Page 53 of Three's a Crowd
After showing their tickets to the lady on the gate, they were ushered through quickly.
They were cutting it pretty fine.
The cars that were transporting the stars of the film to the premiere were already arriving, and Daisy was aware of a rise innoise level as the first actors began to make their way along the start of the red carpet.
It was a very long walk from the end, up to the steps and into the Palais and Daisy was glad she and Adam were joining it half way up. She didn’t know how she was going to manage the stairs in her shoes and she knew she couldn’t rely on Adam to help her as he was having enough trouble keeping himself straight. She was going to have to take it slowly.
As they mounted the steps, there was a low murmur from the press core to their left. Daisy looked over to see them talking amongst themselves, trying to decide whether she and Adam were famous or not. One of them obviously decided that they might be and started to take photos of them calling, ‘Give us a smile, beautiful. Over here!’
As soon as his flash went off, all the other photographers assumed she must be worth taking a photo of too and nearly blinded them with a riot of flashes.
Turning away to blink the light out of her eyes, Daisy was shocked to see their progress up the red-carpet steps was being broadcast on an enormous screen to the masses of fans waiting below to catch a glimpse of the film’s stars. Her stomach rolled at the thought. How did Zach cope with this kind of thing all the time? She guessed he must just be used to it by now.
They finally made it to the top of the steps and Daisy turned at the last minute to see a group of actors – was Zach with them? She couldn’t quite see from where she stood – making their way up the red carpet, much to the delight of the crowds and the waiting media. Before she was able to locate him, she and Adam were quickly ushered in through the door and directed towards their seats. They were up in the gods and Daisy felt slightly dizzy as she shuffled past rows of people’s legs in her heels to find where they were sitting.
Once there, she stood for a second, looking down over the balcony that separated them from the floor, to see if she could make out where Zach would be sitting, but it was impossible to tell from that distance.
As she sat down, she noticed with a cringe of embarrassment that the cinema screen in front of them was also playing the live feed from the cameras outside and realised that their stumbling progress up the steps had also just been watched by a cinema full of people.
Her humiliation was short-lived though because as she continued to gaze at the screen, she finally caught sight of Zach making his way past the fans and the photographers. He looked incredible. His beautifully cut dinner jacket emphasising the width of his shoulders and the stark white shirt against his bronzed skin made him look healthy and vital. His dark eyes held a warm smile for the crowds and he raised a hand to wave at his adoring fans.
Daisy watched him in awe, floored that this wasZach, her childhood friend and first ever lover. Her whole body appeared to be trembling now and a deep throb, low in her pelvis, was sending waves of pure, anticipatory pleasure cascading through her body.
He was literally taking her breath away.
She felt Adam shift uncomfortably in the seat next to her. There wasn’t a lot of leg room and his long legs were cramped in the space it allowed. He slumped down as far as he could and lay his head on her shoulder. She shrugged him off in annoyance.
‘Adam, sit up will you and give me some space. You’re making me really uncomfortable,’ she hissed. She desperately needed her personal space right now. Her body was experiencing all sorts of crazy sensations and she needed every ounce of willpower to stop herself from leaping out of her seatand rushing off to find somewhere quiet to calm her racing thoughts.
Adam shifted back into an upright position, grumbling at her rejection.
‘When’s this bloody film going to start?’ he muttered.
She just ignored him and continued to watch the screen. A beautiful woman had joined Zach on the red carpet and had taken his hand in a proprietary gesture, now walking at his side, waving to the crowds. She and Zach looked the picture of a happy couple and for a horrible second, Daisy wondered whether they were in a relationship. But how could they be? Surely, he would have mentioned it to her?
‘Is that his new bird?’ Adam muttered, staring at the screen now too. ‘Nice.’
Daisy glanced at him in annoyance but didn’t reply, blood pounding in her head.
The rest of the stars of the film, as well as the producers and director, were now traversing the red carpet after them and the cameras followed their progress until they walked through the doors into the Palais.
There was a hubbub of chatter from the floor below them and Daisy guessed from the raised voices and clapping that the stars and crew had entered the cinema and were taking their seats.
She strained to see if she could make out where Zach was sitting, but it was impossible to see him from where she was. She slumped back into her seat in disappointment.
A hush suddenly fell amongst the audience and a man with ruffled, titian-coloured hair, dressed in a navy-blue suit and crisp white shirt – which was open at the neck and without a tie, in clear contravention of tradition here – walked up onto the stage in front of the screen and gave a nod of greeting as the whole audience clapped loudly.
‘Thank you, and thanks for joining us here tonight. For those of you that don’t know me, I’m Jon, the director of this movie. I hate making speeches so I’ll spare you. I just want to say thanks to everyone involved; I couldn’t have done it without you. Without further ado, I give youDamascus Days.’
As he walked off the stage, the lights dimmed and the projectionist started the print rolling.
Daisy’s nerves were jangling in anticipation of what she was about to watch. How would it make her feel to see Zach up there on the big screen in all his charismatic glory? She’d deliberately not watched any of the films or shows he’d been in up to this point, finding the idea of it too weird and discombobulating. But here it felt different. She wanted to support her friend in his professional capacity and be able to tell him what a great job he’d done without having to lie about having seen his work.
And at least here she could stare at his captivating face for a couple of hours without raising any suspicions about how her body responded to him.
At this anguished thought, she glanced over at Adam and was annoyed to see that he’d fallen asleep. He let out a loud snore and she poked him hard in the ribs.
‘Adam, for God’s sake, wake up!’ she hissed. He jolted awake with a start and looked at her blearily. She shook her head at him, then turned back to the film as the title credits came up on the screen.
