Work In Progress |L.T| |A.U|

XVI - Atkins

XVI -Atkins

"You look exquisite princess." Dada whispers in my ear as we walk down the stairs making our way to the hoards of people. I smile leaning against him taking in the smell of mahogany and something musky which now gives me a sense of homeliness.

We greet a few people on our way and when we finally reach the end of the stairs, he leaves a kiss on my cheek before walking away to meet his friends.

I am now regretting to wear this stupid dress. Martha chose it for me, saying it was 'absolutely phenomenal' and that I 'look like a mermaid in it'. But I can't walk properly since is tight around my thighs and it feels slightly suffocating.

I sigh, regaining my posture from the slumped state and walk through the crowd.

He should be around here. I mean... he doesn't know anyone but Liam, but since they're not the best of friends, I'm sure he'd be feeling awkward.

I feel a tap on my shoulder making me jump and I turn around with a swerve, but the dress is too tight for me move properly and I end up doubling over. when I'm milli-seconds away from falling on my ass and make a fool out of myself before a hand grabs my arm, steadying me.

"Look how the tables have turned." There's this sly grin in his face as he helps me stand properly on my feet. "hey there."

He's wearing white dress-shirt with black dress-pants, a black suit with a black tie. And let me just say he looks mighty fine in it. Top that with his hair slicked back in that hot quiff and the light stubble...

Fuck! It gets harder to ignore his looks, especially after I've admitted to myself that I fancy him.

"Uh, h-hi" smooth Rory... real smooth...

His hold on my arm is lost when he steps away, eyes shamelessly travelling from my head to feet. "You look... you look great." he clears his throat and when I look at his eyes again, that aura of sly confidence is gone and he looks... nervous? Weird. "You look beautiful."

My gaze falls on the ground, as I try hard to contain the blush and the bubbly feeling in my insides.

Rory, you are not going to act like a love-sick teenager. Het your shit together!

I snap my head up and look straight at his eyes, "Why thank you. You look pretty dapper yourself."

"Thank you, but maybe you should've told me that I needed to wear a bow-tie." he tugs at his tie loosening it a bit and that's when I notice that his hands are clammy.

"Well you don't. It's black-tie and you're wearing a black tie."

"But you see everyone else is wearing a black bow-tie and I feel like the odd one out."

I chuckle, "That's not true." I look around the crowd looking for an example. "Look at that guy. he's wearing a tie too." I point at a man walking around non-chalantly.

"Rory, he's a waiter. I've had three people mistake me as a waiter asking for drinks so far."

I burst out laughing, clutching my chest before uttering a subtle 'sorry'.

"Well I'm glad you can find humour in my pain."

"Stop whining and come with me." I grab his forearm and drag him along, "I'll just ask dada to lend you one of his bow-ties for today." I choose to ignore the backflip my stomach does at the simple contact, but if course it's not that hard to ignore.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, c'mon!"

It doesn't take long for us to ask dada for his tie, get his approval and go to his room. I open the drawer where he keeps his neck wear (yes, he's very organised) and Lou is looking around the room.