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bellinghamount · 3 years

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christmas in london #3: wintertime southbank centre | ben chilwell

summary: you and ben are looking for the best mistletoe to take the best photo underneath. he is a little moody, and you are trying to improve his mood

word count: 1,206

Christmas In London Prompt List

For you, Christmas was the best time of the year. You loved the snow, the decorations, and the Christmas carols. Every year you went to the Wintertime Southbank Centre to check out the twinkling markets, high-kicking musicals, jolly jives, festive concerts and various other things, but besides loving all these things, you loved it even more when you had the company of your boyfriend. Ben had woken up grumpy that morning when he left for practice, you didn't know what was going on, but you programmed yourself so that you could do something fun in the evening.

"Do you have any idea how cold it is out here?" Ben said beside you, the steam of condensed water coming out of his mouth.

"Hold me, so I can transfer some warmth to you, then." You wrapped your arm tighter around his, leaning your head against his shoulder. With great difficulty, you had managed to drag him out of the house to Wintertime.

"Or we can go back home." He tried to guide you so that you would go the other way, but you resisted by staying in the same direction.

"No, I want to see the lights and decorations!" You exclaimed and he grunted.

"I don't remember you liking Christmas this much last year." You deduced that Ben was joking, he knew how much you loved Christmas, the holiday was special, maybe he was just going for a distraction.

"And I don't remember you not liking Christmas this much last year." You raised an eyebrow at him, wondering why he was acting so different from last Christmas.

"Are you trying to make me look like the villain who hates Christmas, Y/N?"

"Ben, you are like the villain who hates Christmas, the one who would put coal in all the children's stockings, even the good ones."

"Go ahead, call me names. Call me the Grinch and bully me like Santa's deers bullied Rudolph." You laughed and found yourself squeezing his arm tighter, remembering the movie you had seen last week.

"How are you so grumpy today?" You stopped, resting your hands on his shoulders and facing him. You looked up because Ben was a little taller to face your blue irises. He looked adorable when he wasn't wearing that bunch of hair gel and his bangs fell across his forehead. "It's Christmastime, Benjamin, you should know that it's forbidden to be in a bad mood." You held the back of his neck, playing with the locks of his hair, and he hugged you around the waist, bringing you close.

"Sorry, can we do this another day?" He sighed, "I was stressed. I was out all day training on that cold field, I just wanted to go home, get under warm covers with my sweet girlfriend." You smiled, knowing that something was wrong. Sometimes you forget that although football was wonderful, it could be stressful for Ben with all the pressure and expectations people put on him. He kissed your cheek waiting for an answer, being trapped in his arms under the covers felt as good as looking at the Christmas decorations. "Come on, I know you want to. Let's bake cookies and drink chocolate, warm things, you know."

His arms shook your body from side to side, like a child pulling on its mother's hand until it gets what it wants. You eventually laughed and hugged him tighter.

"All right, can we just go for one more ride?" you asked with your cougar eyes, knowing that Ben couldn't resist them.

"Yeah, all right, one little turn!" He showed you his index finger, and you took his hand, so you could intertwine your fingers in his. You two kept walking, and you took some pictures of the lights before you started on your way back, while Ben told you how he hated the cold, even though his nickname was 'Chilly'.

"Excuse me-" He coughed to get your attention. Ben stopped suddenly, his hand connected with yours, pulling you back toward him. "Where is my Christmas kiss?" He asked suddenly, you were confused, you would have sworn he had already given you several Christmas kisses during the day, so Ben indicated right with his head, and you looked up at the lamp post. At the top there was a small mistletoe there. Ben hated the mistletoe and everything that has to do with it because he was allergic to it, but it was tradition, so he always kissed you under it either way, you thought he secretly enjoyed it, even when he has a bad mood surrounding him like that day.

"Now you like Christmas and its traditions?" You asked skeptically, pulling away from him a little.

"Yes, if I'm going to get a kiss from you." He pulled you back, kissing your neck, moving up to your cheek, trying to reach your mouth. You laughed, deflecting at his every attempt, and he hugged you tighter.

"Babe, you're going to arrest my circulation. How tragic would this night end up in the hospital?" You laughed as he hugged you tighter.

"I won't stop hugging you until I get a kiss!" That seemed to give you an idea.

"Okay then, let's go after another mistletoe, so we can take a nice picture. I didn't like this one." You showed him the cell phone and Ben snorted.

"You can't use my desire to kiss you to get us to stay here longer."

"Oh yes, I can!" You said, pulling him by the hand, looking for all the mistletoe they could find in that place.

While you were searching for the best mistletoe, you really managed to get Ben to enjoy the place more. You passed the various Winter Market stalls and the cosy Alpine lodges where Ben insisted on buying you some handmade gifts. You ate a venison hot dog under twinkling lights that seemed to dispel all the winter chill.

"Look!" You pointed up. You and Ben were about to leave, when you noticed the huge mistletoe at the entrance gate that had gone unnoticed when you arrived. The parasitic bush with fruit between white and blush looked ideal that way.

"Hm, is that perfect enough? You owe me a kiss."

"More than perfect." You smiled, pulling him by the back of his neck to finally kiss him. Ben smiled in the middle of the kiss and held you gently before deepening the kiss. You exchanged a few more little kisses, in between which you pulled out your cell phone and took a picture. It would be your newest lock screen.

"I love you, Y/N." He said, leaning his nose against yours. "Christmas had lost its special side to me today...but you brought some of the magic back. Thank you."

"I love you too, Ben, and you don't have to thank me." You spoke, leaving a kiss on his cheek.

Ben was happy, that night had been amazing, and he knew it wouldn't be any of it if it wasn't for you.

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ramonaprintmakingtwo · 4 years

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Project 3: Landscape composition

Due to the current travel restrictions and lock down it didn’t feel appropriate or safe to sketch on location the way I would like to. Reading through the exercise I really wanted to study London’s Southbank. This is my favourite part of London and reminds me of spending days with my family, walking along the river and visiting the Hayward, National Theatre, BFI or The Royal Festival Hall. Although often viewed as ugly I love the brutalist architecture and enjoyed climbing up the various staircases and levels, hiding behind pillars and looking out over the Thames.

In my last Unit, Illustration Two, I completed a six digital illustrations of some of the iconic buildings on the Southbank. In preparation for that assignment (and about two weeks prior to the last lockdown) I took lots of photos so had some reference material already to work from.

My Photos

My previous Illustrations

Visual Reference

I also supplemented my visual reference using photographs and videos I sourced online. This allowed me to explore more angles and perspectives that I hadn’t captured previously and the videos in particular helped me to remind myself of the feeling of walking down river.

London National Theatre (Escuris, n.d.)

Hayward Gallery (Guy, n.d.)

Geometry + Geology: Hayward Gallery (Hewitt, 2011)

London Virtual Walk With Ambient Sounds Roof Bar To Festival (Living Walks, 2018)

youtube

360° London - South Bank (Fly Through Films, 2015)

youtube

Difficulties in comprehension

I read through the project instructions multiple times but struggled to understand what exactly I was been asked to do. I looked at other printmaking students learning logs to try to gain a better understanding however this didn’t clear it up entirely for me. I am going to include the instructions and my interpretation of them within this write-up in hopes that my tutor or future assessor will understand my rationale for my work, even if the process I have used isn’t what was asked of me. I have used bold to indicate my thoughts.

Instructions

‘Using a pencil on A3 paper and working to the edge of the page, make a line drawing of a section of built environment. Pay attention to perspective and the main forms and structures avoiding excessive detail. Think where to place the lights and darks. Line drawing to me means just the key shapes, I’m not sure how to indicate tone, light and dark within a line drawing. As a left handed person, excessive pencil mark-making quickly becomes messy. You may well need to do a number of drawings until you find the perfect balance of shapes.

Now draw four boxes on tracing paper 15cm x 10cm. Use these boxes as viewfinders and move them over your drawing trying different angles and compositions looking for what you consider to be balanced composition of lines and shapes. As you make your tracings you can edit any unwanted detail and even make the design more abstract – enjoy the freedom of exploring form to produce an aesthetically pleasing composition.

You will use these tracings (plural) to mark up your piece of lino. (singular) Is the final piece meant to be 15cmx10cm? Are the four tracings meant to be combined to create one piece around A4 measurements (30cm x 20cm)?

The print is going to be black, grey and the colour of the paper. You can start by adding black to one shape and then to another to balance the weight and so on.’

My understanding and steps

Make a pencil line drawing on A3 with little detail of a built environment.

Using viewfinders, explore the image to find a good composition.

Refine and edit composition (for me this usually means using pen to block out dark areas).

Combine the four sections to make one abstract composition.

Use a reduction print method using grey and black.

First Sketches

I completed two very basic sketches of The National Theatre (reference Escuris, n.d.) and the back of The Royal Festival Hall (reference Living Walks 2018).

(Pencil on paper)

I used paper viewfinders on my LED light board to trace selected areas. I put the pieces together in different potential compositions and scanned them. This allowed me to put the compositions next to each other to allow for direct comparison.

Three different compositions scanned

(Pencil and pen on paper)

Draft composition, taped viewfinders

I then went over this composition again, cleaning up lines and bending others so the image felt less disjointed. To help me remember which bits I needed to cut, the blue in this image represents areas of white.

Final Composition

(Pen on paper)

I selected this composition as the contrasting angles meeting in the centre of the design reminded me of a ship, moving forwards through the river. This felt in keeping with the riverside location of the National Theatre. The overall image feels dynamic and dramatic.

The abstract interpretation of buildings reminded me of the hand coloured etchings of Bronwen Sleigh.

Earlspark Avenue, Pacific Quay, Rue Beaudoin,Hinna (Sleigh, n.d.)

First Layer test print with ink pad

Printing process

First time using my press

I had difficulty using the press for the first time as my Lino was jumping causing the registration to be off. I ended up completing the run by hand as I being a reduction print I only had a limited number of prints and didn’t want to ruin the entire run and have to start again. Through talking to other printmakers on Facebook I have since learnt that I had the pressure too tight.

Final Prints

Best Print

I would have never considered creating an image using in the method outlined in the course materials (or my interpretation of them!). The end result is bold and striking and captures my joy for the National Theatre and it’s architecture.

