When the Clock Strikes Midnight

by A L Miller

  When The Clock Strikes Midnight

  A Holiday Romance

  A.L. Miller

  When the Clock Strikes Midnight

  Cover Design: Sweet ‘N Spicy Designs

  Editing: Love Books Editing

  Table of Contents

  When The Clock Strikes Midnight

  A Holiday Romance

  A.L. Miller

  When the Clock Strikes Midnight

  One

  Two

  Three

  Four

  Five

  Six

  Seven

  Eight

  Nine

  Ten

  Eleven

  Twelve

  Thirteen

  Fourteen

  Fifteen

  Sixteen

  Acknowledgements

  Copyright©2019 A.L. Miller

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned or distributed in any oriented of electronic form without permission.

  This is a work of fiction. Names and characters have been made up and the story came from the authors imagination and any resemblance to real life events or people is pure coincidence.

  One

  Danny

  Every day I walk the hallways of my apartment complex, my eyes search for him. My heart throbs for my neighbor, who I’ve admired in passing for the past three years. My eyes always land right on him with his pitch-black wavy hair and deep brown eyes that look everywhere but in my direction. He never seems to notice me or give me so much as a quick glance, but I can’t help but notice him.

  It usually goes either way for me ever since my accident three years ago. Sometimes people can’t help but stare and sometimes people avoid looking my way altogether because they are worried they will offend me. Little do they know, avoiding me offends me way more.

  I hurry into my apartment before I run into one of my overly nice neighbors, Melanie. Her friendliness toward me feels more like pity most days, but I know she thinks she's helping. I humor her now and again by accepting her occasional invite to brunch or coffee. Yesterday she left me an invite to a New Year’s Eve party her boyfriend is throwing this weekend. I take a picture of the invite sitting on my counter and send it over to my friend Vivian via text message. My phone buzzes in my hand seconds later.

  Vivian: OMG, we totally are going to that party, I am so your plus one.

  Me: You know I hate parties, way too many people.

  Vivian: Yes, but most of those people are too drunk to care about anything, and hello, did you see that the invite said it was a costume party? It’s says at the very bottom, “masquerade ball.”

  I glance down at the invite again and it turns out Vivian is right, I must have missed that tiny little detail somehow.

  Me: Well, then, I guess I better go find me the perfect masquerade mask for the occasion.

  Vivian: Yes! I just got off work so we can go today. Pick you up in an hour and we can grab dinner afterward?

  Me: Do I even have a choice in any of this? Why even bother putting a question mark at the end of that sentence when it’s more like a statement than a question?

  Vivian: You're right, you have no say, see you soon!

  I let out a sigh as I clutch the invitation to my chest. I haven't been to a party in years, I usually try to avoid them. Vivian has managed to convince me to go out with her to a few bars and clubs every once in a while. She knew me before the accident, so maybe that is why she’s able to look past the burn scars that cover the top half of my face.

  Years ago, I was just supposed to go in for a quick procedure for my deviated septum and came out anesthesia with the top part of my face covered in third degree burns. I was told they were caused by a surgical fire. Surgical fires are rare but can happen when the right things get mixed together in an operating room or should I say the wrong things.

  Vivian lived in the same small town I did at the time and when she got a job offer here, I decided to follow my best friend to get a new start myself. It was just what I needed after what happened with my ex-boyfriend Patrick. Vivian knows to not mention his name anymore. Hearing his name doesn’t hurt me the way it used to. The mention of his name used to swell up inside me, painfully filling my ears until I could no longer hear anyone else.

  A knock at my door brings me back to my current reality. I realize I'm still holding the invitation to my chest and set it down before staring toward the door. I was thinking I succeeded in avoiding Melanie, but I guess I was wrong. Vivian couldn't have possibly gotten here that quickly and an hour to Vivian usually meant two hours.

