline was a modest v cut and the dress went to her ankles, but there was a slit down the side that made it easier to move in. She had on her favourite silver heels and the perfect silver clutch purse to match.
All she was missing was her date.
It was past the time when Chuck could be early, or even on time, and Sarah was trying to tell herself that Chuck was just running late. Maybe he'd gotten caught in traffic? She was trying to convince herself this didn't mean she was being stood up.
She'd never gotten so much as a text from him after leaving her number and she was starting to worry that he hadn't meant anything he'd said. Sarah was also worried that they hadn't gotten together for lunch to go over their story. It hadn't occurred to her until after she'd left, but since he hadn't texted her Sarah hadn't been able to bring it up. She supposed she could have just shown up at this work again, but at what point was that just harassing a stranger?
It took an unreasonable amount of energy to sit there and try not to panic. Then she realized she was being stupid. It was what it was, and she could either give in or hold her head high and see what happened.
With determination, Sarah got up from her chair and turned to walk down the hall and towards the ballroom. She couldn't wait anymore. It was time to face the music. If people got nosey, she could just say Chuck was sick. Everyone would be so busy worrying about their own fun they wouldn't even care. Everything, that is, except Daniel, but Sarah wasn't about to give him the satisfaction of knowing she'd avoided the party to avoid him. So not happening.
But just as she was resolved to head in on her own, the front doors of the hotel burst open behind her. Sarah turned and there was Chuck, out of breath, but very much present.
"Sorry- I'm- late." He was breathing hard and stopping between words to take in more air. "Car- wouldn't- start."
"Did you run here?" Sarah gasped, stunned.
"Ran- from- nearest- skytrain- stop," Chuck answered, his breathing was getting easier as he stood there, though he was clearly still catching his breath.
"Sit down!" Sarah gestured, amazed, and touched that Chuck had been so interested in this fake date to run so far as to be winded.
"I'm okay," Chuck said, though he did sit down. It was only then that Sarah noticed Chuck's suit. He looked nothing short of handsome in a dark charcoal suit jacket with a crisp white button up shirt underneath. Outside of the poor overhead lighting at the Buy More, Chuck was really quite good looking. His height didn't hurt, but there was something about his friendly nature that seemed to add to his attractiveness.
"I like your suit," Sarah told him with a smile.
"Thanks," Chuck replied. "I love your dress."
"Thanks," Sarah smiled. She could see Chuck's eyes move over her dress, his pupils dilating slightly. He really did love her dress. Sarah found she quite enjoyed that.
"Okay, I'm good," Chuck said once he'd finished catching his breath and tore his eyes away from Sarah's legs. "How late am I?"
"Fashionably late, don't worry," Sarah replied easily.
Chuck stood up and held out an arm for Sarah who took it. Such a slight thing, but for some reason, Sarah was very aware of where their arms intertwined, and she realized that she was attracted to Chuck. It surprised her. Chuck hadn't really seemed her type when they'd met, but maybe she just hadn't given him a chance.
Together, they walked down the hall and towards the big double doors that lead to the ballroom. Chuck opened the door and the huge room came into view.
The ceiling was high, and right at the center of it, hovering over everything, was a stunning crystal chandelier. It was smaller where it was attached to the ceiling, but fanned out with long beams of glistening crystal linking the two rings and dangling down at the bottom. Below the chandelier was the dance floor, though no one was currently dancing. Instead all the cast and crew were standing around drinking what looked to be champagne out of tiny flutes. Around the edges of the room were small round tables with high crystal vases filled with white roses. Near the tables, and scattered about the room, were men and women dressed like butlers holding silver trays of more champagne flutes and what looked to be finger food.
"Wow," Chuck whispered.
"I know what you mean," Sarah replied. "These things can be big. The last one I went to had a three tier chocolate fountain that was pretty spectacular."
They walked past a woman carrying a food tray, and Chuck took three of whatever was there, eating them all quite quickly. "Those are delicious!" he exclaimed.
Sarah was glad Chuck looked to be having a good time. She'd hate to have dragged the poor guy here, just to make him miserable.
With Sarah watching Chuck, and Chuck turning his head every which way to try and take in the whole room at once, neither of them noticed that someone was approaching them from behind.
"Sarah! And this must be the boyfriend."
Sarah turned to see Daniel standing there with a woman on his arm, though it wasn't the unnatural blonde from before. How many women was this guy going to parade in front of her?