PLEASE NOTE: These prints have been scanned using the incorrect setting causing the colours and contrast to be inaccurate. I will be re-scanning and updating this post at a later date.

References

Escuris, L., n.d. London National Theatre. [image] Available at: <https://linoescuris.com/london-national-theatre/> [Accessed 21 December 2020].

Fly Through Films, 2015. 360° London - South Bank. [video] Available at: <https://youtu.be/WGjCaNTQhVk> [Accessed 21 December 2020].

Guy, C., n.d. Hayward Gallery. [image] Available at: <https://gidsey.com/portfolio/hayward-gallery/#> [Accessed 21 December 2020].

Hewitt, D., 2011. Geometry + Geology: Hayward Gallery. [Gelatin Photography].

Living Walks, 2018. London Virtual Walk With Ambient Sounds Roof Bar To Festival. [video] Available at: <https://youtu.be/NsD7FbiMMlU> [Accessed 21 December 2020].

Sleigh, B., n.d. Earlspark Avenue. [Hand coloured etching].

Sleigh, B., n.d. Hinna. [Lithograph].

Sleigh, B., n.d. Pacific Quay. [Hand coloured etching].

Sleigh, B., n.d. Rue Beaudoin. [Hand coloured etching].

#part1 #comp

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sarimaposthumous · 5 years

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Sonata Ch. 1 - “Opening Night”

TITLE: Sonata

CHAPTER NUMBER: 1/?

AUTHOR: SarimaPosthumous

GENRE: Tom Hiddleston

FIC SUMMARY: Reader takes a trip to support her friend’s first solo performance with a major orchestra. She has a run in with a famous actor who can’t seem to keep his eyes off her…

RATING: Mature

Word Count: 1,452

WARNINGS: None really. Mostly fluff and romantic insinuation.

AUTHORS NOTES: This is my first Tom Hiddleston fanfic, so I hope you enjoy! This will likely be a multi-part series that I have mapped out. Please provide feedback!

AO3 Link: x

You couldn’t help but fidget in your seat, so you opened the front facing camera on your phone to make sure everything was in place for the hundredth time. You tucked your hair behind your left ear and noted how the soft waves framed the right side of your face. The jewelry glinted in your reflection as it caught the setting sunlight.

“Nearly there miss,” the driver spoke up from the front of the car. You smiled and thanked him in acknowledgement. Granted, it was your first time in London and decided to go all out and hire a driver to take you to the concert in addition to the dress and jewelry you bought. One of your best friends, Sierra, was performing as a soloist with Philharmonia Orchestra of London at the Southbank Centre. Not many were able to fly out to support her, but you needed time off from work and had racked up some vacation days. Sierra was excited to have a familiar face in the crowd and had the venue reserve a box seat specifically for you. Hence, the desire to go all out for the performance.

The car slowed to a stop near the venue and the driver stepped out and came around to open your door and held out his hand to you. Gripping the soft navy satin of your dress in your left hand, you delicately placed your right hand on the driver’s hand to step out of the car. Nearly losing your balance, you caught yourself on the door and chuckled nervously. Thanking him, you took a deep breath and composed yourself as you carefully stepped away from the curb, so as not to trip on the long dress, and walked towards the venue amongst the other patrons.

The venue looked much larger on the inside as the atrium had lofted ceilings with wood paneling. The box office attendant greeted you as you fumbled in your clutch for your confirmation number. “Hi,” you smiled. “My name is (y/n) and I also have a box seat reserved.” You said with a cheery demeanor as you handed over the information. The attendant printed the ticket and called the house manager over to escort you to the box seat.

“Hello, my name is Olivia and I am the House Manager. It looks like you are in box seat A just follow me, please.” “Thank you,” you smiled and followed her through the venue. Olivia raised her eyebrows in surprise. “American? What brings you all the way out to England?” she asked as the two of you made your way through the venue.

“My friend Sierra is the soloist tonight and it’s her first solo performance in Europe. I had some vacation days saved up, so I figured I would make a trip out of it while supporting her.”

“Oh, you’re (y/n)! Yes, that makes sense, I was told to escort you to the opening night afterparty. Here we are!” Olivia opened the door to your box and told you to notify her or an usher if you needed anything. Again, you thanked her, and she closed the door behind you.

Picking up the program off your seat, you sat down and surveyed the auditorium. It was quickly filling with patrons even though there was still about 30 minutes left before the performance began. You began reading through the program notes until you were interrupted by a knock on the box seat door behind you. The door opened and an apologetic usher came into view. “I’m sorry ma’am, but it seems there was a mix up on behalf of the venue.” The figure of a tall man behind the usher caught your eye and intrigued you causing you to nearly miss the next thing he said. “This gentleman reserved this box seat and another box office attendant accidentally placed you in this box.”

“Oh, I can move to another box. I don’t mind,” you waved your hand and stood to gather your things. “Well the thing is, is that the other box seats are filled.” The usher replied hesitantly. “Oh…,” you trailed off and looked at the man again. It was difficult to discern his features from where he was standing in the hallway. “I don’t mind sharing the box if this gentleman doesn’t. There is another seat here.” You gestured to the seat next to you. The usher looked towards the man and he finally stepped into view. It took everything you had not to do a double take.

The man was tall with a slender frame and outfitted with a well-tailored navy-blue suit. He had black curly hair cropped close to his head save for a lock of curls peaking over the right side of his forehead. The juxtaposition between his fair skin and black hair highlighted his bright blue eyes even more. He gave you a quick once over before meeting your eyes and smiled as he extended his hand towards you. You returned the smile as you took his hand expecting a handshake, but he turned your hand and quickly swept down and planted a chaste kiss on your hand. You hoped the lights were dim enough to hide the increasing flush of your face. “I don’t mind sharing,” he replied with a smile.

The tension in the box was almost palpable and certainly made the usher uncomfortable, so he excused himself and shut the door now that the situation was resolved. The two of you stood in close proximity as you examined his face. This can’t be…

“I’m Tom,” he broke the silence. Suspicions confirmed. You thought as you tried to contain yourself. Tom gestured towards the seats and unbuttoned his jacket as he sat. You followed suit and returned to your seat while introducing yourself. As you sat, the slit in the dress revealed the upper part of your thigh. You quickly moved the satin material over and couldn’t help but notice Tom clearing his throat as he dragged his eyes away from your legs. You couldn’t help but feel a little self-conscious about the thickness of your thighs, but you quickly pushed those intrusive thoughts away.

“Well, (y/n) it’s a pleasure to meet you. What brings to you London?” Tom questioned. As you explained to him, he arched a brow and a smile lit up his face. “So, I’ll see you at the afterparty then…would you do me the honor of allowing me to escort you this evening?

You opened your mouth to respond, but the house lights dimmed signaling the beginning of the performance. As the audience and orchestra settled, Sierra graced the stage and her floor length black sequin gown swept around her as she practically floated towards the front of the orchestra. Her golden hair up in a chignon bun shined in the light along with her mermaid style dress. The sequins were interlaced within the black floral design etched across the dress.

As a polite applause swept the audience, she turned and signaled to the oboist to give three A’s. The strings completed their tuning and the conductor stepped out, shook her hand, and bowed before turning to his stand and raised his baton. The musicians followed suit and they began playing the first movement of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3 “Eroica.” The second piece was Hungarian Dance No. 1 by Brahms. You slightly swayed and bobbed your head to the melody of each piece as it had you enthralled. The orchestra reset and Sierra took her place in front of the orchestra to perform her solo piece Sibelius’ Violin Concerto in D Minor. You had never seen her perform like this before. Sierra commanded the stage and you could feel the audience on the edge of their seats. As she raced down the violin towards the end of the second movement, the audience could barely control themselves to not applaud.

You couldn’t help but steal glances at Tom throughout the performance. There were a few moments where you caught his eye causing you to quickly glance away. The final piece, The Second waltz by Shostakovich chased chills down your spine causing you to shiver. As she plucked her solo part and the members in the wind section performed their solos, you could see how it moved the audience.

Finally, the performance was over, and you could resume your conversation with Tom. You collected yourself and turned towards him only to find him standing and holding his hand out towards you expectantly. You gracefully placed you hand in his and he helped you up.

“So, would you do me the honor of letting me escort you to the afterparty?” Tom leaned towards you, your hand still in his.

#tom hiddleston #tom hiddleston x reader #tom hiddleston x you #plus size reader #plus size reader x Tom Hiddleston

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blueflameremus · 4 years

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a southbank secret

where: london’s southbank/ dirk’s apartment

when: present

with: @silenciocresswell

The southbank was one of Remus’ favourite places in London. The list was a short one, in reality; Remus was a country boy at heart, and longed for open fields where he could wander aimlessly over stile and through wood. London felt like a cage, by contrast, but the river offered breathing room, broad and dark on the fresh spring morning.

Remus had a reason to be there, amidst the strolling couples and packs of tourists. Dirk Cresswell. There were things that tied them together, Remus and Dirk, things that required very little justification as to why they might gravitate towards each other. With one foot firmly in the muggle world, Dirk entertained Remus’ love of the pictures and muggle literature. His interest in magical beings allowed Remus to hope that such kindness might extend to werewolves, though Dirk had yet to learn of Remus’ situation.

Ducking past a mother and pram, Remus took the steps up to Dirk’s apartment building two-at-a-time. On arrival, the werewolf was met with a series of doorbells beside the locked entrance. He bit his lip. He had been there only once before. God, which one was his? Eleven? The man pushed the buzzer.

“Uh, Dirk?” Remus asked when he was met with a grunt. The line cut out and he swore under his breath. There had been a rumour going around Headquarters that Creswell had caught a glance of the men responsible for the brutal murders at Hogsmeade. Heard that the Goblin Liaison might have identified one as none other than Fenrir Greyback. It had made his run blood cold. Not one to let sleeping dogs lie, Remus wanted to hear it straight from the source.

He was about to try another flat when the front door was pulled open from the inside. Heart leaping, Remus sailed past the woman that was on her way out and he gave her a curt nod, a London nod. She barely spared him a glance. Following his feet and his nose, Remus found himself in front of a door that smelled strongly of the Hufflepuff. At least Remus could be sure that Dirk was in. With a scarred fist, the young man gave three short knocks on the door, and waited.

