***Eric's Point of View***
It's the first Monday in May. There's a knock on the door of my hotel suite. Since today is the day of the Met Gala, people are running in and out of the room nonstop. But this time, my publicist, Kelly, opens it to find Matty on the other side.
"Matty!" I jump out of my chair, much to the shock of my hairstylist, and run to hug him.
"Hey, love." He hugs me just as tightly as I hug him." After a long hug, we return to reality.
"Sorry guys, this is Matthew, my boyfriend."
"Well I sure hope so by the way you greeted him." Said my stylist, Lane, who is now a close friend.
"Sorry." I blush.
It's a whirlwind few hours getting ready. Most of the time it doesn't take too long, but since this is a big night, and my outfit is more of a costume, it takes much longer.
"How did you even get approval to bring him?" My hairstylist, Jay, asks. "This is almost unheard of, having a non-celeb partner plus one."
"Well, I'm a co-chair this year so that helped. But Anna has actually heard of him from colleagues." I answer.
"Do you work in the industry?" He directs this one Matty.
"Industry adjacent. I do a lot of entertainment law back in England." He answers.
"Ah, I see. That must be fascinating, the horror stories we must all have." Jay replies, returning his focus to my hair.
"Your tux is right here." Lane points to a rack dedicated to him. "I hope the fittings in London went well."
"Oh, yes, thank you." Matt says, taking a look at his rack.
"These are all accessories we've approved, they will all compliment Eric's outfit so choose whatever you like the most."
"Will do, thanks."
"The first time I went, I was a nervous wreck." I tell him. "And I'd been doing red carpets for a while by then."
"You haven't even done a red carpet before?!" Jay's shock was evident in his voice. "Talk about diving head first!"
"Guess so." He nervously chuckles his response. "It's a good thing I'll have Eric then." He turns to look at me through the mirror. "Besides, all the cameras will be on you. And rightfully so, you look absolutely breathtaking, by the way." He squeezes my shoulder. I lift my hand up to hold his.
"The outfit is a bit much, just a heads up."
"You told me about it, I'm excited to see you in it." He smirks at me.
"Okay, Matt." Kelly interrupts. "It's time for you to get ready. There's a bedroom down the hall with a bathroom, that's all for you. You have an hour until we need to be out that door, if you are late, we will leave without you."
'No we won't' I mouth to him in the mirror like a naughty school child.
"Understood. See you in no more than 59 minutes."
"The cameras will love him." Jay tells me when he's left the living room. "That boy is fineeeeeeeee."
"Liz was not lying, he is adorable!" Kelly says.
"And that voice, did you hear his accent?" Lane interjects. "It's incredible you've been able to keep it so private thus far."
"I know, we're lucky. And I swear, he's also the most incredibly sweet, loving, purest soul I've ever met. I'm actually not sure why he is dating me, he really is amazing."
"Boy, he's dating you because you are fine as hell too. And it ain't just a pretty face you got either, you're my kindest and obviously favorite client." Jay gasses me up.
"Doesn't hurt that you're also a mega-famous movie star." Lane loves to tease me.
"He's quite a chill dude, if you don't mind me adding." My security guard Benjamin voices.
"And a very clear criminal record, not even a parking ticket. And has rather good taste in art." Adds my other guard Tim, rather offhandedly, catching the rest of the room quite off guard. "That date at the museum in London." He clarifies his reasoning "Rather liked that one." Hearing that come from a bald 46 year old ex-marine is quite the statement.
"You are a romantic after all, Tim!" Lane teases.
"He buys his wife flowers every Friday." Benjamin notes, the entire room oohing and ahhing.
With 20 minutes to go, I begin getting dressed. I am unable to do it myself, since my red carpet outfit is very delicate and intricate. The theme is in honor of Dior, and my outfit is made up of hand-sewn floral decals on top and a pair of long black pants. What makes it interesting is that the top continues down and includes so much wiring and framework to create a sort of see-through illusion outline of the classic Dior dress silhouette. It leads into a 40 foot train. It's more of a piece of artwork than an outfit, and it's very non-gender conforming which I hope motivates and inspires anyone who may feel restricted in the way they express themselves. This is my first time wearing something that leans so heavily into many feminine aspects, but this red carpet is the place to step outside of one's comfort zone, so it's now or never.
I see Matty turn the corner, he looks absolutely dashing in his tux. It fits him so well, and the best part is that his bow tie and the shirt match the material and design of my top.
He stands still and takes it in. "You look beautiful." He says softly. Everyone else around us is rushing around frantically, collecting essentials and anything we may need last minute. Two or three people are doing final touch ups on my person. It's kind of funny, we're having a very private exchange in a room full of people.
