Double take | T. Blyth

08

The afternoon was alive with the lights from the camera flashes and the buzz of excited chatter as the red carpet stretched out before the entrance of the Metrograph. Guests and celebrities alike walked down the carpet, dressed in attires that were gifted to them by famous brands.

Dressed in a beautiful black gown that trailed behind her, Esmeralda walked towards the media wall with an air of elegance. The dress had black flowers sewn onto it. Underneath the outer layer of the dress was a pretty pink fabric.

She gently smiled and posed for the cameras as the photographers yelled over each other of what pose they wanted her to do. Amid the camera flashes and the exciting chatters, Esmeralda noticed her friend, Olivia, making her way towards her.

“Pleasure seeing you again, Liv.” Esmeralda said as she embraced her friend. Olivia sent her a subtle glare before she turned around to face the cameras with a smile.
The two of them continued to stand next to each other throughout the remaining time they had at the media wall.

“Don’t rush out from the venue this time, Esme. You are supposed to meet the main actors after the movie is done.” Olivia informed her as the two of them headed into the venue. She nodded as she listened to what she was told.

“Popcorn?” She asked. Olivia nodded as she asked Esmeralda if she could buy a medium bucket for her since she wanted to go and grab their seats first. Esmeralda gave her a thumbs up as she walked towards the desk.

Standing a few metres away from the desk, she could not help but ask herself whether she wanted buttered popcorn or salted popcorn. Her friend had already mentioned she wanted salted popcorn, so thankfully for her, she did not have to wonder about that too.

“If you were to ask me, I would pick the buttered popcorn.” A deep voice interrupted her from her thoughts. Turning around, she slightly tilted her head upward to see Tom.
“Hello, Tom.” She greeted him with a smile.
“Hello, Esmeralda. Fancy seeing you again.” He said.
Esmeralda observed the man in front of her, noticing the black suit, his short brown hair, and, of course, the blue eyes that had captured her attention even back in London. She did not know why, but somehow, she had expected him to change during the past six days that she had not seen him. Perhaps she wished for it so that her little crush on the man in front of her could go away.

“Done with admiring me?” Tom playfully asked, making her look away from him.
Instead of trying to deny him the truth, Esmeralda decided to ask him how he knew that she was wondering what kind of popcorn to get.

“Well, I recognised you from our little meeting back in London and you did stand here for a couple of minutes just staring at the popcorn, so I just assumed that was what you were silently thinking.” He answered as he lightly shrugged his shoulders.

“Oh.” She responded, not really knowing what to say to that. “Buttered popcorn it is then.” She mumbled, turning around to walk towards the desk where a young woman stood with a bored expression.

“One buttered popcorn and one salted, please.” Esmeralda ordered, ignoring the looks that the cashier was throwing at her. She grabbed the two paper cups after paying for them. She sent one last smile towards Tom before she walked up the stairs towards the salon where the movie would be played.

-

Around three hours later, Esmeralda stepped out from the venue as she was guided towards the media wall where interviews would be held by Olivia. Despite already having seen the movie once before, she had to admit that young Coriolanus Snow might be able to pull her away from Finnick. ‘Or maybe it is just Tom Blyth in general that had her behave like this,’ she thought quietly to herself.