Page 33 of Strictly Business

“What? No. I came out because my cell phone rang,” she said. “I knew I wouldn’t be able to hear inside.”

“But Ruth said …” I start to say and then I stop. “Oh, never mind.”

Ruth got it wrong. Serena is as close to sober as if she hadn’t even had a drink and she kissed me because she wanted to. I think of the reasons this shouldn’t happen even if we are both sober, but suddenly, they don’t seem so important and all I want is Serena. I lean in close to her and whisper in her ear.

“To,” I say into her right ear and then I kiss her neck.

“Be,” I say into her left ear and then I kiss that side of her neck.

Finally, I pull back and cup her cheeks in my hands and look deep in her eyes.

“Continued,” I whisper against her lips before I give her a quick kiss there too.

I feel the shiver go through Serena’s body and I smile. I’ll make her do more than shiver later. I want to kiss her again now, but I am conscious of the fact that anyone could wander out at any moment and it’s not a good look for me to be seen ravaging my associate.

“Are you ready to go back in?” I ask.

Serena nods. We walk to the door, and I hold it open for her, and she steps inside. I follow her and we go back to the party. Serena goes off to dance and I go and find Ruth.

“I found Serena,” I say.

“Oh good,” Ruth says, although her tone of voice says she thinks it’s anything but good. “Have you put her in a cab?”

“No, because she’s not drunk,” I say. “Why would you say she was?”

“She looked like she was stumbling around when she was walking,” Ruth says with a shrug. “Maybe she’s wearing new shoes.”

“Hmm,” I say.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Ruth asks.

“Nothing,” I say. “I just have to wonder if you’re losing your touch at reading people if you can’t tell the difference between someone being drunk enough to embarrass themselves or someone having sore feet.”

I walk away before she can answer. I’m really not sure what to make of this. I don’t know whether to believe Ruth genuinely thought Serena was drunk or not. Ruth is a bit tipsy herself which would affect her judgement, and I know she doesn’t like Serena enough to go and check on her herself even if she was falling all over the place.

What worries me more than anything, is how many other people Ruth might have done this to over the years, people I wouldn’t have questioned her judgement on. I’ve always trusted Ruth and her judgment of people and now I have to rethink that. The only reason I’ve thought twice this time is because of my history with Serena making a lot of what Ruth says not ring true to me.

I’m definitely going to have to keep a much closer eye on Ruth from now on.

CHAPTER25

Wyatt

Ihave been dragged onto the dance floor by some of the staff and although I make a protest, I’m secretly quite enjoying myself. The music is pumping, I am a little bit tipsy, and everyone is laughing and having fun, me included. Serena is up here dancing too and it’s nice to be able to dance beside her and even with her without it looking suspicious. I just have to be careful to make sure I dance with the others as well, so it doesn’t look like I only have eyes for Serena, even though that’s the truth of it.

The song ends and the next one starts, and I can’t keep the smile from my face when I hear the opening notes of Thriller. It’s a good song and I like it, but that’s not why I am smiling. It reminds me of Craig and I coming home from college after graduation, and I was hanging out at his place one day when Martin asked him to watch Serena. She would have been around eight years’ old at the time, something like that anyway, and Craig and I spent the afternoon teaching her the dance to Thriller.

I don’t suppose she remembers after all this time, but when I look up and catch her eye, she is smiling at me in a way that tells me she does remember it.

A few people have lined up ready to start doing the dance, Serena being one of them. She beckons to me, and I shake my head, but she nods hers and I find myself moving towards her, drawn towards her infectious energy I’m standing beside her doing the moves before I know it.

I lose myself in the music and the movements, movements which come back to me like I danced this dance yesterday not nearly twenty years ago. I’m still very much aware of Serena’s presence beside me though and I can’t help but throw sideways glances her way, watching the way the fabric of her dress clings to her in all of the right places as she moves. In that moment, I feel such a connection to her that I genuinely don’t know how I manage to keep my hands off her, but I do, and I keep waving them and moving.

It's only when the song finishes and the room bursts into applause that I realize everyone else has given up and only Serena and I actually did the full dance. She looks at me, smiling, her eyes shining, and I take her hand in mine, raise it above our heads, and bring our arms down as we bow to the applauding crowd.

Laughing, we go back to our seats, and I have a long drink. I take some teasing from the guys at my table but it’s all in good fun and I laugh along with them. I keep thinking of how I felt with Serena moving beside me, how I kept getting little whiffs of her perfume, and how we were so in sync as if we were as good as one.

I can’t wait any longer. I don’t care about the reasons why we shouldn’t do this. I can’t fight the way I feel forever. I stand up and announce that I’m leaving. I say my goodbyes and casually tell the table that I’m going to see if Serena wants to share a cab as we only live a few blocks apart.

---