Undeniable Love

Chapter 6

Stephane

The days leading up to the party were torture for me because I’m an introvert, which means I’m perfectly comfortable at home, alone. I was online doing research one time and I read the perfect analogy about introverts, they are like court reporters. Consider me the court reporter in the corner of the room. I’m in the background just listening, taking in the scene and making mental notes, but don’t really expect me to participate. Some people, like Sydnee, are the attorneys, always front and center. It’s why we work I think. She shines bright like a sun and I enjoy her rays.

Unbeknownst to me, Sydnee and her two co-workers were really, and I do mean really, into this costume. They had been planning it for several weeks. By the time she told me about it, it was all planned out, down to what girl would be which member of KISS. I guess she figured if she didn’t, I wouldn’t agree. Halloween was in the middle of the week, so the party was on the 26th, a Saturday. That was good because I figured it would take me all day to get in the getup. All the girls came to my apartment to get ready because I had the most space. I had a three bedroom apartment. It seems like a lot of space for one person, but one room was an office and then I had to have a guest room because my parents had a tendency to drop into town unexpectedly. I learned a long time ago, I need as much space as possible when they drop by.

Sydnee had my outfit laid out on my bed, I was Paul Stanley. She was Gene Simmons, her co-workers, Jenny and Stacy went as Ace Frehley and Peter Criss. I told Syd I thought it was crazy that girls were dressing as KISS, but she said it happened all the time at Dragon Con. What in the world is a Dragon Con, I thought. Never mind. I just shook my head. I knew not to fight her when she was stuck on an idea. Jenny’s friend Phil was the one throwing the party and when we got there, it was packed. I cringed. Well, I’m here now, I’ll have a few drinks to appease Syd, then I’ll excuse myself, I thought. It's why I always drive. Soon after we arrived, Jenny and Stacy went off and hung out with the person I assumed was Phil. Syd and I were standing in the living room talking when some tall, dark haired guy dressed in a t-shirt that had a circle light underneath it and a light on his hand, flirted with Syd.

“Who are you supposed to be?” I asked, interrupting his flirtation with Sydnee.

“Tony Stark, from Iron Man,”he said. I shrugged because I had no clue and didn't care.

“Oh, The Avengers’ guy?” Syd asked.

“Yeah, him!”

“That’s hot!” Syd said and winked at him.

Taking my cue I walked away to let her continue flirting undisturbed. I grabbed a drink and found an empty spot on the couch in front of the TV, but I wasn’t really paying attention to it. I was trying to zone out from the party when he came and sat next to me. He was absolutely gorgeous with dark blonde hair and green eyes. He had on a red leather jacket, white T-shirt, messenger bag and boots.

“Anything good on?” He asked. I looked around and realized he was talking to me.

“Oh, um, I don’t know. I just sat down.”

“Been here long?”

“Uh…just a few minutes. You?” I said, glancing up at him, his eyes were mesmerizing. I swear they were sparkling as he talked.

“Yeah, I’ve been here for a while. Phil’s my old roommate so I came over and helped him set up.”

“Oh, that’s nice!” I said and looked back at the TV.

“How do you know Phil?” He asked and I glanced back up at him.

“I don’t, he's the friend of a friend.” I said and looked away again.

“Ah, ok. Well, I’m Wyatt.”

“Hi Wyatt. Stephane. Nice to meet you!”

“And you,” he smiled, trying to catch my attention. “Well, you seem into whatever is on the TV, I’ll leave you alone.” He went to stand up, lost his balance and fell back onto the couch, spilling his drink all over me.

“Oh s**t! I’m so sorry!” He said. I jumped up to go find the bathroom.

“It’s ok. It’s my excuse to get out of here early. Can you tell me where the bathroom is?”

“I’ll show you, but only if you promise not to leave on my account.” He smiled at me. Wow, he was gorgeous. He had a great smile with a sexy dimple. He reminded me of the older brother, Danny, on that TV show “Baby Daddy.”

“I can’t make any such promises but I would like to find a bathroom, this beer is extremely cold and I’d like to dry off.”

“I’m really sorry, follow me!”

He led me up the stairs and down a hallway to what I’m guessing was the master bedroom. He pointed to a closet.

“The bathroom is through there.” He instructed as he sat on the bed.

I went into the bathroom, closed the door and took off the clunky heels, leather pants and a tight black shirt I had on. I looked in the linen closet and grabbed a towel to wrap around myself. I grabbed another towel and I was trying to dry my stuff when there was a knock on the door.

“Anything I can do to help?” he asked.

“Does he have a dryer?”

