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“They didn’t even notice me. I went in and there they were, standing there talking to patients. I knew it was them. I tried to speak, but then my mother told me to take a seat. She looked straight at me and didn’t even see me. I’ve waited all my life to meet them and they’ve no idea I exist. I-I was just a-another pa-pat-patient.”
The tears were coming strong. Alex wanted to say something, but what? He placed a hand on her shoulder. It wasn’t much, but it seemed to help as she didn’t push him away and after a moment, he could feel the shaking that wracked her beginning to subside. Brushing the tears away, she lifted her gaze away from the sleeping feline.
“He tried to kiss me, you know.”
“What!” The sound was higher than Alex had intended, but suddenly it felt like there was a tennis ball lodged in his throat that he just couldn’t swallow. “… Who?”
“Rodarick.”
“So, what did you do?”
“I hit him.”
“Seriously?” Despite himself, Alex couldn’t help a small chuckle.
“Yep, knocked the crapaud flat on his arse, then stormed out. He’s such a pig.” The tension easing, she relaxed back into his embrace. “I’m sorry Alex, I just couldn’t deal with it. I wanted to get away, so I just grabbed the first flight out of London and worked what jobs I could find. That was until Jules discovered me working in a bookshop last year and recommended me to the agency’s talent scout. I’ve been with them ever since.”
Alex knew he should have let sleeping dogs lie. All he had to do was hold his tongue and let the moment pass, but the vodka spoke for him. “You could have called, I was worried.”
Sarah turned to face him, her eyes lowered and a guilty smile turning her lips. “I know, I’m sorry Alex, I just didn’t want to ruin things.”
“You couldn’t ruin anything, Sarah,” he assured her, trying to sound comforting before a notion suddenly struck him. “So, why did you send me that email?”
Sarah began to blush. “I was drunk.”
This time, he made no effort to disguise the laughter. “Drunk?”
She looked away, her face burning a bright red. “Jules, she took me out for a girls’ night out. I had a few too many rum and cherry cokes and started telling her all about you. She tracked you down the next day and while I was still a bit tipsy, she got me to send you an email.”
This time, they both laughed.
“Then everything happened so fast and when you said you were coming to visit; I was so happy.” She turned back to him, a warm, genuine smile lighting up her face. “I really have missed you Alex.”
Alex could only smile as their eyes met, a hot shiver running down his spine. “I’ve missed you too.”
All notion of time slipped away, and Alex found himself wishing that that moment would never end as he looked into Sarah’s bright hazel orbs and felt his heart swell. He wanted nothing more than to take her in his arms and crush her against him, to seize her lips in a passionate embrace. With the drink in him, he might actually have done so if Sarah had not suddenly jumped to her feet.
“Ooh, come on, let’s dance,” declared Sarah, sauntering over to the desk and fiddling with the CD player until jazz music began echoing from the speaker. Alex’s heart jumped as he recognised Michael Bublé’s Sway and he had a sudden feeling of déjà vu as Sarah began to dance, her hips swaying seductively to the beat as she took his hand and dragged him from the sofa.
It must have been the drink that did it. One moment he was skirting around her like a timid rabbit, the next their bodies were locked together in a rhythmic tempest as he surrendered to the music and her wishes. A hair’s breadth divided them. With every breath, her scent filled him, and he could recall the taste of her lips on his. He could feel breasts pressing against him, her hardened nipples clearly visible against the silken fabric. His hands were on her, running lightly over the sultry curve of her spine, down to the swells of her buttocks. He felt his hand moving on its own accord, squeezing the firm orbs, crushing her to him hard enough to make her gasp. The sound stirred his shaft to life, but when she began to pull back, he was afraid he might have gone too far, until she twisted and began to rock her backside against him, massaging his engorged arousal as her arms wound around his neck. Her head tilted back. Their lips were nearing, opening bit by bit in readied acceptance as his arms curled around her front, rising slowly over her ribs to clasp her breasts. He could feel her breath on his cheek, her lips so close, her eyes falling shut, his own darkening-
Meoowwwwww!
The sound startled them, bringing them back to reality, and Alex’s head wheeled around, only to see the tomcat stretching out. The commotion, it seemed, had awoken the feline, who, in turn, had returned the favour. Turning back, he saw Sarah blink as reality, and the realisation of what they had almost done, surge through her. Unable to meet his gaze, she stepped back, turned and ran back through the hallway.
He heard her bedroom door slamming shut.
“Shit…”
Unable to sleep, Alex stared blankly up at the ceiling. It was well past midnight, but his thoughts were plagued by what had happened in Sarah’s living room.
What had he been thinking? Sarah was his oldest friend. Now he would be lucky if she would ever talk to him again. If she didn’t, what should he do then? Grovel, perhaps? Janet had given him plenty of practice at that toward the end. Would Sarah enjoy seeing him on his hands and knees, or perhaps she would demand that he leave her home and never come back. Maybe it would be better if he wasn’t there to see it. He could easily leave a note, grab a cab to Sydney Airport and buy a ticket for the next flight back to England. Maybe that would be best, maybe…
“No.” Shaking his head dismissively, he rolled onto his side and watched a shadow shift across the wall, the reflection of himself staring back at him from the mirror on his bathroom door.
He would not leave, the morning would be uncomfortable, there might be some awkward moments and heated words but, in the end, they would come through it. He had already lost Sarah once. It wouldn’t happen again.
Click.