"You look amazing."
"This watch costs more than my flat." He lifts his wrist.
"That reminds me, there's gonna be extra security with us tonight, Cartier insisted since everything we are wearing costs more than a small country's GDP."
"Well, even if that's the case, the jewelry, the outfit, you still outshine it all."
"Babe, if you don't marry him, one of us will." Lane swoons, bringing us back to reality. Everyone laughs. Apparently it wasn't as private as I thought. Everyone seems to be in agreement that it is time to head out.
"You ready?" He asks, holding out his hand. The outstretched hand, the look in his eyes, I'd think I was in that scene by the clock on the grand staircase from the movie Titanic.
"I should be asking you that. It's not too late to back out."
"Nah, I ain't letting you go alone. Let them see that your biggest fan has finally seduced you." He grins. I take his hand.
We arrive at the carpet, we're about to walk in a few seconds. It's cute how Matty is making sure my outfit is all good behind me, helping Lane with a final once-over.
"It's your turn, please go now." Says a very stressed looking person with a very serious looking clipboard and headset.
"Thank you." I smile.
Matty offers his arm, I take it. The second we step out and into the carpet, the screams go wild. The hundreds of photographers lining the stairs all murmur. They weren't warned about me walking with anyone.
Since I'm a co-chair, we've arrived before almost everyone else, leaving all of the steps empty for us.
Matty handles it very well. He smiles at the cameras and doesn't panic. He is sweet enough to help me with my train, and then step back to get out of the way for some solo pictures. I work the cameras the best I can, making sure to look up and down both sides of the carpet at the cameras.
There's lots of yelling and flashing, but I ignore a lot of it. I turn to check on Matt, he's smiling at me. I laugh at how insane this is, it's weird to have my two worlds collide, but I'm happy they finally have. He's only known the secluded me, the hiding in his flat in London me, the behind the scenes on a set me. Not this version, the one that takes up most of my time, in front of the public.
The rest of the night is a blast. The worst part is the carpet, with that done, we can enjoy the party. My team tells me the media is in a tizzy about Matt. Apparently, there's one photo of him from when he took a step back and was admiring me that is going viral.
Matt handles meeting the many celebrities here like a pro, he's his usual charming self.
That is, until my lovely asshole of an ex approaches. I knew he'd be here, but I had no intention of interacting with him. Matt stiffens up, his hold on my upper back seems heavier. If he could easily grab my waist, I think he'd be squeezing the air out of me right now.
"Hello Eric." He says in his smug voice. Why and how I was ever into him, I do not understand."
"Hello Jack." I say, trying to be as civil as I can be, considering all the emotional abuse and cheating he did. "This is Matthew."
He nods at Matt, who doesn't smile or say anything. "Isn't it a bit soon to have a new fling on your arm?"
I sigh. "I think a year and a half is more than long enough." I say dryly. "And at least I waited until after the demise of our relationship to even date another person." I add. "Hope you and Blake are doing well." Blake is the one he cheated on me with.
"Very well. It's so cute that you thought I wouldn't get bored of you." He laughs in my face. He turns to Matt. "Let me give you a bit of advice man, this one's little innocent act will get real old, real quick. He might be rich and famous and that might be exciting to you, and yeah, his ass ain't bad, but deep down he's just a little bitch and a big, fat slut that is worth a few fucks at most."
I've never seen Matt look the way he does right now. He is very calm, but he genuinely looks like he could kill Jack. His eyes are daggers. "I have no intention of taking any advice from a bastard like you. "And if you ever talk to Eric or use those foul and uncharacteristic words or anything similar to describe him again, I promise you, mate, I promise I will make sure the rest of your life will be just as unpleasant and ugly as your personality." He reaches behind his back for my hand. "Now, please stay the bloody hell away from us."
"Whatever, you're just a nobody anyways." Jack rolls his eyes and walks away.
Matt turns around and looks at me. "Are you okay? I'm so sorry, what a prick."
"I'm fine, his words have no effect on me anymore. Thank you for standing up for me. I'm sorry, I didn't think he'd actually come up and talk to us." I'm not fully telling the truth, but I don't need to put extra weight on Matt tonight.
"You have nothing to apologize for, love. Let's go grab a drink or something."
The rest of the night goes well, we enjoy the evening and our table is full of lovely people. We also enjoy the after parties that go on way longer than they should. I notice Matt's grip on my hand has been stronger since the whole thing with Jack. Even when he isn't holding my hand, he has a hand on me at all times. It's clear it's not because he's nervous about the event, it's because he's being protective of me.
After what feels like a long, deep sleep, I wake up. The clock says it's almost 10 in the morning. Six hours of sleep, not bad considering.
