|| Don't you let it go ||
"I'd like to get to know you better too," I smile at him. I open my mouth to say more, but music begins to play. I see Marco taking Scarlett onto the floor to dance. Other couples steadily make their way onto the floor for the slow dance.
"Would you like to dance?" Christian asks standing up and holding his hand out.
I nod shyly and take his hand. I hope this is okay with Josa. Christian slowly leads us to the dance floor. I recognise the song as 'Thinking Out Loud' by Ed Sheehan. I feel slightly awkward slow dancing with Christian since I just met him, but at the same, I'm not too worried. He's a nice young man.
Christian gently takes my hand in his and weaves our fingers together. I feel my heart racing. I look up at him and stare into his eyes. It's like something clicks. I feel my heart starting to beat faster.
'People fall in love in mysterious ways. Maybe just the touch of a hand'
The lyrics are speaking to me as Christian's other hand lightly rests on my waist. I gently place my other hand on his shoulder. I smile up at him as we gently sway back and forth.
"You look beautiful," he says softly.
"Thank you," I blush, "you're very handsome."
"Thank you. So Rosaline, are you having a good time?"
"I am now. These parties are usually boring since we stay in the back making sure everything goes right. We just want the perfect night for you all."
"You don't drink or eat any of the stuff?"
"No," I shake my head, "we don't usually eat or drink until you're all gone. And it's not too much."
"Well then I think you should join us for dinner."
"Oh no. No, that's not allowed," I shake my head.
"Your job is to make us the players happy. I the player won't be happy if you don't have dinner," Christian says.
"Uhm," I hesitate, "o-okay," I nod not wanting to make Christian, the Borussia Dortmund player unhappy.
I look up at Christian again as we continue to dance to the song. He slowly moves us around. I smile widely and see he has a grin that matches mine. He has a great smile. It shows off his cute dimples.
'And, baby, your smile's forever in my mind and memory'
It's true. I will always remember this night. I'm here dancing with Christian Pulisic. I won't let this night go by too quickly. I smile and cautiously rest my head on his chest. He smiles and moves his hand to my lower back until it's resting just above my butt. His head leans on mine as well. I smile listening to his heart beating steadily. It's soothing and calming. The song ends, and we pull apart. I go to talk to Josa. I know I need to tell her what Christian said.
"Where are you going?" He questions taking my hand again as I turn away.
"I have to go talk to my boss," I explain.
"Okay. I'll save you a seat," he winks.
"Thank you," I smile going to talk to Josa.
"Josa," I say when I get to my boss.
"So your night is going well. Who's he?"
"Christian Pulisic. He's on the team. He said that he won't be happy with the night if I don't have dinner with him," I mumble.
"Then you should go have dinner. We can't have any of the players unhappy " Josa winks.
"Really?"
"Go!" She shoos me away.
I blush and smile as I walk over to where I see Christian. He grins and stands up. He walks over to me and offers me his arm. I link mine with his. I blush and look down as we walk over to where he's sitting. He helps me sit down again before sitting down next to me.
"Chris. Who's this?" Marco Reus asks looking at me.
"This is Rosaline. She's one of the people that organised this party."
"You did this?" Scarlett Gartmann questions.
"I helped," I shrug.
"Best party I've been to in a LONG time!" She gushed.
"Ay! What about my parties?!" Some other man asks.
"Pierre, your parties are good, but this. This! Is an event!" Scarlett gestures widely nearly smacking Marco in the face. He snorts and lowers her hand away from his face.
"Watch the hair, liebe," Marco complains.
"Shut up," Scarlett laughs.
I smile as I sit quietly listening to the players talk. Christian keeps his hand intertwined with mine. I smile shyly at him when I notice he's staring at me. He grins wider and gently squeezes my hand before chiming into the conversation about the Euros and the Copa America Centenario. I grin widely and look at the table decorations. The yellow flowers are blooming and look beautiful. I'm proud of the work we did to put this together.
"Christian. Who's this?" a voice asks from behind us. I turn around slightly and see an older man behind us.
"This is Rosaline. She helped plan this event. Rosaline, this is my dad, Mark," Christian smiles.
"Nice to meet you, sir" I smile removing my hand from Christian's so I can shake hands with his father.
"Nice to meet you. Lovely party," he smiles at me.
"Thank you. We worked hard to make it perfect."
"You did."
"So, Dad, are you sitting down here?"
"That I am," Mr. Pulisic nods before sitting down with us.
I smile as I listen to the conversation that sprouts between father and son. I look at my phone to grab the time and see that dinner is running late. I frown and wonder if I should ask Josa what's going on. Right as I'm about to text her, I see a call coming through from her. I excuse myself before hitting the answer button. I can feel Christian's gaze following me out of the room and into the hallway. I quickly transfer the audio into my ear piece.
"Josa, hi. Dinner is running later. What's up? How can I help?"
