This time period will probably have heaps of parts
.
DISCLAIMER - This story is fictional and in no way reflects the actions or day to day activites of the characters involved. In other words..ITS MADE UP!He sat outside in his car for ages, trying to summon the courage to go inside. The last words he said to her echoed in his ears and he couldn’t leave things as they were. He couldn’t deny his feelings any longer. He had to tell her. He had to tell her he loved her…tonight….4 months earlier.
Part 1Fairy lights twinkled and party decorations hung from every available vantage point in Susan Bower’s abode. Eloise wasn’t normally impressed by such extravagance but being the last night of 2008 made it more forgivable.
The house was quite modest...for a mansion. A sprawling ranch style house on a generous sized property, it showed off beautiful gardens, a large pool area and beyond that, away from the house a quaint guest house.
Susan spared no expense on this New Years Eve party. It had been a great year and she wanted to show her appreciation to the entire cast and crew of Neighbours.
A smorgasbord of food and a never ending supply of drinks were available all night.
A band had been hired and the whole gang had been dancing the night away.
James POV“I’m thirsty,” Caitlin moaned to James, as Eloise, Joe and the rest continued to dance.
He nodded and they headed for the much quieter bar area where he poured them both a drink.
“I’m exhausted. Are you ready to head off soon?” Caitlin asked.
He looked at her disbelievingly.
“You are joking! It’s only gone past 11.”
She put her arms around him seductively.
“Well I thought it might be nice to be alone at midnight…if you get my drift.”
He got her drift, and once upon a time he would have dragged her out the door, but things were different…their relationship had changed…his feelings had changed.
“But we can’t leave before midnight. Come on, let your hair down and have some fun…just relax,” he said trying to talk her round.
“I can’t relax, not around these people,” she sulked in a hushed voice.
He looked at her disapprovingly.
“
These people as you referred to them as are my close friends and I want to see the New Year in with them.”
“They are your friends James, not mine. I thought you would have liked to see the year in with me and only me,” she pouted.
He really started getting angry now and dragged her into the hallway area where no one else could see them.
“Don’t you
dare play me like that. I spent Christmas with your friends and we agreed that we would spend new years with mine. I can’t believe you are being this selfish,” he spat.
“So you feel that me wanting to spend time alone with you is selfish? You would have known I wouldn’t want to be here, but I attended for you...now I’ve had enough,” she moaned.
“Well you know what…I’ve had enough of you…of this. I always give into you and your demands, but tonight…well I’m not. You are welcome to leave if you want…but I’m staying. There are taxis available out the front that Susan organized for people to get home…and you know where the house key is,” he said bitterly.
She couldn’t believe what she was hearing from him. She was fuming and decided to call his bluff.
“Fine then…I’ll leave…but don’t expect me to be waiting for you when you get home. If you let me walk out of here…it’s over.”
“Fine,” he said through clenched teeth and then he turned his back and walked away leaving her reeling.
Eloise’s POV“Where have you been?” Eloise asked Joe as he returned to the dance floor with some drinks.
He signalled towards the garden and she nodded. It was much quieter out there.
“That’s better,” Joe sighed as they sat down on the chairs under the stars.
“Are you having a good time?” Eloise asked him as she gazed up at the sky.
“Yeah its been a great night, but my brother just rang me when I was getting our drinks. They are in the city with everyone else and they want us to meet them in there for the fireworks. Do you want to go?” he asked excitedly.
“You are joking aren’t you? It’s almost 11.30,” she scoffed.
“But it’s only a 15 minute car trip from here. It would be nice to spend New Years Eve with family. If we leave now we could make it easily.”
She thought it was a ridiculous idea and quickly became annoyed.
“Joe I’m not leaving now…and as a matter of fact… I’m not leaving at all. We have spent the last week with your family. Surely it wouldn’t kill you to spend one night and one occasion with my friends.”
“But we have been here all night Eloise. They won’t mind if we go elsewhere,” he answered patiently.
She took a deep breath and tried to get her anger under control.
“They won’t mind…but
I will. I want to stay with my friends. If it’s so important to you then you go alone.”
“Are you serious? You don’t care if we aren’t together at midnight?” he said hurt.
“At the moment Joe…no...not really,” she said with a blank expression.
“So these people are more important than me?” he asked, becoming angry.
“Well your brothers are always more important than me. I’m all for families being close, but you have to draw the line somewhere Joe. I’m tired of it.”
