I wake up in the morning from a sound my phone was making. I look at the alarm clock and it's still 7am, I still have one hour of sleep to enjoy, so it can't be the alarm. After a couple more rings, I finally realize it's a phone call.
Me: Hello...
Amr: Hey Luci, sorry it seems like I woke you up. Did I?
Me: No, no worries at all. How are you?
Amr: I'm fine and I kind of have sudden news for you and Youssef. We have to go to London tomorrow.
Me: Tomorrow? I thought we're going next week.
Amr: Yeah that's what I thought too, but the client (can't mention name) requested we come in as soon as possible to work with them on their PR activities they have planned for London Fashion Week. Who can say no to that?
Me: Whattt? That's so exciting!
Amr: Yeah it is. Luckily we applied for the visas in advance. Anyway, please make sure you're ready as I'll book us flights for tomorrow morning. You can come a bit later to the office if you want to.
Me: Sure, I'll pack my bags and make it to work in a couple of hours. See you then!
WOW! Talk about a fantastic way to start off my day. I couldn't have asked for a better escape to get my mind off all the drama I've been having lately. I'm going to attend London Fashion Week, woop woop! I've never even been to a fashion show, so you must imagine how huge this is for me. I couldn't continue sleeping afterwards and rushed down to my mum to tell her the good news. Both of us started packing my bags afterwards, my mum does it twice as fast as I usually do.
Mum: Luckily Billy is okay with you just traveling like that. Most guys would be a bit against it.
Me: Oh about that...
Mum: What?
Should I tell her or just continue enjoying a peaceful day. I know if I mentioned anything to her I wouldn't hear the end of it, and then I'd have to give her full details, and I just didn't want to go through it again. Billy didn't stop calling me since I last broke it off with him, though the frequency of his calls decreased a bit. Honestly, I'm not sure if I'll ever call him back or pick up, but let's just say I'm better off not answering at all for now.
Let me fast forward a day or two and tell you more about my experience at London Fashion Week, which is AWESOME so far! Seriously, I can't even describe how excited I still am. I got to attend a couple of the fashion shows and not just that, but also witness what's going on backstage as our client is a makeup brand (if you remember I had told you about them before). Unlike the pictures I usually see from other fashion weeks, London Fashion Week is pretty much on the artsy side. I'm actually writing to you from my hotel room (after a series of events you'll know shortly) impatiently waiting for the rest of the shows I'll be attending during my trip. Think the top players at London Fashion Week! I can't wait till I can share all my updates with my girlfriends. Finally I can give out some fun things about my life instead of drama.
Speaking of drama, let me tell you how my day started. I was having breakfast when I found yet another missed call from Billy. Yes, he is still calling and he started texting too. The last text I got from him said: "Luci, please pick up. You can't treat me like that! Fine, I get you want end things, but let's talk about it at least."
Yeah right, as if I'm going to waste my precious time now and call you! No I'm not going down that path again, I gave you a golden chance and you lost it Mr! Next, the phone rings again...
Me: Hello?
Youssef: Gorgeous, get ready we're going back to the shows in half an hour from now. We need to be pretty active on everything social, ready for it?
Me: I was born ready man!
Youssef: That's my girl...
So for the next show at London Fashion Week we had to be backstage. I have to tell you as glamorous as fashion shows are, what goes on backstage is a completely different thing. Don't get me wrong it's still super fun, but so much stress. I started joking in Arabic with Amr and Youssef when suddenly a girl's voice called my name.
Voice: Luci?
I turned around and it took me a couple of seconds to realize who that girl is.
Me: Oh my God! What are you doing here Fatima?
Fatima: No no, what are you doing here?
Me: We're the official Middle Eastern representatives for one of the sponsors...
Fatima: What? That's so cool! I'm part of the organizing team. Wow I can't believe how random this is. Small world, huh?
Before I continue telling you about what Fatima and I blabbered about, let me first tell you who she is. Fatima was one of my favorite childhood friends in school, but then her family had to move to Paris and that was the last time I saw her. Though I have her on Facebook and we get in touch from time to time, it was great seeing her and as she mentioned super random. She told me how much she hated living in Paris and jumped at the first opportunity she got to move to London, and one job after the other she ended up where she is.
