Torn

Part 17

Stevie took a deep breath when the hired car stopped. Dave gave her hand a squeeze, he lifted it up to his lips. They exchanged a brief look before he opened the backseat door and got out first, holding his hand for her to take. Familiar faces everywhere around, but Stevie wasn't ready to greet any of them yet, she didn't expect to be this nervous. Maybe coming with Dave wasn't the best idea. She soon sighed in relief, when a member of the personnel approached and whisked them away. 

Weirdly, Stevie felt as if she was walking into a room, filled with celebrities, for the very first time. She was glad to have Dave by her side and while his arm around her lower back felt comforting, she gave him an apologetic smile and he understood, letting go of her. 

The young man, leading them to the table, stopped shortly. "Enjoy your evening." He smiled and walked away.

Mick and his wife, Lynn, were the only ones there and Stevie silently thanked God that Lindsey hadn't arrived yet. The four exchanged hello's and hugs, Mick introduced Dave to his wife, pretending that he wasn't at least a little bit surprised to see Dave arriving with Stevie. 

"What's going on here?" Mick asked, showing between the two, after they sat down.

"Oh, you know..." Stevie shrugged. "Dave didn't have a plus one, neither did I."

Mick eyed her suspiciously. "Right." The look on Dave's face didn't go unnoticed by him. "We're in for one hell of a night, huh?" Stevie ignored that statement and blindly sought out Dave's hand under the table. 

So far, so good. Stevie hadn't seen Lynn in some time, so they started catching up right away. Mick sat across from Dave and it took less than five minutes for them to dive into a conversation about their mutual love for drums. 

Half an hour later or so, the last two guests at their table showed up. The quick, but polite hug with Kristen wasn't nearly as difficult to handle as the hurt look on Lindsey's face. The love Stevie still felt for him wasn't going to just magically disappear overnight, she knew that, but she couldn't give in either. She told him, what needed to happen, she wasn't about to go back on her word, not this time. The fact that Lindsey came with his wife spoke volumes, too.

Of course Lindsey had to sit down in front of Stevie. At least, he wasn't right beside her. She ignored his narrowed eyes at her, returning to her conversation with Lynn. Even Dave felt a bit uncomfortable, that same nauseous feeling rising up again. 

While Mick naturally turned to talk to Lindsey, Dave felt out of place. He wasn't about to act like a child and demand Stevie's attention be on him all night, though. He shifted in his seat, took a large gulp from his champagne glass and turned to Mrs. Buckingham.

"I don't think we've met before." He smiled, holding out his hand. "I'm Dave."

"Oh, I know who you are!" Kristen exclaimed, hoping her blushed cheeks weren't that obvious. Lindsey glanced at his wife and frowned, she didn't notice. "I'm Kristen." 

Stevie too turned to look, eyebrow raised. She faked a cough and placed her hand on Dave's leg, catching his attention. "You okay, ba- Stevie?" Goddammit. 

"Yeah." Stevie nodded. "Went down the wrong pipe." She lied, pointing to her flute. 

"I had no idea we were going to have such a handsome guest at our table." Kristen spoke up again.

Mick's eyes widened, staring at the poor guy in between Stevie and her archenemy. He realized that things had the potential of going wrong fast, yet he was intrigued to watch the mess unfolding before his eyes. 

"Ah, yeah, uh-" Dave laughed nervously, lacing his fingers through Stevie's, letting her know that he wasn't affected by the shameless flirting in any way. "Thank you. This was a last minute decision."