  I don't get many visitors these days. I open the door without bothering to look through my peephole and expect to see Melanie standing on the other side of the door but instead it's my dreamy neighbor and he is looking down at something in his hand.

  His eyes finally reach mine and his mouth forms into a slight smile. He doesn't seem to be bothered by the scars on my face because instead of looking at them with a look or curiosity or disgust, he is looking straight into my eyes. I always manage to have my face covered with hats and sunglasses when I walk from my apartment to my car.

  His brown eyes have a bit of gold in them that I never noticed before since I’ve never actually gotten this close to him until now. His black hair is dusted with snow and he is wearing a black coat with a red scarf wrapped around his neck, making it hard for me to not notice his golden tanned skin it’s wrapped around. He holds out his hand and is the first to break the awkward silence between us; I was struck frozen by his sudden presence.

  “Hey there, I'm Cole, your neighbor. I think I got some of your mail by mistake. Are you Danny Welch?”

  I nod my head while words remain lodged in my throat, unable to find their way out. He smiled again and hands the mail to me. “Well then, looks like this belongs to you. Must have made it into my box on accident.”

  I take the mail before nodding again. “Thank you for bringing it by,” I finally manage to say.

  He nods and takes a step back before glancing back into the hall. “Yeah, no worries. Well, have a good day, and I'll uh see you around.”

  I was only able to manage a slight wave before shutting my door. My back going slack against my front door as I lean my whole body against it to keep from falling to the floor. I can’t believe I talked to him, well he talked to me and I just stood there like a silent idiot. That is probably exactly what he thinks of me now.

  My cat Felix rubs his body against my leg, letting out a meow as if he agrees with my statement. He is probably also pining for my attention since I had been spending the last few days working at the coffee shop, which isn’t normally like me. The loud knock coming from behind me makes my body jump away from the door and Felix takes cover under the couch. “Coward,” I mutter under my breath.

  I open the door to Vivian, shaking the snow from her hair and scarf. “Are you going to put a coat on, or am I going to have to drag your ass out here without one? We should get going before the snow picks up out there.”

  I nod. “Yeah, yeah alright. My neighbor came by with my mail and it slowed me down a bit.”

  I grab my coat from the rack near my door along with my scarf. Once I have my coat on, I pull my beanie and gloves from my coat pocket and tug them on. I grab my keys, wallet and sunglass from the table and join my friend outside, locking the door behind me.

  She shoots me a look of curiosity. “Oh yeah, was it mister hottie from across the way?”

  I nod. “Yeah, it was, and I stood there like an idiot who forgot how to use words to communicate. Anyway, let’s just get this over with shall we. Be glad I agreed to go to this ridiculous party to begin with
.”

  She laughs as she makes her way into the driver’s side. “Man, I’m glad I did. You sound like you are in desperate need to get laid. Maybe once you do, you’ll lighten up more and stop acting like such a little uptight biatch.”

  I strap myself into the passenger seat of her car. “I am not uptight. I’m just having a rough week at work, the publishing company has been riding my ass lately and not in a good way.”

  She snickers, “yeah, well hopefully we will have a good time this weekend and you will at least be able to drink your worries away. Anyway, I saw the perfect mask for you on the store’s website.”

  I roll my eyes. “Well, if you like it then that means I probably will hate it.”

  She responds with turning up her music and sticking her tongue out at me. I point to the road as to tell her to pay attention to it and not me or the radio. It doesn’t take long to get to the store. We are one of the very few cars on the road right now which makes it easy to find a parking right in front of the party store. We stroll the aisles until we find the one with all the masquerade masks. She quickly grabs a blue one off the wall and shoves it into me saying, “this one is totally you; you have to get it!”

  I hold out the vibrant blue mask in front of me, examining the gold trim that wraps around it and blue feathers coming out from the sides. There are gold designs engraved into the blue plastic. I walk to the closest mirror and slide the mask over my face, and she is right; it’s perfect. It covers my face in all the places I need it to, and it will go perfectly with my outfit.