Fatima: What are your plans for tonight?
Me: Still nothing planned, need to check with the guys. (pointing at Amr and Youssef at the other end of the room)
Fatima: Oh, then you can all come to this really cool party one of my friends is throwing. It's a very exclusive thing you're going to love it.
Me: Sounds like fun, count us in!
What? So I don't just make it to London Fashion Week, but also get to be backstage and go to an exclusive party. Can it get any more awesome? No wait, hold that thought. My mum is calling me for the fifth time, though I've been canceling her and was planning on calling her later on. So I decide to pick up because it seemed like an urgent thing.
Mum: Luci, I've been trying to reach you for a very long time. What's wrong with you?
Me: Nothing I was at work and couldn't pick up. What's up?
Mum: Billy was just here!
Me: What the hell was he doing at our house?
Mum: Well, you lied to me, he didn't know you were traveling.
Me: Why should he even know. I broke up with him. Mum can we please talk about this later? I'm super busy now!
Mum: No, please tell me what happened? Why did you break up with him?
Me: Well, he was cheating on me and even though I was planning on letting it go and perhaps continue after taking a break, he didn't even try hard enough and kept on talking to the other girl. So that's it!
Mum: Oh my God, how can you not tell me about all of that? I thought I'm your friend too. I really thought Billy was the one.
Me: Well, so did I! But that's certainly for the best...
Mum: I really don't want to see you end up alone, so please don't think about Billy too much. There are other great guys out there.
Me: Seriously? Mum, I really can't do this now. I'm not going to end up alone, don't worry, and now is most certainly not appropriate to discuss something like that. Sorry I didn't tell you about it, but it was kind of embarrassing for me, I just needed more time to be okay with it. I love you but I got to go now, will call you later, muah!
That was intense! All she thinks about is me getting married. I can't believe it! Why does she even think I will end up alone? Talk about optimism mum! That phone call left me pretty tense and I wasn't that excited about the party anymore, but both Amr and Youssef insisted we should go and that it's great for networking. So I thought why the hell not?
I decided to let all the problems in my head go away and just enjoy the party. Since I don't drink, I thought having a Red Bull would do the trick. Little did I know that one Red Bull led to the other and with almost no food in my stomach I turned into a super hyper person. Too hyper actually! Dancing around and flirting a bit here and there.
Let's not blame it all on the Red bull, as it only did part of that effect, the other part was me desperately trying to have a great time while I couldn't shove away the drama in my life. Unfortunately things don't work that way!
I couldn't help but notice how handsome Amr looked, or was it just in my head? Tons of girls were hitting on him, but he was kind of giving them a cold shoulder. He was super friendly with them, but that's all he did, nothing more. Such a gentleman I must say!
Me: So are you enjoying the party?
Amr: Are you?
Me: Yeah kind of.
Amr: I'm actually having fun.
Me: Of course with the number of girls hitting on you, why wouldn't you love it? Hehe
Amr: You know I'm not like that. I'm more of a one woman kind of guy.
Me: But it wouldn't hurt to have a little fun until you find that woman. I recommend Sahar?
We both started laughing hysterically. And then I took his hand and led him to the dance floor where we danced a bit and then Youssef joined us with a couple of people he was mingling with. Half an hour later I started getting a bit tired from the lack of food so I decided to go search for some.
Amr: Wait, I'll come with you. You seem very exhausted. Are you sure you're okay?
Me: I am just feeling a bit dizzy.
Amr: Maybe I should take you home? Or perhaps we should grab a bite?
Me: Noooo I don't want you to leave the party.
Amr: But I'd rather help out my friend!
Me: Friend? I thought I was one of your biggest fans...
It took him a second to realize I was kidding and maybe flirting a bit. He smiled and then said: "Then maybe I should treat my biggest fan to a nice dinner or else she'll be too dizzy and I'd have to replace her with Sahar!"