Chapter One

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"HEY, TIMMY!"

The girl cheerfully greeted, blowing him a kiss. He chuckled nervously while muttering a small reply.

"Hey, babe!"

She smiled at him and waved her arm. "I missed you so much! How are you?"

"I... Missed you too. And I'm fine, thank you for asking."

"Did you get your invitation to the Met Gala? I did, I'm so excited!"

He could practically see her jumping off the chair in enthusiasm, and almost smiled, but he couldn't smile at a time like that.

"Uh, yes, I did. Listen, um, we need to talk."

She stopped grinning for a moment and stared at him. Her and Timothée were together for two whole years, and she could always tell if he was hiding something or not. He would send her nervous smiles and avoid her eye contact, just like what he was doing at that very moment.

He avoided her sight once again and looked to a different direction, to his left.

"Um, I won't be able to attend the Met Gala."

She gave him a questioning look, clearly taken aback.

"What? Why not?"

"I... I have a lot of work."

"Work? But you've always wanted to attend the Met Gala! You were so disappointed when I had to go alone last year."

He could hear the disappointment in her voice. He looked up, directly into her eyes, and just as he expected, she was giving him the uncertain look he always hated. His heart broke.

If only he could tell her...

"I- Mal, listen. I just... I have work to do. I don't have time to go to the... Met Gala, I guess. Would you be, like, fine going there on your own?"

Mal shook her head, clearly heartbroken.

"No, Timothée. I won't be fine. You know why? I was actually happy we got a chance to finally see each other, after, what, six months of not being together, and now you're throwing it away!"

His heart ached at those words.

He wasn't throwing that chance away. It was the complete opposite, because he had to.

"Mal, I... I'm pursuing my dream! Isn't that what you always wanted for me?"

Mal frowned, realizing her mistake. "Right. I guess I just wanted to see you."

"I wanted to see you too, but you know, duty calls." he let out a nervous laugh and glanced at his left again.

"I... I have to go. We'll talk tomorrow, okay?"

She nodded blankly, then reached for the exit button to hang up the FaceTime. Timothée continued to stare at the blank screen for a few moments, then slowly turned to his left, looking at the person standing at the doorframe.

"Now, let's cancel your other plans."

-

She frowned at the screen, feeling as if she could still see him smiling at her. That nervous, hesitant grin. It wasn't like him to just cancel on something so important.

Just then, a memory crossed her mind.

"Imagine if you got invited to the Met Gala." she scrolled through her phone, stopping at a picture of a famous celebrity who was invited to the party. Timothée giggled and moved his head up from her lap, sitting next to her.

"Okay, but imagine if we both got invited! Imagine going together and getting out of the limo together and I open the door for you, and we hold hands..."

He smiled at the thought, wrapping his arms around her in a side hug.

"Yeah... What a cute thought."

However, a year later, Mal was invited to the Met Gala, and Timothée wasn't. He was happy for her, but deep down, she knew he wanted to go with her. She wanted the same as well.

She frowned at the memory.

In about a month, it would've been Timothée's first attendance at the party, and she knew how excited he truly was.

So what made him cancel on her like that?

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