Out of the Shadows ✔️ [Completed] [Book One]

Chapter 8

I'm abruptly woken the next morning by my door buzzer ringing repeatedly. I put my pillow over my head in a daze, but the noise doesn't stop. It's 9.34am and I can't honestly remember the last time I slept in this late. The buzzer continues the relentless tone and I throw the covers off me and stomp to the intercom. For fuck sake I think to myself, this better be something important.

"Hello?" I grunt down the intercom.

"Thank the lord, open the bloody door Lizzie!" Caroline shouts back at me.

Without another word, I press the buzzer and open the door. I sit on the settee and wait for her arrival. Caroline literally bursts into the room with takeout coffees in one hand and a bag of muffins in the other. She has the biggest grin I have ever seen plastered across her face.

"What's going on?" I ask while rubbing sleep out of my eyes, knowing that something big must have happened.

"Don't you answer your phone anymore?" She scolds me, but still maintains her huge smile. "I've been trying to get hold of you for over an hour." I'm totally perplexed about why she is here, but gratefully grab a coffee from her and take a bite from a blueberry muffin. These are my favourite, so I know she's up to something. "Well?" She says taking a seat opposite me, leaning forward.

"Well what?" I answer with my mouth full, realisation dawning on me that she wants a detailed account of my evening with Daniel.

"Don't be cute with me Ms Cooper; you're all over the internet!" She clasps her hands together excitedly as I almost choke on my coffee in surprise. Caroline hands me her phone without another word and there on my favourite celeb gossip site is a picture of me and Daniel from last night. The caption above says 'The Look of Love?' I'm completely gobsmacked. I look at the picture for a few seconds, not really believing that it's me with Daniel. There are several shots of us, but the main one is of us in the rain. We are holding hands and laughing. I'm looking up to the sky grinning wildly and Daniel is looking adoringly at me ... at me! The shot looks like something straight from a movie. I gaze up at Caroline with my mouth open in shock.

Sarah arrives before I have chance to compose myself, still in last night's clothes with her phone in her hand.

"Fuck me Lizzie, you looked stunning last night ... not so much now though." She grins and I bob my tongue out at her like a child. She takes a huge bite from a muffin and bounces down on the settee. I happily relive the entire evening from start to finish.

"It's all so romantic Lizzie." Caroline beams at me, completely sincere. I make us all a cup of tea and when I come back Sarah stands up and puts her hands on my shoulders at arm's length. She looks seriously into my eyes which takes me by surprise.

"He looks completely smitten with you. He's gorgeous, he's an A-List movie star, he's loaded – for all our sakes, do not fuck this up!" She bursts out laughing and pulls me in for a hug. The girls then fill me in on their evenings. While we gossip, things feel completely normal again, but I can't help but sense everything has changed. I'm not quite sure how, but I feel like my world has gotten a little wider and that my axis has shifted slightly.

Sarah and Caroline leave a little while later because they both have plans. I'm pleased, but surprised that Sarah has agreed to see this new man, Andy, again. Sarah looks totally infatuated by him. Three dates in as many days, this is definitely a record.

I settle on my sofa and cannot help myself. I grab the iPad, pull up the celebrity site and stare at the picture of us again. We are the headline picture and the whole thing is completely surreal. I have spent years reading the articles on this site on a daily basis and now I'm the main picture. I'm trying not to read too much into the title of the article or the way Daniel is looking at me and am resigned to the fact that the picture must have been taken at just the right moment. I cannot really have such an effect on him – can I?