Since I Saw Him Last: A Gary Barlow Fanfic

Chapter Ten

Charlotte and I were getting ready at mine. We'd opened a glass of Prosecco and put on the Greatest Hits DVD, to swoon over and to sing to. "I'll be drunk by the time I get to the venue." I laughed. "Get it down you girl, I know how nervous you are about seeing Gary again." Charlotte replied. Charlotte put on a cobalt sweetheart chiffon maxi dress. I was wearing a long necked silver sequined evening dress with a slight slit to the side and I felt like a Goddess. "We scrub up well don't we Charlie?" I said as I was posing in front of my full-length mirror. "We look lush hun! Heard from Gaz at all?" she asked as she ran over to join me by the mirror. "Do you think Mark and Howard will be there?" "He's said nothing about the other boys being there. It'll be a nice surprise if we do see them." I replied. "Oh God, I can't wait to see Markie!" she squealed. "Hold up. Don't get your hopes up!"

The doorbell rung, "Come on Charlie, let's go!" I answered the door to Tony, "Hello again, you ready to leave?" "Yes we are!" I said as I shut the door behind me. "Gary has his own driver? That's amazing!" Charlotte said. Tony opened the passenger door and we slid in. The venue was about half an hour away; we travelled in silence. I wasn't sure whether I could trust Tony. I'm sure he keeps what Gary says confidential but how did I know that anything Charlotte or I would say wouldn't go back to Gary? Charlotte and I had a fair amount of drink in our system so I couldn't be sure that we'd not splurt out something terribly silly or crude.

We pulled up to the venue; The Chapman's Foundation charity event was being held at The Garden Hotel on the outskirts of the city and was surrounded by beautiful greenery, vast lawns and pretty gardens. The car pulled up to the entrance, a well-groomed doorman wearing pristine white gloves opened Charlotte's door and we clambered out. "Thanks" I smiled awkwardly. Tony drove off and we were stood in front of the entrance, there were groups of elegantly dressed people chatting away on the forecourt, "Shall we go in then?" I asked Charlotte, she nodded emphatically. As we walked in, a swarthy looking man with a jet-black goatee greeted us, "Good evening madams, may I see your invite?" I rummaged through my clutch bag to find the invitation. "There you go." I handed it to him as I smiled politely. "No, you keep the invite. Please go on ahead. Enjoy your evening." We walked through the reception; we were guided underneath a tall archway bearing to the left and greeted by a petite blonde female serving glasses of champagne, we picked one up from the tray and headed through to the function room ahead of us. "Look at this place!" Charlotte exclaimed as we looked out into the huge room full of rounded tables. There were about 30 different tables in the room that could sit 12 people each. "Do we just sit anywhere or do we have assigned seats?" "I know as much as you Charlotte." A cute looking waiter came over to us and said, "Are you looking for your seats? You can find the seating plan over there." He pointed to a stand on the right hand side of the bar. "Thanks love." Charlotte winked at him; the cute waiter blushed a little and nodded. "This is exciting, where are we sat?" Charlotte asked as she walked over to the stand. She was always first in command when we were together. "We're sat at number 23." She smiled. Number 23, that's Gary's floor number too, I swooned to myself. "Check this out. Howard and Mark WILL be here and they're sat at the same table as us! Gary will be there too obviously. There's his name there, look!" "Charlie, stop with the excitement. We need to pretend like this world doesn't faze us, act cool please!" She nodded, "I know, sorry. You know how excitable I am. I'll be good from now, I promise." She winked at me. She's unbearably flirtatious when she's had a drink or two.

We made it to table number 23; there were place names on the table. I was placed between Mark and Gary, Charlotte would be sat next to Mark and Howard was placed next to Gary. Lady luck is being kind to the both of us tonight! The tables started to fill up but still no sign of the boys. A brass band came on stage in front of us and started playing some low-key jazz music. Swanky. Charlotte sat in Mark's seat whilst we waited for them to arrive. "I don't think I'll be able to control myself, Tash. I need some food now to sober me up, I'm terribly tipsy and I'm going to fuck it up in front of Mark and..." "Calm down Charlie, it'll be okay. Think of him as just another cute guy." "But he's not though, is he Tash? He's the man of my dreams just like Gaz is to you. I really don't know how you've coped!" I grabbed hold of her hands, "It's going to be okay." I smiled and then turned away for a second. There was Gary, Howard and Mark greeting people as they walked to our table. I let go of Charlotte's hand "They're coming. Act normal!" Charlotte smiled at me nervously. I couldn't believe how coy she was. This is so unlike her... Here we go! My heart started to rhythm, their voices got clearer the closer they got to table 23.

Gary touched my left shoulder, I turned around to see him smiling at me, "Boys, this is Natasha." "I couldn't forget a face like yours." Howard said. I started to blush. "You were the last one at the signing weren't you?" Mark asked. "Yeah, I was. It's really good to see you again." I'm so delighted they remembered me! The boys were looking dapper in matching black tuxedos. I boldly stood up from my chair to euro kiss all three boys. "Boys, this is my dear friend Charlotte who's also a big fan of yours." I was disappointed that Charlotte couldn't manage to stand up but the boys were lovely about it. Gary came over and euro kissed her, the rest of the boys followed. "Let's sit down." Howard said. "I think you're sat in my seat gorgeous." Mark said. I shot a look at Mark's face and then to Charlotte's. I can't believe he just said that! Please play it cool  Charlie, please. She didn't say a word and shuffled to the seat on her left. "Charlotte, you a big fan then? You come to any of our shows?" Mark asked her, the conversation trailed off as I turned my attention to Gary and Howard. Gary leaned back in his chair; he gently touched me on the knee, gave it a squeeze and then removed his hand. "So how you doing?" Howard asked. "Yeah, I've been good thanks." "Gaz has been filling us in. You been having a good time together?" "Well, you could say that Howard." He laughed loudly and winked at me. What has Gary been saying about me? Gary looked over at me with his crooked smile and looked me up and down. The hairs on my neck stood on end. By this stage our table was full, a waiter came over, placed several bottles of wine on the table and poured us each a glass of wine.

The night ensued, with speakers, comedians, singers, all this happened whilst food was being served on our tables. I was enjoying the conversation with Gary and Howard; Howard really was a funny guy. I didn't have a chance to speak to Mark as Charlotte had eased up and both were engrossed in conversation with each other. A speaker came on to announce that it was the end of the night, "Sadly to say, this amazing evening has almost come to an end. I want to thank everyone here for the huge donations in buying the tickets. So far we have raised £700,000 for The Chapman's Foundation. There will be a DJ here afterwards so please keep buying the drinks and dance the night away. But first, our last act. A phenomenal boy band turned man band that have transformed from a five piece to a four to a five and now to a three piece. Please give it up for, Mark, Gary and Howard, Take That!" I looked over at Charlotte, she mirrored my look, we were stunned. The boys stood up and walked over to the stage. The backing track started, they're performing These Days! Charlotte sidled next to me, "Oh my God. How lucky are we to be witnessing this?" I nodded as I clapped my hands together in an excited fashion. The boys started singing; "Oh I can see the future, coming to you..."