Always Fraser

by A. K. Steel

  Gorgeous, I need you by my side at the award ceremony Saturday night, and I knew you’d say no because you had nothing to wear. So now there are no excuses. There’s shoes and a bag on your bed, all designer, of course.

  Fraser x

  Wow, this dress is stunning. I can hardly believe Fraser picked it out. He wouldn't know the first thing about fashion. I take a quick look at the label. OMG, it's a Clara Ashton! It must have cost him a fortune. No one has ever bought something so beautiful for me.

  Indie pops her head out of her room. “I see you’ve found your present. He did all right, hey?”

  “Um, yeah. I can hardly believe he bought it himself!” I reach out and touch the silky fabric. It's divine.

  “He might’ve had a little help. He has no idea about fashion,” she laughs.

  “I knew it! Thank you, Indie. It’s beautiful.”

  “So, are you going to go with them then?”

  “I guess I’ve no excuses now.”

  “Good, because I wouldn’t want this to go to waste and I’m not going without you.” She pulls out a gorgeous black lace gown with a low back.

  “Oh my,” I squeal. “Are you coming too?” We’re both jumping up and down like excited little kids.

  “Fraser invited me. He's got someone he wants me to meet and thinks they might like my art. We're staying at the Palazzo Versace Gold Coast.”

  “Indie, that makes this even more exciting. I told you our luck is going to change. This is our year!”

  I grab my phone out of my bag and send a quick message to Fraser.

  Elly: Thank you, baby. The dress is stunning and of course I’ll come with you xx

  Fraser: Can't wait to see it on you... and take it off you... Glad you're coming, it wouldn’t have been the same without you.

  Elly: You’ve no idea how excited I am. I've never been to anything like this before. Thank you for inviting Indie too.

  Fraser: It’ll be a fun weekend for all of us.

  We arrived at our hotel, The Palazzo Versace Gold Coast. This place is unbelievable, and Indie and I spend the afternoon in the hotel spa getting pampered like never before. We have a massage and our hair and makeup done. This is “the life”. It must be what it feels like to be famous, getting ready for the Golden Globes or something.

  I look the best I’ve ever looked. Indie’s just headed back to her room to get dressed. She's staying down the hall in a room with Blake. I’ve no idea where the boys have been all afternoon. They said something about catching the game on the TV, in the hotel bar, but that was hours ago. They really should be back by now. We have to leave in 20 minutes. Typical Fraser, he’s always late.

  I keep looking at my dress hanging on the doorframe. It's so beautiful. I’ve been putting off getting dressed. I’m scared to put it on. What if I spill something down the front of it as soon as I put it on, or wipe my makeup all over it?

  I’ve never worn anything so extravagant before. I don’t want to wreck it. At least not before Fraser sees me in it. Where is he? I check the time again. We should be heading downstairs. I guess I better put it on. We have to go really soon.

  I pull my dress off the hanger and carefully slip it on and do up the zipper. The fabric feels amazing on my skin, so smooth and silky.

  I stand and admire myself in the full-length mirror. I almost don’t believe my own reflection, I look seriously amazing. My long hair is in big Hollywood curls swept over to one side with a clip. My eyes are smoky, and the look’s complete with wine-red lips to match the colour of my gown.

  I hear the door open and turn slowly, trying not to make any sudden movement that might destroy the dress. Fraser stands in the door and the look on his face tells me he’s impressed with the changes I made today.

  “Wow, Elly, you’re stunning! More like the Elly I used to know with the change of hair.”

  He comes up behind me, wrapping his arms around me, spinning me and standing back so he can see me from the front as well. His eyes roam up my body and his face breaks into a broad smile.

  “Yeah, the blue wasn’t going to work with this dress, so boring blonde it is, for now anyway,” I say, smoothing out the fabric of my dress.

  The look in his eyes says it all. He likes what he sees. “Well, you look a million dollars, gorgeous.”

  “I feel it! Stop wasting your time admiring me, we're going to be late. You need to get ready.” He places a soft kiss on my neck. Then unhooks his suit from the hanger and starts to undress in front of me. He knows what he’s doing.

