"Good evening to all my guests," announces Theo as he stands there, speaking out to his audience. I stare with disbelief at the man who had beguiled me not long ago. This couldn't be.

Of course it was just my luck that this mystery guy who waltzed into my life tonight like in a fairytale, not long after the end of a relationship without a spark, ends up being one of the few guys that was unavailable. The one who ignited sparks and charmed me sitting out there with me happens to be the one my sister is probably smitten over, adding a whole new meaning to unavailable.

Sure, she's probably known him for a whole two to three weeks from what I understand and had only been on a couple of dates with him, but it was a complete no-go zone.

"As tonight comes to a spectacular end I'd like to thank you all for being here tonight to celebrate with both my current and future colleagues, as well as myself. Tonight we commemorate the end of a great and successful journey, as well as the beginning of a time to come filled with opportunities," Theo declares before he takes a champagne from the waiter standing beside him and raises it up. "A toast to the cherished memories of the past and the hope of the future," he proclaims, quite the public speaker.

As the rest of the room raises their glasses alongside Theo I watch on with confusion; confusion regarding the impact he had on my emotions and regarding whatever was going on here.

"Harrington,  Albert and Co., Theo's family's company, has just signed onto a massive project. Hotels. A massive project that no one anticipated signing on to, and that we don't really have the resources for, but a project that we're apparently going forward with now. Oh, and that's being invested into," Damon explains once he has lowered his drink and taken a sip, clearly having seen the confusion written across my face.

"I take it you're not the happiest with this decision," I respond.

"Yeah, not really. They've built plenty of hotels, real estate, stadiums, airports. The whole sort. They've invested into an array of companies which I'm sure includes hotels but I can't say they've ever owned any of these hotels. This is a new one even for Theo," he told me, filling me in on what the world of Theodore Harrington was like.

We couldn't be more different. Here he was moving onto his next massive and expensive escapade in his career whilst I was still very much starting out in the crazy world of media.

At the age of twenty I had come back to the U.S to start my life here after living with my mum for a few years in Sydney, Australia, having gone back and forth from here to there for a couple of years after my parents divorce. I had studied arts and media at both the University of Sydney and Yale and was now left with a whole lot of debt and the very beginning of a hopeful career in media having landed the job of assistant to the editor. 

Yes, I definitely had a long way to go before my boss Monique would promote me to a role with more input than what coffee she should have today but I was only twenty-two and in a field with competition like no other.

I would have to guess that people like Theodore didn't really have to worry about things like age, experience or student loans. It would be quite nice to have a family empire to lean back on all your life but who was I to judge him. I didn't know his story yet although I had my presumptions.

As the crowd begins to disperse and my small talk with Damon continues I am interrupted to a sudden shout of "Ella!" from across the room. I look up to find the owner of the voice I recognised instantly: my very much intoxicated little sister Lexi. She had finally decided to make an appearance and was currently running across the room, pushing people aside with her heels in her hands so she could stumble her way to where I stand with Damon keeping me company.

Lexi was truly a unique person. She was someone who somehow managed to obtain everyone's attention but couldn't care less what they thought at the same time. It was a trait that I would admire many times as I crushed down my own goals or wishes to please others, making decisions not for myself entirely but for others instead; something my delayed break up with Derek highlighted.

For example, right now Lexi looked a little worse for wear. Her blood red Louboutins dangling from her hands (something which makes me curious because I know she can't afford them), mascara smudged under her eyes, dress strap hanging off her shoulder and her dyed blonde hair tousled. Honestly, if I hadn't seen Theo walking around for the hour or so I would've guessed that she just came back from doing certain things a sister did not want to hear about. And yet she still looked amazing to me and I'm sure more than a handful of people surrounding us. That's how she managed to go from one handsome guy like Theo to another in an instant.

I couldn't be more different, standing here with my simple outfit, for lack of a better way to describe it, minimal makeup, and lightly wavy but contained hair; quite proper and timid. We were total opposites despite somehow being related. Personality, looks. Staying behind in the U.S with my dad gave her quite a bit of freedom with my dad being so busy with work and too scared to push her away leaving her run wild. Sometimes I wonder what it would be like to live her life and be like her.

But then I remember that, despite the stress I impart on myself from all my overthinking, I'm quite happy with the way I am. I'm happy with my quaint little life, sitting at home on Friday nights watching movies with my best friend and falling asleep at the latest by ten after working all week.

Once Lexi reaches me she rushes to hug me, practically choking me with her tight embrace. Did I neglect to mention that Lexi was a very enthusiastic and hyperactive drunk? When she had more than a few drinks in her she completely abandoned any understanding of personal space for any chance to invade your personal space.

As she squeezes me in her arms, peppering me with kisses on the cheek and mumbling about how she missed me, I look up to find that she unfortunately had company. Theo stood behind her nonchalantly, having followed her to me.

Once Lexi finally pulls apart from me she notices my gaze which had shifted behind her and instantly leaps to Theo's side, pulling him closer by his arm to the table where Damon and I are waiting.

She goes to introduce us, saying "Theodore, this is my sister-"

"-Ella," he interrupts her.

"Theo," I respond, making sure to use the name he had given me earlier. I stare back at him, trying to work out what was going on and to work out him. Upon hearing the nickname that he had told me, his teeth grasp the corner of his bottom lip, biting down. I can't seem to comprehend his reaction. I almost think I can the corner of his mouth begin to lift into a smirk, the biting down simply helping him to refrain from doing so, but the ways his eyes just stare back widely and almost blank makes me question otherwise. 

"You guys have met?" Lexi asks in the annoyingly chirpy tone she adopted when she was more than a bit tipsy. God, she was lucky I loved her and that she had other redeemable qualities because in times like this she could drive me crazy.

