aTRACKion

Chapter Twenty Nine

I don't know how Doug has done it, but he absolutely has.

Pushing through his physical and mental exhaustion, he has just delivered an impressive Doug DiCarto set to his appreciative partygoers. Revival is rammed with raucous ravers who are wildly soaking up the Ibizan vibe that the club has to offer.

They are drinking, dancing, flirting and laughing.

And Doug is part of that good vibe.

His brilliance.

His professionalism.

Makes me so bloody proud of him.

Behind those decks, he has treated his revellers to delicious dark grooves, surreal arrangements and intricate and uplifting beats.

He has transcended his audiophiles to a melodic dimension—an other worldly sound space.

No one would ever know that he's had the day from hell and no sleep for over twenty four hours. It is that, that makes him who he amazingly so is. It's the Doug DiCarto dedication that increases my brimming over admiration and my love for him.

I was the one who persuaded Doug to be here, and I know he will thank me for it later. He's passionate about his music. Passionate about his production brand. He would have hated letting people down, and I knew that.

Doug has enough going on in his life right now. I knew that if he didn't return to Ibiza to DJ at Revival, it would have been yet another thing to drag him down. I didn't want that on his conscience. I didn't want it on my conscience, either. It would have been my fault that he would have let those people down. He only came back to London for me. So as drained and as tired as I knew we both were—it was the right thing to do by coming back.

Wrapping his arms all around me, Doug groans with satisfaction deep in his throat. "Okay, I'm done." Squeezing my body, I can hear the tired tone in his voice.

Rubbing his back gently, I am feeling just as tired. "Ready to head back to the hotel?"

Briefly settling his lips down onto mine, Doug wearily nods. "Too right I am." Still holding me, he looks behind at Lanky who is busily putting away some equipment. "Lanks, are you nearly done?"

Zipping up a small transport case with Doug's USB's in, he sharply nods once. "Yup, I'm ready."

"Good." Threading our hands together, Doug leads the way out of the DJ booth. He smiles and is polite to all of the people he hastily passes on the way out of Revival. The only thing he isn't interested in; are lengthy conversations—he just wants to quickly get out of this place.
Once we are outside, he gratefully breathes in the fresh early hours air before looking around for Lanky who is just behind us. "Lanks, could you do me a favour?"

"Grab us a taxi?" Lanky amusingly states.

Smiling, Doug nods with obvious fatigue on his face. "Please, bud."

Lanky smiles back. "Won't be long." He starts walking to near the road, looking for cabs that are passing with a green light on; indicating that they are free to take us to wherever we want to go.

All alone, Doug pulls me closer against his worn-out body. "I think I might be getting too old for all this crap." Although joking, I sense that there's an element of truth to his joke.

"You're not old. You're hanging onto your twenties by the skin of your teeth." Is my playful response.

Managing a small laugh, Doug mumbles. "You're not wrong there."

Holding my man tightly around his waist, I look up at him. "When are you hitting that big 3-0?" I intriguingly ask, realising that birth dates are one thing that we've not yet talked about in our brief but full-on relationship.

"It's actually next week." Doug quietly tells me.

Surprised, my eyes widen and my smile does too. "What day next week?"

Looking uninterested in his own birthday, he mumbles again. "It's on Wednesday."

"Why am I only hearing it now that it's your birthday next week?" I tease, squinting up at him.

Doug sighs, growing more tired with each passing second. "Because I've had much more important things on my mind. It's just a birthday...it's no big deal."

Snuggling up against his chest, I try to inject some enthusiasm into our conversation. "You're turning thirty...it is a big deal."

Doug groans. "It really isn't." He cuddles me more as the sarcasm rolls quickly off his tongue.

Knowing that Doug's birthdays in recent years have more than likely been dampened by his mother's illness, I am now wanting to give him a birthday that he will hopefully enjoy this year. "What's your favourite cake?" I eagerly ask him.

"Chocolate."

"A fellow chocoholic, huh?"

Doug lightly laughs. "Listen, don't be getting any grand ideas about my birthday, okay?"

With an angelic-like pout, I rise my shoulders with a little smirk on my lips. "Just a few teensy-weensy little ideas?" Is what I ask him in a silly, squeaky way.

With a firm shake of his head, Doug is still not a willing partner about celebrating his birthday. "I mean it. I already have plans for my birthday."

Yet again, he surprises me. "Oh, you have?"

Doug lifts my chin with his fingers, an action that is so gentle and so considerate. His brown eyes are now fully engaged on my slightly disappointed blue ones. "You...you're my plans, Frankie." His sweet whisper is then followed by a tranquil and peaceful kiss. That tranquil and peaceful kiss is telling me that he doesn't need balloons, streamers and candles for his birthday—he only needs the love and the quietness of me and him.

Just as I feel my tiredness and my disappointment being flooded with pleasure and adoration for the man who is so gently kissing me beneath a starless Ibizan sky, the voice of Lanky is distantly heard in my ears.

"Guys, I've got us a taxi!"

Pulling back slightly, Doug is watching how my mouth is now puckered slightly; already feeling the loss of his warm and loving lips being on them. "Let's get back to the hotel." Draping his arm around my shoulder, we then hurry to where Lanky and the taxi are waiting for us.

With our hands linked together in the back of the cab, I reflect on everything—Doug showing up at my door, him taking me to see his mum, his pain and his honesty about her, our flying back to Ibiza, him doing his Doug DiCarto thing at Revival, to us now travelling back to the hotel—this day has certainly been a day of revelations, that's for sure.

If I wasn't sure about Doug and I before, I am now.

I know we haven't been together for long, but it's long enough for me to know that I have met someone who I truly do want to be with.

For once, I'm just running with how I feel.

And how I feel, feels amazing.

Doug, is amazing.

He causes cartwheels in my heart.

Intrigue in my brain.

Sometimes, he looks at me in a certain way; a loving way...and I actually lose heartbeats because of it.

I love that.

I love feeling like that.

I want to continue feeling like that.

Now that we have both admitted how we feel, I am sure I will continue feeling like that with him.

**The gorgeous track above is: HIDEAWAY - KIESZA 💋**