  “Like what you see, gorgeous? Maybe we should just stay here tonight and have fun on our own. What do you say I peel you out of that dress so you're wearing as little as me.”

  “You getting nervous, baby? Trying to avoid all the people downstairs?” He shakes his head, giving me a look like he wants to devour me. “Well, if it's not nerves, I didn’t go to all this trouble to just stay in and get naked with you, so we're going. You better get a move on.”

  I walk into the bathroom to top up my lippy before we leave, and he’s fully dressed in his suit by the time I get back. Seeing him in a suit does things to me. He looks unbelievably hot. I can see why he was a little tempted to stay in tonight. Seeing him dressed up, I’m taken back to the first time I ever saw him in a suit, the night of our school formal. He looked so good that night.

  I sit in the limo with Indie, Drew, and his date, just outside the hall, and I take one more look at my makeup in the compact mirror from my purse.

  Indie and I are both so excited to get dressed up for the first time. I’m in a long pale blue gown. I saved up for months to be able to afford it. We’ve both had a spray tan and our hair and makeup done. I don’t think Drew could care less what we're doing. He's been pashing his date, Chelsea, since we picked her up. Totally gross!

  “I’m so excited I feel like I’m going to be sick,” I whisper to Indie, as we make our way up to the school hall.

  “Not in that dress you're not! I know how much you paid for it. You’ll be fine. Just relax and have fun, that's what tonight’s supposed to be about.” She takes my hand, and we walk in together.

  The hall looks amazing. The decorating team has gone above and beyond this time. There are silver sparkly streamers everywhere.

  As I look around, I can't help but scan the room for Fraser. I know I shouldn’t but he’s under my skin. I’ve been obsessed with him for years, and wherever we are, I look for him. I know his schedule at school and where he’s playing sports on the weekend. Kind of stalkerish but I don’t care, he’s just as bad with me. And in the last few months, something has shifted between us, we’re closer than ever. I didn’t accept any other invitations for dates tonight. It just didn’t seem right knowing how I felt about Fraser. He’s the only one I want to be here with, but that was never an option because of Drew. So Indie and I decided to come together, especially as her boyfriend is two years older than her, so he wasn’t allowed to come.

  Fraser’s probably not here yet. He's always late, but as I scan the room, I’m surprised to see him on the dance floor in the arms of Angela Cook, the bitch who made my high school life a total nightmare! He hates dancing and he knows how awful she is. Why is he dancing with her?

  I can feel my heart beating faster as the anger and adrenaline start to pump through my body. Two can play at this game, Fraser Davis! My eyes go straight to the large group of guys standing down the back and I see who I’m looking for, Adam Silver, Fraser’s biggest enemy.

  Adam has been asking me out for months, but out of respect for my friendship with Fraser and whatever else is going on between us, I kept turning him down. Well, not tonight, buddy. I’m not missing out on another thing because of selfish Fraser.

  Fraser and Adam have been involved in some sort of rivalry since Adam beat him in a one-hundred-metre running race in year seven, and since then, they’ve been competing over everything. I know dancing with Adam will piss Fraser off majorly. They compete at everything, and Adam always is
just that little bit better. But what do I care now, seeing him with bitch-face Angela.

  I walk right up to Adam and ask him to dance. He looks surprised but happy to be asked by me. He takes my hand and leads me to the dance floor. He then wraps his arms around me as we start to dance. I feel kind of bad for what I’m doing. I don’t really have any interest in Adam, but he’s a nice enough guy, and if Fraser can go out with whoever he wants, then so can I.

  “I was wondering how long it would take you to come to your senses and finally agree to date me,” Adam whispers in my ear.

  “Let's just start with a dance, hey, see how this goes?”

  “Oh, baby, one dance with me and you won't be able to turn me down.”

  Cocky bastard! We’ll see. We're two dances in when I notice Fraser look up from Angela, laughing at something she's said, and his face changes instantly when his eyes meet mine. I smile sweetly and give him a little wave just to make sure I’m rubbing it in. I can see the anger in his eyes as he cracks his knuckles, stalking over to us.

