Chapter 4: Hanging
By A Moment
Chance pulled her car up to The Palm Court about two minutes before 7:00. She gave her keys to the valet boy and went inside. It was a beautiful place with palm trees leading down the front hall strung with white lights. She walked through the hall giving her long leather coat to the guy in the coatroom and proceeded to the main room.
“Reservation, miss?” the headwaiter asked once Chance walked up to him.
“Actually, I’m supposed to meet someone here,” she replied.
“And who would that be?”
“Charles Fisher.”
“Ah, he’s already waiting here for you. Follow me.” The headwaiter quickly and quietly escorted Chance to Charles’ table where he, Dan, and Darren were already sitting. A big smile came across her face when she saw Darren get up and walk over to her before she was even at the table. He took her hand and kissed it.
“Good evening,” Darren said as he looked up at her.
Chance nearly melted at the gesture. A large, goofy smile came across her face as she sat down between Dan and Darren and across from Charles. Keeping her composure, she replied, “Good evening. Hello everyone.”
“Now that you’re here Chance, let’s order drinks,” Charles said as he opened the drink menu.
A waiter walked over to out table. Charles, Dan, and Darren all ordered wine. When it came to Chance’s turn, she simply said, “Strawberry Daiquiri, virgin please.” Darren turned to stare at her.
“This isn’t Australia. I’m not old enough to drink wine,” she answered his question before he even had to ask.
Chance looked around the room to the other tables. Most were filled with suited business people. She looked back to her own table to finally notice that both Dan and Darren were dressed well. Both wore black Armani suits, the latest style, with dark ties while Charles wore a variation of the suits. Chance’s eyes began to wander again, but this time they settled on the dance floor and the band on the small stage behind it. This was the first time she had actually paid attention to anything like that.
Chance began to fanaticize about what it would be like to dance just one dance with Darren that night. It was all she wanted. She didn’t realize that she was so out of it until Dan actually had to nudge her to snap her out of her daydream. Charles was talking to her about the deal, and she hadn’t even begun to listen.
“So, do you have the papers?” he asked as she looked at him.
“Hm?” Chance realized what he was talking about and quickly reached down to her purse. “Yes, I have the papers.” She took them out and handed them to Charles.
He read them over and said, “Well, Chance, I guess there’s nothing left to say, but welcome to the team.”
Chance nearly burst out into tears when she heard what Charles said. “This is unbelievable. How can I ever thank you?” she said with a shaky voice.
“Sign this, and we’ll be even,” he said, handing her the contract. Chance quickly signed it and handed it back to Charles.
“Toast!” Darren said. “To the newest member of the Savage Garden family, Chance. May the time we spend together be productive, fun, and full of pranks.”
Chance and the others laughed as they raised their glasses. A few moments later, the house band began to play a slow, mellow song. Charles left the table saying that he had spotted a friend of his. Chance, Dan, and Darren were all left alone to talk amongst themselves.
“So…” Darren started.
“All of a sudden this got really boring,” Chance added. “This is always what seems to happen at restaurants to dressy for me. I get bored easily.”
“Before we let boredom take over this table, Chance, would you like to dance with me?” Dan asked as he took her hand.
“Sure,” Chance replied. So what if this wasn’t her fantasy? She was still dancing with a cute guy. She stood up and followed him to the floor where there were already many people dancing. “Just a few rules. You can’t go beyond the equator, if you know what I mean.”
“I’ve never met such a demanding girl,” he said as he carefully placed his hands on her hips.
“Well, I’ve never met a pop star. I guess we’re even,” she answered back with a smile. They dance a few minutes, slowly getting closer to each other until Chance was able to rest her head on Dan’s chest. She closed her eyes and just took in the moment for what it was worth. “I can’t believe this is happening,” Chance finally said.
Dan smiled down at her. He took his right hand and lifted her chin up so they could look into each other’s eyes. “It’s always this way at the beginning. Everything seems to be running so far ahead of you that you don’t know if you’ll ever catch up. Be careful, though, because at any second you could trip and come tumbling down to the ground,” he said.
“Such wise words,” Chance replied, looking up into his eyes to find anything that could tell her where this was coming from.
“I know from experience. I saw what happened to Darren and Colby. It wasn’t pretty, and I don’t want that to happen to you.”
Chance smiled as she lowered her head back to his chest. This was definitely shaping out to be the best night of her life. Even though she wasn’t dancing with Darren, Dan seemed like a great guy, and she wanted to give him a chance. But there would always be one more person added to the equation, Scott. Chance had hidden feelings for him that she never dared to revel to anyone, even herself. He was more than a friend, and she knew in her heart that maybe he was her soul mate.
“May I cut in,” Darren’s voice interrupted her thoughts. Chance’s head shot up to see him moving closer to her and Dan. She pulled away from Dan gently, not wanting to give him a wrong signal.
