The Mighty Storm|| ethma

6

Okay. I'm having dinner with Ethan.

Ethan Dolan.

But he's still just Ethan ... the same Ethan I knew.

No he's not – he's now rock god Ethan.

Oh crap.

I've been ready for the past half an hour and have been pacing around my flat ever since. I've had a large glass of wine already and am starting on my second, trying to calm my nerves.

And Simone's not here to help either. She was so gutted when I told her Ethan was coming to the flat to pick me up. She's working late on a project for this new client of hers and couldn't get out of it.

Maybe it's best she's not here, I'm freaking out as it is. Simone is a big Mighty Storm fan, so she'd be freaking too, making me worse.

What on earth am I going to talk to him about tonight?

I know, I've known Ethan a long time, but I knew him back then. Not now.

Now he's a mega rich superstar. And I'm just a lowly journalist working for a small, up and coming magazine, with enough money to pay the bills and fill the cupboard with enough food and wine to get me through the week.

He probably earns in an hour what I do in a year.

I've stayed in exactly the same place and Ethan has sky rocketed to the stars.

We live in two very different worlds. I don't know anything about his life now, except what I've read in the papers.

I wonder if he still likes the same things he did when I knew him?

Of course he doesn't. Do I still like the same things I did when I was fourteen? Nope. Well, except for kids cereal. Coco Pops are awesome.

I'm just wondering once the step back in time has dried up, what on earth will we talk about. We are so worlds apart now. Our childhood aside, what else is there?

I'm just hoping the childhood stories will somehow stretch us through the night.

I gulp down another mouthful of wine.

The doorbell rings. It's a minute after eight. If nothing else, he's punctual. And here was me expecting him to be rock star late.

Putting my glass down, I pick my handbag up, get my keys and wobble on nervous legs to the door.

When I open it, he's standing there looking all kinds of gorgeous, wearing dark blue fitted jeans, Converses trainers and a pale blue shirt which is rolled up at the sleeves, top buttons open, his tattoos on show.

And once again, I suddenly feel totally of out of my depth.

"Hi," I say.

"Wow. You look great."

I flush. "Thanks, you too."

I'm doing a little mini-dance inside.

This dress was totally worth it – okay, so I might have popped to my favourite clothes shop, Dixies, after work and bought the dress I've been eyeing in the window for the last few weeks. The dress I couldn't really afford at the moment – so, thank you Visa.

It's not to impress Ethan or anything, I mean it's not like we're going on a date, but he's rich and I wanted to look nice. And the dress is so damn cute.

It's a black shift dress with silver embellishment all over it, and so totally me. I've teamed it with my black heels, and silver clutch bag, and I left my hair down and curly, and kept my make-up minimal, how I always wear it.