The Artist, The Bibliophile, and The Prince - NaNoWriMo 2022

Chapter 3

Chester POV

When Chester got out of the shower, the text he had been anticipating came in.

Lunch? Seb is free until 3PM. Where are you staying?

Chester's stomach lurched and his heart sped up. It was almost nice that anxiety came to warm him up after the freezing camp shower he just took. There were other people also showering in this building so he did everything he could to not jump around and act like an excited fool. He took a few deep breaths and texted back.

I am staying on the festival grounds but can meet somewhere. Where does he like to go for lunch?

He then wasted no time in pulling on the clothes he had brought with him from the tent. Thankfully they were more normal clothes including jeans and a t-shirt. He didn't have a lot of clothes with him this trip because he was only supposed to be in the UK for a week. However, if he was going to hang out with Sebastian, he would make arrangements to stay longer.

The bodyguard texted back an address and a time that was half an hour from now. Chester took off running for his tent as he booked and Uber on his phone. It would take the Uber 20 minutes to drive there so he needed to leave right now if he was going to make it in time.

Owen, Gwen, and Caroline all jumped when he came rushing into their tenting area. He threw his stuff into his tent and grabbed a jacket then before they could ask him any questions, he was gone.

The Uber met him at the gate and looked a little startled. Crap, Chester's hair was still wet.

"You're not on any drugs, are you?

Chester let out an airy laugh, "no I am just on my way to a date and I'm really excited. Can I roll down your window to let my hair dry faster?"

Th Uber driver laughed and nodded.

Chester sent a text to the bodyguard to let him know he was on his way. Since he had more time now sitting in a car he added his phone to a new contact; "Seb's guard." Then he texted the friend's festival group chat to let them know he's going on a lunch date and will be back for dinner later.

His nerves shot up higher and higher as the Uber got closer to the location, however. What kind of family did Sebastian had? Why did he need a bodyguard? Why didn't he have a cell phone or an email address? So many questions and Chester was nervous about some of the answers.

He needed to look in a more positive light. He met Sebastian. He was able to meet him for a lunch date today. That meant Sebastian was excited to get to know him too. He wanted to see him again.

Unless this was some elaborate prank for a bunch of rich people to laugh over.

No, no. Thinking like that was not acceptable.

Besides, Sebastian was too innocent. He had obviously never been to a music festival before last night. The way he looked around as if he was seeing light and sound for the first time made Chester excited to be there too. Sebastian had good intentions, and this was not going to go wrong.

Plus, guessing what was going to happen was getting to be exhausting. Chester needed to relax if he wanted to have fun.

Chester had one final thought when the Uber pulled up to the restaurant, and that was he is severely under dressed. His heart sank into his stomach, there was no way he was going to be allowed into this restaurant let alone to see Sebastian. Jeans and a t-shirt? What was he thinking? He even grabbed a leather jacket; he was the joke here.

"You at the wrong spot?" The Uber driver asked nervously.

Chester shook his head, "no this is the right location."

He slowly got out, sad thank you, then stood in front fora long moment just staring up at the sign. There was no way this was Sebastian's favourite restaurant. This was rich people food to the max. Seven courses and thousands of pounds worth on one wine bottle. What had Chester gotten himself into this time?

"Chip?" Came a voice from the door. It was almost so quiet that he didn't hear it.

He looked down and it was Sebastian's bodyguard. Chester really ought to call him by his first name. Greg. Greg had organized this whole thing just for them, he deserved it. "Hi Greg, this is too fancy."

Greg was even in a full three-piece suit. Oh no, Chester was in the wrong place.

Greg chuckled, "come inside, I have a change of clothing for you."

Relief fell over Chester. Even if the suit wasn't his size, it would be better than what he was wearing, "you really thought of everything didn't you?"

Greg smiled, "I will do anything for Sebastian's happiness."

That was such a nice thing to say, Chester didn't know how to respond. So instead, he followed Greg into the restaurant and straight past the hostess who looked at them funny, then towards the washrooms. Greg had a whole suit waiting for him that was a navy blue colour with a white button up and a slightly lighter blue tie. Chester felt nervous just touching such a nice suit with his fingers, but Greg rushed him to put it on. When he came out of the stall, Greg put Chester's other clothes into a brief case and then helped him adjust the suit to fit better. It was a little too small in the shoulders and too big in the legs. Greg was very skilled at making it look normal, however, and soon Chester couldn't even tell. Next, he pulled out fancy shoes that put Sebastian's from last night to shame. They too, were a little big and Greg helped him put tissue paper in the toes to stop his feet from sliding.

Greg then gave him one more glance over before nodding in approval. "Alright, let's go. He's already more nervous than you are."

Chester grinned, "you didn't see me panic on the way over." That made Greg smile as well and then he led the way out of the bathroom. Chester had to take several deep breaths as Greg lead the way. The wait staff was now looking at him like he was someone who was meant to be there. It made him more confident with every step he took towards Sebastian.

Greg led him all the way to the back, even past a secret door into a dimmer more VIP section, and then again through another door that held curtains to section off the various tables. Granted, there were only fur tables in the room, but they were all comfortable booths.

Sebastian was sitting at one, nervously fidgeting with a fancy menu and letting his leg bob up and down. Chester stopped to fix his tie and grinned as Greg announced his presence to Sebastian.

Sebastian's eyes shot up and at the sight of Chester smiling, Sebastian smiled too. Chester wasted no time to slide into the booth beside him. They had this whole room to themselves, and Greg reminded them that he would be just outside in case of emergency, but they were already distracted.