  I pull the mask off and turn toward Vivian who is trying on a red mask while making a dissatisfied face as she stands in front of the mirror. She reaches for a pink mask on the wall, and by the way her face lights up when she puts it on, I know she had finally found a winner. She squeals with excitement as she takes a look in the mirror again. “Ahh, I think I found the perfect one for me, what do you think?”

  I nod in agreement. “That mask is definitely you. Lucky for you anything matches that tiny piece of cloth you are calling a dress. Then you can pair it with those hot pink heels you have, and it will be perfect!”

  She nods all giddy again. “Yes, and I think Connor is going to love me in that dress.”

  I sigh in annoyance. “You invited Connor? Have you not learned your lesson with that guy? He is such a jerk and is just using you.”

  She slides the mask off and turns facing me. “Well lucky for him, my intentions are in line with his. I’ll be using him tomorrow night just as much.”

  We head to the check out without masks in and she turns to me again. “Wait do you we need anything else you think?”

  I shake my head. “Nah, I think the masks are good, let’s not overdo it. Besides, we don’t want to be carrying around or wearing too much stuff that our drunk asses will just end up losing at the end of the night anyway.”

  She hands her mask to the cashier after nodding in agreement and grabs the mask from my hand. “It’s my treat since I’m making you come with me.”

  I smile. “Oh thanks, I don’t mind paying but you’re right, you’re dragging me out into the cold when I could be snuggled up in my bed to some cheesy New Year movie on Hallmark.”

  She takes the bag from the cashier before locking her arm with mine and tugging me back to the car. “In that case, you should be thanking me. Those movies are awful and so unrealistic.”

  I wanted to tell her that was the point but instead stayed quiet and followed her back into the freezing cold as we hurried inside her car. Sometimes you need to escape reality and that is exactly why I watch those cheesy movies and write romance novels. This party just may be my opportunity to do that for real. Tomorrow night I won’t be Danny, the awkward guy who bears the weight of his past accident, no tomorrow I will be someone else.

  Two

  Cole

  I retrieve my mail by sticking my hand into the cold metal box that sits outside my complex and the freezing air makes me do it in such a rush that I don’t realize I have someone else’s mail buried in the other pieces of mail until I get to my apartment. Luckily, it’s just the guy across from me. I’ve never talked to the guy before, but I’ve seen him a few times leaving for work, which is where I assume he goes when he is heading out in the mornings. His eyes never meet mine and are always facing the ground with his head down low and his sunglasses and hoodie covering his face. He walks so fast, I don’t have time to even say hi.

  I was starting to think he just wasn’t a friendly guy until another neighbor told me he was just shy because of the scars on his face left over from an accident. I wasn’t sure what she was talking about since I never see him without something covering his face. He is always wearing things such as sunglasses, a scarf, or a hoodie pulled over his head but now that I think about it, it does make sense. I guess if he doesn’t answer, I could always just leave his mail in front of his door.

  I knock three times before the door opens and a slender man with deep brown eyes and dark hair appears in the doorway. His eyes meet mine and I am so focused on them that it takes me a while to notice the scars that cover the top part of his face. They appear to be burn scars and don’t seem to be very old. He doesn’t say anything when his eyes land on me with a look of surprise.

  I pull the mail from my pocket and hand it to him, my eyes never wanting to leave his. “Hey there. I'm Cole, your neighbor. I think I got some of your mail by mistake. Are you Danny Welch?” He nods and still doesn’t saying anything, so I continue, “well then, looks like this belongs to you. Must have made it into my box on accident.”

  He takes the mail from my hand before nodding again, I’m starting to think this guy may be mute until shaky words finally make their way out of his mouth. “Thank you for bringing it by.”

  I nod before taking a step back into the hallway. “Yeah, no worries. Well, have a good day; I'll uh see you around.”

