Page 40 of Losing Control
“I didn’t feel there was any need to. He wasn’t even in the country. I figured that, when he came back, I would just introduce the two of you.” I glug back more wine. I just want this conversation to be over.
“And do you want to go out on Friday night as he suggested?” I can’t figure out if Michael wants me to say yes or no, so all I can do is try and decipher what he wants to do.
“It would be nice for you guys to get to know one another, but it’s not urgent. We don’t have to go on Friday if you don’t want to?”
“Oh, I think that it is urgent. I mean, it’s not every day that I walk in the office and find some other guy giving you a hug.”
“I’m sorry,” I reply automatically.
“No need. He’s your friend.” He smiles at me, but it isn’t genuine. “As long as you guys have never passed the friend zone, then we should all get on just fine.”
I laugh nervously. Thank fuck I kept my feelings for Cal hidden away. I couldn’t be doing with anyone accidentally letting slip how I used to lust after him all the damn time.
Michael took this news better than expected, and I don’t want to say anything to pull his trigger and piss him off, so I just smile sweetly and let him put his arm around me, pulling me to his side.
I know that I am going to be on pins and needles waiting for Friday, and I’m probably going to be a bloody wreck on the day itself, but for now, all I can do is grin and bear it.
Relax, Lucy.
Chill.
Even as I tell myself those words, I don’t believe that I know the meaning of relaxed anymore, not when I’m around Michael.
It shouldn’t be this way, should it?
Am I overreacting?
Am I the one making too big a deal out of this?
I guess only time will tell.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
What could go wrong?
I have been on edge all day, and now, as I get ready for tonight, I fight back the urge to cancel the whole thing.
I have chosen to wear my navy-blue jumpsuit, paired with my silver heels. I have made my make-up more dramatic and I have popped in my silver hoop earrings to match my silver bracelet. I have straightened my hair and left it down, a look I don’t often go for as I favour shoving my hair in a ponytail so that it doesn’t get in my way. I refuse to think about why I’m making more effort with my appearance than normal. It has absolutely nothing to do with Cal, nothing whatsoever.
Michael has decided to wear his smart black trousers, light blue shirt and black dress shoes. He looks so handsome, something that I have already told him a couple of times tonight. He didn’t say too much about my outfit choice, but I put that down to him feeling a bit out of his depth at spending the evening with Cal.
“You ready to go?” I ask him as he fiddles with his cufflinks.
“Sure.”
I grab my cardigan, draping it round my shoulders and follow Michael out of the apartment as we make our way to Alan’s. The air is a little chilly and I shiver as we walk along the road. Michael puts his arm around my shoulders and pulls me to his side.
“Better?” he asks, a softness appearing on his face that I haven’t seen much of this week.
“Much,” I reply, smiling up at him.
We walk the rest of the way in silence, but it is an easy silence. More like when we first started dating.
“Are Kim and Jeremy coming tonight?” Michael asks me.
“No, they had to go and visit Jeremy’s parents, something that Kim had been avoiding for a few months.”
“Why?”
