Dream I Almost Missed

Chapter Four

~ Alice ~

Finally, leaving behind everything that kept me from who I truly wanted to be felt strange. I had gotten so used to the fact that I couldn’t be myself that it almost made me give up.

But there was always one person who reminded me that it was worth fighting for my dream – as silly and childish as it sounds – and that was Michael Davies. Seeing how he had succeeded, how he had grown as an actor and overcome so much, made me realize that it was actually possible, difficult, but not impossible.

I fell asleep about three hours into the flight and woke up about an hour before landing, and that hour felt endless. As soon as I got off the plane, I headed to pick up my luggage while checking my phone, which had started going off like crazy when it connected to the airport Wi-Fi.

Most of the messages were from Dominic, first apologizing for not being able to pick me up himself because he had to go on a work trip at the last minute. Due to that, he said one of Michael´s younger brothers would pick me up, ‘one of the twins’ to be precise. And, the cherry on top, there had been a mix-up with the hotel Dominic had helped me book, so I had no hotel to stay at.

After reading the messages, I started to question, ‘Why did this have to happen to me?’ But at the end of the day, it was out of my control, and before spiraling about it, I decided to panic over which of the Davies twins might pick me up, knowing it would be strange to be with either one of them. I know they were just people, but those damn Davies genes were something else.

I couldn’t possibly act normal, knowing I’d be face-to-face with one of them, if just seeing them on photos, videos, or interviews gave me enough trouble, what would happen when I met them in person?

Indeed, I was actually a fan of Michael, but his brothers were just as charming, and not just physically. For instance, Harrison, the older twin by about ten minutes, was supposedly the calmer and more centered twin, and he was an amazing photographer and director. John, on the other hand, seemed to be the opposite; he was the crazy, hyperactive one, who liked to run around helping his family with anything he could.

It's worth clarifying that they were identical twins, both had pale skin, were full of freckles, and had brown-redish hair. The only way to tell them apart was that Harrison’s hair was curlier than John’s.

The sight of my luggage showing up brought me out of my head. I grabbed it and started checking my phone, hoping for a text saying which one of them would pick me up, while walking to the exit.

I spotted Harrison Davies standing among a group of people holding a sign with my name on it. I froze, unsure of how to react and approach him. Harrison seemed to sense my presence because, after a few seconds of looking around, his eyes met mine, and he smiled as he walked towards me.

“Alice Walsh, isn’t it?”

“That’s me,” I answered with a nervous smile.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” he said, extending his hand towards me.

I shook his hand, still smiling.

“Come on, let’s get out of here,” he added, guiding me towards the exit.

I followed him, and a few seconds later, he had my suitcase in his hand and refused my complaint about how I was fine carrying it myself. We walked to the parking lot, and he guided me to a beautiful black Honda Civic. He put my suitcase in the trunk, opened the passenger door for me, and a few seconds later, he was behind the wheel.

“My dad told me about the hotel,” he said, breaking the silence that had started to become awkward.

“I have no idea what to do about that,” I admitted. “Is it impossible to find a room in another hotel near here?” I added absent-minded.

“Don’t worry about it, at least today you will stay at our house, we’ll figure out the hotel thing later,” explained Harrison.

My mouth reacted before my brain could think.

“I will stay where!?” I questioned in panic, which freaked out Harrison.

Great, now he was thinking I was crazy.

“You just got here, you don’t know the country, and my dad is your only ‘contact,’” he made air quotes with one hand. “Even though you’re eighteen, he is technically responsible for you; he can’t allow anything to happen to you.”

“There is no way I can accept that. I have already bothered Mr. Davies too much; I can´t stay at your house; it's too much.”

“You are staying with us, my parents won’t take no for an answer. Besides, they’d kill me if I were to leave you somewhere else and something happened to you!” He said, surprisingly quick. “Please save me from being murdered. I still have a lot of things to accomplish in life,” he begged with some pretty convincing puppy eyes.

I couldn’t help but laugh, which made him laugh too.

“All right, I won’t be the motive of your death,” I concluded, still laughing. “But only until the hotel thing gets sorted out.”

“That’s what I needed,” he said with a smile.

To avoid making the situation more awkward, I stared outside the window, taking in the new scenery. I was in London, one of the places I had always wanted to visit, and my eyes could barely keep up with everything I was seeing. It was nothing crazy, but it was drastically different from what I was used to.

“Welcome to Kingston,” said Harrison, opening my door so I could get out of the car.

I stood on the sidewalk, looking up at their beautiful house, struggling to understand I was actually standing there, in front of the Davies’ house, when the sight of Harrison next to me with my luggage brought me back to reality. He opened the door and signaled for me to go inside.

As soon as I walked in, I started looking around, unable to believe I was there. The door closing behind me spooked me, and before Harrison could apologize for it, something had crashed into me and taken me to the ground.

“No! Judith,” yelled Harrison, freaking out when he saw their dog had taken me down and was on top of me, refusing to move or letting me get up from the floor as she smelled and liked my face.

“That’s enough, move!” I heard someone else’s voice, and a few seconds later, the dog had moved, and Harrison was grabbing me by the arms, helping me get back up.

“She isn’t usually like this, sorry,” explained Harrison, embarrassed. “She must have thought you were Michael. I’ll bring you a towel.”

Harrison disappeared, and I was left there staring at their family dog, Judith, a beautiful blue staffy, and John Davies. The three of us just stood there in awkward silence. Judith decided to put an end to it by trying to jump at me again, so I decided to pet her, she was pretty and friendly, but she was heavy, and I didn’t want her to take me down again.

“She doesn’t scare you?” Harrison asked, surprised, handing me a towel.

“I grew up around dogs like her,” I responded, cleaning my face.

Both Harrison and John nodded and looked at each other, suddenly, as if Harrison remembered I was a stranger in their house, he nudged John with his elbow and gestured towards me with his head, which made me laugh.

“Oh, sorry, I am John Davies,” he extended his hand towards me.

“I am Alice Walsh,” I responded, taking his hand.

The three of us just stood there, frozen, looking around, allowing the awkwardness to grow. I silently wished one of them would break the silence.

“Which one of you is the oldest?” I asked them before I could think about what came out of my mouth.

“Me, for about three minutes,” answered Harrison, looking at John, who stared back at him bitterly.

“Three stupid minutes,” lamented John, laughing.

“I almost forgot about Finn,” Harrison blurred out. “Hey, Finn, get down here, we have a visitor!” he yelled.

A second later, the steps of someone running around echoed in the house, and the cute, freckled-filled face of Finn Davies, the youngest of their family, peeked over the stairs.