"It is. What happened was most of the servers quit, and no one told me until now."
"What?! Are you serious?"
"Dead serious. You can help by coming to the kitchen. We have to help serve the food. I found clothes for everyone."
"Okay. I'm on my way," I say as I walk towards the kitchen.
I hang up my phone and carefully hurry down the hallway to where the kitchen is. I see that Josa, Ariel, Cicely, Nicole, Xander, Jacob, and Jack are all there too. Josa nods at me and hands me a stack of black clothes. She starts teling us what tables we'll be helping serve. Of course I end up with Christian's table. I sigh slightly, but I know that this is part of my job.
"Okay. Go quickly change and then come back. We can't serve until everyone is here," Josa says.
We nod and run off to the bathrooms to change. I slip off my heels before we break apart and head to the bathroom. I unfold the clothes and crinkle my nose as the black shirt and pants.I head into a stall to get ready. I carefully get out of my dress and get into the new clothes. I hiss when I realize they are slightly too small.
"So, Rosa, how's it going with the footballer?" Cicely teases from her stall.
"Oh shut up!"
"Noo. You gotta tell us!" Ariel agrees.
"He's nice. They like the party. That's about it."
"How was the wine?" Nicole quizzes.
"It was fine" I say.
I'm not wanting to give them too many details. Not much is happening, and I don't want have too many people involved in case anything does happen. I hate meddling because I am a very private person. I finish getting changed and slip back into my heels. I head to the mirror and quickly check to make sure my hair looks okay. It does, so I head back to the kitchen.
"Good. Okay. You're going to be serving with Mitchel, Rosaline," Josa points me towards a tall man.
"Got it."
I walk over to get a brief understanding of what I will be doing. I nod slowly. I'm not going to lie, I'm sad that I have to serve Christian's table. I feel weird about it. I'm fine being a waitress. I wait tables in addition to this internship. I will continue to wait tables even once I officially start working for Josa. The rest of the girls come into the kitchen.
"Okay. Let's go. Remember, make sure the footballers and their guests are satisfied."
I smile as I walk out with Mitchel. Christian's table is opposite the kitchen. I walk and sigh slightly. I meet Scarlett Gartmann's gaze, and she looks at me surprised. She starts whispering to Marco who looks at me just as surprised. I feel my cheeks burning. I see him getting Christian's attention. I look away and over towards Cicely. I hate this so much. Just minutes ago, I was sitting around with Borussia Dortmund players like an equal; now I'm serving them. Guess that really put me back into my place.
"Hi, I'm Mitchel, and this is Rosalinda-"
"It's Rosaline actually," Christian interrupts Mitchel making butterflies swarm in my stomach.
"Sorry, Rosaline. We will be your servers for the night," Mitchel smiles tightly before handing me the iPad to get the orders that were submitted.
I scroll through and check the cart to make sure everything is there while Mitchel talks to them. I bite my lip and sigh slightly when I see Christian's order and mine right after. This is so awkward. Mitchel looks at me, and I nod to let him know everything is there. We begin to serve dinner, and I can tell everyone at the table feels awkward. I keep a light smile on my face knowing this is my job.
"Rosaline, there's an extra meal here," Mitchel comments once everyone has been served.
"Oh yeah, uhm it's mine. I'll just have it later," I mumble not wanting to make a big fuss.
"You can eat with us," Mario says.
"Please do," Pierre says.
"Really it's fine. I have a job to do right now, so," I break off awkwardly just wanting to go back to the kitchen.
"Well if she's eating later, then I will too. Please keep my plate with Rosaline's," Christian requests handing his plate back to Mitchel.
"Of course," Mitchel nods taking the plate and putting a cloche over it, "We'll be back in a little bit to check up on you all."
Mitchel and I walk away. I clutch at the iPad and bite my lip. I can't believe Christian sent his dinner back for later. I smile slightly. That was really nice of him. I run my fingers through my hair. Once in the kitchen, we all sit down and go through the dessert orders. I smile when I see Christian's name. I hardly know him, and I have already developed a crush on him.
- - - - -
The party ends, and everyone leaves, but our work is far from over. We get to clean up. This is the worst part in my opinion. We all bustle around tearing down the photo-op set up. We roll up the red carpet and get the flowers put away. The next thing we do is fold the table cloths. I sigh looking around at the place once everything is stripped down and packed up. It looks like a normal room now. I give Cicely a hug and smile. I'll see her once I go back to our place. I still have a meal to eat.
I'm the only one who got a meal from the venue. Everyone else is going home to eat. I head into the kitchen once everyone is gone. I'm shocked to see Christian leaning against the cold metal cart in the kitchen where our dinners are. I tilt my head at him questioningly.
"What are you still doing here?" I ask in absolute shock.
"I said I wouldn't be happy if I didn't have dinner with you. So, shall we have dinner?" He asks.
"Yes," I smile widely