Page 42 of Reclaiming Love

Chapter 24

Brown eyes, soft mouth upturned, met her. He stood directly outside the door to the washroom, as if he didn’t want to miss her walking past.

She coasted up to him.

“Imagine running into you here,” he said.

“Imagine.” All thoughts of visiting the washroom vanished.

"It's great to see you, Melissa."

"Likewise,” she replied. If the way her heartbeat was anything to go by, it was more than great. “Are you here with your friends?” She turned and looked over his shoulder, to where his friends sat.

He nodded, his gaze not wavering from her face. “The guy in the blue sweatshirt is my friend, Paul, and the others are friends, people he works with and some I work with.” So far he hadn't mentioned anything about a girlfriend and things were looking good. Especially if the way he was looking at her so intensely was anything to go by. “Those are your friends?” He nodded his head, indicating the table where she’d been sitting.

“That's my roommate, the one with the long blonde hair, with her ‘friend.’” She looked over to where her group sat.

They both looked at Heather and Finn who seemed to share a private joke between themselves while Heather’s other friends sat side by side, both busy on their cell phones.

“Her ‘friend’?” Noah offered.

“I’m not sure what his status is,” Melissa confessed.

"They look pretty close from where I'm standing," he agreed. In the silence that followed she wondered whether his thoughts were preoccupied with her status.

People’s chattering grew even louder, like a low and lazy lion’s roar echoing around the bar. With it being New Year’s Eve, an undercurrent of heightened excitement poured into the air, and dizzy anticipation swept the room, spreading over the smiling, happy people sitting in tight groups. It would stay for the next few hours right up until the anticlimax of just after midnight.

There was no way she was going back to her table. Not now. Unless Noah left her and headed back to his. But for now they stood, secretly appraising one another.

He showed no willingness to return to his friends, so she made a stand. “Let me grab my drink." She rushed off before he had a chance to respond. Creeping up to her table, she was relieved to find Heather turned towards Finn, the two of them deep in conversation. Either that, or they had their lips locked again. Melissa didn’t dare attract their attention. She snatched her drink and legged it back to Noah.

Thankfully, he was still there.

He raised his eyebrows. “I think your friends are trying to get your attention.”

She turned around and saw Heather’s wave. Beside her, Finn gave a thumbs up. Melissa blushed and turned back. “They’re being silly,” she offered, by way of explanation.

“Did you come alone?” he asked.

“With my friends.”

He smiled and something tickled her heart: the idea of possibility.

Is that what he meant?He was getting straight to the point.

“Just me…playing gooseberry to Heather and Finn.” In case he needed for her to spell it out.

“I’d say their status probably moved up a level to good friends,” Noah said.

“You do that with your good friends?” Melissa asked.

“With special friends only.”

“Did you come here with your special friend?” she asked, driven by pure curiosity.

He shook his head. “I don’t have a special friend.”

She couldn’t help but smile at that lovely answer. But she still wished she had the gift of being psychic. Did he like her? A little at least? Some, or a lot?

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