#dirk cresswell #p: a southbank secret #this is BAAAD haha im so sorry

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m0etenchandon · 5 years

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First date (Reader x Joe Mazzello smut)

Pairing: Reader x Joe Mazzello Summary: Y/N has one rule when it comes to dating: Clothes stay on at the first date. This proves difficult when she goes to Joe´s flat for a cup of tea after dinner. Warnings: SMUT (18+), fluff, language, thigh riding, blowjobs A/N: I know Joe lives in Brooklyn, but I was literally 6 when I was last there, and London is more familiar to me. Loosely based off a dream I had a few weeks ago. Sorry the start if awful. Thanks for reading! I am 100% sure that Joe is a dom, so I might make a part two with that later (I did, here) Word count: 4.1 K

Masterlist

You eyed your outfit in the mirror as you were getting ready to head out the door. It was only a first date, surely no need to be this nervous? After all you had talked to him for hours on tinder, just never face to face. Your hands flattened your high wasted skirt that ended mid-thigh, accompanied by ankle boots and a lacy body underneath it. The outfit was daring, but still nothing that would earn you disapproving looks from random strangers. You wanted to impress him, wanted him to like what he saw. He had seen your pictures, but only carefully selected ones which all your girlfriends had helped you find. You were already starting to feel butterflies in your stomach at the thought of him. He was literally perfect. Handsome, kind and of course funny. Everything you wanted in a boyfriend. Nothing would be worse if you weren’t the one he expected you to be. Ignoring the thoughts, you grabbed your purse and coat, and headed out the door.

The restaurant he had picked was located on the river side near Southbank. It looked fancy but still cozy. Perfect, you thought as you stepped out of your cab. You spotted him right away as he came towards you. He was smiling at you, making your heart skip a beat. He was even more handsome in real life.

“Hi Y/N, nice to finally meet you”, he beamed at you, crinkles around his beautiful eyes. His hair was perfectly styled, looking more ginger in real life than in the photos he had sent you. He was sporting a nice pair of dress pants and a well-fitting button down. You realized you were staring at him and pulled yourself out of your trance by reciprocating the smile.

“Hi, Joe! Sorry, I just... wow you look very handsome”, you said pulling him into a hug. His scent filled your nostrils, taking in his expensive perfume. God, he even smelled amazing. Joe chuckled against your head, hands rubbing your back.

“Why thank you, I tried to impress you! You look beautiful by the way”, he said as he pulled away from you a little, still keeping his arms around you. He was admiring you, you realized making your cheeks heat up.

“Thank you!”

There was a silence as Joe kept staring at you. You waved your hand in front of his eyes, making him blink and shake his head.

“Shit, sorry! I just can believe I finally get to meet the woman behind the texts”, he blushed. “I uh, want to head inside?”. He was clearly flustered, a pink hue forming on his cheeks.

You laughed at how cute he was as you nodded. He offered you his elbow, and you locked your arm with his as you walked towards the door. He was a perfect gentleman, holding the door for you as well as pulling out your chair when you reached the table.

“Can I get you guys anything to drink to get you started?”, the waiter asked as he gave you your menus.

“I´ll have a glass of white wine, thank you”, you said smiling at him.

“We´ll just take a bottle then”, Joe said before the waiter left.

“Are you trying to get me drunk, Mazzello?”

“Maybe.. pretty sure any woman would have to be drunk to sit through an entire date with me”, he laughed.

“Oh I´m not so sure about that. I`m quite enjoying myself”

“Yeah but you see I haven’t pulled out any of my tricks yet, they are sure to have you running for the door”

“We´ll just have to see about that I guess”, you giggled, sending him a wink. The waiter returned with a bottle of wine and poured you a glass each. Joe lifted his glass towards yours.

“To our first date then, Y/N”

“To our first date, may I not want to run out the door before the end of it”, you returned, touching your glass against his.

The conversation flowed easily. You were eager to hear about his acting, saying how cute he was in Jurassic Park and how you looked forward to see him portray John in Bohemian Rhapsody. You could tell how much he loved his job by his enthusiasm at all your questions, making you smile. Through the dinner, you could see his eyes fall to rest on your cleavage at multiple occasions, before he pulled himself together and made eye contact again. You were burning under his gaze, loving the effect you had on him.

“Do you want any dessert?”, he asked as the waiter had picked up your plates.

“Not really, I’m pretty full”

“Yeah me too”. You both didn’t want this date to end, and you could tell Joe was having an internal struggle with himself before he blurted out:

“Do you want to come back to my place? I could make us a cup of tea for dessert. Wow, this sounds like I’m just trying to get you into my bed. I would never, I mean, oh my god, of course I would you´re so beautiful, but”, he mumbled, panic in his eyes as they looked anywhere but your face.

“Joe, relax”, you cut him off and laughed at how adorable he was. You reached across the table and grabbed his hand, making him turn his gaze to yours. He gulped and let out a breath he was holding in. “That sounds like a great idea, I could do with a cup of tea”, you smiled at him.

The second you were out of the restaurant, you grabbed hold of his hand and held onto his arm with your other hand. Even though it was dark outside by this point, you could see both a smile and a blush creep its way back onto his face. You leaned onto his arm as you walked along the river. It was cold outside, but not enough for you to mind. The only thing on your mind was how close he was, how his eyes crinkled when he told a funny story, or when he laughed at a reply from you. He was beautiful, a perfect match to the fairy light draped over every lamp post. It was like a scene right out of a movie.

“Wow, the London eye looks so pretty from here”, you said as walked over Waterloo Bridge. You pulled away from him to walk closer to the edge. It was lit up in a beautiful blue color, a contrast to the warm light from the buildings beside it.

“Have you not seen it from this side yet?”, Joe asked. He shakily put his arms around your waist, pulling you closer into his chest. You could tell he was hesitant, hands feeling light against your skin. You put your own hands over his, encouraging him, wanting to feel him close to you. His head came to rest on your shoulder, his cheek warm against yours.

“No, I´ve only lived here for a few months. Work´s been busy, so I haven’t really gotten the chance to see the city, especially at night”

You turned around to face him, hands still holding you close. His eyes met yours, the soft light from the street making his eyes appear lighter than they had earlier that evening. He was so close, you could feel his breath on your face. You bit down on your bottom lip, his eyes following the movement.

“Would it be weird if I kissed you right now?”, he asked, breath hot on your face. Impossibly close, you could almost feel his lips against yours.

“Not at all”

Joe wasted no time, a smile forming on his lips before placing them on yours. They were soft, slightly damp, and fit perfectly against your own. You put a hand on his cheek as you deepened the kiss. He immediately kissed back, pulling you even closer. You stood there for quite some time, making out in the middle of London. The thought made you start to laugh against his lips. He pulled away and looked at you, eyebrows raised.

“What´s so funny?”

“Nothing, we´re just standing here, in the middle of one of the busiest bridges in London, making out like horny teenagers. This is so cliché”

“Wow, that bad huh?”

You giggled and kissed him again.

“No, it was perfect”

A couple more blocks and you reached Joes flat that he had while filming BoRhap. It was big for being in central London, but not over the top. As he gave you a little tour you noted two bedrooms, one bathroom, along with the combined kitchen and living room. It was quite stylish, a good combination of typical guy things mixed with a sleek interior. It fitted him, you thought. A proper bachelor flat.

You excused yourself to go to the bathroom as he pulled out the kettle. After flushing the toilet, you looked back at yourself in the mirror. You never went back to a guy’s place after the first date. Never. That was your one rule, clothes stay on. Yet here you were. You didn’t have to do anything with him obviously, but you found yourself wanting to. The way he looked at you, blatantly staring at your boobs from time to time, had turned you on. His lingering touches, the feel of his lips against yours. Besides, you had talked to him for weeks, it wasn’t like you didn’t know him. The world wouldn’t end if you ended up in his bed by the end of the night. You blushed at the thought.

Walking back to the kitchen after having a little pep-talk to yourself, you were determined to not let him get to you. You could wait until at least the third date before getting into his pants, it’s what you always did.

Joe was sat at the couch, handing you your tea as you walked around his flat. A bass guitar was propped up against the wall.

“Can you actually play, or is it all pretend?”, you asked, taking a sip of your tea.

“I can play yeah, or at least to some extent. I´m no John Deacon”, he laughed, walking over to you. One of his hands found your waist before he placed a kiss to the side of your head.

“Play me something then. Please, Joe”. You looked at him with your best puppy-dog eyes, trying to sway him. He rolled his eyes but picket the bass up. Bringing it with him, he sat down on the couch, leaving his cup on the table. You sat down next to him, eager to hear him play. He licked his fingers before starting to strum to the tune of “killer queen”. You were suddenly very aware of how hot the room was, the way his fingers expertly ran along the strings making your cheeks heat up. There was something about a man who could play guitar that turned you on immensely. His gaze fell upon your thighs, eyes travelling from your knee all the way up your thigh. You realized how short the skirt actually was when sitting down, shifting in your seat causing him to tear his eyes away. A blush crept onto his face as he stopped playing.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to stare”

“It’s alright, I forgot how short this was”. You sipped your tea, trying not to look at the way his arm muscles tensed as he put the bass guitar on the chair next to where you were sat, his arm falling to rest on the back of the couch. You felt hot under his stare. This was all too much. The idea of waiting two more dates seemed impossible all of a sudden.

“I really like your outfit”. His other hand went to play with the hem of your skirt, dangerously close to where you found yourself desperately needing him. Positive he could feel the heat radiating from you and the way your breath hitched in your throat.

“I can tell. You have been staring at my tits all night”

“Oh”. He went red and pulled his hand away, embarrassed that you had caught him staring. He mumbled out an apology before bringing his hands to his face, hiding. You couldn’t resist him anymore and went to put down your own mug before straddling his lap. Setting aside all your principles. His eyes shot up to meet yours, taken back by your abruptness.

