Midsummer Night Gala

Another Coffee Shop chapter! Do you guys like this font? I hope you enjoy. It's L's birthday tomorrow so I'm still working really hard! High school junior year is a bad time to procrastinate on friends' gifts. Moral of story: friends are more important than grades...? hahah... um actually I don't know. JK, you need a healthy balance xx 

Midsummer Night Gala 

Lillian wondered what exactly Christopher wanted. She had cancelled her date with Liam because her father made her. It was the day of the huge Midsummer Night gala. Lillian was in her father’s house because Sidney needed “room”. She had come back late yesterday but her father had been totally fine with it. It was weird because he was never okay with her staying out with Liam.

 “Honey, come here,” he yelled loudly. He hadn’t gotten remarried but Lillian knew plans were in the working. Movie producers rarely had affairs or several marriages. “Does this diamond look prettier than this one?” Her father was trying ever so hard to get her involved in his life. It wasn’t going to happen and both of them knew deep down. “Did you know Mrs. Kendrick has a daughter your age?”

“I don’t want a sister. I don’t even want to be here.”

“How was your date, sweetie? Mm, I have one more question after that.” Lillian’s eyes wandered around to the papers scattered on the counter. Her gaze landed on Liam’s name. Was her dad finally using him in a movie? Liam was probably the least needy person she knew. 

“Dad, it was fine! Why do you want to know so much?” She really did have a good night. He was pleasantly funny and was easy to get along with. She could let loose without ordering three martinis. 

“Privacy,” her father said with a knowing look. It was driving her crazy. “Do you think this promo is better than that promo?” Lillian sat down on the kitchen counter stool and turned the laptop towards her. He watched her with fascination. She froze. It was the guy she had that date with! It was the guy she had spilled coffee on. Lillian felt everything in her body stop. She couldn’t even swallow her own spit.

“It’s chilling right? I was thinking that it was a little creepy,” her father began to say. 

“Dad, who is that guy right there, next to Kyra Martin?” Her voice wavered. Her father gave her another strange glance.

“Lillian, that’s Andrew Foster, the guy you’ve been eating dinner with and everything.” 

“He’s Andrew Foster?” Lillian was hyperventilating. 

“I’m a movie producer, this is shameful,” her father said laughing. 

“Uh huh,” she nervously sputtered. “I have to go.” She had agreed on meeting Liam for an early breakfast. Lillian was already thirty minutes late. She stared outside and almost melted in the searing sun. Lillian hurriedly changed into something presentable. 

“I just did yoga,” she muttered and ran out the door. She was wearing yoga pants and her hair was tied in a beehive bun. Yoga was a fad right now. Everyone did yoga. The café they agreed to meet at wasn’t too far away from her house. After a painful ten minute sprint, she panted and opened the door. She scoured around and found Liam with his arm around another girl. She wanted to leave but the girl had already seen her. 

“Hey babe,” Liam casually said. Lillian rolled her eyes. He could have done her justice by at least choosing someone prettier than her. 

“What is this?” The only feeling she felt was anger. 

“We’re done,” he said so casually. 

“What?”

“I don’t need you to get me a movie deal, Lilly.” 

“You wanted a movie deal from me?” Her thoughts ventured back to the paper with his name on it. Her breathing got slower. Liam shrugged. 

“You aren’t getting a movie deal out of my dad. I don’t know how you did it but you aren’t getting it.”

“Andrew and I made a little bet. He chickened out I guess and I won a movie deal. Sorry babe.” 

“You are unbelievable.” Lillian slapped his face before leaving with all her dignity. She had to speak with her father. She also had to apologize to Andrew. Why hadn’t he ever told her he wasn’t Christopher Fleming? He would’ve saved her a lot of embarrassment. 

She started to run and bumped into another person. Lillian looked down and tried to walk in the other direction. It was a New York thing to do. 

“Lillian?” It was just her luck. She looked up and tried to smile. 

“Andrew,” she said rolling her eyes. She didn’t need any guys to make her happy.

“I guess you found out my secret,” he said sighing. “Christopher is my half-brother.” Lillian nodded slowly. It would explain how the nurse mixed them up.

“Why? You know I spent half our time together saying that I wouldn’t date you because you were after my dad. Weren’t you annoyed that I called you Christopher?” 

“Lillian,” he said holding her hand. “Would you go to the gala with me?” Lillian wondered what the correct response was. She did like Andrew but she didn’t know if she liked him in a romantic way. 

“I don’t,” she began to say. He leaned down and kissed before she could say anything else. She tried to push away from him but he was a really good kisser. That was probably the one bonus about dating a celebrity. 

“Andrew!” She yelped. 

“Will you go with me?”

“Sure,” she said shaking her head. Lillian went home promptly after that. She stole the piece of paper with Liam’s name on it. Her father had a ton of actors to work with. Liam wouldn’t be one of them. Lillian put the paper in the shredding machine. “Bye Liam,” she said as she watched the paper shredding apart. She looked at her phone. It was Ryan. How many times was he going to call? She hoped he wasn’t apologizing again. Claire had told her that Liam only wanted her for her producer dad. She hadn’t believed Claire then. Lillian didn’t even know how Claire had gotten that information. 

“Please give me Claire’s phone number,” he said aggravated. She read it out and he hung up after the last digit. Lillian glanced back at the email that Claire had sent her, the most recent one. Claire had recently gotten a phone, so recent that the number wasn’t even saved in Lillian’s phone. The last digit wasn’t a seven, it was a five. She tried dialing again but the line was busy. Lillian hoped everything would turn out all right. 

