As the car turns off the highway into residential streets, Anna searches out landmarks, as if she were marking her way home.
“Almost there,” Frank warns as he makes a last turn. Anna reads the road sign: North Hangar Avenue.
LA Dolce Vita
Tolly lives in a gated development. Frank stops to talk to the guard before he rolls forwards again. He finally pulls up outside a high wall with tall trees behind, all outlined by a blaze of light. This must be the house.
“I’ll be waiting right here for you,” Frank assures them. “Any time of the night, I’ll be here.”
“Thank you, Frank,” Anna says as Frank hauls himself out of the driver’s seat and opens the rear door.
“Best leave your phones in the car,” he says. “They’ll only take them off you at the door. Saves any chance of them getting lost.”
Bella pouts. “But I wanted a selfie!”
“Exactly why they take your phones, ma’am.” Frank’s gentle tones are commiserating.
“Whose party is it, anyway?” Bella turns to Anna. But Anna realises she doesn’t quite trust Bella not to blast the details on social media. It’s best Bella finds out after she’s lost access to her phone.
“You’ll find out soon enough.”
Anna drops her phone into the side pocket of the car door. Bella, scrambling out after her, does the same. Anna closes her eyes for one moment, trying to centre the swirl of feelings unexpectedly surging through her. She has never been nervous about meeting a friend before; she cannot understand why she is now. Bella has no such issue. She struts towards the suited security guard standing by a gate. Anna hurries to catch up.
“Please, can I have your name?” the guard asks.
Anna hesitates for one moment, then says, “Dr Anna.” Tolly does not yet know her surname. She will cross that bridge when they come to it.
“We will need you to check your phones,” the guard asks.
Bella raises her hands in the air and shakes her body, fringes dancing. “Not got one on me,” she says. “You can frisk me if you like.”
Anna gives the guard full marks on forbearance. Clearly, Bella is not the first to invite him to pat them down.
“That won’t be necessary,” he says, his poker face in place. “Please wait here. Someone will be out to fetch you in a minute.”
Bella is already swaying to the faint strands of music. It is only a minute or two before a dark figure emerges on the path behind the guard.
Anna could have sworn her memories of Tolly were accurate. The image of him as she first met him, white tee, beige jumper, floppy hair, smooth and slick, are fixed forever in her brain. That picture of him, the refined charmer, has been reinforced by the photos flashed on the television news screen this morning. But somehow he’s grown in presence since then. Matured, deepened. Nothing prepares her for this sight of Tolly.
He’s in a white linen shirt, sleeves rolled up, forearms exposed. He’s abandoned whatever jacket he might have been wearing earlier and his shirt is open several buttons, giving a glimpse of dark, curling chest hair. Pale grey lightweight chinos cinched with a worn leather belt frame his hips. His hair is tousled, one strand bouncing over his forehead, the rest pushed carelessly back. His dark eyes are crinkled at the edges and his Hollywood-white teeth show in a big grin. Slightly sweaty, a lot dishevelled, he has never looked so delectable. Her memories are nothing to the reality, and Anna knows she is in trouble. This Tolly Hyde is the epitome of the Sexiest Man Alive.
Beside her, Anna registers Bella’s intake of breath. She turns to Anna with eyes wide. “Is that Tolly Hyde? You know Tolly fucking Hyde?”
Anna ignores her, attention fixed on Tolly. Truth told, she could not have taken her eyes off him even if Bella were on fire. He has captured the whole of her awareness with an intensity that scares her. His eyes are dark pools that match the shadows. Despite his evening stubble, she can trace the indentations of his famous dimples, the faint line between his brows. His eyes hold hers. She wonders what he sees. A nervous woman in a borrowed dress? Can he tell the muddle of feelings the sight of him evokes? The war between head and heart? One part of her wants to run. The other is frozen waiting for the axe to fall. The only thing that helps is his focus is on her. He does not appear to have noticed the blonde beauty beside Anna.
He steps closer. Bella gives a little whimper. Whether afraid or star-struck, Anna can’t tell.
He stops in front of her, out of reach. “Anna.” He says her name as if releasing a breath. It thrills through her. “You came.”
Cool Anna would be all sarky and “Well, I’m standing right here, so I guess so”, but cool Anna has long since surrendered. Smitten Anna has no words. She is utterly helpless except for the smile creeping across her face.
How long she might have stood there gazing vacuously at Tolly is anyone’s guess, but Bella recovers sooner. She steps in front of Anna, placing her body between the two of them. She proffers her hand. “Hi, I’m Bella, Anna’s bestie.”
The reaction is ingrained. Tolly raises his hand and shakes hers. “Tolly Hyde,” he says, like the impeccable English gentleman he is. “Pleased to meet you.” Anna can’t see his expression because her view is blocked by a shaggy, blonde head, but she can hear the bemusement in his words. Maybe sheshould be grateful to Bella. Cutting off the sight of him gives her a chance to breathe.
She hears the switch, bemused to polite as he asks, “Do you live in LA, Bella?” It is automatic. The repetition of the name back.I hear you. I see you. It is charm in action.
Bella is smoother than most in the circumstances, although her words still gabble out. “Just visiting. A conference.”
