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“Fucking hell, Cass,” he says. “You look… divine.”
“Ditto,” I laugh, and he laughs along, then grabs his wallet and keys from the coffee table.
“Let’s do this, princess,” he says.
“Yeah, Mr Perfect, let’s do this.”
I imagine we’ll get a cab to the party, but no. Ant takes the Audi through the city, parking up with a valet outside the restaurant.
I’m so nervous as I stare up at the entrance, lit up in gold lights and glass. This is it. This is the moment. Ant’s work team are waiting inside.
His hand is on my back as we step inside there, and the woman on the main desk gives us a smile.
“Anthony Bradstone, top floor,” he says and she nods, then opens the door into the bar for us.
It isn’t a sit-down event like I was expecting. There are crowds and tables, sure, but when we climb the stairs I see the room laid out before us, and this is more of a tapas, pick what you want kind of meal, and you grab your drinks from the bar.
My heart is pounding like an absolute train as Ant directs me over to the table. There are guys there, and a couple of women, and I know it, this must be his team…
They all look at us as we approach, and their expressions are curious, all of them checking me out with a smile.
“Everyone,” Ant says, presenting me like I’m the greatest trophy on earth. “Meet Cassandra, Cassandra meet my team.”
The faces are a blur at first, and nothing like I pictured. The suits are all prestigious, and the women are wearing glorious dresses, and everyone looks straight from a movie set.
I meet Melvin, and Finn, and Gareth. Then Brian, then Jonas and Victoria. Georgina, and Stu and Evan, and all of them are smiling brightly with pleased to meet yous.
They seem a great bunch of people, highly professional, and from the way they look from me to Ant and then back again, it’s clear they are a great bunch of people with a huge amount of respect for their leader.
I’m still trying to digest who is who, matching the faces to names as we make small talk. I’m getting a grip of it, or I think so. Melvin is older than I thought he’d be, and Georgina is younger, but the rest of them are in their thirties, maybe, so not too dissimilar to me.
My eyes are firmly focused on Ant when he slaps Finn on the back, congratulating him again for an awesome quarter of results, so I don’t notice the figure approaching until he’s right up at my side. I spin in a flurry, setting my eyes on the man standing in front of me, and I get the weirdest rush of recognition, even though I’ve never seen him before in my life.
It’s his clothes. His striped shirt, with his posh jumper over the top, and his tie so rich and green. He’s intense, but in a strangely warm way that would be hard to describe in words. His features and his manner are such a distinctive combination, which shouldn’t manage to work, but they do. They suit him. His eyes are blue and his hair is dark, and his brows have a sternness at odds with the huge smile on his face, and it’s obvious who he is, right from the moment our eyes meet.
It’s a strange feeling. Like the universe has put someone in front of me I recognise, even though that would be impossible. It makes my stomach do a flip, keen to make the best impression in the world.
His hand reaches out and shakes mine hard, and his voice is so genuine it makes me grin, even from that very first contact.
“Hi, Cassandra, I’m so pleased to meet you,” the guy says, and he needs no introduction.
“Hey, Gerwyn,” I reply, my voice as genuine as his is, already laughing inside at the contrast to the guy I pictured as Bob. “I’m very pleased to meet you, too.”
If only I knew how much, maybe things would be different.
Maybe things would take a different turn. Right from the very start.
Gerwyn
I knew Ant’s girlfriend would have dark hair and deep brown eyes, since that’s what he always goes for, but I thought she’d be more aloof than the woman standing in front of me.
Cassandra’s smile is so down to earth and warm, and her eyes are alive with such enthusiasm that I stare at her like a dummy, with my hand still clasping hers.
“Sorry,” I say, laughing as I realise I’ve been shaking her hand for way too long.
She laughs back as we break the handshake, and I can already tell that her laughter is going to be addictive.
That’s no surprise, since Ant’s fallen in love with her. She was always going to be a very special woman to snare the heart of a man like him.
