Precious Star

Secret

"Come on, let's go before the kids become anxious," Charles joked, grabbing my hand and pulling me to the taxi.

What?

My body floated as he pulled me further away from the hotel and closer to the taxi. The trance he had just been in wore off and passed onto me.

What?

"Alaina, are you okay?" Daniel asked as Charles and I headed to the back.

"Yeah, all good," was all I could say before he turned to converse with Lando. Turning to look at Charles seated next to me, he sent me a smile before he began talking to Pierre.

That's it? He lets out those three humongous words in the worst possible place. I didn't even have time to respond back. What would I say? 'I love you too.' No, that sounds like I'm agreeing. 'I love you back.' No, that doesn't sound right.

"Just say 'I love you,'" Max said from the passenger seat.

"What?" I asked. Crap. Could he hear my thoughts? Or was I thinking out loud?

"Lando is worried about miss pronouncing 'I love you' in Dutch because the Dutch fans are there for him," Max teased.

"Lando, it's 'Ik hou van jou,'" I pronounced as slowly and precise as possible. Lando tried to repeat it, but it sounded more Gibberish than Dutch. "I love you."

"What?" Charles said from beside me. His eyes lit up, and a small smile was creeping at the corner of his lips.

Shit. "We are telling Lando to just say 'I love you,' since his Dutch is traumatizing," I awkwardly laughed. Besides Lando, I saw the suspicious look Carlos was giving Charles and me. I knew he felt something after that day. Charles surprised me, but this was certainly not helping the fact that Charles and I wanted to keep this lowkey for a while.

"Right. Yeah, mate, just say 'I love you,'" Charles supported, looking at me.

Say those three magic words again, Charles. Say them forever.

"Fine, but that sounds less cool," Lando pouted.

~

Arriving at the club, I immediately headed to the bar. "Two shots, please," I asked the bartender, who simply nodded.

"So what was Charles' surprise?" Carlos asked as he found his way next to me at the bar.

"Surprise?" I asked, trying to act confused by his question.

"Yeah, that day we took you out for the whole day because he clearly had asked us to. He never explained why. He just said it was a surprise between you and him. What was it?"

"Oh that surprise. He helped with my garden. I wanted to add some plants and herbs to it, and he surprised me by doing it himself," I lied.

"Hmm, since when do you let other people plant in your garden?" Carlos asked, leaning against the bar and tilting his head ever so slightly. "Because I remember Max and I tried to help you once, and you clearly specified no one could touch your plants other than yourself."

"Well, you know, I have changed. And it was a lot of help because I do not know how I would've done all that planting by myself. It was beyond my patience and time." Right after I finished with yet another lie, the bartender finally brought those two shots, and I quickly downed them.

"Take it easy, Alaina. If you want to keep that secret you're holding onto, you might want to watch how much you drink tonight." Carlos said before he disappeared into the crowd.

I should've stayed in the hotel room. I am not going to make it tonight. Much less with what happened earlier with Charles. I really do need to talk to him. I need to respond back. I need to reassure him the feeling is mutual. But I need to be sober for that. We both need to be sober for that.

"Alaina, ma fille préférée! Come on, let's go dance!" [My favorite girl] Pierre cheered, clearly drunk, as he pulled me away from the bar and into the dance floor.

"How are you always drunk before we even start drinking?" I asked as I began to dance with him.

"The world may never know, ma fille préférée."