Side Effects ☼ ⎨Tom Holland & Sam Heughan⎬

Chapter 2

~ Christina ~

It was around 6:30PM as I was standing in front of the movies where my dad and I had agreed to meet up.

Normally I'd be hesitant to go out with him since he attracted a lot of attention but he had chosen one of the later shows in order to avoid unnecessary notice.

It made me relax a little.

I titled a little back and forth on my feet as I awaited him to finish off a phone conversation. Up on my toes and down on my feet. It was a habit I had gained from the ballet which was hard for me to let go of. I was a professional dancer. Dancing was me and therefore it haunted me even when I was at home.

Many were under the perception that being Hugh Grant's daughter meant, that one would want to be a part of the spotlight. I had never felt that way. I loved the attention that the ballet gave me - because I thought that the art in it deserved it. However, besides that I couldn't care less about the media. I would rather let the real celebrities enjoy the spotlight and the flashing cameras.

"Is this okay?" My dad asked me when he finished off his phone call.

He was okay with the fact that everything did not need to be so pompous. He accepted the distance I wanted to keep to the glamourous lifestyle.

"It's fine, dad." I assured him.

I looked around for a second. I was always a bit paranoid when I went out in public with my dad. I felt that everyone was starring and I didn't like that.

Many people around London knew who my dad was. Everyone who had seen some of the greatest romantic movies would be familiar with him. That made it difficult to be his daughter sometimes.

"What do you want?" He asked me when we came into the cinema. He was off course referring to the possibilities of choosing either candy or popcorn.

"Nothing." I said.

"I have a performance tomorrow night." I was on a strict diet when I had to be on stage. I was a part of The Royal Ballet where I was recently promoted to principal dancer. It was hard to become a principal since it was the highest rank within processional dance – but now I was one of them.

He nodded.

"But you can't go to the cinema emptyhanded, honey." He said plainly.

"Popcorn isn't that unhealthy." 

"Dad..." I said resignedly. Somehow I knew that this would be a discussion I couldn't win.

"What?" He sounded so innocent.

"We have this discussion every time we're here." I knew that he probably didn't understand my world and where I came from, but in reality it wasn't much different from his. He ate healthy food when he had to prepare himself to a role as well.

"Then everything is as it should be." He said as he found himself some popcorn.
I shook my head but I couldn't help myself from smiling.

"Yes." 

"What about some soda? You can do that, right?" He asked me. I knew that he would give me everything that my heart would desire.

"Then it has to be light."

"You can get anything you want, sweetheart." He smiled at me. I liked spending time with my dad. My parents were divorced so I tried my best to use some of my spare time on spending time with them.

"Then I'll grab one of those." 

"That's good!" He said.

"It gives me some kind of peace knowing you will drink some soda and enjoy your youth." He said lovingly.
It made me roll my eyes.
Classic comment.

My dad paid for our snacks – or rather his snacks.
About five minutes later we found ourselves our seats.

"Usually I don't watch this type of movie." He said to me.

"Then why did you want to see it?" I asked him with a raised brow.
It was him who had texted me and asked if I wanted to see it.

"To try something new!" 

"I can't watch romantic comedies and documentaries my entire life." He joked.
That made me laugh. I liked my dad's humor, even though it might be a little lame at times.

However, I didn't get to answer him before the movie begun.

I didn't watch that many movies to be honest. Danielle would say that I lived under a rock. I lived in my own world – with ballet – and therefore I didn't have time to watch that much television.
But.
I didn't need to watch many minutes of the movie before a familiar face appeared on the screen.
The face of Tom Holland.