  “What do you think you're doing, Elena?”

  “Dancing, Fraser, just like you. Fun, isn’t it? Why don't you head back to your date? She's starting to look annoyed,” I taunt, with my arms still wrapped around Adam's shoulders.

  “Nope, not going to happen. I’m not leaving you here with him. This guy is trouble, Elly, you don’t know him like I do.”

  We stop dancing as it's clear Fraser’s not going to let this go on. Adam pulls back from me a little, still with one hand on my back.

  “Oh please,” I snap, “you're hardly worried about me, Fraser. If you were, I wouldn’t have walked in here to see you dancing with bitch-face over there. Go enjoy your night so I can enjoy mine.”

  “What's your problem, man? You need to back off before I make you,” Adam challenges, infuriating Fraser further.

  “You're my problem. Get your hands off her,” Fraser hisses, nudging Adam’s shoulder so he's forced to drop my waist, and it's on. Adam throws the first punch, getting Fraser square in the jaw, followed by Fraser thumping Adam on the nose. Two of our teachers jump in and hold them back from each other. I’ve seen enough, I’m out of here.

  “You're such a selfish prick, Fraser, it's always got to be about you,” I yell, running out the front doors of the hall, tears now streaming down my face.

  “Earth to Elly, where did you go?” Fraser’s standing right in front of me.

  “Sorry, I was just thinking about the last time I saw you in a suit, our formal.”

  “Hope only the good parts of that night, not the bad!”

  I stand in front of him and fix his bow tie. “What, like ‘Jealous Fraser’? He was in full force that night.”

  “You did bait me on purpose, though, dancing with Adam.”

  “Maybe, but you deserved it, dancing with Angela!”

  “Maybe, and I don’t regret any of it. Without fighting with that dick Adam, I wouldn’t have had to chase after you when you ran off. And what happened when I found you was worth it all,” he says, drawing me in closer to his body. “After years of having to scare off every guy that even looked your way, I finally got to be the one holding you in his arms, kissing your tears away.”

  I can feel the tears welling in my eyes at his admission and I blink them away. I can’t cry right now, I’ll wreck my makeup. “I wish I knew how you felt back then.”

  “I know, we were only young, but I knew that night no one would ever compare to you. The way I felt about you when our lips first met...” He rests his forehead on mine, both of us remembering the moment that’s etched into our brains forever.

  I smile up at him remembering, wishing somehow things hadn’t gone down the way they did. We’ve wasted so much time.

  He kisses my forehead. “I know I can't kiss your lips because of the lippy,” he smiles.

  I laugh at him for breaking the moment with a stupid comment like that. “No, you're right, I don’t have time to fix it, we’re already late. Come on, let's get going.” I slip my hand into his and we walk out the door.

  Ash and Chloe are in the hall waiting for us; they aren't staying the night at this hotel so don't have a room. We walk past Blake and Indie’s room, collecting them on our way to the elevator. Luckily, we don’t have to go far. The awards ceremony is being held downstairs in the hotel ballroom.

  Tonight’s going to be a good night. I can feel it.

  The six of us enter the ballroom and I can hardly believe my eyes. This place is insane. It's so extravagant. Everything here screams opulence, from the oversized chandeliers hanging from the ceiling to the detailing on the walls. The tables are set with pillar candles and fragrant flowers running along the centres of the tables.

  “Wow, this place is insane,” Indie whispers, grabbing my hand. “Don’t leave me. I feel so out of place here. They’ll probably think I’m gate crashing and kick me out.”

  “Me too, Indie girl. This is like a whole other world! But you don’t look out of place, you look stunning in that dress.”

  “So do you, chickee. Can you believe this night?”

  Fraser has found our table and motions for us to join him.

  Fraser

  We’ve done the rounds, meeting all the important people Ash wanted us to meet, and we’re now sitting at our table listening to the awards being presented. The night is dragging on. We’ve had our entrée and mains served already as the awards are announced. Our category will be up soon.

