Animal attraction

Chapter 7 - Why do you hate me?

It was the night of the Library opening that was to be followed by a lavish Gala to help raise even more funds and the Town was buzzing with excitement.

‘I am so excited for tonight ‘ Sally shrieked as she was clearing away the last of dinner time rush. The day had flown by, it had been just Sally and today and we did nothing but laugh and chat excitedly about the evening ahead. I must admit I was excited to get dressed up and go to a fancy party in a Town that looked like it was inhabited by male models.

‘I miss Keith’ I moped bursting Sallys bubble.

‘Oh mama deserves a night off, plus she’s with grandma Nora for a sleepover tonight he’ll have the best time’ she reasoned. Sally was right Keith adored Nora and Doctor Roberts and they assured me that they didn’t want to attend the Gala, something about it being for the kids more than for them. I was grateful that they took Keith in so that I could get ready at the girls.

‘Right, so we are getting ready at your apartment Rory, so you better get your a*s upstairs to shower that ridiculous mound of hair of yours because it’s gonna take Charlotte ages to blow dry it’ Sally hustled me up the stairs.

She was right as always. I quickly got into the shower whilst Sally finished locking up. As soon as I stepped out with a towel around my body and hair, Sally waded in with Charlotte in tow.

‘Right, I’m showering next. Charl you better get a start on Rory’s hair. Then I’ll do her makeup whilst you shower’ she instructed matter of factly. Sally was so organised it was strangely comforting rather than annoying. We both did as Sally instructed and an 2 hours later all three of us were coiffed and made up to the 9’s. I blinked at my reflection in the mirror. I could barely recognise myself. Charlotte had done an incredible job of swooping my hair up in messy loose curls with a middle parting and softly curled curtain bangs framing my face perfectly. I had never had an up-do hair style before, I never had the patience to tame it like that. Sally had spent an hour on my makeup and when she finished I knew why. It was the most beautiful, gentle Smokey glam I had ever seen. I couldn’t believe this was me. As the girls helped me squeeze into my skin tight dress and choked back tears. I feel like I’m going to prom and I’m getting ready with my best friends. I guess I was in a way?

The tight dress humbled me real quick as I winced when I saw my body devour every inch of the dress.

I look at the girl for reassurance and they stare at me open mouthed. Okay that definitely gave me an ego boost. In that moment we heard loud beeps coming from outside and we knew our ride was here. I quickly grabbed my stroppy black heels and Pearl clutch and we step out. Cas was waiting for us outside as he held the door open for us all. He was such a sweetheart.

‘Wow, you ladies look incredible I can’t believe I get to have 3 dates tonight’ he smirks cheekily. Charls boyfriend was meeting her there so I got to walk in hand in hand with her instead of third wheeling two couples as we made our grand entrance. We laughed and joked on the short journey to the Library and in no time we had arrived. God there were so many people and they all looked so important. I shrank a little and the grandeur of everything feeling a little bit of imposter syndrome slowly creeping in. What was I even doing here, I’ve only been here 5 minutes.

Get a grip a knowing voice in my head said as I quickly got it together. These people are your friends, you work here you live here. You’re just as much part of this community as anyone else here. You deserve to be here, it wouldn’t feel so right and natural if you didn’t, the voice continued to sooth me. I squeezed Charlottes handand she squeezed it back as we made our grand entrance. As I scanned the crowd hoping to see anyone else I knew my eyes immediately locked eyes with him. Alex, him. He’d been infiltrating all of my dreams lately and it was especially unnerving seeing him right now. God he looked sexy in a suit. As our eyes locked I was transfixed into place, I couldn’t look away, as I took a deep breath to steady myself. I studied his face and could have sworn his hazel eyes turned black for a split second. A chill ran down my spine as I shivered the feeling of unease that was creeping in, away. However I was bought back to planet earth when I saw a sensational, petite, delicate blonde draped over his arm. A familiar feeling started to tug at my heart, like a dull stabbing pain almost.

