Page 31 of Love Will Save the Day
Chapter Twenty-One
As soon as Auguste is finished messing about on his phone he uses it to film Henry doing a bunch of pieces to camera about the party. By the time they’re finished I’m on my fourth glass of champagne. I head into the bathroom to refresh my makeup, and when I leave I bump right in to Auguste who, it appears, has been waiting for me. His eyes are no longer vague and distracted, but wide with excitement.
‘There you are, Bess! I have good news!’He grabs my arm and pulls me into a corner of the room. I try not to think too much about the feel of his hands on my bare skin. I fail.
‘What is it?’ I say.
‘I… I got selected for the London Indie Film Festival.’
‘Oh my god!’
‘I know!’
‘That’s wonderful news, Auguste. Really.’
‘Thank you for the help with my personal statement.’
‘Of course! Your film is incredible. You deserve every good thing.’
I pull him into a hug, immediately regretting it as I get a whiff of his aftershave which is something delicious and grown up. I go to pull away from the hug but Auguste holds me close for a few more seconds, his finger stroking lightly over my bare back.
‘Gosh, you two are looking very cosy.’
Auguste and I jump apart to find Henry looking between the two of us with a frown on his face.
‘Oh, uh. Auguste just found out his film has gotten in to the London Indie Film Festival. I was saying congratulations!’
Henry looks across to Auguste, his usually open and friendly face now distinctly annoyed. ‘Well seeing as Bess and I are appearing online together so much, and have so many fans invested in that, perhaps you could not hug her for extended periods of time in front of everyone who’s anyone in the UK Influencer scene, okay?’
Wow. I’ve never seen Henry lose his cool before. He didn’t even congratulate Auguste!
‘You’ve got all the footage you want, right?’ Auguste says stonily.
‘Yes. You’re not needed for the rest of the evening,’ Henry replies, eyes glinting.
Auguste nods at me and turns on his heel, leaving the room without even a goodbye.
Why is Henry getting so mad? It was just a hug.
Except, of course, it wasn’t.
At least not on my part. And from the way he moved his hand across my back, not on Auguste’s either.