  But right now, this is the last thing I want to be doing. Since I walked into our hotel room to see Elly in that sexy red dress, all I’ve wanted to do is unwrap her from it.

  She’s not helping either. She’s sitting by my side, her hand resting on my lap, and every now and then she runs her hand up and down my leg, her perfect red nails digging in slightly as she goes.

  She has no idea what she's doing to me. She's driving me crazy, and I have to just sit here in a stuffy tux, smiling along, as the awards ceremony goes on. Why couldn’t we have been up first? Then this would be over, and we could be back in our room fucking. I hope we don’t win because I’m not going to be able to get up and accept the award if we do, not in this condition. Think unsexy thoughts, think unsexy thoughts.

  It's one of those nights I wish I could have a drink to help me relax a bit, but it's best I don’t. Alcohol and I don't mix well. I take after my mother in that way, and I can't stop at just one so it's best not to start. I learnt that the hard way when I was younger.

  This is not my idea of fun. I’m only here because Ash talked me into it with his speech about it being such good exposure in our industry, and since we're still so new, he thinks it’s a really good idea. I'm lucky to be in business with him, he has such a good brain for this kind of thing.

  Our category is announced, “Best Eco-Friendly Design.”

  There are four other companies in the running for this award. As their designs flash up on the screen, I know there is no hope we will have won, they all look incredible. And I know for a fact that some of these companies are really big names in the eco-friendly community. It would have to be a miracle for us to win. But I still want it, this award is a big deal. As the announcer shows our images of the Byron Bay Library, I can feel my stomach twist with nerves. Don't know if we deserve it, but let it be us.

  “The winner is ‘The Green Door’ for its eco-friendly design for the Byron Bay town library.”

  We all look at each other in disbelief. I can't believe we're winning this type of award our first year in! We make our way up to the podium together, accepting our award. Luckily there are no speeches.

  As I make my way back to our table, my focus is on Elly. She's beaming with excitement for us. I feel like the luckiest man in the world, with my business being so successful, and the most beautiful girl in the room who only has eyes for me. How life can do a complete 360 in the matter of a few years.

  I'm done with this awards ceremony. I'm taking my girl back upstairs to bed.
<
br />   Why is my phone ringing? What’s the time? It feels like we only just got to bed. Who could be ringing me at this hour? I roll over, feeling around for my phone in the dark. I answer without even opening my eyes.

  “Hello.”

  “It's Theo. Are you with Elly?” I sit straight up. Why is Theo ringing at this time?

  “Yes, do you want me to put her on?"

  "No, it's fine I just couldn't get hold of her, she must have her phone on silent or something."

  "What’s wrong, Theo?” Something in my voice has Elly sitting up now, her eyes opening wide.

  “You need to get her home. It's Dad. He’s collapsed and hit his head on his morning run. We’re lucky someone found him. He's still unconscious. I’m following the ambulance into Byron Hospital now.”

  “What's going on?” Elly mouths to me.

  “Shit. Theo. We’re on our way, but we’re on the Gold Coast so we’ll be two hours. Keep us posted with how he’s going.”

  “Will do. Drive safe. We don’t need anyone else in hospital today.” I’m still looking at my phone. Shit. What should I do first?

  “What's going on, Fraser?” Elly has tears already welling in her eyes. She knows this isn’t going to be good.

  “That was Theo. It's your dad.”

  “Dad! What's happened?”

  “Elly, he has collapsed on his morning run. Theo’s following him to the hospital and your mum’s with him in the ambulance. We need to get home as soon as we can. They have no idea how bad he is yet.”

  Elly’s hands are covering her face as she gives in to the tears. “Oh my god, we need to go now.” I wrap my arms around her as she sobs. “He’s got to be all right, Fraser. I don’t know what I’d do without my dad.”

  “It's all going to be fine, Elly. We’re not going to have to find out. I’m sure he's going to be okay. He's a tough guy. By the time we get home, he’ll probably be sitting up in his hospital bed laughing the whole thing off. Pack my bag for me. I'll get the others sorted so we can leave straight away.”