Home. (L.N.)

3. Partytime

"Helllouuu Party people" I shout while opening the backdoor of a familiar dark SUV. "Heeey girl", Lauren laughs. "As loud as always. Good evening Anna", Declan gives me a warm smile through his back mirror. "Seatbells on my lady", he reminds me. I quick do what I've been told and then lean forward to get closer to my beautiful friend. "Jesus you smell great Lauren. What is that?"
And so Lauren and I chat along while  her boyfriend drives us through the streets of London. Now and then he laughs at one of our comments but all in all he is just focused on driving and let us girls catch up on life.
Less then 15 minutes later the car slows down. We are right in front of a beautiful white house. This must surely cost a fortune. The owner of this house must be a pretty decent footballplayer.
"So whoms house exactly is this?" I ask while unbuckeling the seatbell.
"Oh its Mase home, he is my best mate since like primary school.", explains the WestHam player while getting out of the car. "He is really cute tho",  whispers Lauren and gives me a wink before getting out of the car herself. Together we walk to the entrance. Dec is wearing a white pair of trousers and a plain minty shirt. It really suited him. Laurie, as I mostly call her, looks like a summery princess in her beautiful white dress with a very low back and beautiful details. Meanwhile I am wearing something more streatstylish just what I like and I am comfortable in: jeans, cute top and of course sneakers. I will not wear bloody heals twice in a week. I can tell you that!

We can already hear the music coming from the inside. This made me smile: I've missed this. Even if we're just allowed with a small group of 10. It was the closest we could get to a real party in the club.

Dec rings the bell. Nothing is happening. "Ring again love", Laurie says while checking her makeup in her phone camera. I am patiently waiting while tipping an reply to Micks text.

Mick
Home safe and sound! Lots of love from Justine 😊 What u up to?

Me
Great, thanks for letting me know. Can't wait to see you two in Monaco! 😍 I am going to a party of one of Laurie's boyfriends mate. Should be fun and u?

" Broooo", I flinch and look up quickly. A guy had opened the door. He has a huge smile on his face seeing his best mate. So this would be Mase I assumed. He was quite tall. Even taller then Mick. Had dark hair, brown eyes and a beautiful smile. Wearing a classy black jeans with a white shirt. All in all he is bloody gorgeous.
Quickly I get myself together knowing Laurie was smiling at me for starring at the host of the party. She knows that I like what I see. The two men backed up from their hug and our eyes met. I put a smile on my face while Dec was introducing me. "Mase this is Anna. She is a friend of Lauren. Anna this is Mason." The tall british guy reached out to shake my hand. "Pleasure to meet you Anna." "The pleasure is all mine. Thanks for having me." He gives me a nod and let my hand go. I can't help myself but to stare at his dimples. They're to die for. "Lauren lovely to see you as well" He goes next and gives Laurie a quick hug. She really needs to hold it together not to laugh at me. Everything she can manage to say is: "Hey Mase ".
"Come on in. Everyone is here already. Drinks are in the kitchen. Some are playing snooker, we have some snacks in the livingroom. Just help yourself and be comfortable." he invites us.
The two friends are going in while joking and laughing. Laurie turns to me with a smile on her face :" This is it. These two are like glue and paper. This is why I needed you. But I think you are to busy to fall in love." "Oh shut it Laurie. Come on let's get some drinks." I roll my eyes. Yes I think Mason is unbelievable attractive but it's a long way to fall for someone. At least I hope.
We follow the boys in the house, getting ourself a glass of rose before heading towards the living room. We are doing a quick round saying hello to everyone and introducing myself. Overall mostly footballers and their partners I realized. Jack Grealish, Tammy Abraham, Ben Chilwell, Tammy's girlfriend Leah and a few others that I can't remember of. I found myself next to Laurie on the couch nipping on my wine and watching Jack, Ben, Dec and Mason play snooker. Well.. Actually I am only watching Mason. He catches me looking at him. And a smile appears on his face. I smile back shyly and a little embarrassed. "When is the weeding date", I can hear Laurie whispering in my ear. The music is so loud so I just hope I misunderstood her. My view wanders from Mason to her. "Sorry?" "When is the weeding date I asked" "Ha ha very funny", I roll my eyes and take another sip of my wine. "Oh come on look how you stare at him and how he smiles at you." "He is just being polite." "No he's not" "Yes" "No" "Excuse me", we get interrupted and look up. Mason wandered over and is now standing right in front of us. "Sorry I didn't want to interrupt anything important" "No it's alright.", Laurie says before I can even think of an answer. "I would like to ask Anna if she would like a tour of the house", his eyes are wondering to me. And my stomach goes funny. This is ridiculous. What is going on with me. Why does this guy has such an impact on me. Am I that drunk? Naahh can't be. "Anna?", I feel a slight push from Laurie's elbow in my ribs bringing me back to reality and realising I hadn't answered yet. "Oh I would love that", I mumble and get up. "Alright so this is the living room as you might already know", he laughs while walking slowly towards the hallway. I follow him not without looking back at Laurie, who gives me a big smile and both thumbs up.