“Didn’t say I didn’t like it”, you whispered against his lips. He sighed and closed the distance between you, pressing his lips against yours. You put your hands around his neck, pulling him closer as his hands found your hips. His tongue entered your mouth, making you moan into the kiss. You started grinding your hips against his crotch, feeling him starting to harden beneath you. You were desperate for some sort of friction against your aching heat, the roughness of his trousers against your clothed clit enough to make you shiver. Your skirt had ridden up your thighs slightly, but that was the last thing on your mind. His hands were hot against your waist, electricity buzzing between you two. Things were getting heated, both of you out of breath as you pulled away. He looked at you with lust in his eyes, panting.

“Shit Joe, we can’t”, you said as he started to press kisses against your neck. You moved your head to the side, giving him better access.

“Why not?”

“I only have one rule when it comes to dating, clothes stay on at a first date”

Neither of you were making any moves to stop though, as he kept kissing your neck, biting ever so slightly. Your hands went up to his hair, running your fingers through it, forcing him to look at him. His eyes were dark and his lips puffy from kissing. You wanted him so bad, clit twitching at the thought.

“We don’t have to take our clothes of you know”, he said as he shifted you so you were straddling one of his thighs. Your skirt rode up, making your heat meet his clothed thigh. A groan left the back of your throat at the sudden sensation, mouth falling open. His hands kept a tight grip on your hips as you rutted against him.

“Fuck, that feels so go-od, Joe”, you moaned into his neck, arms coming up to grasp his shoulders. Grinding down on his thigh harder, he started sucking and softly biting your neck. His stubble rubbing against the thin skin, your fingers digging into the muscles on his upper back. Joe contracted his quad making you throw your head back in pleasure. His leg was hard against your clit and you could feel yourself soaking through your thin panties. You were positive he was bruising your hips at how hard he held you while rocking you back and forth on his thigh.

Your knee brushed against his crotch which made Joe let out a pornographic moan. He was so hard, the tight pants leaving little to the imagination. “Oh my god, fuck, do that again”, he whined. You pressed your knee against him again, dragging it down his crotch as you continued your rutting. The intense feeling and the noise leaving his mouth were too much for you to handle. You could feel your legs start to shake, signaling your high rapidly approaching. His arms fell down to grab your ass, helping you rub yourself against him.

“I-I´m going to cum, J-Joe”, you whined, picking up your pace. You were desperately rutting against him, all dignity out the window as you chased your high. His hands shot up to massage your boobs, pulling your deep-cut body out of the way. He leant down and flicked his tongue against your hardened nipple, sending shivers down your spine. You grasped onto his forearms as you felt the familiar coil in your stomach start to unravel. He started bouncing his thigh, hitting your clit with just the right amount of pressure to push you over the edge. Screams left your mouth as a warmth spread all over your body, veins feeling like they were on fire. Joe continued to help you drag your clit against his trousers as you rode out your orgasm. All shyness out the door as you rutted desperately against him, legs shaking with pleasure. The coil in your stomach unraveling, clit twitching.

Coming down from your high, you looked down to see a dark patch where your heat met his thigh. Joes eyes followed yours, landing on the stain. “I´m sorry, Joe, I-I didn’t mean to ruin your pants”. He chuckled, tucking a strand of hair between your ear and placing a kiss on your jaw. “Look Y/N, you didn’t ruin them more than I did myself”. Your eyes fell on his crotch. A small, dark, stain of precum was evident just above the tip of his cock.

He was achingly hard but didn’t want to push you.

“Let me help you with your little problem”, you said as you sunk to your knees in front of him. His breath hitched in his throat as you lifted his shirt to place soft kisses onto his lower stomach.

“I thought you said clothes stay on, babe”

“Hmm, I could just leave you right here if you want”, you teased, eyes meeting his. You twirled your tongue just above the waist of his trousers, feeling his cock twitch underneath you.

“Oh god please don’t, I would actually die”, he whimpered. You started unbuttoning his shirt, kissing his newly exposed skin as you moved downwards. Your hands pulled it open before dragging your fingernails down his soft stomach. You could feel goosebumps forming on his skin as you hummed against him, finally reaching his hips. Popping the button of his trousers, you continued your kisses on his hips, pulling the zipper down. Joe lifted his lips to let you drag his trousers down along with his boxers. His cock sprung up against his stomach, angry and leaking from being neglected. A thick vein ran down under his cock, visibly throbbing. He was quite big, your mouth watering at the sight before you. One of his hands went down to stroke your cheek, urging you to touch him. “I´m gonna need you to touch me, Y/N, please. I think I might actually combust if you don´t”.

“So needy Joey”. He moaned at the nickname, making you quirk a brow. “You like that, huh? Like when I call you Joey?”, you teased, leaning down to blow hot breath onto his cock. It twitched up to meet your lips, Joe desperately nodding his head in the process. You smirked before running a finger down the vein on his shaft, making sure to put extra pressure on the string just below the head of his cock. He was trying with all his might to not thrust up against your touch, your teasing driving him insane. Humming to yourself, you leant down to lick a bold stripe from his balls all the way to the top, following the same path your finger had just made. Finally reaching the head, you licked at the salty precum leaking onto his stomach before wrapping your lips around his tip. He moaned, hands immediately tangling themselves in your hair, keeping you in place. You wrapped one of your hands around his shaft, working him at a slow pace. Your tongue swirled around his swollen head, tracing along his slit. He was leaking like a faucet, coating your mouth.

You took him deeper into your mouth, hollowing out your cheeks and dragging your tongue on the underside of his cock. He was a moaning mess underneath you, fingers digging into your scalp. Your hand worked his shaft as you relaxed your jaw, taking him deeper. His hips involuntarily thrusted up, making you gag as he hit the back of your throat. Tears formed in your eyes as you kept him there, milking him. Your other hand cupped his balls, rolling them in your hands.

“Oh my fucking god, your mouth feels so fucking good Y/N”. Joe was lazily thrusting up into your mouth, hands holding your hair in a make-shift ponytail. You pulled up for air, a string of spit running from his cock to your mouth, a smile plastered on your face. You jerked him for a while, adding extra pressure onto the head. He was becoming short-breathed underneath you, signaling he was close. You took him back in your mouth, sucking harder this time. You hummed around him, sending shivers all over his body. “I-I´m not going to last, Y/N”, he warned as his cock hit the back of your throat again. Humming around him, he gave one last thrust and yelled out your name. Hot, white liquid shot down your throat as you swallowed around him. You took all of him, sucking him through his orgasm before letting him slip out of your mouth. His cock was slick from your spit and his cum as it flopped down to his stomach. “Show me”, Joe commanded. You opened your mouth for him to see all of his cum gone. “Such a good girl for me, Y/N. Taking all my cum”.

You smiled as you rose from the floor, pressing your lips against his so he could taste his own cum. “I should probably get going, it´s late”, you said as your lips left his. “Or you could stay. We don’t start filming until the evening tomorrow, so I have the morning off”, he reached out to toy with the hem of your skirt again. “Only if you cook me breakfast in the morning” “I wouldn’t advise to eat my cooking, but deal”

He stood up and grabbed your hand, leading you to his bedroom. Joe slid the shirt of his shoulders and stepped out of his trousers. You were suddenly very aware of how uncomfortable your clothes were. “Uhm, Joe, can I borrow a t-shirt or something?” “Yeah of course”

He went over to his dresser, rummaging around until he found a grey t-shirt which he then proceeded to chuck at you. Grabbing it, you started to head for the bathroom.

“Are you actually going shy on me Y/N?”, Joe asked, clearly amused that you felt the need to change in private. Warmth spread over your cheeks. “What, do you want a show?”

“Oh yeah”, he teased, sitting against the headboard. You giggled, before walking off.

“In your dreams, Mazzello”, you called after him.

Quickly using the toilet and trying to smooth your now messed up hair, you threw some water in your face and called it a day. You pulled your skirt off before unclasping the body and pulling that off as well. Cold air hit your nipples, making you realize you didn’t wear a bra. You cursed under your breath before pulling Joe´s t-shirt over your head. It reached you just below your bum, perfect. Walking out, you crossed your arms over your chest to hide your hardened nipples. You slipped under the duvet and snuggled up to him. His arms came down to hold you close as you drifted off to sleep.

As the sun shone through the slit in his curtains, you woke to have Joe snuggled against your back, arm thrown around your waist to hold you in place. He was awake, you could tell by his light breathing and how his fingers traced circles onto your stomach. Your shirt had ridden up during the night, exposing your lacy panties to him. You were just about to turn around when you felt his hard cock pressed into your thigh, making you gasp.

“Good morning Y/N”, Joe mumbled, thrusting his hips lazily into yours.

“Good morning, Joe. Did you sleep well?”, you asked as you turned around to face him. His hair was messy, eyes barely open.

“Mmm, very. Dreamt about you”

“I can see that”

He whined as you reached down to palm him through his boxers. Joe closed his eyes, the hand on your waist tightening its grip.

“You know, since it’s a new day, this technically isn’t our first date anymore”, you teased. He hummed, not quite putting two and two together. You rolled your eyes and leant down to place a kiss to his exposed neck. “That means I don’t have to follow my rule any longer”. Suddenly realizing what you were getting at, his eyes shot open to meet yours. He had you pinned down on the bed in no time, ushering you towards your first of many orgasms that day now that he could finally have his way with you. All thoughts about the promised breakfast having slipped both your minds.

Part 2 - kind of

Masterlist

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viclocks-blog1 · 4 years

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Advantages of Locksmith Services

Perhaps one of the most irritating and intriguing situations is the one where the car key may not be lost but is broken and stuck into the car lock rendering the car immobile. Igniting the car is impossible in such situations and even though the doors and windows are open the user or owner will remain stranded on the road till something is done about it. That something can be done by a professional and reputable Southbank Locksmith providing car key Locksmith services.

Economic in the Long Run

One might consider that obtaining the car key locksmith services in an advanced and high profile city like Southbank could be an expensive affair. Contrary to their belief, it is not. Though it might seem a little expensive at the inception, if one takes into consideration the time and energy saved and money saved in the long run, the proposition will seem economic in comparison to many other options. Thus obtaining the services of Locksmith in Southbank is one of the best options when someone is stuck into car key related problems.

Common Problems

Problems relating to automotive lock are quite common. It could be either of the two situations like people locking themselves out of the vehicle or inside it with the later even more dangerous as it could cause suffocation for the person suffering such eventualities. At the same time, the car could be an expensive one and the user or owner would be concerned about its safety such that the doors can be opened up without causing damage to any other part except the lock and even that too only when inevitable. An efficient Locksmith in Southbank is ideal for the job and can accomplish the task using his skill, experience, and advanced tools.

