SLOW HANDS

Chloe decided to ignore the comment. “I didn’t know that you were coming,” she said. “And you didn’t tell me that you were.”

“Evan didn’t tell me about it until yesterday morning. And I decided to attend so I could surprise you.”

Chloe gave him a small smile. “Well, I don’t mean to be rude, but your surprise kinda sucks…. No offense”

“Ouch. I’m taking offense” said Matthew and clutched his chest dramatically. “That hurt.. You’re a mean girl…”

“Okay sorry about that” Chloe replied.

“Sorry can’t fix it.”

“What can?”

He appeared to give her question some thought before he replied.

“Well, for starters, you could dance with me,” he said and extended his hand to her. Chloe chuckled and took it. Soon she felt her body against his as he wrapped his hand around her waist and began to move to the tune of the music.

“So, how have you been?” Matthew whispered in her ear. “I’m sorry I haven’t really reached out to you. I have been super busy, but I sure have missed you… A lot”

“I completely understand. I have been busy myself. It’s one of those things that come with adulthood. You barely have time for yourself and all you do is work… Work… Work. Sometimes I wish things would just be simpler, you know… Like when we were kids and didn’t have much to worry about… Good times”

As she spoke she thought of Timothy. She thought of how easier it had been for the both of them years ago. It was a time when they didn’t have to worry about falling out… Or long distance relationships… And all they had had to do was just be together.

Matthew drew back a little so he could look her directly in the face. He saw her puzzled look and laughed. “You know you’re the only one I know who would turn an ‘I missed you’ into some kind of history lesson. You can simply tell me that you missed me too. Like I said before, you’re always too serious about everything”

Chloe smiled and let him pull her back into his arms. “I have to be” she said as he moved with her. Her eyes darted to the left for some reason… And then she saw Timothy. Dressed in a black tux, he looked spectacular as always… And he was staring… At her….

Timothy did not look happy. In fact he looked pissed, Chloe observed as she continued to dance with Matthew, although she had completely lost interest in whatever he was saying. All of her attention was on Timothy and as he started to move forward, her heart began to beat faster. Why? She had no idea. It wasn’t like she had done anything wrong to him so why the hell did she feel so damn guilty?

She braced herself for what was to come from him and although she wasn’t quite sure what she expected him to do, she was still very surprised when he suddenly averted his eyes and turned left. Soon he was talking to one of the men and sipping wine from his glass as though he never saw her. Chloe felt her heart drop into her stomach…. She was both relieved and disappointed at the same time and didn’t know what to think.

She heard Matthew say her name, but it was as if his voice was coming from a distance as her head was currently occupied. She forced herself to return back to the present and moved back a bit so she could stare at Matthew.

“I’m sorry, what did you say?” she asked.

Matthew frowned. “I just spent minutes speaking to you and you are telling me that you didn’t even hear a word? I was asking if tomorrow evening was okay for our date? What the hell were you thinking about?”

Chloe shook her head and disengaged herself from him. “I’m really sorry, Matt,” she replied. “I was lost in thought”This content © Nôv/elDr(a)m/a.Org.

“About?” Matthew pressed.

“Doesn’t matter,” she replied quickly. “I think I need some air… And about the date, tomorrow evening is perfect”

She hurried away from him and headed towards the nearest exit. There was a black-suited security guard at the entrance and he stared blankly at her as she came closer to him.

“Good evening. Can you please direct me to the restroom?” she asked him.

“Down the hall, ” the man replied. “Then go left. You should see the female restroom there”

“Thanks” Chloe replied, and did as she was told.

The music drifted away until she could barely hear it as she traveled down the hall. Her phone buzzed in her clutch and she paused to fish it out. A grimace crossed her face as she read the text from Evan.

“Where are you, Chloe? I was talking to the CEO of Luthor Corp and I wanted to introduce you to him but you were suddenly nowhere to be found. You should be here. Plus the food is really great too”

Inhaling a deep breath, she held the phone for several seconds, then slowly released it. Being snippy with her boss was a definite no-no. And she knew that he was right. She should be out there… Not running to the bathroom because she wasn’t ready to face Timothy. It was ridiculous.

She texted him back.: I will be out there soon. Just needed to use the restroom for a minute.

She sent the reply and continued walking, tucking the phone back into her clutch. It seemed like he was having fun, and she was happy for him… At least someone was having a good time at this damn party. The sooner she got this over with, the better for her.

She dropped the clutch in front of the mirror as she stared at her reflection. She honestly wished that she could splash some water on her face but she couldn’t since she didn’t want to ruin her makeup. So she simply retouched her face and washed her hands, reminding herself that she had done nothing wrong and that she was in control of her feelings. She had to be.

As soon as she felt like she had gotten herself back together, she headed out into the corridor.

“Oof.” she gasped…

The air barreled out of her lungs as she slammed into a wall that had just sprung up in the middle of the corridor. She stumbled back several steps, and the clutch tumbled from her fingers. Big, strong hands gripped her forearms, steadying her before she could follow her clutch to the floor.