Love for a Lifetime (a Chris Hemsworth Fanfic)

Chapter 4 - Double date

As Chris walked into his new house, he heard a loud drilling noise. He made his way to his master bedroom where the sound originated. He saw two men, one holding nails at small 'x' marks on the wall and one drilling the nail in. He saw Holly standing a few feet away, covering her nose and mouth with a scarf, protecting herself from the dust. She was wearing a light blue shirt and grey pants. Her hair was loose on her back and some of it fell in from over her shoulder. Chris had given her a key to his house, so she could drop by to supervise the work going on when he was busy. Chris gently tapped her on her arm, letting her know he was there. She looked at him, smiled and hugged him. They made their way towards the deck, where they could talk without yelling over the drilling sound.

"So it seems like your room will be done by tomorrow. The cabinet will be installed today and your lamps are in the garage, so tomorrow they will install those too. Now, I need to send over the sofa for the guest room, and the mirror in the guest bathroom which will come in tomorrow. The centerpiece for the living room and the lights for the corner have already been shipped, and as soon as it will get here, I'll send them over. You still need to come over the store to select a desk for your office, so when you have some time, let me know. Are you excited? You can officially move in tomorrow!" She said, smiling. Her eyes looked green with the reflection of the sea in them. He fake-smiled and answered, "Can't wait!". He was most definitely happy to have his own place but he knew he wasn't going to have a reason to spend time with Holly anymore. Once his house was complete, she would no longer be such a presence in his life. He was meeting with her almost every other day for the past 2 weeks, checking the progress on his house, or approving some items or making decisions of what he wanted to do with some areas of the house. They had worked through lunch a couple of times, sharing some takeout as they discussed their life. He had learned a few things about her. She was half French and half American, her mother was a French teacher at a school and her father was an architect, they were married 32 years and lived in Chicago. She was 29, she studied at FIDM in LA and worked for Ralph Lauren for a few years in fashion till she switched to home decor. She had always loved it, her father used to show her blue prints and discuss houses with her when she was young and it just fascinated her. She moved to Italy for 2 years to work for a furniture company B&B Italia, which was a luxury furniture company, but she moved back to the States, to be closer to her parents and opened her own store. He loved to listen to her dreams, her plans, she wanted to open more 'Sanctuaire' stores across USA, and make it a chain. She was ambitious, and focused and talked about her work with passion.

Just then, his phone rang, he checked it to see it was Liam. He excused himself and answered the call. "Hey" he said. "Hey man, so, you are coming to dinner with us today, Aria insists and I am not arguing with that woman so see you tonight at 8 at Cecconi's. Oh and uhh, dress nice. Ari's on the other phone inviting Holly. Bye." Liam hung up before Chris could get a word in. He saw Holly on the phone too, she got a call a few seconds after him. She was smiling and said, "Yeah, alright, I'll see you there, bye!" she hung up too. They looked at each other and smiled, "So, looks like we are all going to dinner tonight", Chris said awkwardly, breaking the silence. "Yeah, guess we are, so uh, see you in a little bit then", she said, as she moved towards the door and Chris followed. He walked her to her car as she reminded him to go select his desk, she hugged him and drove off. Chris jumped into his car, ready to fight with his brother for setting up this super awkward double date.

"She's here" Chris said to Aria and Liam, as he saw Holly at the door of the restaurant, speaking to the hostess. She was wearing a dark green halter neck dress which clung to her figure and stopped mid thigh. She wore her hair loose, pushed towards one side in front over her shoulder. She smiled as she saw us and walked towards the table. Chris was mesmerized by her. He kept staring at her as she walked right up to him and said, "Hi again". "Uh, hey, you look beautiful", Chris managed to say. He kept staring at her with a smile on his face as she hugged Aria. Liam nudged Chris and whispered, "Well done, brother! She's hot!", and turned to Aria, who was introducing them. Chris blushed as he heard Liam and felt his stomach flip. They all sat down and ordered wine and some food. As they ate, she told stories about her and Aria's sister Kayla during their time at FIDM. "So, are you seeing anyone?" Aria asked, completely out of context. Chris looked up from his plate, waiting to hear her answer. "Yeah, actually. His name is Adam. He's a business consultant. We've been together about four months now.", she said. Chris' heart beat faster as he felt his appetite vanish. A small part of him wished she was single, he enjoyed spending time with her and didn't want to feel awkward about it.