Daniel was looking Chuck up and down. Sarah had no idea why, until he spoke again.
"Dating down huh, Sarah," Daniel said, turning back to address her.
Sarah's jaw clenched. Why did he have to be so rude!? And so arrogant to look at her boyfriend like a piece of meat. Okay her cover boyfriend, but still!
"Even so, this means you're just as bad as me," Daniel said. "Moving on so quickly. One might even say there was some overlap." And then he winked. Winked!
Sarah was so mad she felt like one of those cartoons when their face became a bright red tea kettle about to burst. If not for Chuck's arm in hers, Sarah might have done something stupid.
"You know what they say about people who make assumptions, right?" Chuck asked. Sarah was impressed that he could remain so calm. "It makes an ass out of them."
The look of annoyance on Daniel's face was absolutely priceless. Chuck pulled on Sarah's arm in the opposite direction from her, and Sarah gratefully let herself be led.
After a few moments they'd walked far enough away to be out of earshot. Sarah let out the breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding.
"Thanks for holding me back," Sarah said. "That guy just has a way of getting under my skin, but he isn't worth it."
"Happy to help," Chuck smiled. "What did he mean about that overlapping thing anyway?"
"He's comparing his womanizing with me dating you right after we broke up. Basically implying I cheated, just like he did," Sarah growled. "Urg! What did I see in that jerk I'll never know!"
"Hindsight is twenty twenty," Chuck stated kindly. "We can't help who we like, even if they are bad for us."
"More than you seem, huh?" Sarah admired Chuck for this simple and yet wise statement.
"Oh most definitely," Chuck replied.
Sarah couldn't help beaming at him. There was something truly one of a kind about this man.
"Do you see any more of those guys carrying food?" Chuck said inquisitively. Sarah couldn't help but laugh.
"They are probably where the crowds are gathered," Sarah replied as she pointed. Together they made their way back to the food and once again Chuck started stuffing his face with great joy.
"I take it you don't attend many catered events?" Sarah smiled.
"My sister's wedding was catered," Chuck mumbled through his mouth full of food. "But that's about it."
Sarah chuckled and took some food for herself, picking off the olives. She found finger food for dinner a tedious way to eat, but it meant everyone could mingle and chat during the event, so it's what the crew had voted on.
Just then Sarah spotted someone she worked with that she actually liked, and decided that as long as she was going to lie, she might as well do it right.
Walking up behind Carina, Sarah tapped her on the shoulder. Carina turned and smiled at her.
"Carina, this is my boyfriend Chuck," Sarah said, gesturing to them both. "Chuck, Carina."
"Nice to meet you, Chuck," Carina said with a smile. Her long brown hair was up in a tight bun tonight, and she had on a beautiful sparkling green dress with a tasteful neckline.
"You as well," Chuck replied though he did mumble slightly due to having just taken another bite of something.
"Daniel told me you'd be bringing someone," Carina replied. "But I wasn't expecting… don't you usually date actors?"
"Actors haven't exactly been working out for me," Sarah admitted.
"Fair point," Carina agreed.
"The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results," Chuck chimed in. "So it is only logical that Sarah would branch out."
"Sure, yeah," Carina said very slowly. "Logical."
"Yep," Chuck said before cutting off his next words with another appetizer.
"So tell us," Carina tried to keep the conversation going. "How did you guys meet?" Sarah was only worried for a split second before Chuck's perfect answer made her realize she was worried for nothing.
"Mostly good luck," Chuck replied. "Sarah's phone was broken and she came into my store to get it fixed."
"I've done that before," Carina laughed. "Never got a date out of it, though."
"Yeah, well what can I say," Chuck smiled. "I wouldn't let this one get away."
Sarah thought this was quite an ironic statement, since Chuck had never even bothered to save her number. Still she couldn't complain. He'd answered better than she'd expected without a chance to plan answers ahead of time.
"I also met a friend of Chuck's at the store," Sarah added. "He happens to be a huge fan of yours."
Carina sighed. "It's that stupid batwoman movie, isn't it?" she said with a groan. Sarah wasn't quite sure how to reply to that.
"It's not a stupid movie," Chuck jumped in. "It's a great movie."
"The entire plot is just me in a skintight catsuit!" Carina argued.
"Hence why it's great!" Chuck said. Then he seemed to remember who his audience was, and added, "I mean, it's got some brilliant acting in it."
