Chapter 1
November 15th 2019.
“He’s going to think I’ve stood him up,” I mutter to myself as I rush towards the restaurant I was meant to be at twenty minutes ago. I call out apologies over my shoulder whenever I accidentally bump into someone.
I was never late; it’s just something that never happened to me. I was at least ten minutes early for everything. It was so bad that my friends would get annoyed due to the fact I would give them an earlier time than we had to be places because I knew they were always late to everything, I once had my best friend arrive nearly a whole hour earlier than she needed too after not only giving her an earlier arrival time but also stressing how important it was for the whole month leading up to it.
But of course, the only way to top my already bad day was by being late to a first date with the guy I’d been talking to for the past two and a half weeks, with no way to text him and let him know I was still on my way due to the fact that my phone had died nearly two hours ago.
This was all Emma’s fault, although she wasn’t the boss, she was in charge of me.
Four months ago, I got my dream job at a wedding and event planning company and while it is my dream job it also meant I was going to spend a year working under Emma as I learn the ins and outs about luxury party planning, then in eight months I get to spend another year under someone else from the wedding planning side of the company. It wasn’t just about learning how to do the job, but connecting with the vendor’s and learning how to solve problems with hours to spare and, today was one of those days.
It was our client’s fiftieth birthday, and after a long day showing other clients possible venues and two meetings to pick menus and party themes, which basically meant I spent the whole day taking notes and walking around after Emma. Now it was finally time to go to today’s client’s venue to check how the set up was going. It was the last thing we had to do today, and it should have been pretty easy: go in, help set everything up, make a few changes if needed, then wait for the client to arrive and hope she was happy with everything.
Instead we arrived to find the centre pieces hadn’t arrived yet and after a quick phone call made by me I was told the suppliers had delivered them to the wrong venue, cue Emma’s meltdown, Emma spent the next half an hour screaming down my phone to the suppliers depending they fix this only to be told that if they picked them up from the other venue and dropped them off to our venue we were looking at a four hour wait and that’s without traffic.
Problem there being we didn’t have four hours.
This meant I spent the next hour and half driving all over town picking up supplies to make our own centerpieces while Emma took care of things at the venue, by the time I got back to the venue my phone had five percent battery left after being used throughout the day and having just used it for google maps and to search up every possible job I might be able to get things for the centerpieces. But I had a plan because inside my purse was my charger and inside the venue was plenty of plugs for me to use, that is, until Emma sees me pull the wire out of my purse and snatches it from my hand, thanking god, not me, because her phone was at fifteen percent. I tried fighting my own battle, truly I did, I even suggested we split the half an hour we had left in half so we could each get some more charge, but Emma waved her hand in my general, direction something she did whenever she wanted me to stop talking.
I didn’t even get my charger back before we left because she put it in her bag, and I knew it wasn’t worth the argument.
I had just enough battery to pre-book my taxi to the date before my phone died, knowing full well Emma wouldn’t go out of her way to drop me off in the company car.
Then, of course, the taxi gets stuck in traffic, and I made the decision to get out early and speed walk the rest of the way in hopes of the guy still being there and not ruining the date by being any more late than I already was.
Once I get inside, I start to scan the bar from left to right, right to left. I knew what he looked like from his photos on the dating app, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t a catfish or someone who’s really good at photoshop, it also helped that he would be sitting alone but the only men sitting alone at the bar are easily ten or more years older than me wearing business suits enjoying a drink along after work.
He’s left, I begin to worry, looking down at my watch, taking note of the fact that I was a total of twenty minutes late. I’ve been stood up before, and I always wait at least thirty minutes before giving up on them.
Giving the bar one last slow scan, I spot the back of the head of someone who could possibly be Austin, my date, but the only issue was that he wasn’t alone. Actually, he was turned towards another woman who was laughing at something he said while her hand was on his arm.
Surely not, I think to myself, moving closer to get a better look.
I’d much rather he had left, thinking I’d stood him up, and find out he moved on to the next girl after only twenty minutes.
It was him!
Austin Knight was sitting at the bar, all dressed up for our date, flirting with someone else, and there was no doubt they were flirting as he reached up to brush some of the girl’s hair back from her face.
My feet move on their own accord towards the two of them until I’m stood next to them, they both turn towards me the girl giving me a quick look up and down to access what sort of threat I’m going to be or if I am a treat to even begin with, but it’s not her I’m glaring daggers at as I look at Austin who looks annoyed for all of three seconds before he realises who just interrupted him.
“Daisy! You’re here, I thought I’d been stood up.” He looks back at the other girl with his last comment and her mouth opens in shocked surprise obviously unaware he was meant to be a date.
“I got held up at work.” My tones sharp. “Besides, I’m only twenty minutes late.” That part was mostly for the girl caught up in the middle of this. I didn’t blame her for hitting on Austin. I mean, there was a reason I swiped right, he was attractive, and from what he’d put about himself in his bio, I thought he was worth getting to know.
“Well, we can still...” He gestures towards the tables where people are enjoying a meal.
“I’m just going to leave.” The girl finally speaks, grab her purse, and excuses herself.
“Do you really think I still want to grab something to eat with you after finding you flirting with another girl on the date we were meant to be on?” I ask, unable to believe he could even suggest it.
“Well in my defense, you were late and I have messaged you, but I got no reply so I thought I’d been stood up and I was just going to finish my drink and leave when Ava asked if I was saving this seat for anyone, I told her I was waiting for someone but I thought I’d been stood up and then we got talking.” With a loud sigh and a shake of my head, I’m done with this conversation and turn on my heel.
“Daisy! Daisy, wait.” The sound of footsteps following me lets me know he wasn’t just calling my name from the bar, so I stop spinning around again and nearly cause Austin to run right into me.
“Listen, Austin, I’ve had a long day, and in all honesty, I want nothing more than to go home, maybe grab some junk food on the way because I’m starving, change out of these heels, and take the world’s longest bubble bath and forget all about today,” I tell him starting to wish I’d just left after finding him at the bar with someone else instead of confronting him.
“Is your bath big enough for two?” He says with a laugh, trying to lighten the mood, but all it does is sour it even more.
“Goodbye, Austin.” Turning on my heel again, I succeed in leaving him behind and head towards a taxi rank for a black cab, only stopping to go inside a McDonald’s before taking it home with me.
It was safe to say I never wanted to see Austin Knight ever again.
