Brooklyn

Chapter Seven - Zac

Zac was dressed in his tan combat trousers and matching button down shirt. His beret was still on his head. His blue eyes scanned the street before entering the hall. Pasted all over the doors was a blown up poster declaring the event. Zac joined the short queue waiting to go into the hall itself. A bouncer in a black suit was checking everyone's faces and ID. Zac waited, rather impatiently until eventually it was his turn.The bouncer didn't even ask for ID, just nodded Zac in. Zac walked into the hall, slowly so he could take it all in.

Canvases and framed blown up sketches were hanging everywhere on the walls. People were walking around, examining them. Some were standing talking at a certain one. As Zac walked further in, he heard snatches of conversation admiring the drawings. A waitress offered him her tray of champagne flutes and he took it, ignoring the fact that she was clearly flirting with him.

Feeling a bit shabby with dusty face and clothing amongst all the other nicely dressed visitors and admirers, Zac walked around until he eventually spotted her. Arielle had her back to him but even the back of her looked fantastic. Her hair had been curled into ringlets and waved straight down her back. Her sleeveless dress was black and flared out at her waist with a hem of white. Her heels were black to match and by the slight sheen on her legs from the overhead lighting, he guessed she was wearing tan tights. She had her own flute of champagne in her hand and she was talking to a small group of people. He only recognised two of the people, the girls Arielle had been with at the bar. He didn't know their names. One was wearing a pencil blue dress straight to her knees with electric blue heels and her hair in a ponytail, the other was wearing a lacy white blouse, gold bracelets, black smart trousers and white pumps. Both of them were looking at him with their mouths slightly open. A woman between them said something and Arielle laughed as well as the surrounding company apart from the two recognised girls. One of them leaned forward and whispered something in Arielle's ear. She spun around and Zac saw her for the first time in a good few months. Her make up was just natural and she wore a charm bracelet. She saw Zac and a smile spread across her face. They calmly walked towards each other and Zac would not stop his own smile.

"You told me you couldn't come." Her voice was accusatory but she was still smiling.

"So I did. I lied." Zac told her back, honestly.

"Jaxon?" She looked around as if expecting Zac's best friend to appear out of thin air. Zac's smile slipped off his face. Of course, the first thing she would want would be Jaxon... But that reminded him.

"No... Honey, I'm sorry. He and the soldiers are in the thick of it all back there but he had time to do this for you." And he handed her a letter. Zac watched as she opened it with shaking heads and read it. She closed the letter and folded it up before putting in her dress pocket. She then smiled and hugged Zac. He hugged her back, smelling her sweet perfume. It comforted him... Like home.

"I've missed you... I haven't seen you in so long." She told him.

"I've missed you too. It's been way too long."

"How long are you back for?" She asked as she pulled away from the hug.

"Until they need me again. Currently I'm not needed. I'm thinking of going into training as an Infantry soldier on the front lines. It'll keep me busy when I'm not working with things that need to be fixed..."

"So you're not on duty?"

"Technically I am but for now they don't need me. I need to be on constant alert though, just in case," Zac saw Arielle bite her lower lip and wondered what she was thinking. She looked anxious so he wondered if she worried about him. "These are amazing, Arielle..." Zac waved a hand around, gesturing to the designs on the wall.

"You think so?" Her face lit up again.

"I know so! They're so good!" Arielle and Zac wandered around the hall. Arielle kept getting congratulations and praise on her amazing designs. Arielle introduced Zac to a few people, including her friends (Cheryl was the blue dressed one and Kirsten was the white bloused one). Towards the end of the night, Arielle was dragged away from Zac and was speaking to a tall woman and her shorter partner. Zac stayed with Cheryl and Kirsten.

"This is it." Kirsten said.

"This is what?" Zac said, trying to ignore Cheryl's gaze. He had already seen the engagement ring on the hand holding her matching clutch bag.

"The woman is Mrs Marianne Daniels. You know... Of the M Daniels shops?" Zac nodded. He had heard the name of the shop. He should have, the shops were of high fashion and were based in every state.

"Who's the man?" Cheryl asked.

"Her husband. Mr William Daniels."

"He's not much to look at." Cheryl said. Zac looked at her with a look of disgust. She was engaged! Cheryl didn't notice, she was too busy examining William Daniels. A rather tubby man who was much shorter than his wife and seemed to be sweating. Kirsten made a noise of disgust too, much to Zac's amusement and when he looked at her, she was looking at Cheryl too. This time Cheryl looked up in surprise, looking past Zac to Kirsten.

"What?" She asked innocently.

"He's not a model! He's the CEO partner to so many people!"

"How do you know allthis?" Zac asked her as Cheryl shrugged and continued staring at the other people in the hall. Kirsten smiled slightly with a slight shrug.

"They were at my fifth birthday party."

Arielle shook hands with them both and they turned to leave. Arielle spun round to face Zac, Kirsten and Cheryl. She then calmly walked over to them.

"Well?!" Cheryl demanded impatiently.

"It's done. I meet with Mrs Daniels tomorrow to discuss the opening of my new store." Cheryl squealed in delight and hugged her friend. Arielle hugged her back then hugged Kirsten.

"It's all thanks to you, Kirst... Thank you..." Kirsten smiled and hugged Arielle.

"You did it all yourself, Airy." Arielle looked at Zac who grabbed Arielle into a tight hug.

"Congratulations, honey."

"Thank you." She smiled and hugged him back.