Prologue

Si Playlist: Natural – Imagine Dragons

Attending parties is not my favourite thing to do. I don’t mind them, per se, but I’d rather not have the pressure of socialising on my mind. Small talk isn’t exactly my forte. I enjoy getting suited and booted, and having a few drinks, but being in a room full of so many people can get a little too much. Being around my mates is fine. I enjoy their company, catching up and just the general feeling of ease I get whilst being surrounded by them, but when you add lots of other people to the mix, I get on edge and irritated. That’s why I’m tentative about Oliver’s birthday party tonight. It’s not just your average gathering at a house, you see.

It’s a big ‘VIP themed party’ , held in a hotel hall.

A posh one too. He’s not doing anything by halves, let’s put it that way. I’m talking excellent quality food, fancy table décor and first drinks on the house for everybody. That’s a lot of fucking drinks in my opinion.

How do I know all of this insider information? Well, it’s because he got all of us from our group involved in it. He even created a special ‘Five Mountains VIP Party Prep’ WhatsApp group chat and has been floating around ideas for over six months on it. From the colour scheme, to who he should invite, the cuisine that would be best to serve, and just about every fucking thing you could possibly imagine that needs to be considered for a party.

It’s been... interesting to say the least. Let’s also bear in mind that this isn’t even a ‘big’ birthday in terms of his age.

He’s turning 33. Thirty. Three. It’s just kind of a regular age. Not one that’s usually up there with the sixteen, eighteen kind of celebratory ages.

I mean, when I turned 33 I just decided to have my main friends around my place for a get together. No decorations, no fancy food either. We just ordered in. No stress, no hassle. Just chill. And even that was draining. I had seven people there.

But Oliver is an eccentric guy who loves making a big deal of things. He claims that the reasons behind this extravagant, big deal is that life is hard and often pretty shitty, so he wants to make the most of the present and enjoy his birthday surrounded by his friends, acquaintances and younger members of his family. Just to have a good drink, delicious food and help everyone forget their worries for the night. I quote him of course, when I say that.

I can’t fault the man. He’s certainly not wrong with his reasoning, and I respect the sentiment behind it too. He likes to think that every birthday should be a special one. Afterall, another year of life is a big deal. We often take the years for granted I suppose and he’s showing that every day, week, month and year you get to spend living deserves to be celebrated. I’m pretty sure being around him has made me softer. I definitely would not have thoughts like this without being in close proximity to him. It’s just not how I work. Some call me hard; some call me grumpy. Lista just thinks I’m ‘ infuriating ’— to quote her. Yeah, maybe I am. It’s better than wearing your heart on your sleeve though isn’t it? If no one can see how I’m feeling, it’s harder to break me then isn’t it? I keep myself guarded for good reason and I intend to keep it that way. I’m done with disappointment and loss.

On saying all of this though, Oliver’s philosophy has definitely prompted me to start thinking differently and seeing some things his way. Emphasis on the some . After everything in my life, I need to change my outlook perhaps, even if it’s just short-term.

You know how much of a top guy Oliver is? And over the top . He’s essentially planned two birthday celebrations. Well, with the extensive help of us lot. There’s the VIP party for friends, acquaintances and close in age family members, and his #birthday2.0 ‘ VIF (Very important family) meal ’ for his older family members. The man is a genius as well as being super thoughtful. His thinking was that having two shindigs would separate the wild side of his life from his family side. He definitely doesn’t want his family to see his drunk friends dancing on tables I guess. Not that I will be. But I honestly cannot say who the hell he’s invited. I mean, he must know a lot of people to fill an entire hotel hall. I rarely have enough friends to fill my living room.

I am secretly hoping that there will be so many people there that I can safely blend into the corner with the guys. And I can only hope no one tries to set me up.

Again.

They’re super good at doing that whenever we’re out and about. It’s never Reed or Pippin who get targeted. To be honest, they’re usually the ones on the other end of it.

Drew doesn’t welcome matchmaking, so they don’t even bother considering it. I’m pretty sure we all know that there’s only one woman in his life who he wants, but only time will tell I suppose. So that means that Felicity is also off limits. I’m pretty sure Drew would bite our heads off if we even attempted to help Felicity find love.

Callista can’t exactly get picked on, otherwise I’m pretty sure her fiancé Quin would have something to say about the matter.

Olivers love life is pretty on the down low. As eccentric as he is, he doesn’t really discuss dating. He’ll often make comments about someone being attractive, but in all the years I’ve known him, which is a fucking long time, I’ve never known him to bring a date around and show them off.

So that leaves me. The one that everyone loves to pick on. They know I’m not interested in dating right now, but they are persistent little shits who like to meddle. They’re under the impression that I need someone in my life to help me soften up a little. Or technically harden (I’m sorry. I’m not so good at jokes). I’m perfectly fine as I am though.

I work hard and a lot . I find getting close to people difficult and I just don’t feel ready for being pushed together with someone I don’t know. If it’s going to happen, it’ll happen naturally.

