I'd had a busy day at work. The stress with deadlines were really catching up with me and I felt I had to break my everyday routine and decided to grab a coffee heading home. Just to get a minute where I only thought about what I wanted, not what my work demanded me to do. I found a cafe and walked in and placed my order. I was just waiting for my coffee when I heard a deep voice behind me
"Mia...?"
I span round to see Chris stood behind me.
"Chris! Hi" I said, surprised to see him "I didn't expect to see you here."
"I'm just here with my boys." he said pointing over to three boys sat at a table. The oldest seemed to be around 15 and the youngest around 10. "We've had an afternoon out so stopped for a coffee."
I hadn't thought about Chris having kids or a family until now.
"Your wife's not with you?" I asked politely.
"My wife...? Oh no... No I'm not married anymore. We've been divorced for about two years now."
"Sorry." I looked away a little embarrassed at asking such a personal question.
"Don't be, it's fine. It was a long time ago now. And we have shared custody so I get plenty of time with the boys." His eyes were smiling when he looked at me. "So are you meeting someone?" he asked.
"Me? No. Just decided to treat myself with a latte before going home."
"Why don't you join us then? Save you sitting alone."
"Thanks but I don't want to intrude." I shook my head.
"You're not. Come on." At that moment the barista placed my coffee on the tray in front of me so Chris picked it up and carried it over to his table giving me no choice but to follow. As we reached the table he said
"Mia I'd like you to meet my sons Liam, Dash, and Eamon. Boys this is Mia."
"Hi" I said.
They all looked up muttered hi and then went back to their conversation looking at something on a mobile phone. I was surprised at how relaxed they were. I'd been worried they might think I was trying to date their dad but I guess with Chris being famous they were used to lots of people being around him.
Chris laughed a little "Kids eh?" he said as he placed my tray on the table. "Take a seat."
I sat down next to him feeling a little bit awkward. It seemed weird being sat with him and his boys like I was one of the family when I hardly knew him. But Chris was so friendly as usual that I soon relaxed and it wasn't long before we were chatting like we'd known each other for years. After a while he even had the boys joining in too. They seemed so close to their dad it was great to see them together.
We'd been chatting for about an hour when Liam said "When are we going home dad?"
"Why?" Chris asked.
"Adam has just text to ask when I can join him to play online."
Chris gave a little laugh and looked at his watch. Then he turned to me.
"I guess I should think about taking them home and preparing some dinner. It was lovely bumping into you Mia."
"Yes I've really enjoyed chatting with you all." I said and at Chris as I got up from the table. Everyone else stood too and Chris gave me a quick hug.
"Well hopefully I'll see you again soon." he said as he picked up his things and started to walk away. He'd only walked a couple of steps before he turned back and said "Unless you fancy joining us for dinner? It won't be anything complicated. But the boys will no doubt disappear in their rooms when we get back so you could keep me company."
"Erm...." I muttered a little shocked. It wasn't that I didn't want to go with him I was just surprised he'd asked and I was meeting Taylor later.
"It's OK. Don't worry about it. It was just a thought and you've probably got other plans anyway." He looked a little uncomfortable like he thought he'd said something wrong.
"Well I have got plans but not until about 8.30....." I let the sentence trail off as I knew I couldn't tell him who I was meeting.
"I don't mind if you have to eat and run." he said with a grin.
For a moment I held his gaze and then I smiled
"OK then I'd love to."
After all what harm would having dinner with a friend do? He was good company, I liked him and his boys so it would be fun.
"Great. Are you driving or do you want to come with us?" he asked.
"A lift would be great thanks."
A short while later we pulled up outside a beautiful house. It was huge and looked amazing. I was lost in a world of my own starring at it when Chris' voice brought me to my senses "You gonna sit there all afternoon?"
"What? No." I said blushing a little as I climbed from the car and followed everyone else up to the front door.
Once we were inside the boys all headed off in one direction while Chris led me in another. He took me into the living room and pointed to the sofa "Why don't you take a seat and I'll go and put this stuff in the kitchen." he said holding up a bag in front of him.
"OK" I answered as he wandered off. As I waited for him to come back I looked around the room, there was lots of music related stuff as I'd expected, like records and guitars all over the room but there were family photos too.
"Fancy a beer?" Chris called from the kitchen.
"I'd love one. Thanks." I called back.
I stood and walked over to the photos. I'd looked at the ones of the boys and was just looking at a photo of Chris and two other men when he said behind me "Those are my brothers Mike and Scott"
I jumped a bit cause I hadn't heard him sneaking up behind me.
"Sorry, didnt mean to scare you" he laughed a bit
"No its fine, didnt hear you that all. So thats your brothers?"
"Yes. Its my brothers." Then he picked up another photo "and that's us with our mum" He smiled as he spoke.
"You seem like a close family."
"We are." He placed the photo back on the table.