Car Key Services Southbank

Any reputable and reliable car key services in Southbank will have a set of highly skilled, experienced, and professional Locksmith in Southbank in their ranks to accomplish all such tasks. These key services will always have such locksmiths that are professional, trained, experts, and have valid licenses besides bonds or insurance to support them. Service provider agency knows that by taking up the repair or replacement of locks and keys in any car, the mechanic will be having access to the high-security zones in the vehicle and they take sufficient steps to ensure that no one is in a position to misuse the knowledge about such strategic security zones in the car repaired.

For more information you can visit here:- https://viclocks.com.au/

Master Key System

Usually, the car lock and key repair services with Southbank Locksmith will always have a master key system in place for carrying out effectively the installation as well as replacement services. With high technologies available these days they can even have a master coding system for high definition computerized locks and systems.

Advantages of locksmith services:

They are quick and reliable

They work round the clocks, so you can call them at anytime

They charge you less amount compared to others

There could be no doubt that Southbank Locksmith is your real solution to the problem.

#SouthbankLocksmith #Advantagesoflocksmith

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lindoig7 · 4 years

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Saturday-Tuesday, 25-28 July

Saturday

A lay-day again today – and probably another one tomorrow too. We are having one of our Southbank-cooked curries for dinner tonight so with only one more in the freezer, we cooked a replacement. It is quite a different style from those we usually cook so it will be interesting to find out if it is worth doing again. We used a curry mix, but included a lot of different, perhaps unusual, veges in it so it is something of an experiment, irrespective of what the recipe says. (We subsequently discovered that our experiment was a resounding and very tasty success, significantly enhanced by our selection of vegetables. We did, however, resolve to supplement it with a little more meat next time.)

It has been fine and cool all day (maybe our coldest start to the day) and we went for a 2km walk around a circuit across the creek in the mid-afternoon – just to get the circulation going and to keep in practice for more challenging excursions.

Sunday

Mainly just another day around the caravan today. We did a few chores (laundry, cleaning, etc.) and a bit of shopping in the afternoon. On the way to the supermarket, I took the car to ARB just around the corner from here to see if they could help make the RHS spare wheel easier to lock into position on the back of the car. I was going to try something myself, putting a washer under the hinge to make it a little easier, but the fixtures were all imperial bolts and I needed a tube spanner to loosen one of them – and I didn’t have one that fitted. Fortunately, ARB came up with the same suggestion and did have a spanner to fit – and 5 minutes later, the problem was solved and all for free. It is now so much easier to open and close the back every time we need to swap the AC and DC power inputs on the car freezer. We have actually opened it once now – to retrieve a small baggy of grated ginger. Otherwise, it is still packed with goodies yet to be eaten.

Monday, 27 July

We took another (more direct) trip to Licola today, driving via Traralgon again so I could return the useless stylus I purchased the previous Friday. Needless to say, it worked perfectly when the cashier tried it so I went back to the car where it wouldn’t work at all. Back inside Officeworks, it again worked for the cashier, but definitely not for me so I got a refund. I suspect I don’t have enough static electricity in my body to make it work – although it works fine with my finger so why not with a fake finger? It’s a mystery and using the miniscule keyboard on my phone remains virtually impossible.

We intended to go to Bryce Gorge 50 km past Licola to do a nature walk up there. We hadn’t got quite that far a few days ago before it started getting dark so we decided to try again. Alas, we almost made it again, but by about 5 km short of our objective, the road deteriorated badly, the fog became almost too thick to see the road and the rain would have made the walk miserable – so we will reserve that one for a bright sunny summer day, if at all.

We detoured via Maffra and a few narrow mountain roads on the way home and for once were home before it was completely dark – nearly, but not quite.

Tuesday, 28 July

Another cold a foggy day and we spent most of it huddling in the warmth of the van. We had photos to download and sort, blogs to write up, bills to pay, emails to reply to – all the usual stuff – but we got out for a short walk around the circuit behind the caravan park in the late afternoon. It is about a kilometre and a half, probably a bit more, but just some light exercise in a very pleasant area much used by the locals.

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elizasvintagemoviesblog · 5 years

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Dirk Bogarde: Denial and daring...a star with a secret never told

https://static.independent.co.uk/s3fs-public/thumbnails/image/2011/07/16/16/624945.bin?w968

David Benedict on an actor, soon to be celebrated at the BFI, who let his choice of roles do the talking

Sunday 17 July 2011

Hot Hollywood agent Diane is in crisis: her cute movie star client Mitchell is on the rise, on magazine covers and, to her horror, on the brink of coming out. It's time for straight-talking. "Are you British? Do you have a knighthood? If not, shut up!"

The laugh that gets in Douglas Carter Beane's 2006 play The Little Dog Laughed reveals its truth. Take Sir Ian McKellen and Rupert Everett out of the picture and now try naming another out gay male movie star. You can't? That's because there aren't any. None. With secrecy and the fear of discovery still engulfing gay actors in 2011, is it any wonder that the career – and life – of the entirely closeted Dirk Bogarde was a conundrum and a contradiction?

A seriously handsome, bona fide star who had made 35 films by the age of 40, Bogarde was both British and knighted and made more arrestingly bold choices than any actor of his generation, taking name-above-the-title roles in The Servant and Accident with Joseph Losey, Death in Venice and The Damned for Luchino Visconti, The Night Porter for Liliana Cavani, Providence for Alain Resnais and Despair for Rainer Werner Fassbinder. All that from a man who as early as 1958 was the biggest draw at the British box office – pulling bigger audiences than Marlon Brando, Marilyn Monroe, Frank Sinatra, Audrey Hepburn and Elvis Presley.

In addition, by the time of his death, in 1999, he had reinvented himself. He published six novels, plus collections of correspondence and criticism, and, crucially, seven best-selling volumes of memoirs throughout which he staunchly claimed to be straight. Actress Glynis Johns, a contemporary most famous as the suffragette mother in Mary Poppins, tartly observed, "I never believed more than one sentence of what Dirk wrote." She should know: she was once married to Tony Forwood who had divorced her and subsequently lived with Bogarde as his "manager" for almost 40 years.

Bogarde's position was, initially, understandable. Born in 1921, for his first 46 years homosexuality was against the law. Any man caught in "homosexual acts" faced imprisonment. That prohibition was ruthlessly policed. In 1955, 2,504 men were arrested for "homosexual offences", ie, about seven people every day. Even Ian McKellen, 18 years younger, didn't come out until 1988, when he was 49. Bogarde never did.

Although fully entitled to privacy, his blanket denials on television, radio and in print post-1967 legalisation became, for me, increasingly hard to stomach. Posthumously, the man behind the painstakingly maintained mask was uncovered in home movies and commentaries from family and friends in a BBC documentary The Private Dirk Bogarde (2001) and John Coldstream's biography. The great irony of Bogarde's position, however, is that no other screen actor has given such affecting and extraordinarily powerful gay performances.

Even now, the industry regards playing gay as being potentially career-damaging, an act so "brave" that your Oscar virtually comes with the contract – step forward William Hurt for Kiss of the Spiderwoman (1985), Tom Hanks for Philadelphia (1993), Philip Seymour Hoffman for Capote (2005), Sean Penn for Milk (2008). Probably the only reason Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal didn't win for Brokeback Mountain was that their dual presence cancelled one another out.

Regardless of the authenticity – or lack thereof – of those performances by straight actors, they pale beside the still astonishing impact of Bogarde's shockingly truthful performance back in 1961 as a barrister embroiled in a secret gay affair in Victim.

Bogarde plays married barrister Melville Farr who discovers that a blackmailed young man who loved him has hanged himself in police custody rather than reveal their relationship. Realising Farr's intention to uncover the plot, the blackmailers threaten to expose him. In the central scene – whose dialogue was rewritten to more explicit effect by Bogarde himself – Farr is confronted by his distressed wife (played by Sylvia Syms).

Shot in high-contrast black-and-white, edged with the darkness of a sitting-room at night but trapped in a fierce spotlight, Bogarde is mesmerising. Crisply suited, dry-voiced and on the edge of tears, he painfully stifles the emotion threatening to destroy him. With the camera locked in close-up, he lifts his chin ever so slightly in defiance, his eyes widening into a glare of triumph that costs him everything.

"You won't be content until I tell you, will you, until you've ripped it out of me. I stopped seeing him because I wanted him. Can you understand – because I WANTED him."

I can still remember being transfixed – and terrified – by that moment when I first saw it by accident on television one night. It was the 1970s, I was a guilt-ridden, fiercely closeted teenager and I had never, ever seen or heard a man on screen or off express such piercing desire for another man. I felt physically torn between an absolute need to keep watching and the cramping fear that my parents would come in and instantly understand why I was watching something so incriminating.

Bogarde always maintained that the camera photographed thought. Nowhere is that more true than in that scene. It wasn't just this teenager who recognised the staggering truth behind that performance and its implications for the actor.

In a television interview to promote the film, he was asked the not-so-veiled question: "You must feel very strongly about this subject to risk losing possibly a large part of your audience by appearing in such a bitterly controversial film?"

With manufactured insouciance, Bogarde counters, "I don't think so, no. This is a marvellous part and in a film I think is tremendously important because it doesn't pull any punches: it's quite honest. I don't have to use any old tricks for the fans, it's a straightforward character performance."

Necessarily disingenuous as that was, in hindsight it's also seriously unconvincing due to his immensely camp "who me?" manner, his left eyebrow arched, his fingers playing with his ear and chin.

Being able to pinpoint a scene that changed a career is rare, but that's what that Victim scene did. And having just engineered his release from his constraining 14-year-old contract with the Rank Organisation, Bogarde accelerated to an international reputation taking on increasingly complex roles with adventurous directors. Contrarily, the finest of those performances were in roles amplifying his hidden sexuality.