“As in hair dryer or laundry?”

I snickered at his question.

“Laundry.”

“Yes, what do you need?”

“I need to dry my shirt. I'm going to have to towel dry these pants. I don’t want to shrink them. Syd would have a fit if I did.”

“Sure, hand it here and I’ll put it in.” I opened the door and handed him my shirt. “Be right back,” he said.

I was patting the pants with the towel when he came back.

“Should just take a few minutes.”

“Thank you!” I said.

“You look cold,” he said. "Here.” He took off his jacket and his shirt and handed me the T-shirt. “It’s the least I can do since I soaked you with beer.” I smiled.

“Thank you.”

He stepped out of the room and went down the hallway. I slipped his T-shirt over my head and walked out of the bathroom and back into the bedroom just as he walked back through the door.

“So Stephane, when you aren’t getting beer dumped on you by losers at parties, what do you do?”

“As you can see from the comfortable seat I had on the couch, I’m quite the social butterfly,” I said sarcastically. It was his turn to laugh.

“What? You mean you aren’t the party animal that your costume would suggest?” I laughed again.

“No, not all. Not even a little.” He grinned at me. That dimple is dangerous, I thought.

“So who’s Syd? Your boyfriend?”

“Huh?”

“Earlier you said Syd would have a fit about your pants. Who’s Syd? Your boyfriend?” I sort of cackled at that.

“Ha. No Syd is short for Sydnee. She is my best friend and the reason I am here, dressed like this or was I should say.”

“I think you look great!”

“You mean looked? My costume is, well off right now. No pun intended.” I chuckled at myself.

“No, I meant now, you look great!” I blushed and changed the subject.

“So, tell me again how you know Phil?”

“We went to college together. We were in a bunch of the same classes and ended up rooming together. We’ve been buds ever since.”

“Sydnee and I have been best friends since we were babies. Our moms were best friends so we grew up together. She’s a wild child and I keep her in line.” He smiled that dimply smile and it made my stomach drop.

“Stephane would you like something to drink?”

“No, I’m ok.”

“Ok. I will run and check on your shirt and grab something to drink. I’ll be right back.”

He returned with a six-pack of beer.

“Should just be a few more minutes on your shirt.” (He lied. Her shirt was dry, but he was enjoying her company. She was beautiful from what he could see through the white face paint and he was single again.)

“Oh, ok!”

“You can keep my T-shirt until yours is dry. So Stephane, what do you do?”

“I’m a social media manager for a hospitality chain, The Barrtin Group. They have several high end restaurants and hotels around the country.”

“That sounds interesting!”

“It can be. What do you do?”

“Graphic design, I work for a company called Bree & Elle Imaging.”

He cracked open a beer and offered one to me.

“No thank you,” I said.

“You can’t come to a Halloween party and not have at least one beer,” he paused and winked “with me.” I laughed.

“Ok, just one.”

“You have a beautiful laugh Stephane.” I blushed.

“Thank you Wyatt.”

We spent the next few hours drinking and talking, well he was doing most of the drinking. He told me about college and some funny stories about him and Phil. He talked about his hometown, which wasn’t far, about forty-five minutes away. He also talked about his family. His parents have been happily married for thirty-five years and his grandparents were married for fifty-eight years before his grandfather passed. Apparently his grandfather had been pretty well off. He also told me about his recent break up with his cheating girlfriend April. He said he caught her because she left her f*******: open on his computer and he saw messages between her and a guy from her office. I felt really bad for him because he was obviously still really upset about it. Finally, after he drank his last beer, he leaned in and tried to kiss me but I pulled away.

“What’s wrong?” He said.

“Wyatt, you are gorgeous, strikingly so and under any other circumstance I would be flattered and love to kiss you but you are drunk and upset. I don’t want to be that girl. I’m not the ‘hook-up’ type.”

I thought he would get mad because he wasted his time talking to me when he could have been talking to someone else and probably getting laid, but I was wrong.

“I apologize. I’m not the hook-up type either normally. And I’m sure it’s been utterly attractive sitting here listening to my venting about my ex.”

“No, no, it’s ok. Break ups can be hard.” What happened next really surprised me, he started crying. I’m sure it was more alcohol than anything but I was stunned for a moment and didn’t know what to do. This huge, gorgeous man was sitting here in front of me crying. After the shock wore off, I hugged him to my chest and let him cry. We lay back against the pillows and he sobbed silently until he fell asleep. I waited a few minutes, then I carefully crawled out of the bed, so I wouldn’t wake him. I covered him up, grabbed my leather pants, my clunky heels and I left.