Lyrical Souls [h.s]

5.3 - Rewards - Milestone

Due to the U.S. expansion of the blog, and famous people like Harry and Tristan mentioning it, it has become very popular, and reached a new milestone. For that, Tom and I decided to throw a big party to celebrate the new achievement. All of our friends were there, in addition to all of our employees, and some familiar famous faces that have made a guest appearance in the blog, including Tristan. After making rounds and greeting everyone who came, I settled down with Katie, Alex, Noah, Sam and Laura while Tom continued talking with our guests.

'This party is great! How do you know all those famous people? I thought I was the one with more A-list people!' Katie commented.

'Well, we have done our fair share of interviews so Tom and I have some connections! Plus Tristan invited a lot of his friends!'

'Really? Is Zoe here?' Noah asked excitedly.

I laughed and dragged him with me to Tristan's group. 'Behave! Don't embarrass me! And don't. Hit. On Zoe!' I warned him before we reached them.

'Hey, guys! I want you to meet Noah, he's one of my best friends. Noah, you already know Tristan and Zoe, and this is Henry, Tristan's brother and Hunter their friend.'

While they all started talking and getting to know each other, I took Tristan aside. I had sent him one of the first copies of my book before it was officially released and wanted to know his opinion.

'So did you read it?'

'Yes, I did! Cassie, it's amazing! I loved it! I can't wait till it's released and I can tell everyone to read it. You really did a great job! I even teared up while reading the part where they said goodbye in the airport.'

'Thank you, Tristan! You have no idea how much this means to me.'

'You're absolutely welcome! But Cas'-

I interrupted him, 'Could you please not call me that. He was the only one to ever call me that. I hear it, I think about him. I miss him a lot. It's crazy, I know. We've only spent two weeks together and I'm happy with Alex now. But I can't help it. I miss having him around. He was one of the few who could understand me without me saying even a word. We had a weirdly strong connection, something I never had with anyone before. Something I, unfortunately, don't have with Alex. Not that it changes anything, I still want to be with Alex and no one else, he's good for me, he's safer. But I can't help it, I miss Harry and I wish I could just drop everything and fly to wherever in the world he is and be with him. But I have far too much to lose, I can't do that. Anyway, I'm rambling, that's actually the first time I admitted it. What were you going to say?'

'I was gonna say that you should be ready to be asked about whether the main character in your book is based on Harry. Look I understand why you're settling with Alex, and it's not like you don't love him or anything, because you do, I see the way you look at him, so it's fine it's not like you're hurting him or leading him on. But, if the only reason you're not with Harry is that you don't want to take any risk? Since the other reasons are becoming irrelevant because you're becoming famous and have to deal with them anyway... You're making a big mistake. Now, with Alex and you said it yourself I'm using your words here, you're playing it safe, you're satisfied, it's good enough but if you actually take the risk you're so scared of, you won't be just satisfied, it wouldn't only be good enough, you'd genuinely be happy, and that's something you shouldn't miss out on just because you're too scared to take the leap.'

'I know, Tristan you're probably right. But I'm not gonna do it. I really wanna give Alex a shot. I can't do that if there's some part of me still thinking about the possibility of being with Harry.'

'Suit yourself!' he shrugged as he went back to his group and I continued making my rounds.

I started to feel a little anxious from all the people and the hosting and my conflicting thoughts about choosing between Alex and Harry. So I went over to the balcony for some alone time to calm my breathing. Soon enough I was joined by Alex.

He took me in his arms and asked, 'Why are you standing here alone? You should be inside with your guests! Is everything okay?'

'Yeah, everything is fine! I just needed some air' I lied while thinking to myself 'Yet another thing Alex doesn't know about that Harry does.' At that moment, I wasn't sure why I lied to him. I could've told him the truth, I knew he'd be okay with it and he'd do the right thing to help me. Maybe, I just didn't think it was relevant, maybe I just didn't feel the need to tell him about all the things that are wrong with me, worried he'd leave me for someone who's not insane.

'So, are you enjoying the party? Sorry, I couldn't be around much, I barely saw you tonight! It's just I had so many people to see and talk with, I am the host after all.'

'Don't worry about it, I totally understand.' He reassured me and placing a gentle kiss on my temple.

'I saw you talking for a while with Tristan alone though. What was that about?' he asked with caution.

'I sent him a copy of my book and asked him to read it and he was just telling me how much he liked it and he asked me about the movie and how much I'd be involved'

'Oh okay. How much are you going to be involved?'

'I don't know yet. It's not decided until I come back from Paris.'

'Paris? You're going to Paris?'

'Oh! I totally forgot to tell you! I got so busy planning this party! So in two weeks, my book is going to be released worldwide, and I'll be doing a book signing here in London for a week and then in Paris the week after. It's only a week, you'll barely notice I'm gone.'

'Oh, so you don't want me to come with you?' He asked sadly.

'I'm sorry hun, it's just I'll be busy all day, I'd feel horrible dragging you along and not giving you all my attention. We can go another time alone with no distractions if you want' I consoled him. He nodded silently.

Soon enough, the people started leaving after a very successful and fun party, and I was alone with Katie, Noah and Tom.

'Did you guys have fun?' Tom asked, concerned after barely seeing them all night.

'Yeah! Great party! Thanks mate! I got myself a few dates over the next week!' Katie answered with joy.

He chuckled, 'Glad to be of help! Sam and Laura left already?'

'Yeah, they left a few minutes ago.' I answered.

'Where's Alex? Did he leave too?' Katie asked me.

'Yeah, he has work tomorrow so went to sleep. Tom, we're taking tomorrow off right? I'm so exhausted!' I teased. He laughed and nodded heavily.

'Oh! Noah! What happened with Zoe!'

'What? Zoe and Noah? How did I miss that?' Katie gasped.

'Well, I think you were too busy flirting with some guy. Anyway, we talked for a while, I even got her number, but she said she's going back to the U.S. and she'll be busy for a while shooting a movie, so I don't really know if I should talk to her and ask her out or something.' He explained.

'Well, you could text from time to time, you know, build a base, and then when she's free, ask her out. By then you'd already figure out if she's into you or not.' I suggested.

'Yeah, I guess you're right. By the way, what was up between you and Tristan, I saw you guys in a heated argument after you left us.'

'Heated argument? How did you get to that? We were just talking normally. He was telling me to be prepared for people asking me if the main character in my book is based on Harry. I don't want to draw attention to him honestly. Regardless of everything that happened, the book is about me, my experiences, my emotions, my achievements. I don't want people to forget that and only focus on what some pop star did or didn't do. Plus he's a very private person I'm sure he wouldn't want our intimate conversations out in the world like that. It's better for everyone to not confirm that the character is him. People can assume whatever they want, doesn't make it true.'

'But it is true!' Katie clarified.

'Well, they don't need to know that!' I insisted.