Why did I even care? He wasn’t my boyfriend for gods sake. His type was allowed to be petite blondes why the hell was I acting jealous. Why did it feel weird to see him with another woman? This man was a stranger for gods sake, and the few interactions we have had, had been pretty disastrous actually. It had nothing to do with him I concluded. It’s just my regular old insecurities and I had made too much progress with my body image to keep feeling inadequate. I shrug off my self pity and join the group conversation.

‘Aurora this is KC he lives in the the neighbouring town Echo Falls, KC this is Aurora she’s just moved here form LA’ Cas introduces me to a gorgeous (surprise, surprise) tall, muscular man with curly light brown hair and the most beautiful amber eyes. He had a little stubble sprinkled across his strong jawline and was wearing a sharp grey suit with an open white shirt. I smile shyly at the beautiful man and he returns the smile eagerly. He leans in closer to me so I can smell his cologne, it’s citrusy and fresh as we dive into conversation. He’s so easy to talk to and soon enough we are roaring away with laughter. We drink champagne and pretty soon Im whipping out my phone and showing him progress photos of Keith like the sad little dog mom that I am. What a great night this was shaking up to be I thought. As I went to the bathroom with the girls when I came back to my dismay, KC was nowhere to be found and the group of guys that were milling around us earlier had also dispersed. That was weird. I looked over to Cas and Sally and they both looked uncomfortable. Did I miss something, did KC say something about me? Oh god were the dog photos too far I though. As I looked around I saw KC who was now in deep convo with a pretty little brunette in the corner. I sighed slumping my shoulder inadvertently. Rejection never gets easier. Sally touches my shoulder a look of concern on her face. I did not need her puth right now, I just wanted to go. Suddenly I felt hot and flustered and deeply out of place. I slipped past everyone and made a beeline for the door.

‘Rory, wait!’ Sally called out. I turn around and she pulls me to the side. ‘It’s not you okay, I know what you’re thinking stop that. Looks it’s really hard to explain but it’s not you okay’ what the hell was she talking about. Was she drunk? And this drunken mumbling was supposed to be comforting.

‘I know Sal I’m just super tired and I just wanna head home okay’ I tried to look as cheery as I could but I was a phoney actor.

‘It was Alex okay, he told all of the guys to stop speaking to you and he is the Al..umm Boss he’s their Boss so they have to listen to him, KC was super into you okay,it’s just Alex didn’t like it’. Sally blurted out desperately.

My ears started to ring with the blind rage that was taking over my body. Alex? He did what? I couldn’t even compute what Sally was saying right now. Was she making it up, to make me feel better ? No, surely not. Just as I was trying to make sense of this information and my scattered thoughts I see him in the corner of my eye and I head straight for him.

‘Rory, don’t it’s not what you think’ Sally begins but I’m already half way there. The blonde is still draped across his harm but I don’t give a flying f**k. I aggressively poke him in the back until he turns around a look of shock sprawled across his face.

‘Yes?’ He raises an eyebrow, amusement glimmering in his eye. He thinks I’m a joke. This is all a sick joke to him. He’s not over the Parsnip soup and this is his weird payback. What a narcissistic sociopath. ‘I need to speak with you. Alone. Right now or I’m worried that I’ll become quite hysterical’ I explain as calmly as I can muster. He tries to hide the little grin that threaten to escape the corner of his lips.

‘Well that certainly won’t do will it, let’s try keep this a civilised event’ he teased ‘follow me’ he detached himself from the blonde, much to her chagrin, and he grabbed my hand and led me away from the crowd. Heat started to rise up from the skin he was touching all the way up my arm. Jesus, what kind of pedestal had I put this man on? These intense feelings were nuts and borderline obsessive, honestly. We suddenly find ourselves in an empty room with not a soul in sight. Oh god, don’t lose your nerve now you weirdo. I sucked in a breath and looked him dead in the eye, ‘why do you hate me so much’ I asked, I couldn’t help the sad tone that tinged my words.