I can't really focus on what he is saying throughout the whole tour but I enjoy his presence and the smell of his perfume. But what I recognize is this beauty of his massive house. He is laughing a lot showing his dimples and gives me warm looks. "OK last stop would be the garden, but do you want another glas of wine before we go?", he points at my empty glass. "Good idea. And you need to have one as well", I point at his empty hand that we're hidden in his pocket. "I shouldn't drink because of my diet but half a glass I can do", he smiles. And we start heading back to the kitchen. "So how do you know Lauren?" he asked walking next to me. "I think we met through a mutual friend. But to be honest I don't really know. Somehow she just was there one day" We arrive laughing in the kitchen. "That seems like Lauren a lot. Rose again?" "Nah would like a white one if it's alright?" "Of course. Good choice tho!" he winks. I look down shyly. I am acting like a teenager in love... Embarrassing...
He hands me the glass and we head over to the garden. It was chilly outside, the laughter and music went quieter when he closed the door behind us. It stopped raining a few hours ago but the night was still cloudy and cool. I got shivers all over my body. If we are out to long we will catch a cold. "It's beautiful", I am astonished about this garden. It looks needly and just perfect. I enjoy this moment of piece and silence. With closed eyes I stand still for a moment and feel the cold air on my skin while taking a deep breath.
"So are you", I hear him whisper. Surprised I open my eyes again. He is standing right in front of me, focused on scanning my face for a reaction. He is clearly nervous, fiddling with his fingers on his wine glass. Covering it with his fingerprints. Am I making him nervous?
Manners Anna! Where are you manners, my sister would tell me right now. "Thank you. You are pretty handsome as well", I reply after a few moments of silence. The hinch of tension leaves his face and the warm smile is back. It is silence while we look at each other with a smile on our lips. It's not awkward at all. I just enjoy this moment.
"Mason", someone yelles from the house. The eye contact interrupts. "Whats up", he answers back. "Pizza is here" "You've got pizza?" I ask quietly. He noods at me before answering the guy "I am coming" I hear the sound of an closing door. "We should head back inside" "Yeah it's quite cold anyway" "Very true" Before opening the door he pauses and looks back at me "We will talk later?" I give him a nod and we both slip back inside. The warmth and smell of pizza was very welcoming. I look around and catch Laurie looking at me. I give her a sign to come over, so she jumps up says a few words to the gorgeous girls next to her and walks over." That was a long tour. Tell me everything."

Of course I tell her and she was over the moon about his comment. The rest of the evening was quite uneventful. I had a few chats. Especially the chemistry between Jack and I were there. We joked and laughed. I had another 2 glasses of wine and some slices of pizza. After a few hours the music got turned down and an cosy atmosphere was in the play now. Everyone is sitting or laying on the couches having one big conversation. I had one for my own. Mason turned up with some crisps and snacks placing them on the table in the middle. He looks around for a place for himself and points next to me "May I?" "Of course" it was only fair that we were sharing the couch since everyone that hadn't left yet were on the other two couchs. To be fair tough, the other ones were bigger. He sits down next to me and I can smell his sence again. I love his sence, it fits perfectly. I curl up my legs to make myself a bit warmer. "Are you cold?, Mason whispers "Yeah a bit" "Dec can you give me a blanket next to you" "Sure mate", Masons friend throws them over. The blanket lands right in Masons lap. "Jackpot", Dec rises his fist euphoric in the air. I can just shake my head and thank him. I take a look at Laurie and how she looks at him. True love. Their are just so on love. I wish... "Here you go", Mason widens the blanket and brings me back to reality one more time this evening. He gently puts them around my shoulders. "Thank you" I mumble and lean back on the couch giving him a tired smile." Pleasure" he answers and his attention wanders back to the conversation about the upcoming Euros. One of so many this evening. I follow the conversation briefly without giving any input. My eyes are getting heavier and heavier before I close them and fall asleep.