He was memorably viscous as the vicious Barrett, the manservant manipulating imperilled, upper-class James Fox into sex-and-power games in Losey's superbly elliptical (and Pinter-scripted) The Servant. And, in 1971, he crowned his career with Death in Venice, playing a man who falls fatally in love with the ideal of beauty exemplified by a beautiful boy. With almost no dialogue, the film amounts to a 125-minute reaction shot. As casting director Michelle Guish observed of Helen Mirren the day after the first Prime Suspect aired, no other British actor could have played that role that well because no one else had that depth of screen experience.

Was it arrogance that pushed the controlled Bogarde to the brink of self-exposure in this and other defining roles? He destroyed almost all of his personal papers, so we'll never know. Whatever conclusion we try to draw, the screen evidence survives.

'He Who Dared', a two-month Dirk Bogarde retrospective, begins at the BFI Southbank on 3 Aug

source: independent

#DB #Dirk Bogarde #a charming man #article #vintage collection

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hannahvsana · 5 years

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On Saturday it was my 19th birthday! Sam and I went to London for the day. We started at Camden Lock, then we went to a poetry cafe and finally went to Southbank and ended at YO!Sushi.

We had to eat out twice and I decided not to pack a safe sandwich ‘just in case’. For lunch I ended up getting this vegan chickpea curry. I will be honest and say I didn’t eat much of it as I’m terrified of rice and I was scared of how sweet it was. But I ate as much as I could and eating out at an unknown, unplanned food stall was a big deal. For dinner it was a little easier. We went out to Yo! Sushi for dinner and I had one of the veggie sushi things, and I also had a pumpkin katsu and it was soooo good even though it was fried! Overall I was really proud of myself.

Sam bought me a BEAUTIFUL vintage Polaroid 640 and I’m in love. I’ve posted some of the shots I took 📷 it’s my last uni exam tomorrow and I can’t wait for it to be over!

#ed recovery #recovery #eating disorder recovery #my face #anorexia recovery #fear food #anxiety recovery #depression recovery #personal #birthday #london #relationship stuff #my photography #polaroid #ed challenge

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forevermyalwaysphff · 6 years

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Chapter 1

Author’s Note: Hello everyone! Thank you so much for all the interest in my new fic. It really means a lot to me and I cannot wait to share Harry and Alexa’s story with you. With that being said, this fic has no disrespect towards Meghan and Harry’s current relationship/marriage. It is just an idea I had come to me after Eugenie’s wedding and would like this blog to remain a positive place! I would love to hear what you think of if you would like to share :) Without further wait, here is the first chapter in Harry and Alexa’s story!

It was a perfect summer evening as the sun was starting to set over the Thames River providing the picturesque lighting that danced off the still water. A warm breeze floated off the river that cooled the evening to an ideal temperature, perfect for the celebration of Harry’s cousin Eugenie’s engagement to her long time boyfriend Jack that had been made official a few days earlier in the week.

Tonight was their engagement party for with their friends that was hosted along the Thames River near the Southbank of London on an outside pub along the water; a place that Eugenie would have picked herself.

Harry sighed deeply and took a sip of his beer that coated his throat. It was a well-deserved night of relaxation with friends and family after his busy flight training with the British Forces. He had been out of the city in Suffolk, diving deep into written tests, flight training and exams. Sitting beside his friend, Charlie Van Straubenzee, and Charlie’s girlfriend, Daisy, he joined in on the conversation trying to enjoy the party.

“Well, it’s about time Jack put a ring on it!” Daisy looked into her boyfriend’s eyes and winked suggestively at him giving Charlie a gentle nudge. “Maybe someone should learn from him, don’t you think so Harry?”

The prince turned his head to lock eyes with Charlie’s wide ones staring back at him pleadingly, not to agree with his girlfriend and put more pressure on himself. A devilish smirk appeared on Harry’s lips at the thought of teasing his close friend in that moment.

“I think if he wants you to keep him, he should Daisy.” The prince leaned in and bantered with Charlie who had released a low groan at Harry’s comment.

“Oh really mate? Let’s talk about your set up tonight!” Charlie egged the prince on who clearly did not want to discuss how Eugenie was on his ass to set him up with a friend of hers. “With who again? Cressida? Eugenie’s friend?”

Harry shook his head back and forth in denial. “I never agreed to anything, Charlie.”

“Does she know that? Because Cressida and Eugenie are coming over here….” Harry followed Charlie’s gaze past the stools that lined the bar to see a blonde woman walking towards him with his cousin in tow.

“Oh fuck…” Harry muttered under his breath and quickly drank down the rest of his beer only to signal the bar tender for another one.

“Be nice….” Harry felt Daisy’s hand pat his back in a comforting manner. “It’s been a while and you deserve someone too. Who knows, you might actually enjoy it.” Her soft kind words sunk into his being, acknowledging them with a slight nod of the head.

Swivelling his head back, he found himself looking into the soft chocolate brown eyes of Daisy. She and the prince had recently become quite close friends since his break up with Chelsy Davy almost six months ago. Daisy was always willing for Harry to tag along with Charlie and her wherever they went and in return, a strong relationship had formed between them.

“Harry!” Hearing Eugenie’s voice calling his name, the prince turned around to face his cousin with a crooked fake smile holding on his lips. Popping off the bar stool he quickly enveloped Eugenie in a warm hug while his gaze evaded Cressida who was watching his every move.

“Congratulations, Eugenie!” Harry squeezed her a little tighter. “I am so happy for you and Jack.” The prince congratulated his little cousin on her engagement while she beamed an elated smile back at him.

“Awe, thanks so much Harry!” Eugenie muffled into his chest before breaking apart from their friendly hug.

“I want to introduce you to someone…” Eugenie stepped back to join her friend that kept a steady gaze on the prince. “Harry, this is Cressida.”

His eyes settled on the blonde that seemed too eager to meet him, making the prince already question her true intentions. “It’s nice to finally meet you, Harry.” Cressida stuck out her hand first, to which Harry reluctantly shook in return. “Eugenie has told me so much about you!”

“I am sure she has…” Harry trailed off trying to seem uninterested because quite frankly, he was. His cousin had been asking Harry for the past few weeks if she could set him up with a friend of hers, but he never fully agreed to it. Hearing that Cressida would be at the engagement party, the prince knew he could no longer avoid it and now he found himself right in the middle of that situation.

“I will leave you two to talk. I need to find Jack.” Eugenie gave a subtle wink along with her excuse to leave Harry and Cressida alone to get to know one another better. Harry caught a glimpse of the smile her cousin formed as she walked away, a smile that she was happy to finally introduce them to one another.

Harry’s eyes drifted down towards the blonde woman and offered a kind smile. He convinced himself that he would give Cressida the benefit of the doubt and give her a chance, Harry at least owed her that for putting herself out there.

“Why don’t we head over there?” Cressida pointed behind Harry to a group of lounging chairs that were unoccupied away from the bustle of the party.

“Lead the way…” He smiled politely and followed in behind the blonde.

Harry nodded his head pretending to be interested in whatever it was Cressida was talking about, which always seemed to be about her. He had lost significant interest in trying after she went on and on about everything she had accomplished as if this was more of a job interview telling him she was worthy of his presence and attention. His gaze kept averting to the party that was happening around them, noticing that most of his cousins, his brother and sister in law had arrived.

Glancing down at his watch, the prince had been sitting here for about forty minutes with the blonde women trying his best to find a connection or a spark with her and it simply was not happening for him. Never once did Cressida ask Harry about himself or seem interested in him other than the fact that he was a prince; a thought that did not settle well internally with him. All she did was talk about herself and her aspirations to follow into an acting and dance career. A career that was not best suited for dating a prince as an immediate warning within him grew over her true intentions.

“Cressida…” Harry interrupted her being no longer able to waste more time than he had with her. “Look you are a lovely women.” He looked straight into her eyes and found a source of empathy to dig his words from. “But, this is not going to work out between us.”

He watched the smile fall from her lips in disappointment while confusion flashed across Cressida’s face. “But… I thought Eugenie said you were interested in me…” She trailed off with a lowered head unable to look him in the eyes as a flood of embarrassment hit her.

Harry closed his eyes briefly and took a second to formulate a reply that was clear he was not interested, but also soften the blow of rejection. “I just don’t feel any connection with you, to be brutally honest and it is not fair for either of us to continue this further.” Harry shifted to the edge of his seat. “There are a ton of guys here I am sure that would love to spend time with you, Cressida. You are a lovely woman like I said, but not for me.” The prince kindly told the blonde who was still looking away from him embarrassed.

With that, Harry stood up and left to walk back towards the bar to get a drink. “Well that went well… thanks Eugenie.” He sarcastically voiced to himself with a light shake of the head. Scanning the crowd he spotted a few members of his family and walked towards them to greet Will, Kate and Beatrice before heading back to Charlie and Daisy across the bar.

The prince sat down beside Daisy and shared a quick look. “That good huh?” Daisy giggled seeing Harry’s reaction form on his face. “Hey!” She called over the bar tender and bought Harry a beer along with three tequila shots.

“Tequila shots? Really Daisy?” He raised a suggestive eyebrow at the brunette.

“You need to cheer up… or get drunk enough not to care.” Daisy handed a shot to Harry and another to her boyfriend. “It’s a party and you are the biggest party pooper here.” She downed the shot before Harry could even respond. “If you don’t have it, I will have to and then you will have to deal with Charlie’s wrath since you know how I am on tequila…” Charlie’s glaring eyes nearly forced that shot down the prince’s throat.

“One more round!” Daisy hollered while both men on either side of her shook their heads.

A crooked smile turned the corners of his lips as his eyes scanned the bar.

That was when he saw her, standing directly across the bar from him with a smile that would bring the whole world to its feet.

The intriguing blonde women was dressed in a simple yet very flattering black dress with her hair half loosely tied back. Harry sat up straighter in his seat once he saw that the women was in a friendly conversation with his elder cousin Zara and her husband Mike.

She must have felt a set of eyes on her as her head turned slowly to catch Harry staring right at her. The blonde’s gaze softened as she looked directly into the prince’s eyes while a tiny smile that tugged at the corners of her lips. Time stood still for a moment, as the world around them ceased to exist, drawing the two together from across the bar unable for them to look away from each other. But, all too quickly, the blonde lowered her head and averted her gaze from the prince.