“You’re tired of it…what does that mean?” he said with a raised voice.
“I mean I am sick of always having to do what you want to do. When do I ever get a say…never… but for once I am going to have a say. I’m staying here and you can choose to do whatever you like…I really am beyond caring to be honest with you,” she whispered angrily.
He looked at her shocked.
“Well I never realized you felt that way,” Joe said shaking his head, “maybe it’s best if I do leave.”
“Maybe it is,” she said glaring at him.
They stared at each other angrily as they both contemplated their next move. Eloise bit the bullet first. She turned and walked away, towards the pool. When she looked back…he was gone.
James POVJames re-joined the others on the dance floor…alone.
“Where’s Caitlin?” Sam asked.
“Don’t ask,” James responded.
The look on his face told Sam not to press the issue further.
“Where are Eloise and Joe?” James asked.
“They were outside having a drink, but I saw Joe just come back in and head off out the front. I don’t know where Eloise is,” Sam said.
“Oh!” James said becoming concerned. His eyes darted around the room but he couldn’t spot her.
The last few months they had been closer than ever. They never spoke of their conversation at her birthday again, but they let the affection they felt for each other filter through their alter egos. They were both proud that their characters had become one of the most loved couples in recent history. Neither of them would admit however, that they used their characters as a vehicle to express their own feelings for each other.
After 10 minutes had passed and she still hadn’t appeared James quietly left the group. He was growing more concerned by the minute and he decided he had to go and find her.
He looked out the front and when she wasn’t there he made his way out the back. Her whereabouts weren’t obvious as he made his way further down the back, passed the pool, but as he peered through the darkness he swore he could see her opening the door of the guest house.
He made his way towards the guesthouse and peeked through the window, but it was too dark to see inside.
He opened the door slowly and was greeted by a familiar face.
Eloise’s POVEloise wandered through the grounds feeling angry and alone. She couldn’t believe Joe sometimes. Of all nights to do this…New Years Eve wasn’t a wise choice.
She pulled her shoes off and sat by the pool, letting her feet paddle in the water. It was quite a warm night and if she was in anyway drunk she may have even gone for a dip…fully clothed of course.
That was another disappointment. She had been so busy dancing and eating that she wasn’t even anywhere near tipsy.
James would probably strip off and dive in this pool, Eloise thought to herself as she gazed at the lights dancing on the water.
She smiled at the thought, but soon chastised herself for letting him drift back into her thoughts…yet again.
Getting him out of her head was easier said than done though. They had had such an amazing couple of months since her birthday, and even though they had never referred to that kiss or conversation again, she could feel the closeness between them….like an unspoken bond.
She had learned to accept their status as ‘close frenemies’ and that it would never be anything m ore than that, but she had to admit to herself that she found it difficult watching him with Caitlin.
And for that reason she decided that she didn’t want to be around them at midnight, especially if she didn’t have Joe to focus on.
She strolled away from the pool, further down the back towards the guesthouse. She tried the doorknob expecting it to be locked but it opened easily and she couldn’t help but go inside and have a sticky beak.
It was in darkness but there was enough moonlight coming through the back windows to illuminate its interior. There was a quaint lounge area with a TV and floral sofa, and off to the right a small kitchenette. Hidden behind the wall of the lounge room was a bedroom with a king size bed and off that was a small bathroom.
It was lovely and she could have happily hidden away there alone until the party died down, but she was rudely interrupted when the door opened.
She turned around sharply and was greeted with James face peering through the door.
“Jesus! You scared the life out of me. What are you doing here?” she whispered in a harsh tone.
“Well I could ask you the same thing. I was getting worried about you. It’s not far off midnight you know,” he whispered back.
“James don’t worry about me...honestly. I just need to be alone. Go back to Caitlin. I know how superstitious you are about not kissing someone at midnight,” she teased in a hushed voice.
“Well that’s a bit difficult,” he sighed as he closed the door, “she’s gone home.”
“What?” she hissed, “Did you guys have a fight?”
“Yeah you could say that…but I really don’t want to talk about it,” he whispered, “and by the way...why are we whispering?”
She looked at him and started giggling.
“I don’t know…probably because we shouldn’t be here,” she said in a normal voice.
“That’s better,’ he said smiling at her, “but you still haven’t answered my question. Why are you down here by yourself?”
She sat down on the sofa and sighed.
