Page 54 of Three's a Crowd
Pleasure twisted through her as Zach’s name appeared and she experienced a rush of pride that she knew him.
The film began then and she settled in to it, soon losing herself in the plot, only occasionally brought up short by the notion that it wasZachon the screen.
The beautiful woman from the red carpet played his love interest and Daisy found herself digging her nails into her palmswhen it came to the sex scene, having to consciously unclasp her hands and remind herself that it wasn’t real.
She, on the other hand, had experienced the real thing.
Her stomach gave a flip at the memory of his mouth on hers and the way he’d moved inside her with such need and possessive pleasure, before she forced the images from her mind. That hadn’t exactly been real either. Over the years, the memory had taken on a surreal shape, so she wasn’t entirely sure how much of it had really happened and how much was fanciful reminiscence.
Part way through the film, Adam had fallen asleep again but this time, she left him to his slumber. At least this way, he might be sober enough for the party afterwards.
When the end credits finally rolled on the screen, Daisy found she was devastated it was finished. It’d been a really engaging film. Both Zach and his co-star had been excellent in their parts and fingering the friendship knot on her necklace, she felt another rush of pride for being lucky enough to be part of his life.
When the lights came back up, she nudged Adam awake and he opened his bloodshot eyes and peered at her.
‘Is it over?’ he asked groggily.
‘Yes,’ she snapped. He really was the worst.
‘Come on,’ she said, motioning for him to stand up. ‘We need to get over to where the yacht’s docked before it sets sail.’
Adam yawned and rubbed his hand over his eyes then over his scalp, making his hair stand on end.
‘Come on then, let’s go,’ he sighed, clearly not enamoured about the idea of aparty on a yacht. What the hell was wrong with him?
Getting up and stretching his arms above his head, he shuffled down the aisle in front of her and they joined the queue of people making slow progress out of the cinema, due toit having been a full house. There was high-spirited hubbub of chatter about the film all around her, which Daisy took to mean everyone else had enjoyed it too.
She was so pleased for Zach. Perhaps an Oscar nomination would be on the way? She hoped so. He deserved it.
Adam looked around him, seemingly still in a bit of a daze, as they exited into the balmy night air.
‘I think it’s this way,’ Daisy said, motioning towards the dock that ran along the back of the Palais de Festival. They walked as quickly as Daisy’s shoes would allow over to where a huge yacht was tethered. As they approached the roped-off footbridge to the yacht, they were hindered by a large group of people that had gathered, trying desperately to get into the party without tickets. A scary-looking bouncer was keeping them at bay with a hard stare, but he moved to one side to let Daisy and Adam pass when they held out their invitations to him.
They walked carefully up the gangplank and onto the plush yacht which was already filling up with guests.
‘Right, I’m off to find the bar,’ Adam said abruptly, leaving her standing there on her own, feeling a bit flustered and nervous, not to mention cross with him for abandoning her.
‘It’s the only way to ward off this oncoming hangover,’ he called back to her over his shoulder.
She watched him go, weaving amongst the crowd of well-dressed guests, drawing both inquisitive and scornful looks from the partygoers at the way he was staggering around.
Daisy flushed with embarrassment for him – and for herself to be seen to be here with him in that state – and looked around to find a quiet corner where she could blend into the furniture until Adam arrived back with drinks. At least she hoped he was getting a drink for her.
She watched in awe as the other guests chatted away confidently, feeling a little inadequate compared to thesophisticated gathering. Many of them were obviously very powerful in their field and they gave off strong vibes of self-possession and command.
Daisy had never seen so many beautiful people in one place before either; each one was as polished and stylish as the next and even in her couture gown, she began to feel a little clumsy and uncouth in comparison. So, she was relieved to see Adam making his way back through the crowd, a bottle of wine and two glasses clutched in his hands.
‘Here you go. It’s complimentary so I took the whole bottle,’ he said with glee.
Daisy cringed at his crassness, but accepted the proffered glass. The alcohol warmed her insides as it slipped down and she began to feel renewed flutters of excitement as she relaxed a little and looked out for Zach arriving.
She didn’t have to wait long.
There was a murmur amongst the crowd and he suddenly appeared, shaking hands and accepting compliments about his performance.
As she watched, he looked around, searching for something, or someone, until his gaze alighted on her. His eyes widened for a moment at the sight of her before he smiled his incredible smile and she felt her insides melt under his gaze.
He turned back for a moment to answer a question that was being asked of him by a tall, elegant, blonde woman, then excused himself and made his way over towards where Daisy and Adam sat, a look of pure relief on his face at seeing them.
