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I flash a grin. “Not so certain that’s going to be happening. I think she might really be the one.”
“Maybe,” Melvin says. “Sure does look like he’s into her.”
“In love with her, I think you mean.”
Melvin fixes me in a stare. “How about you? Will you be drawing straws along with us?”
I shrug and take a sip of my wine. “Maybe.”
The guys fake cheer, giving each other a high five.
Evan laughs. “Fucking hell, Ger, you actually fancy someone. Get in, Cassandra!”
“Piss off. I barely know her.”
“And that’s your damn problem.” Melvin points a finger. “How about you take hold of some pussy and worry about getting to know the chick after? You don’t need to know someone’s whole bloody life story to stick your dick in them.”
I hate it when they harp on with this bullshit, so I’m glad when the girls return from the bathroom. Ant’s girlfriend is straight back to his side, but Vickie and Georgina head my way. I step away from Melvin and Evan to join them.
“Cassandra is a wedding planner, at a place called Wedding Bliss in Malvern,” Vickie tells me. “She was from Bucklebury in Berkshire, and she has a sister, brother-in-law and a nephew. Her parents are still married, and still live in Bucklebury.”
“Anything more than that?”
“She has a friend called Janie, who’s cute and hot and works with her. Cassandra thinks she will like you. She’s after a guy with blue eyes and dark hair who could be like someone from the Vampire Diaries without such pointy fangs.”
“I’m hardly Ian Somerhalder, Vickie.”
“Nope, but she thinks you could be a close enough match. Who knows, hey? Worth exploring.”
“Fuck off,” I say with another laugh. “How the bloody hell did you get onto a conversation about a friend of hers I might want to hook up with already? You’ve only been talking to her for ten minutes.”
“Fifteen actually,” Vickie says. “Also found out she’s moved into Ant’s place already, and the diamond necklace and swanky bracelet both came from him.”
“Hardly a surprise.”
“No,” Georgina says. “But he’s into her. Like really, really into her.”
She’s right about that. I see it as I look over at them.
I’m about to head out for a cigarette a little while later when the happy couple appear in front of me, Ant’s arm tight around Cassandra’s waist.
“We’re off,” he says. “I’m getting bored of Finn’s crappy banter.”
I scoff at him. “He can give as much crappy banter as he likes tonight. It’s his congratulations party.”
“Yeah,” Ant says. “And we’re about to leave it. You coming or staying?”
I look around at my group of colleagues, feeling on the outskirts, even though I know them very, very well. I’d usually force myself to stay and join in, but tonight I’m wavering.
“You coming with us, Gerwyn?” Cassandra asks, and her smile is so encouraging.
My mind is made up in a heartbeat. Fuck the superficial bullshit Vickie and Georgina had to say about her, I want to find out who Ant’s new girlfriend is for myself.
“Yeah, I’ll come with you,” I tell her, and Ant gives me his usual sneer when he sees the lighter in my hand.
“Better get smoking your shitty cigarette, then,” he says. “We’ll be waiting in the car.”
I’m out on the smoking area balcony when Ant and Cassandra walk out through the doors downstairs. She’s pressed so tightly against him that they are almost moulded into one, and I get a fresh pang at the memory of having a person you love, holding you tight. I could almost be jealous of Ant. Cassandra might be a beautiful woman in a beautiful dress, but true beauty shines from the eyes. From the soul.
Hers shines bright. I knew that from the moment she gave me a smile.
I remember very clearly the last time I felt like that about somebody…
I banish those ridiculous thoughts and give myself a shake, finish my cigarette and join the happy couple in the Audi. I jump into the back seat, buckling myself up as Ant starts the drive across the city.
Cassandra shoots me a look from the front, with a fresh smile for me.
“Vickie and Georgina said some great stuff about you. They say we’ll get on really well. You like old movies as well, right?”
I laugh. “You could say that, yeah.”
“Maybe we can watch some together when you’re staying in Malvern? We could get my friend Janie over, too.”
Fuck my life. Clearly the girls have already been drumming into her how I’m Gerwyn the singleton. They could have waited longer than fifteen bloody minutes.
“You can take my place on the sofa,” Ant says. “I’m bored shitless with the crappy movie choices anyway.”
Cassandra looks surprised at that, almost apologetic as she stares over at him. I guess she doesn’t quite know him well enough to get his cutting sense of humour. That’ll be one for her to find out about.
