The Door

Chapter 1

You and Benedict have been friends for a few years, there has always been a certain chemistry between you and him, but because of your respective busy schedules and the distance between you nd him, you never really took the plunge. He is an actor and you are an internationally known singer.Today you are celebrating your birthday in your LA home with your friends and of course Benedict is invited. He made the trip for you.The house is full of people, you're happy, you've chosen your best outfit but still feel comfortable.It's getting late and the party has been going on for over an hour, still no Benedict on the horizon, your heart is starting to feel heavy as you think to yourselfYou start to feel heavy hearted, thinking that maybe he forgot to come or that he was held up in England for some reason. You check your phone, you don't even dare send him a message, you haven't seen him in over a year, texting was rare, you were afraid to show too much, you're not the type to send the first message for fear of disturbing him because after all maybe you're just one of the many people he knows, maybe he doesn't care about you as much as you do. You know that somewhere you've developed feelings for him.

But who wouldn't? He is so kind, so caring, and so hot.

You shake your head to clear your thoughts and put your phone away.

You head for the bar area, a little drink will put you back in the mood.

Judah, a close friend of yours, has just seen you, you take a drink in one go

"I thought alcohol was no longer your thing" he laughs

You answer him trying to hide the burn the alcohol has left in your throat,

"Hey, it's my birthday! I'm indulging in a few excesses" you say, laughing and leaving a little tap on his shoulder

"Of course, but stay with us until the end of the night, it's your day! Your night! We don't want to find you in the bathroom at 10pm throwing up!" he says, grabbing your shoulders and shaking you

You laugh with him but you keep looking towards the corridor hoping to see Ben's silhouette appear there

Judah obviously sees your gaze mixed with a flicker of disappointment and anger

"What did the front door do to you to make you stare at her like that?"

You come out of your thoughts and insult yourself inwardly because your gaze once again leaves your emotions bare, but it's always been like that"What? Absolutely nothing, I was just lost in thought."

You pour yourself a second drink while he analyzes you, he knows you, he knows something is distracting you

"Bloody door, it's driving you to alcoholism" once you've finished your drink he takes it away from you, "Come on you're going to take a little break and we'll go and see the others"

You follow Judah into the garden where most of the guests are, your friends are rushing at you and you laugh at them shaking you in all directions

You decide to forget about Ben for a while and see what the rest of the evening holds.

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The party is in full swing, the music has everyone in agreement, after dancing with your friends, you walk away for a while and sit back to scan the crowd in front of you . You feel blessed to have all these people around you, you watch them all smile and have fun and your heart overflows with love as you see themIn the past you were surrounded by bad people who influenced your life choices, loneliness forced you to keep them around,even if you didn't recognise yourself in them. But the world of success is a world in which you can feel very alone. Thank God, today you have cut them out of your lifeand now you have caring, loving and wonderful people around you.You feel a twinge of sadness when you look at the time on your phone and there is still no Benedict on the horizon, it is 10pm.You start to think he'll never come. You decide to go back for a drink, the effects of the others having worn off.You walk towards the bar and Judah joins you on the way. You pour yourself your third drink of the evening

"Wow! Third drink?! I'm dealing with a raging ______!" he says, laughing at you

"If you keep on laughing at me you'll get it, and you know I know how to aim" you say, laughing a little

Your gaze drifts to the right again, still towards that damned door. You start to get annoyed.

You look down at the floor, and just as you raise your glass to your lips and take one last look at the door, you see him coming, there he is,your breath catches, your eyes freeze. Shit, he's here.

He is wearing a white shirt with an open button, black trousers and his hair is slicked back.He's probably scanning the crowd to find you, he looks just wonderful

Judah stands behind you and looks at you with a smile, he has figured out where this obsession with the door comes from

Benedict finds you, and walks towards you with a big smile on his face and in his path he already starts to open his arms, ready to welcome you in.You put your glass down and try to act with restraint so as not to show the impatience that has been there since the beginning of the evening.You take refuge in his arms and he laughs softly.

"Hey ____! I'm so happy to see you" he says as he holds you in a tight embrace.

"Me too! I'm really glad you finally made it!" as you pull away from him slightly to look at him with a big smile on your face and a small tear of joy in your eye.

"I'm sorry I'm really late but my flight was late, my stuff was left in my rental car, I had to get here as fast as I could" he says, a little embarrassed as he scratches his hand on the back of his head

You pull away from him a little to let him breathe and you contemplate him, you decide to calm down a little bit because your eyes will still let it out, that feeling,yes you know very well which one.

"If you want you can spend the night here, you know you're always welcome, and then there's no shortage of rooms here" you tell him, blushing a little and smiling softly

"Why not, but I'll have to cancel the hotel, I'll take care of it now, I'll be right back!" he leaves you a kiss on the cheek and goes off to make his call.

You bite your lip to keep from squealing in excitement, you just want to jump around the house, but oh, let's be civil, you're not 15 anymore.

You join Judah, who is still at the bar and sees you coming with a big smile on your face as you look at Ben on the phone.

"So? Aren't you going to finish that one?" he says, pointing to your glass and smiling slyly, "Madam is thirsty for something else!"

"Just shut up!" you say, slapping his shoulder, a little harder than before. "I'm just glad he's here, it's been a while."

He laughs and continues his teasing "Yeah, but in the meantime you've lost all interest in the door now"

You start fighting with him to calm him down and you laugh a little harder

"Hey, it's okay, I cancelled my reservation, now it's time to party! And I could use a drink!" he says, rubbing his hands together and putting his arm around your shoulders, not without leaving a kiss on your temple

Judah prepares his drink for him while you look on, completely amazed. Ben looks away from Judah to look at you, you are still embracing him, he smiles tenderly.

Just as you lose yourself in his eyes, Judah snaps you out of your dream.

"Here you go, buddy!" he says, handing the glass to Benedict.

You untie yourselves and walk together towards the garden to join the others.

This is going to be one hell of a birthday party!