“Joe left. He wanted me to leave with him. He wanted to spend midnight with his brother and I didn’t want to. So I told him to leave…that I was sick of always doing what he wanted.”
“Oh!” was all he had to say. He could see the sadness in her face, but a selfish part of him was glad that he had gone. Having to watch them together the whole night was taking its toll on him.
She studied her fingers absent-mindedly before she spoke again.
“Do you think that was the wrong thing to do? Should I have been the dutiful girlfriend and just gone with him?”
He stared at her, surprised at her question. He knew he had to be careful with his response.
“Eloise from what I can see you give him everything. I really can’t see why he couldn’t have given up what he wanted for a couple of hours. And if it makes you feel better…I sent Caitlin home too,” he admitted.
She looked at him mouth agape.
“You sent her home. Why?”
“Because she wanted to go home,” he answered.
“Before midnight?” she quizzed further.
“Well she said she wanted us to be alone at midnight…but I said I wanted to stay here,” he explained, “Now does that make me a bad boyfriend…giving up sex with my girlfriend to stay with my work colleagues.
The thought of him having sex with her made her cringe and she quickly tried to cleanse her mind of it.
“I think we both know that it was an excuse to get you away from us…not that I’m saying she doesn’t want to have sex with you,” she stammered uncomfortably.
Shut up Eloise, she said to herself.
He looked at her with a freaked out expression.
“Well that’s good to know,” he laughed as they sat down on the sofa.
They sat there in a comfortable silence…just gazing at each other.
She looks so beautiful, he thought. Her midnight blue long gown made her glow, and her curls were piled loosely on her head, showing off her long slender neck. Two thin straps fell over her shoulders and he found himself fantasizing about peppering kisses along her throat.
She wondered what he was thinking as he looked at her. His stare was so intense it was making her break out in goose bumps. She hoped that he couldn’t see what affect he was having on her. In that moment in time she wanted to be the one he kissed at midnight and she found herself staring at his lips.
They were snapped out of their reverie when a voice in the distance called out that it was only 2 minutes until midnight.
Eloise couldn’t take the tension anymore as she got up and startled rambling.
“And this is why I hid down here. I didn’t particularly feel like being the only one without a partner to kiss at midnight. And I thought you would be in more of a panic. Don’t you firmly believe that if you don’t kiss someone at midnight you are going to spend the year alone,” she teased.
“Yes I firmly believe that…and not only that...but whoever you kiss on the stroke of midnight is who will spend the rest of the year with. It has been scientifically proven,” he joked trying to be flippant about the whole situation.
“Pfffttt…yeah right. Oh well I guess our 2009 is screwed,” she said rolling her eyes, trying to be non-chalant.
“Not necessarily…” he blurted out as he stared at her intently, but soon his voice trailed off.
Why did you say that you idiot, he chastised himself.
“What do you mean,” she said nervously. Her mind was racing now.
“Nothing…,” he said uneasily as he jumped up from the sofa and started pacing the room.
In the distance a countdown from 20 had started until 2009 was upon them.
“James stop pacing,” she instructed as she grabbed his arm.
They stood facing each other in the darkness; the countdown could be heard from the party goers.
“I think we should get out of here before I do something I regret,” he muttered as he urgently headed for the door.
“Hang on,” she grabbed his arm again and spun him around, “what do you mean by that?”
“What do you think,” he spat almost venomously. He really needed to get out…now!
“How would I know? I’m not a mind reader,” she shouted at him as they inched towards each other. She knew exactly what was on his mind, but she needed to hear him say it. Something she would regret doing later in the evening.
“10” they heard the crowd call out in the distance.
“How could you not know Eloise?” he yelled.
They stared at each other intensely as forbidden desire clouded their judgement.
“God I really want to kiss you…and I can’t. It’s killing me. I need to get away from you. There….are you happy,” he yelled again, his tone thick with frustration.
“5”
She knew how wrong it was but her heart soared and she couldn’t believe what she said next.
“I want to kiss you too,” she whispered, like that would make it acceptable.
“1”
As the time hit midnight and everyone began yelling happy new year James and Eloise couldn’t contain their passion any longer and they desperately reached for each other.
tbc………….
DISCLAIMER - This story is fictional and in no way reflects the actions or day to day activites of the characters involved. In other words..ITS MADE UP!
Ooh a countdown. And a bedroom. Oh ay!