  He waves before shutting the door, and I make it slowly back to my apartment without being able to shake this lingering feeling left from his eyes overtaking mine and the adorable slight smile that appeared on his face as he waved goodbye. His dark hair fell on his forehead a bit in the most adorable way; he had the cutest dimples.

  Wait, why am I even still thinking about this guy? This guy has lived across me for years and has yet to say hi to me, and here I am crushing on the stranger. The scars didn’t bother me, they weren’t the first thing my eyes went to when looking at him. I’m not sure what he looked like before the scars, but he is beautiful even with them.

  I grab the sparkly purple and bright blue invitation sitting on my countertop. I’m really not much of a party person, but I managed to let my buddy Paul convince me to attend the party he’s throwing tomorrow night. It seemed like a good way to get my mind off the long week I had at work. I was ready to relax and drink myself stupid this weekend, Paul’s party was the perfect excuse for that. Paul and I worked together, and he came by my apartment a lot to drag me out to pointless parties and bars to find women to hook up with. That was until he ran into Melanie one day waiting for me outside my door. They managed to hit it off right away and I was grateful because it saved me from attending all the double-blind dates he made me go on with him that never lead anywhere for him or me. The girls he dated always brought a girlfriend and well, girls aren’t exactly my thing, so it was always awkward for me when the girl felt something for me I clearly didn’t feel for her.

  I hadn’t seen Paul outside work events, so I was willing to suck it up for one night. Besides, maybe I’ll be lucky enough to find some cute guy to ring in the New Year with and perhaps I could get more than just a kiss at midnight. Just that whole thought alone was enough to make my dick go hard. Then my mind went back to Danny and those gorgeous eyes of his along with those pretty pink kissable lips. I shake the thoughts from my head once I realize I’m thinking about my neighbor again.

  I pull out an old black masquerade mask I used for a Halloween costume a few years ago, knowing it
would be perfect. All guests must attend the party in a masquerade mask, I wasn’t a fan of things that stood out so the black would do just fine for me. It also matches my white button-down and black vest and matching slacks I would be wearing tomorrow night. I set it on top of my clothes that I have laying out over a kitchen chair.

  Reaching in the fridge, I pull out Chinese takeout leftovers from last night. I was so exhausted last night after work that I barely touched my dinner, at least it means I didn’t have to leave my apartment again today. I’d hate to have to walk back outside in the freezing cold, I was already dreading having to go out in it when going to the party tomorrow night. I don’t work weekends, so I was looking forward to sleeping in before having to run errands. Saturday was usually my day to pay bills, make a trip to the post office and do some grocery shopping.

  I didn’t do much these days besides work. My family lives ten hours away so I don’t see them much. The only person I had here was my boyfriend, Michael, who broke up with me on Christmas. I wasn’t as hurt by it as I should have been. We were together for seven months, but Michael was far more invested than I was and that is exactly why he said he was ending things. He already managed to find a replacement and I can’t even be mad at him for it. Hey, at least one of us is happy, right?

  The microwave beeps when my food is done heating up. I pour it from the container onto an actual plate because I have those now. It only took two years of living here before I finally invested in some dishes and eating utensils. Perhaps cookware would be next. I highly doubt it since I don’t cook and don’t plan on learning anytime soon. I was a takeout a guy, Michael hated it and that probably wasn’t the only thing he hated about me.

  I sink my body into my black leather couch and lay my feet on my coffee table as I set my plate of food on my lap. I turn on King Henry on Netflix before tossing the remote in the empty space next to me. I begin shoving food in my mouth, and man does it taste good. I don’t think I’ve eaten since breakfast. I didn’t have time to take a break at work today to eat lunch, and it definitely shows. I pick up the invite again and start to wonder if my neighbor across the way will be there since I saw Melanie on our floor with invitations in her hand. I meet this guy one time and already he is overtaking my mind. Here I am hoping he will be at the party when the guy lives right across from me.