Page 41 of Reclaiming Love

She shouted louder, “What time are we going to the party?”

Heather whispered something to Finn, who sat sandwiched between the two of them and he bent down to her and relayed the answer. “Eleven maybe? Heather wants to be at the party when it strikes midnight.” Melissa nodded her head at her friend.

“We’re getting more drinks—you in?” asked Finn—and she nodded. They’d all slipped him some bills.

“Same again?” asked Heather as she and Finn got up. Melissa nodded, and gave her contribution. She watched her friends as they trailed up to the bar area, now dense with the throb of people jostling to place orders.

Out of habit she pulled out her cell and checked through the messages she’d accumulated. In a few hours time the mobile network would be slammed with millions of happy New Year texts and she wouldn’t get any reception then at all.

The color drained from her face as an image of herself dressed in nothing but her underwear stared back at her. She almost dropped the phone. The message with it said:

Missing you badly

She quickly deleted it, grinding her teeth and wondering how to penetrate that thick skull of his. It worried her, the photos he had of her. She tried to think how many he’d taken and whether he had any of her wearing even less. With her heart pounding like a steam train, she forced herself to get up and go to the washroom. She couldn’t sit here calmly when she was a splintered wreck inside.

But as she approached the door to the ladies washroom, Noah stood waiting for her.

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