"We acquainted ourselves earlier tonight," Theo replies. He didn't mention how he had led me to believe that he was just another guest at this crowded party whilst he was really the host waiting to hear what I had to say about him. To this moment I have no idea whether he knew who I was , whether Lexi had ever mentioned me. If he did then my irritation was likely to rise further up in me.

"Oh good. That means everyone is all introduced and getting along and I didn't even have to do a thing," Lexi cheerily remarks, clapping.

"Yep, just splendid," I retort, adding in a slight glare directed towards Theo once Lexi wouldn't be able to see it. She didn't need to see it and have me meddling into whatever was going on in her life. I learnt to stay away from her life decisions a while ago and especially with her last boyfriend.

Whilst I get away with sending glares in Theo's direction without Lexi seeing I failed with my discretion in regards to Damon. He catches on to my pointed stares and the way that Theo was amused, leading to him giving me a confused expression with his eyebrows scrunched together in an adorable boyish manner.

"Well, in that case we should totally all get together some time. Theo and I and how about Damon and Ella?" she proposes with all three of the rest of us quickly turning our heads in response to her proposition, especially the bit about 'Damon and Ella'.

The only thing that could make this situation more awkward for me after establishing an attraction to the guy she was seeing is her now trying to set me up with his friend, or whatever he was to him. 

"I think that's an idea that we should 'totally' discuss later," I reply, mocking my sister, "You know, when you've come back to my place and we've both had a good long sleep that will hopefully get some of the alcohol out of your system," I say, making my own proposition which would highlight my role as the more responsible and, in Lexi's opinion, 'boring' sister.

"Fine," she agrees, drawing out the word in exasperation. With one last exaggerated tip of her head back she quickly finishes a full flute of champagne she snatches from a tray before pulling Damon and then Theo in for one of her trademark drunk hugs to say goodbye, giving the latter a quick kiss on the cheek before rushing off without me.

With Lexi not waiting for me, running off to say goodbye to someone else,  I quickly turn to Damon and Theo to say goodbye, not knowing whether I'd see them again but also having an inkling that Lexi would somehow ensure that we do meet again.

"Thanks for keeping me company," I say to Damon, playing with my fingers awkwardly and  with a timid smile to accompany my gratitude. It was difficult to decide how to say goodbye to someone you had just met but then again he had been so kind to keep my company that I couldn't just leave without doing so.

"It was my pleasure," he tells me, returning a warm smile to me.

I then turn to Theo who stands there waiting  wearing the same awkward expression that I must be wearing; unsure of what we should say to each other. Meeting your sibling's new boyfriend or girlfriend is uncomfortable as it is let alone when you had a moment with him in only a short time earlier. And maybe I was wrong but it almost seemed for a moment out there, whilst he was still the mystery guy to me, that he might've reciprocated the interest I had.

Yet now I'm just left standing here guilty for ever having thoughts like that about a guy my sister was involved in, even if it was for a shortest moment and I had no clue. I'm left with this unsettling feeling, not sure what to say to him as he stands there staring back at me, not sure how i'll continue on knowing that I was attracted to this man who would now be in my sister's life for however long.

"I hope to see you again, Ella," he says, saving me from the need to come up with anything to summarise my thoughts right now.

If ten minutes ago he had found me at the end of this night to say goodbye to me I would have been able to react in a completely different way. I would have had a bashful smile spread wide across my face and my heart would have fluttered wildly as he said to me those words; his simple uttering of my name seeming so special to me like it never had been when anyone else had said it. I would have hopefully exchanged numbers with him,  have gone home and maybe even have not been able to sleep from thinking about him, wondering whether he would call or if I'd see him again.

But that's not what happened. Instead it would be revealed that this man who intrigued me so undeniably was someone so off limits it was almost pathetic, a fact which I still couldn't determine whether he knew about.

It might seem crazy to someone how easily my attention and thoughts had been captured by Theodore in such a short amount of time but clearly that someone had not met one as captivating as Theodore Harrington before. I might have been such a person in any other situation but in this situation I could not withhold myself. Not after being entranced by his doe-like wide eyes which reminded you of the deep churning waves of the ocean, or after sitting with him as the time flew past talking about everything under the night sky.  

The way he looked at me also contributed to my fascination. When he we stood there together, away from the rest of the world for a moment, he somehow made me feel like I was worthy of his time; like I was interesting. I felt that he was truly looking at me and listening to me, observing my actions and words as I did his. That's at least what it seemed like to me but then again things never turned out like how they seemed or how you predicted. Maybe I was just caught up in the romance of it all. The dreamy guy, the beautiful setting, me being very much single. 

"Goodnight, Theodore," I decide to reply, utilising his full name intentionally so as to make sure it was clear to him that any connection we had made earlier was diminished. I could have been over thinking it all but it almost seemed like I could see a reaction in his eyes to my obvious refusal to use the nickname he had told me. His eyes seemed to flash over with a sense of recognition and surprise; widening ever so slightly in response.

And with one more look back at two men who had such a great presence in my mind after one night, I turned and walked over to where Lexi stood waiting at the door. My mind hoped I wouldn't have to see him and be reminded of this mix up which could only be described as wrong, but my body and heart betrayed me. It took over my mind, spreading like a horrible infection and making me wonder would I ever see Theodore Harrington again? 

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Would love to know how you imagine Theo Harrington. Personally I imagine to kind of look like Jamie Dornan but largely in his pre-FSOG days, especially when he used to be on the show Once Upon A Time and had longer hair.  Feel free to imagine him as you please but curious to hear your thoughts. 

If you're enjoying the story so far, please vote, comment and share.

Thanks,

THEFICTIONDREAMER

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