Tonight it's Fate

Part Four

Louna stood nervously in front of the mirror in her bathroom for what seemed like the six hundredth time in twenty minutes. She was scrutinizing her hair and dress and make-up, wondering if it was going to be acceptable for the charity concert event. She and Ani had exchanged a barrage of texts the last two days, overanalyzing everything that David had said and done, and then moved onto the evening's event. They'd done a little research and Anicee made a few suggestions to what she might wear and how she should style herself, just in case she and David did end up photographed together. She'd chosen one of her classic dresses that was black with a large floral print on it, because knowing David he'd probably dress in black and white, or maybe red if the mood struck. She'd done a bit of Google-stalking just to see what he'd worn to things in the past and besides his myriad hairstyles, he seemed to have an affinity for patterned socks that made her smile. It seemed his personality wasn't quite on the surface, but just underneath it. She wondered how long it would take to crack it.

She shook herself from her thoughts after another moment and tousled her curled hair a bit more before checking her lipstick one last time. God, it was so silly that she had to spend so much time on her appearance, but she needed to make a good impression for everyone else. David had already seen her at one of her worst moments on the day of the ride with Anicee, and if that hadn't scared him off... She stepped out of the bathroom, flipping the light off and grabbing her small evening purse from the bed. She looked at the clock – it was two minutes after six-thirty. She hoped David would be as prompt for the pick-up as he'd implied. She slid her heels on and went to her front door, locking it behind her before taking the one flight of stairs down to the ground floor. Just as she opened the door to the complex she noticed an all-black BMW SUV making a very tight, illegal U-turn before parking in the load/unload space. She shook her head, of course it was David. She stepped over to the car just as he flipped the automatic locks and she opened the door to find him smiling and quite at ease.

"Hello," he greeted her, his voice light.

"Nice illegal move there," she said with a smirk.

His smile didn't fade. "Like that? Haven't gotten a ticket yet."

He said it with a wink and she climbed into the car with a headshake. "Careful with me in the car... I might be a magnet for the Mounties."

His laugh was deep. "Good to know." He pulled away from the curb as soon as she latched the seatbelt and not even ten minutes later they had arrived at the theatre, parking in a designated lot and walking toward the entrance. Her nervousness increased tenfold as they approached a stretch of red carpet, with photographers stationed along the sidewalk.

David's hand was light on her arm as he paused and they looked at each other. His voice was quiet. "This," he said with a tip of his head to the carpet and cameras, "was not in my plans."

She smiled, almost relieved. "No, that's fine," she reassured him. "I'll just meet you on the other side."

"You're sure? I feel like an asshole."

She shook her head. "Definitely not. Go." She stepped away from him before he could reply and slipped around the back of where the cameras were lined up.

"Louna!"

She was halfway down the stretch, with the door in sight, when her name made her look to the media group. Relief spread fast through her when she saw the familiar face of her friend Brad. He'd been an acquaintance who'd done a lot of photography for the event agency she used to work for.

"Hi!" she greeted him, stepping closer to the cluster of people.

"Hey! You working this one tonight?" he asked.