"So are of your family musicians too?"
"Our parents don't play anything. But both my brothers play guitar. They were the ones that inspired me to start playing. In fact me and Scott played in a band together when we were younger." He talked with such a warmth in his voice about the. It was lovely to hear him talk about his family. You could tell he cared about them a lot from the way he spoke.
He handed me the beer and we went and sat on the sofa. "So what about your family? I heard you say your dad taught you to play guitar."
I smiled at him. "Yeah all my family are quite musical. My mum is a great singer, but she doesn't think she is. My dad plays classical guitar and he taught me to play at an early age."
"So you play classical mainly?"
"No I just play whatever I like the sound of." I said and I noticed him looking deep in to my eyes, and it made me a bit nervous "Thanks for playing with me the other day in the studio by the way. I really enjoyed it."
He grinned at me. "Well maybe we can do it again sometime. In fact maybe you could learn some of my solo stuff and support me at one of my gigs. What do you say?"
The thought of being up on stage with him made me really excited.
"I'd love that. That would be really fun! But I might not be good enough..."
"Trust me, you are!" He said
"Ok then, I'm game if you are!" I smiled
"That's awesome Mia!" He seemed really happy that I'd said yes.
We talked for a while longer and then Chris prepared some pasta for dinner. He called the boys from their rooms and we all sat and ate together. It gave me a warm feeling inside being sat with them, I really felt like one of the family.
After we'd eaten Chris passed me another beer and we left the boys to clear away the dishes and wash up.
"Well if I've cooked it's only fair they do the cleaning." He joked, throwing a tea towel at Dash before turning to leave the kitchen.
I followed him back into the living room. As we sat down I checked the time, it was almost 8 and I really had to get going. I was gonna meet Taylor. The thought of Taylor made my stomach flutter inside.
"Thanks for a lovely meal. It was nice not to eat alone. But I'll have to call a cab in a few minutes."
"It was my pleasure. Maybe we can do it again sometime?" His eyes were warm when they met mine and for a minute I felt bad for lying to him about Taylor....
I sat for a minute not sure how to answer him. I had enjoyed my time with him and part of me did want to do it again but there was something about the look on his face when he asked that made me a little nervous and I wasn't sure why. I opted for taking a gulp of beer and just nodding my head slightly.
For a few minutes we sat in silence until Chris finally looked at me with a serious expression and said
"Mia, can I ask you something?"
"Of course." I said feeling a little apprehensive.
All of a sudden he looked a little flustered, like he didn't know how to ask. He licked his lips and then dropped his head as he said
"Is there something going on between you and Taylor?"
I felt myself turn cold inside. I stopped breathing and didn't know what to say.
"Is there what...?" I wasn't sure what to say and the words seemed cold and stiff coming out of my mouth. I knew Taylor had said to keep things secret for a while but I didn't really want to lie either. Not to Chris who'd been nothing but kind to me.
"I just wondered that's all, you seem to get on well together. But sorry I shouldn't have asked." He seemed really nervous now. He flickered with his finger over the bottle in his hands.
I looked at my feet for a few seconds before answering him.
"Uhm.... Well it kinda is..." I said suddenly really nervous saying it out loud. Chris looked up at me. "We've been on a date and I'm actually meeting him tonight. Taylor doesn't want anyone to know though..."
"Oh I see." he answered. Then he was quiet for a while. I looked over at him and couldn't decide if his face showed disappointment or concern or something else entirely.
"Look, Taylor is my friend, in fact he really helped me when I joined the Foo Fighters, but be careful OK?"
I looked at him and for a moment he held my gaze. What did he mean by being careful? I didnt know what to say. Then he forced a smile before turning his head. He looked down on the bottle of beer in his hands, his fingers nervously peeling off the paper label.
"Well you better call that cab." He muttered not looking at me
"Yeah." I answered. I took out my phone, ordered the cab and then we drank the rest of our beers in silence. The feeling in the room had changed and it was like hearing about me and Taylor had upset Chris. And I couldn't understand why? But I knew I didnt like it. I was relieved when I heard the horn of the cab outside. I stood and grabbed my bag.
"Thanks again for the dinner." I told him.
"You're welcome." he replied following me to the front door. For a moment he just looked at me and then he smiled a little before saying "Well enjoy the rest of your evening." He gave me a hug that seemed to last just a little bit longer than an usual friendly hug before opening the door for me. The hug left shivers inside of me. That confused me, but I decided that it was just because of the situation.
"Thanks I'm sure I will. Goodnight Chris."
"Goodnight."
As I walked to the cab I heard the door close behind me. I turned and looked at the house, confused as to how I felt about leaving. Things had felt a bit strained with Chris at the end and part of me wanted to go back and try and sort things out. But then I thought about the sexy blonde that was waiting for me and I figured sorting things with Chris could wait.