Once You've Tasted Love

Chapter 21

Gary and me were just chilling out on the sofa, hours before that party thing we had to attend, and yes I was nervous.

"I'll go get ready, yeah?" I smiled and got up.

"Sure. But don't stress, we've got plenty of time." 

"I know, but one never knows what can happen." 

"That's right."

I went upstairs and into the bathroom. After taking a shower I dried my hair and curled it. I really liked it that way. It always looked fluffy and more voluminous when it was curled. I applied my make-up and decided for some red lipstick, which I didn't wear often, but since I would be wearing black a little bit of colour should be fine. 

I looked at the time: Twenty minutes left. Should be more than enough. I slipped into my dress and my god. It fitted perfectly, just like a second skin. Emphasizing the right parts, hiding the bad parts of my body it looked really nice. I got my heels on, grabbed my clutch and took one final look into the mirror. -Perfect.-

I walked down the stairs and as usual Gary already stood there waiting for me.

I saw how his jaw dropped "Holy shit, you look better than I imagined in that dress. Not that I imagined it bad but wow... How the HELL did I get such a sexy woman?!" 

I blushed under my make-up "Thank you Gary. But you look very handsome yourself."

"Thank you, but still nothing compared to you." 

I shrugged "Well I had to make sure to look good tonight, didn't I?"
-----

We were sitting in a car which had picked us up. This was an event where Gary didn't drive himself to, so he sat in the back holding my hand. 

"Gary I'm nervous." 

"You'll be fine honey. I won't leave your side. Just follow me, never let my hand go and smile. The rest is up to me okay?" 

"Mhm." 

"And for your reassurance, the press is only going to be outside."

I let out a sigh of relief "Okay. I think I can manage that."

The car stopped. Ok here goes. I could already hear screams and loud voices outside. 

"Ready?"

I nodded "As ready as I'll ever be." 

"Okay." Gary got out of the car and switched to showbiz mode. He waved a little towards the cameras and then got to my side of the car and helped me out.

I gave him a thankful look, took his hand and got out of the car as gracefully as I could. 

As I stood beside Gary he gave me a heart-warming smile and snaked his arm around my waist, pulling me close to him. I was blinded by the flashing lights, but I smiled nonetheless. I didn't want to embarrass Gary in any kind of way so I did exactly what he had told me.

There were reporters asking a lot of questions like 'Who is this? Gary is this your girlfriend?' but as Gary had said before, he would manage that, I would just have to stay with him and so I did.

"You did it! Your first press thing. You absolutely nailed it Clara. I'm so proud of you" Gary said as soon as we got inside and gave me a kiss. 

"Wasn't that bad really. Don't need it every day though." 

We laughed together.

"Hey you two!" Mark said as he came over, pulling Kennedy with him.

We hugged each other and while the boys talked about some boring stuff like who's here tonight, Kennedy took me and pulled me a few feet away "How's it going?"