Not by being set up at random places with a stranger I have nothing in common with. I can’t stand the lads, and often times Callista and Felicity pushing a woman my way whilst out and about. It’s awkward and ends up with one of us making an excuse to leave the situation. I need to pop to the toilet; I may have left the hob on; Oh, sorry I have to take this call. Often times, that someone is me. So, set ups are a big no-no. Especially the ones that are hugely unplanned and done by tipsy friends.

I’ll just have to trust the universe on this one; Not that I’ve trusted it before with how life has gone.

I think I’d rather just be alone for now. It seems like a safer bet for me. I don’t expect anyone to understand, but quite frankly I don’t need them to. I’ve always been a little misunderstood. Rightly so. My past has impacted my future self and I’ve been this way since my early teens.

Honestly, I think I’m hugely overthinking this party. You see what socialising in large groups does to me. It’s been putting my mind into overdrive for a while now and I need to tap into my logical brain and realise how ridiculous I’m being. I’m going to be at the party, with good friends, quality food and drink, and I will enjoy myself. Simple. No need to worry or fret over things that are highly unlikely to happen. It's not like I’ll have to stray from my comfort zone and have to play prince charming. Which I’m honestly not sure I’m physically and emotionally capable of anyway.

To be honest, after mid-afternoon today I’ll be occupied by Olivers last minute party panic and then I’ll be getting changed and heading to the hotel early with most of the guys for pre-drinks and a once over of the hall. I say that, but I’ll mostly likely be standing there nodding and agreeing until Oliver stops obsessing and chills out.

Morning crisis averted, I head for a run along the local river to clear my head, get some fresh air and release some pent-up energy. I have to get it out some way, so exercise always helps. I grab a shower, get changed and head over to the hotel. I’ve been here once, when Oliver was looking around to see if it was the one . Turns out it was. I felt like I was picking out the perfect venue for a wedding. Certainly not for a birthday party, but here we are. And it is very nice. For some reason, in the Autumn season it seems bigger and more lavish. It’s a good job I wore my best suit. I’m not exactly one for fashion, but being Olivers friend has definitely forced me into at least being conscious of what I wear. He says I supposedly fit into the dark academia meets Slytherin style category. I have no idea what that means, but after looking it up on Pinterest, I hate to admit that he’s pretty accurate.

It's been an eventful day, and yet it’s only 5pm. I’ve stood alongside Reed, Pippin and Drew witnessing a meltdown from Oliver which consisted of moving tables around with the staff and then realising they looked better where they were originally. None of us helped him. He needed to do this himself. If we even tried to chip in, he’d bite our heads off, so we stand to offer what some would see as moral support. In reality, we were sniggering and taking the piss out of him under our breath. All in a friendly manner of course.

Now that his crisis is averted, which takes us to two whole crises, if we include mine, which is enough for one day, we all head to Olivers room for last minute prep and a drink or two before heading down to the main hall.

“Cheers lads. Here’s to celebrating another year of my life with you arseholes” Oliver says, raising his champagne glass.

We all comply and meet his glass mid-air, clinking all of our drinks together.

“Cheers” I say. I’m not a man of many words. Out loud anyway. I have enough of the fuckers in my head to write a book. On the outside I keep it to a minimum.

Drew raises his eyebrows at me for some reason, despite us toasting to Oliver.

“Cheers guys. Here’s to the perfect opportunity to find Silas true love once and for all”. I hate him. He’s clearly initiating a set up for me to avoid him being the target, knowing that Felicity won’t get here until much later in the night.

“How kind of you to bring that up” I say, offering him a swift kick to the shin. He buckles and warns me with his eyes to not do that again.

I raise my eyebrows at him, telling him without words to kindly back off. He smiles now, patting my back.

The others don’t catch on though.

“Wait, Oli, didn’t you say you had a few cousins coming? Maybe one of them would go nicely with Silas Slytherin over here” Reed says. Firstly, he knows I hate my full first name. Secondly, he loves to rile me up. I decide to be the mature one and not punch him in the dick.

Oliver decides against maturity though.

“Actually, Reeds right Si. There’ll be some good options tonight. A few might be a bit older than you, but I’m sure they’re happy to have a nice six-four toy boy” he says winking. “Or there’s Magdalene, my favourite cousin. She’s a bit younger but I reckon you’d get on” he says.

Before any of us could even get a word in, both Pippin and Reed ask, “Is she fit?”. I hate everything about that question, so I continue to ignore them. Oliver does in fact answer though, despite it being his cousin.

“Well although beauty is in the eye of the beholder” wow, ultimate cheese “she is beautiful and yet has no idea people see her that way. I haven’t seen her for a while, but she’s always been one to put herself down, despite being incredible. You’ll see lads. Trust me” he says, looking directly at me like he’s baiting me.

We leave the room and head down to the hall just in time for everyone to start arriving in clusters.

I honestly thought I hadn’t taken the bait Oliver tried to throw my way earlier, although annoyingly I’m now finding myself searching the crowd for his cousin. Fuck.