Ryan urgently dialed the number that Lillian had given him. Someone picked up his call but it wasn’t anyone he recognized. Ryan groaned but she had already picked up the phone. He was already in the LA hotel with the rest of his family. His father miraculously made it on time for their flight. 

“Hello?”

“Hi this is Ryan Nichols. I was wondering if this is Claire.” 

“Ah, no this Kiana,” the girl said cheerily.

“Oh, sorry wrong number,” he said and hung up. He dialed Lillian’s number again but she wasn’t picking up either. This wasn’t going to turn out so nicely. His mother gave him the evil eye from the other side of the hotel suite. Sasha’s family had already been called. The gala was coming up in just an hour. He had been notified that the O’Shea’s were coming too.

“Get on your tux,” Melanie said curling the last bit of her hair. He nodded and washed his face first. His limbs were numb from such a long plane ride. The rest of his family didn’t seem affected. He changed and his mother smiled again. They took a limo to the fanciest hotel in Los Angeles. There were tons of celebrities that Melanie was going crazy over. 

“Hey, look there’s Andrew Foster,” Melanie said gushing with excitement. Ryan nodded and turned his attention towards the famous movie star. Lillian was standing next to him. What were the odds of that? Ryan walked towards her briskly. His parents wouldn’t miss him for that long. His mother was just waiting to see Claire. 

“Where’s Claire?” He asked immediately. 

“I dunno, I don’t think she’s here yet,” Lillian replied. “I have to go. That girl wants an autograph.” Lillian left as quickly as he’d come. Things still weren’t straightened out even though she knew now. Sasha had really messed up pretty much all of his relationships, even friendships. Lillian was planning a date with Liam. The addresses were mixed up and they both went to different places. Sasha had told Liam that Lillian wasn’t into him anymore and she told Lillian that he, Ryan, was desperately in love with her. Things got weird and Lillian confessed that she kind of liked him too. He straight up rejected her because he hadn’t known that Sasha had planted this idea in her head. He had his sights on Sasha at the time. Lillian never really forgave him. Liam had gotten a movie contract and wasn’t too upset. 

Ryan sat down in the lounge area. He saw a pretty girl sitting next to him. She wasn’t as pretty as Claire that was for sure. He wondered how he would even find Claire at this huge party. 

“Hi,” the girl said. He had heard her voice somewhere. 

“Hello,” he said looking around for Claire. There were too many people crowded together. 

“I’m Kiana, Kiana Kendrick.” Kiana! That was the person he had accidentally called. She was a Kendrick? His parents would go crazy over her. That was it. She would have to fill Claire’s empty spot for the time being. 

“Kiana, I’m Ryan Nichols. We’ve met before, haven’t we? You know my date is missing for the time being and I was wondering if you could fill in as my date.” 

“Sure,” she said. This was too easy. He clasped her hand and they walked towards his parents. 

“Mom, hi, Claire had to cancel on me but you’ll be happy to know that this is Kiana Kendrick, the Kiana Kendrick.” His mother nodded politely. Kiana smiled.

“It’s great to meet you, Mrs. Nichols.” His mother nodded frankly before scouring the crowds.

“Here the O’Shea’s come now. They always have to make a scene.” The crowd parted just for the three members of a family to walk through. “I heard they’re moving to expand business overseas.” Ryan didn’t know why his heart was beating faster. Claire had made it clear that she didn’t want to see him again.

“Nice to meet you, Kiana,” his father was saying. Claire looked absolutely breathless. It wasn’t just a fancy chignon or Lola’s decent makeup skills. She looked like she was made for this sort of thing. 

“Who is that?” Kiana whispered in his ear. “Is that . . . Claire?” Kiana sounded surprised. 

“Yes,” he simply answered. Mrs. O’Shea smiled politely at their family. They walked away in the other direction. He had to talk to Claire. 

“That was Claire,” he said almost smugly. His mother was speechless, as was his father. Melanie just shrugged. That Claire was the same tattered girl they had met a very long time ago. 

“She looks a lot like her mother.” The newfound awe for a Kendrick girl had disappeared completely. 

“I need to talk to her, Kiana. Excuse me.”

“I’ll come with you,” she said and he couldn’t refuse her kind offer. Maybe it would be good to go with someone. He almost ran towards her. That shining white dress wasn’t hard to spot. She looked like a damn angel tonight. Kiana was slowing him down but he didn’t want to abandon her. 

“Claire!” He yelled out. She had finally paused. Her family was mingling with some other important people. He finally had a moment alone. Kiana was nowhere to be seen.

“I didn’t want to come, okay? I don’t want to see you.” 

“Why are you so mad at me? What did I do to you?” 

“Hi, I’m Kiana Kendrick,” Kiana said. She slid onto his arm and he tried to get her off. 

“See, Ryan you move on fast,” Claire simply said. “Claire O’Shea. I have somewhere to be. Mom! Sorry!”

“She’s cute,” Kiana said with a positive little nod.

“Claire, wait,” he said grabbing her arm. “We can work this out. We can and we will.”

“Your girl is waiting for you,” she said hiding her tears. “Ryan, I don’t know if you’ll ever understand. I don’t need you to be a hero to prove your love. You should’ve always loved me.” Claire turned around and he let go of her wrist.

“Oh sweetie,” he heard Mrs. O’Shea say. “I never liked the idea of you and Ryan Nichols. We’re moving anyways. Cheer up and mingle. A smile on your face is important for tonight.” Claire was gone, she was truly gone.

“Vanessa, wait up,” Claire said loudly enough for him to hear. Vanessa gave him a dirty glance and linked arms with Claire. He couldn’t believe that Vanessa was still single. They disappeared into the crowd of socialites. Kiana looked relieved. He held her hand tightly. There were many fish in the sea.