The Fallen King | ✓

Chapter 19

~Chapter 19~

Reality was a bitch.

It hadn't been that long before I was needed back in New York. I'd delayed the inevitable for as long as possible but my agent was getting restless so after only a few short weeks I had to leave London and fly back to the United States.

Although I wasn't a fan of my old residence, it made me feel closer to Zack so being pulled away didn't sit very well with me and to say I was on edge was a massive understatement. I hadn't slept well at all since returning — in fairness, I hadn't been sleeping much since that dreaded day anyway but not having Zack close to me was making each day so much harder to bear.

November just hadn't been my month and it'd only just started. Everything that could possibly go wrong in the last few weeks had and to top it all off my music video with Damien released today. If that didn't set the tone for an awful end of the year I wasn't sure what did.

Normally, I would've been ecstatic about the video coming out but the media were having a field day trying to create fake stories about us and I was beyond tired of the whole ordeal. To add a cherry to this dessert, I was going on a press date with Damien later to increase the talk around our video; PR was such a nightmare.

I knew I sounded ungrateful and whiny and I hated that. The media didn't tend to bother me much anymore because I'd built such a thick skin but since Zack, I'd been feeling more vulnerable and exposed than ever and I just didn't know how to handle everything anymore.

I didn't feel like myself and even the tiniest of issues was getting to me; my perfect facade was slipping fast and the cracks beneath were beginning to show.

~*~*~

I added slightly more foundation and concealer than usual that evening as I got ready for my 'date'.

I was meeting Damien at a gorgeous restaurant on the outskirts of Manhattan in about forty-five minutes so it was almost time to leave. It was obvious enough that the paparazzi would find out but not so central that we'd be swarmed — a good choice on my agents part.

After swiping a rather thick coat of mascara on my eyelashes and grabbing my warm khaki jacket, I headed out of my apartment and to where my driver, Diana, was waiting for me in my car.

This 'date' wasn't exactly something I was looking forward to but at least it was a chance to catch up with my friend despite the unusual circumstances.

Damien was already there by the time I arrived (exactly on time in my defence, he was just early), dressed smartly in a crisp blue shirt and black dress trousers.

We were seated in a secluded area at the back of the restaurant but it was still obvious that we'd been spotted. I saw people's poorly timed glances and loud whispers — most people were never as inconspicuous as they liked to believe. Nevertheless, at least they had the courtesy to not disturb us and let us get on with our evening — that was something I couldn't be more grateful for.

Damien and I chatted animatedly for the majority of the evening, firing witty remarks at one another in an attempt to make the 'date' seem not as strange.

He'd been a close friend for a good portion of my life so the words flowed easily but not as easily as they should've done.

Damien and I had a past. It was a dark time in both our lives that we tried to forget but settings like this brought the memories to the forefront of my mind, making the surrounding atmosphere slightly tense but in an almost unnoticeable way.

We had had a fling when we were seventeen after some bad things in both of our lives. For me, it was my breakup with River and all the repercussions that followed from that fiasco and for him, it was to move on from his cheating girlfriend.