Carina did not look impressed and promptly made an excuse to go talk to someone else.
Though Chuck's grasp of the social graces were turning out to be less than stellar, Sarah had to admit, she was having a rather nice evening.
"I thought she'd never leave." Turning, Sarah saw John walk up to them from the left. "So this must be the boyfriend I've been hearing out?"
"This is John Casey," Sarah introduced them. "He's another stunt double, but he also is our military advisor for the movie."
"Well that sounds awesome!" Chuck exclaimed. "I have a friend who'd love to pick your brain about military strategy."
"Where did your friend serve?" John asked.
"Ah yes, sorry, easy mistake to make," Chuck added awkwardly. "I should have explained. My friend likes to talk about game strategies. We play dungeons and dragons every Friday night."
John looked annoyed and grunted a little then he said 'nerd' under his breath, as if it were an insult.
"That would be correct, sir," Chuck answered the mumbled word.
John furrowed his brow for a second, then turned to Sarah and stated, "I like him." He didn't say another word on the subject though they stuck around for a while after that. Sarah hadn't really expected more. John Casey was a man of few words. He did, however, know how to make them count.
Sarah and Chuck walked around for a while after John got pulled into another conversation. They ate off the catering trays and then found a waiter with champagne flutes.
"To a most interesting evening," Chuck said, holding up his glass. Sarah echoed the sentiment and their glasses clinked.
"There you are," it was director Robert's voice. "And this must be the new guy."
"That is what people are calling me," Chuck replied.
"Nothing wrong with being the new guy," Robert said. "Everyone has to start somewhere. Have you tried the pigs in a blanket?"
"Yes!" Chuck exclaimed. "They were to die for. Like I'm pretty sure to ever eat this well again, I would have to donate a kidney or something."
Robert laughed then added with a smile, "Please do enjoy yourselves. Everyone here has more than earned this party. Filming movies is no simple thing."
Then someone called his name and, like that, he was pulled into another conversation.
"He seems nice," Chuck observed.
"Yeah, he is," Sarah answered. "I will definitely sign on to any other movies he directs."
"Can't blame you there," Chuck agreed. "A good boss makes all the difference in a workplace."
"Good coworkers don't hurt, either," Sarah counted.
"True," Chuck added. "Though in my experience, those are easier to avoid, should any problem arise."
Just then, Sarah spotted a problem moving towards them.
"In my experience coworkers keep reappearing when they are unwanted," she groaned.
Daniel was walking up to them again, alone this time. Sarah was starting to wish he was on another continent.
"Sarah, there you are," Daniel said as he got closer. "I was hoping to see you again before you left."
"And here I am," Sarah said, wishing she wasn't.
"I wanted to ask how you guys met," Daniel said and Chuck repeated the story he'd told to Carina earlier in the evening.
"I see," Daniel said slowly. "And when exactly was this?"
Chuck had barely opened his mouth to speak when Sarah cut in. "The morning after you dumped me," Sarah said firmly.
At once, Sarah realized she'd done the wrong thing. The slight smile she saw on Daniel's face told her he was onto her.
"Rather convenient, don't you think," Daniel said slowly. "And fast. Do customer service encounters usually lead to serious relationships? After all, this means you guys have been going out for almost two weeks."
"Yep, that's right," Sarah said. She felt like she was falling into a trap, but she had no idea how to get out of it.
"From the start, I suspected you were making up the boyfriend to avoid me," Daniel said slowly. "So I told everyone about it thinking you'd come clean, but instead you brought him. It got me wondering." He paused, and all Sarah's muscles tightened. "Maybe he proves nothing. Maybe you just picked a guy up at a bar. I mean it's an easy enough thing to do…"
Sarah couldn't reply. She didn't even know if she was too mad to speak, or simply unsure what to say. She just knew her throat wouldn't make a sound.
"I will have you know that I don't actually go to bars," Chuck said. "The lighting is just awful and don't even get me started on the price of a beer!"
"Prove it," Daniel said. "Tell me one thing about Sarah that a boyfriend would know."
And at once, Sarah knew she was doomed.
I'm curious if anyone has an opinion on sneak peeks? Do you like them? Dislike them? I've been doing them for so long now I barely remember why I started.
Sneak peek Chapter 03
... the reason I ask is because once again I am updating without one... ^_^