Harry watched her every move closely, becoming enthralled from a distance with whoever she was. Still engaged in the conversation, she was fully aware that Harry was still staring at her as her flushed cheeks indicated it to him. Nervously tucking a piece of hair behind her ear, she took a chance and looked back at him finding the prince still staring at her.

This time his smile grew wide while a light chuckle escaped his lips knowing that she again, caught him staring. Her smile grew in comparison, matching the princes while their eyes lingered upon one another. Not only was the blonde woman on to him now, but also was his cousin Zara as she followed the woman’s eyes to Harry.

The prince mustered enough courage to go talk with this mysterious women hat held his attention. He scooted off the bar stool before Daisy could hand the prince his other shot and made his way over to the blonde beauty and his cousin. Walking around the corner he saw Zara mouth to her, ‘he’s coming.’

“Hello, little cousin.” Zara locked narrowing eyes with the prince, making him fully aware she knew exactly what he was up too. She pulled him into an embrace and whispered closely in his ear, “I caught you, you little ginger.”

Breaking apart, his eyes immediately drifted towards the quiet blonde standing next to him, waiting patiently to be introduced to Harry. A set of the deepest green eyes he had ever seen peaked up at Harry and nearly sent his heart into a fluttering chaos. For the first time in his life, Harry found himself speechless.

“Have you two met before?” Zara interceded as she watched the two of them silently flirt with their eyes making her almost nauseated at how sweet their interaction was.

“No.” Harry responded at the same time the blonde said, “Yes.”

Taken back he angled his head down into her with narrowed eyes as the confusion within him started to build. He racked his mind trying to find a hint of how she thought they had met before hand. The prince was sure that he would have remembered those stunning piercing green eyes of hers if he had.

“Well… this is interesting.” Zara leaned up against the bar counter and watched the situation unfold in front of her.

“Where exactly have we met before? I think I would have remembered you…” He flirted with a cheeky grin that caused her eyes to sparkle as she feigned a laugh.

A slight shake of her head followed by a nervous giggle intrigued him further. “I was quite young… at a birthday of Eugenie’s I believe. I don’t think you would have remembered the night very well if I could recall.” She started to giggle at the memory that the prince clearly did not have. “I won’t hold it against you, don’t worry.”

Harry pursed his lips together in embarrassment and ran his hand through his ginger hair. “My apologies. But, I don’t remember your name.” He stuck his hand out in hopes that she would shake it.

“Alexa Grey.” A polite formed on her lips while keeping Harry’s eye contact steady. Her soft hand cupped his and tightly gripped it while shaking Harry’s hand. The two of them stood their silently staring into one another’s eyes, completely oblivious to their surroundings.

“I’m Harry.” He flashed a charming smile.

Alexa pulled her hand away as their fingers brushed and sent an electrical pulse through Harry. “I know who you are.” Her sweet voice spoke.

“Ya, unlike someone.” Zara had somehow gotten a hold of some food and was nibbling on it like the two of them were a show. It was evident that she was trying to kill Harry’s game. He turned to face his cousin and gave her a quick glare to back off, but it only seemed to add more fuel her game.

“Can I get you a drink?” He snuck in between the two women and angled his head down at Alexa, flashing a beaming smile. Harry inhaled Alexa’s sweet scent, almost a floral yet delicate scent that happily lingered in his nose.

“I can get my own, thank you.” She quietly replied before looking up at the prince and realizing exactly how close in proximity he was to her that caught her off guard.

“It’s on me… let me guess. Vodka cranberry with club soda?” His eyes had caught the remnants of the drink on the counter beside her as he made a guess to her drink of choice.

“Yes.” She giggled lightly. “Vodka cran.”

Harry could tell it was a nervous laugh that had escaped her lips and he so desperately wanted Alexa to be comfortable with him. There was a stark difference between Cressida and Alexa that was evident in her behaviour. Both gorgeous blonde women, but there was something about Alexa that intrigued Harry, that caught his eye making him want to know about her.

The prince ordered their drinks and also one for Zara to keep her occupied. As the bar tender was preparing their drinks, he felt a hand slip in under his arm and place some money on the counter. Alexa had tried to sneakily pay for her own drink, but Harry was not having it.

Harry was about to speak when she beat him to it. Alexa’s green eyes flashed up towards him as she leaned in and whispered, “I pay for my own drinks… it’s just a rule of mine.” It seemed like tonight was a night of firsts for the prince. First, this woman made him speechless and now it was the first time in his life that a woman refused to let him buy her a drink.

“If that’s what you want.” He heard the sincerity mixed with a hint of worry in her voice when she told him. Not wanting to push Alexa further, he simply agreed to let her pay for her own drink. “But, my offer still stands at any point.”

“Thank you.” Alexa quickly replied before she leaned into Harry and heard Zara say something on the other side of him.

Zara was about to speak when she lifted her head and saw Alexa leaning into Harry like she innately belonged there, next to him. It threw her speech making her pause and blinked a few times before realizing that she should leave the two of them by themselves. Zara never would have thought that the two of them might even hit it off or she would have introduced them herself a long time ago.

“Well, I better go find Mike and congratulate the happy couple.” Zara winked at the both of them and then tapped Harry’s shoulder. “You two have fun.”

“Bye, Zara. It was great seeing you again!” Alexa waved goodbye. Harry on the other hand was just purely happy she was leaving allowing the prince to finally be alone with Alexa.

“I am sure I will be seeing you more often!” Zara could not help herself at taking one last dig at her younger cousin, offering him a subtle wink to go for it.

Harry angled his body to face Alexa and offered her the last open bar stool for her to sit down, which she happily took. “I’ve been on my feet all day, it’s nice to relax.” The prince handed Alexa her drink, watching her take a healthy sip of it.

“Work I assume?” He casually leaned up against the bar counter as she nodded. “What do you do exactly?” The sunset behind the prince casted its vast colors across her face, mixing in with her green eyes that were bright and sparkling while staring up at shyly at the prince.

Alexa looked down trying not to be blinded by the light and focused on her hands that were fidgeting with her black dress. “I am a social worker at Guardian.”

“Guardian…?” Harry angled his head and pondered the name as he thought of the company name but could not place it.

“It’s a center for sexual and domestic violence survivors.” Alexa proudly spoke of it as she educated Harry on what she exactly did there. “I mainly work with them directly, finding them new affordable living situations, legal case work, employment, funding and with their children as well.” The proud smile that had formed on her lips indicated to Harry that Alexa loved her job and the work she did for all those in need.

“Sounds tough…” Harry took a sip of his beer as he observed Alexa release a sigh.

“It has its day for sure, like any job.” Alexa grew quiet, but a small smile tugged at her lips as she angled her head up towards the prince. “But, when you get to help people start a new life away from fear… at the end of the day it’s all worth it.”

Harry shook his head lightly as he briefly looked away from the blonde. “I couldn’t do it, that’s for sure.” His eyes found Alexa’s staring up at him about to ask him a question when blaring music started to play. The prince watched her lips move, but was unable to make out what she was saying.

He casually leaned in and spoke into her ear above the DJ playing the music. “Do you want to go somewhere more private?” Harry lifted his head to see her happily nodding a reply.

Sliding off the stool Harry grabbed her drink off the counter and led Alexa towards a set of free lounge chairs that faced a spectacular view overlooking the river. With each step towards the chairs, the music faded in the background giving them the chance to actually hear one another.

Harry sat down first and placed their drinks on a table ahead of them before patting the seat next to him. Alexa gathered her dress and sat down beside the prince and took in the view ahead of her. “Wow that view is amazing!” She smiled as her eyes stayed stagnant on the sun setting over the river while she slipped into a tranquil state of mind. It gave Harry an opportunity to run his eyes up and down her body without fear of Alexa catching him. It is indeed an amazing view. Harry thought to himself.

“I never asked what you do?” Alexa angled her body towards Harry and relaxed back into the soft cushions.

“You don’t know?” He asked jokingly.

“Well, I don’t google you… so yes I don’t know.” The sass was evident in her voice making the prince toss his head back in laughter, loving how easily she teased back. “Sorry… that may be the vodka talking.” She brought her hand to her mouth and giggled along side the prince. “I’m a bit of a light weight.”

Their laughter subsided as they both caught their own breath ending with a heavy sigh. Harry’s hand unconsciously settled on her lower thigh by Alexa’s knee, covering over her smooth soft skin. In response, Alexa comfortably shifted closer to Harry’s body and rubbed her arms with a shivering lip.

The prince’s brow furrowed seeing Alexa shiver as he too felt a cool air drift from off the river. “Are you cold?” A concerned Harry voiced softly.

“Oh no, I’m ok.” She stopped rubbing her arm noticing the prince’s worried glance. “It’s just a little cooler closer to the river.” Alexa brushed it off lightly.

The gentleman inside of Harry came out and without wasting a second he shrugged off his suit jacket. Alexa was quick to protest saying she was fine, but the prince insisted as Harry offered her his jacket.

“But, you will get cold then…” Those green eyes of hers were laced with concern at Harry’s gesture.

He could not look away from those captivating green eyes that made him forget even the simplest words. “I will survive. Please take it.” Harry simply would not let a woman freeze beside him. He lifted the jacket around Alexa and covered her bare cool skin, running his hands up and down the side of her arms creating a source of warmth.

Alexa immediately snuggled into the warmth of Harry’s coat and wrapped it around her body. “You are so sweet, thank you.” She kindly thanked the prince and took a moment to stare into those blue eyes that caused her heart to beat rapidly in her chest. Forcing herself to look away in fear of getting lost in them, Alexa cleared her throat and changed the subject. “So, you were telling me what you do…” Alexa encouraged him to continue.

“Well I am a Prince…” He stuck out his tongue and earned a playful swat to his chest. “Ow!” Harry rubbed his chest pretending that she hurt him.

“Oh come on, you are in the army. I know for a fact that did not hurt you one bit!” Alexa narrowed his eyes at Harry before realizing what she had said.

Harry’s eyes grew big. “Oh so you do know what I do!” He barked a laugh seeing her nose scrunch up adoringly.

“Eugenie talks about you, so of course I know. I was trying to be polite and let you tell me.” Alexa sighed deeply, but a smile lingered on her lips.

“Ok, ok.” Harry’s hand found the same place on Alexa’s thigh before he continued. “I am in the middle of flight training with the British Army.”