As soon as Dan was gone, Darren and Chance just stared into each other’s eyes as if to try to figure out what the other was thinking. Darren smiled as he took her hand. His free hand slid behind her waist and they began to dance to a new song.
While Darren and Chance were dancing, their eyes never strayed from the others. Chance felt as if she had made a connection with Darren. Something so deep inside that no one could ever understand, ever truly see, what it meant. ‘How could two people who have just met already be so close?’ she thought to herself. But soon after, feelings for Scott began to drift into her mind. Chance began to feel strange about how all this was coming together. Her true feelings for Scott came pouring out, and dancing with Darren seemed like an awkward thing. Chance pulled away at the thought.
“Did I step on your foot?” Darren asked as he saw her move away.
“No, you didn’t. I just wanted to ask you, how could you tell when you’re in love?” Chance replied.
“I don’t really know. I can try to explain it to you, but then there are so many complicated feelings involved that I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to truly give you the real meaning of love,” he said.
“Oh, then I’m sorry for asking,” she thoughtfully replied. Chance kept her distance though, still feeling awkward.
The music changed to a familiar song that Chance instantly recognized. It was one of the old songs that her father played while he was in his office working. He had always said it cleared out his mind and made things clearer. A sharp pain ran through Chance’s body as a stream of tears built up behind her eyes. She turned away from Darren not wanting him to see her cry. She stared to walk away then broke into a run. Chance had no idea where she was going. She only saw a set of glass doors ahead of her that led to a patio.
Once outside, Chance burst into tears. She fell to her knees and buried her face into her hands. This wasn’t the first time something like this happened. The outbursts were quite frequent, almost coming at a rate of three to four a week. The weight of her parents’ deaths was more than enough to damage Chance’s mental and physical states. Every time she heard or saw something that made her think of her parents, she’d let the tears lose. Her body had become a tangle of bones and flesh because she rarely ate.
After a few minutes of sitting by herself, Chance could feel a soft, warm hand over her bare shoulder. She looked up to see Darren standing beside her. He slowly knelt down beside her and took off his jacket to slip over her cold shoulders. Chance leaned into him and softly cried the last of her tears. He held her in his arms until the last tear fell to the ground.
“I’m sorry,” Chance said as she began to stand up. “It’s just that the song they were playing reminded me of my father, and whenever I remember something like that, I start to cry.”
“I understand,” Darren softly cooed. “It’s alright.” He rocked her back and forth in his arms to comfort her even if she didn’t want to be comforted.
“Could we stay out here for a little while?” she asked. “I don’t wanna go back in there until I can compose myself.”
“We can take all the time you need.”
On the patio there were four chairs side by side in a row near the railing that separated it from the street. Darren walked Chance over to one of the chairs and she sat down.
“Could I talk to you about something?” Chance asked as she wiped her eyes with the back of her hand.
“Go ahead. I’m here to listen.”
“Good, because this has been bothering me for quite a while. I have this friend. He’s a great guy and all, but lately, I’ve been thinking about him as more than a friend,” she began.
“Do you think you’re in love with him?” Darren instantly asked, remembering the question Chance posed earlier.
“Yeah,” she timidly answered. “That’s why…”
“You asked me when you knew you were in love,” he finished for her.
“Yes, because I’m beginning to think that I am, but I’m afraid to tell him,” Chance started to explain.
“Don’t be. All you have to do is tell him,” Darren offered his advice.
“But you see, with us, it gets really complicated. He just happens to be friends with a known ass hole who tortures me everyday. He’s even part of his ‘gang.’ He’s told me a million times that he wouldn’t have joined if he knew what they did to me, but now that he’s in, he can’t get out, and I can’t tell him my true feelings,” she finished.
“That sounds so familiar,” he replied.
“Romeo and Juliet,” Chance said. “We’re pretty much parallel to the whole story. I just hope neither of us dies in the end.”
“That would suck.”
“Big time.”
“So, what are you gonna do?”
“I dunno, probably sit back and watch from the sidelines. Hopefully after high school, all this shit is gonna end and we can be happy together.”
“You could do that, or you could be daring and see him in secret,” Darren suggested as he shifted his weight from one foot to the other.
“That sounds like a good idea, but it would never work,” Chance rejected. She wasn’t about to be talked into something that could cost someone his or her life.
“Why not? It would be really romantic if he snuck into your room at midnight just to see you and tell you to say that he loved you. Or if he sent you flowers saying that they were from a secret admirer. Even better, write you love songs and poetry. If I were him, I’d be doing all those things and more,” Darren said as he took Chance’s hand to pull her up out of her seat. She had already begun to melt at what he said.
“Why does the power of persuasion always seem to nab me?” she asked herself aloud as she walked back into the restaurant. Darren just led her back to the table with a wide smile on his face.