“What are you hoping to fly?” Alexa sat up and grabbed a sip of her drink. She breathed out deeply trying to focus on not showing how his thumb was soothingly rubbing her knee. His touch was more intoxicating than the drink she held to her lips, taking in a healthy sip while Harry told her about his flying career.

“The Apache.” Harry watched the confusion form on her face. “It’s an attack helicopter.”

“Sounds dangerous. Do you like flying?” Alexa seemed genuinely intrigued in his work in the army and he was happy to share his inner thoughts with her.

“Yeah, of course I do.” He gently rubbed her leg. There was something about Alexa that innately brought a sense of calming comfort to the prince that he had found himself seeking as of late.

“But, why?” Her hand reached out and played with his hair. Some how their bodies had drifted closer and closer, unconsciously craving the contact.

Alexa just stared into Harry’s deep blue eyes as she listened to him talk. His posh deep voice had her melting from the inside, but those eyes… she could stare into them all night long. She was completely taken back at how easy he was to talk to and shocked at how comfortable Harry had made her feel already. His gentle touch on her leg made her heart beat a thousand miles a minute as her clouded mind tried to remain focused on his words.

Never did Alexa think that she would be sitting here beside Harry deep in conversation wrapped up in his jacket. Her fingers gently played with his soft hair at the nape of his neck as he maneuvered his head towards her touch. Alexa froze and took in a quick breath, stopping the gesture and realizing what she was doing. Becoming slightly embarrassed, she looked away from Harry towards the river being unable to handle the intensity of his gaze.

A tender squeeze of her leg brought her green eyes back towards Harry. “You ok?”

“Yeah, sorry I just…” It was then that Alexa became aware of how close she was to the prince. Shifting away an arm sprung out around her and stopped her from moving any further.

“You don’t have to move away from me. Unless you have a boyfriend?” The disappointment was evident in his voice as he tried to put her actions into a reason.

“No… god no.” Alexa was quick to respond and shut that down. “It’s not that at all.” Her voice softened into a whisper and held the prince’s gaze hostage. Alexa parted her mouth, about to explain when she heard a familiar voice call out her name.

“Lexi!” Eugenie hollered her name making the two of them turn and look towards the sound of the voice. Eugenie was hand in hand with Jack walking straight towards Harry and Alexa who remained comfortably sat on the lounge chairs. Harry felt Alexa shift and stand beside him as he soon followed suit with a slightly annoyed expression on his face that once again one of his cousins interrupted him this evening.

“I was looking all over for you and here I find you with my cousin!” Eugenie beamed a wide smile and opened her arms up to engulf Alexa into a tight friendly hug.

“I’m sorry I was late. I got caught up at work.” Alexa gently swayed her best friend back and forth. “Congratulations again on your engagement.”

“It’s alright Lexi! We are having so much fun tonight! I hope Harry is treating you ok?” Eugenie whispered covertly into her friend’s ear. Alexa answered with a simple nod as she broke away from the confines of Eugenie’s arms.

“Harry….” Eugenie eyed him suspiciously. “I see you stole my bestie away from my party.” She teasingly scolded her cousin with a light playfully push.

“Bestie, huh?” Harry’s eyes found Alexa’s, but she quickly shied away. “Did not know you two were that close.” His gaze never wavered from the blonde to see her nervously fidget with a ring on her finger.

“Cressida was quite upset that you blew her off tonight after I told her you were interested in her.” Eugenie had put her foot in her mouth seeing Harry’s eyes grow wide in disbelief as the newly engaged princess realized what she had. She silently stood there to see the way Alexa’s head snapped towards Harry, displaying a wounded expression that caused her to clearly become angry with her cousin. Alexa’s gaze faltered, being unable to look at Harry anymore while she defensively crossed her arms.

“Sorry…” Eugenie mouthed towards the prince realizing what she had done. In truth, she did not even think of setting up Alexa with Harry after what happened with her friend’s last break up with an aristo thinking that Harry would not even be an option for Alexa. But, now it was clearly evident to Eugenie that she had interrupted something between Harry and Alexa and put her foot in her mouth talking about Cressida.

“Why don’t you come dancing with me?” Eugenie tugged on Alexa’s hand seeing a forced smile upon her friend’s lips for her benefit.

“I will, I promise.” Alexa plastered a fake smile to hide the hurt that was circling within her. “I need to check in with someone first. I will only be a few minutes, promise.” Without another word, Alexa shrugged off the prince’s jacket and handed it back to him without any acknowledgement of his existence and walked off towards the railing on the dock.

“Shit, I am so sorry.” Eugenie immediately apologized to Harry once out of earshot of Alexa.

“You pushed Cressida on me, Genie.” Harry shook his head with disbelief. “There was no connection or anything at all with her, but with Alexa…” He stopped as his eyes drifted towards the blonde a few meters away that was now clearly upset with him. “It was just natural… and now she’s pissed at me since I am sure she is also friends with Cressida. How do you think that makes me look? Hmmm?” It was evident in Harry’s tone how enraged he was over what Eugenie said.

“I put my foot in my mouth, I know I did.” Eugenie looked up at Harry with apologetic eyes. “Go talk to her. She’s a pretty reasonable person and will understand if you give her a minute.” Eugenie patted the prince’s back. “Believe me I know.” His cousin reassured Harry before walking away with her fiancé.

Releasing a deep breath Harry rubbed the back of his tense neck while looking at the blonde leaning over the rail looking out across the river. Harry had to get out his side of the story and persuade Alexa he was not the type of man she was formulating in her quiet mind. Taking a step forward, he saw her body tense up and looked slightly behind her shoulder aware that he was coming from behind her.

“Alexa?” Her heard turned slightly to the sound of his voice alerting her to his presence, but she did not acknowledge him.

“Hey…” He stood beside Alexa and looked out across the water. But, she just stood there in silence not even taking a glance at him. That beautiful shy smile he had witnessed was nowhere to be found as her jaw was clenched tightly together. Alexa was clearly upset with what she had learned and rightly so. Eugenie made it seem like he was going from one friend of hers to another.

“That was not cool of you, Harry.” Alexa broke her silence and turned to stare up at Harry, locking in his deep blue eyes that could see the evident hurt circling in them. He felt extremely guilty, but he needed to explain that he was not the player she thought him to be.

“Will you let me explain what happened?” He pleaded with her softly while holding her green eyed gaze.

Alexa remained silent as she searched in his eyes to see if he could be trusted while contemplating whether to give him the chance to explain or simply walk away from Harry. “Fine, explain it to me then.” She was short with him and slightly annoyed with herself that she was giving Harry more of her time that surely would be a waste.

Harry wasted no time in explaining. “Yes, Eugenie has been trying to set me up with Cressida ok, but I was clear I did not want that and she just happened to be here tonight so Eugenie introduced us.” Harry paused and sighed. “But, after talking with her for a while I felt nothing. No connection, no attraction what so ever. I didn’t blow her off, I only told her that things would not work between us.” He let the words sink in while staring into Alexa’s softening green eyes.

“Then I saw you…”

After a long pause, Alexa was trying to respond but didn’t know what to say. She was still a bit upset with the prince, but could not deny the connection that she deeply felt for him. It did not make sense in her mind that she could feel such a connection with someone she literally just met, but her heart felt it with each passing beat. There was just something about it that convinced her heart to trust Harry one more time.

“I appreciate you wanting to explain what happened to me, but it did hurt me to hear that you went from her straight to me... that’s such a low blow and makes me question.” Her green eyes peaked back up at Harry after releasing a deep sigh. “It made me feel like you were playing me… and I don’t want that at all. So please spare me now if you are and don’t waste my time further than you already have. Besides Cressida already hates me for whatever reason and I don’t want to give her another one too.” Her tone was laced with a healthy mix of anger and hurt.

“Alexa.” He breathed in heavily. “I am not playing you. I promise.” Her eyes were searching for any sign of doubt to make her believe otherwise, but all she found staring back at her was sincerity that matched his words.

“You intrigue me, Alexa.” Harry confessed whole-heartedly. “There is something about you that I want to know more.”

“Why? I am not that interesting at all.” Alexa’s gaze softened as her eyes smiled hearing those words. “Is that why you wouldn’t stop staring at me from across the bar?” She released a giggle watching the prince blush slightly at the memory of being caught.

“Yes…” He tossed his head back in laughter. “Is it really that bad that I want to?” His hand found a place on her lower back and gently rubbed it reassuringly.

Alexa’s head looked past Harry towards a group of people that were dancing. A mischievous smile grew upon her lips as she got an idea. “That depends…. on your dance moves.” A sparkling glint was in her eyes as she bit down on her bottom lip seductively.

She reached down and grabbed Harry’s hand firmly. “Come dance with me, I like this song!” Alexa asked looking back over her shoulder at Harry while pulling Harry to the dance floor.

“Oh baby, you have no idea what you are getting yourself into. I am the king of the dance floor!” Harry heard her laughter ring out over the music that was becoming louder and louder with each step.

Joining the group on the dance floor, Alexa maneuvered her way through pulling Harry along as they rubbed up against people dancing around them until they made it to the middle of the dance floor. Daisy and Charlie stopped for a moment and shared a look before smiling at Harry and looking down at the woman who started to dance beside him.

He simply shook his head with a smirk and turned his attention back to Alexa who was dancing as if no one was watching and swinging her hips to the beat of the music. With a plastered smile on her face she twirled around and felt Harry’s hand pull her in close to his body. Alexa gasped as she felt her body become flush against the prince. She glanced up at him with those big green eyes of hers as others around them danced. The two of them sharing a private moment amongst a crowd of people as the words of the music created their memories of tonight.

The night that they first met.

Time stood still, but their hearts were beating fast while they willingly lost themselves in the depths each other’s eyes.

The lyrics played as they swayed to the music…

I'll tell them a story, they'll sit and nod their heads I tell you all my secrets, and you tell all your friends Hold on to your opinions, and stand by what you said In the end, it's my decision, so it's my fault when it ends

They tell me think with my head, not that thing in my chest They got their hands at my neck this time But you're the one that I want, if that's really so wrong Then they don't know what this feeling is like

A spark was ignited in that moment, fuelling a fire that neither one of them could deny.

Chapter 1 Outfits

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