Intrigue

Chapter 26

Chapter 26 - Malcolm's POV

The next day, I went to my 9am lecture and made plans to meet Sean at 10am. Alice and Christine were in my 9am class and had the same gap in between lectures as I did, and thus we sat down together, at a picnic bench in the cold late November air, with our laptops at hand. I told them that a friend would be joining us and Alice arched an eyebrow at me, then chose the seat opposite mine to sit down, leaving the one next to mine vacated. I sent my location to Sean, and he appeared after a few minutes.

He smiled at everyone. I could tell he was slightly nervous about this, although at least it wasn't the full crowd. "Hey, guys," he said, sitting down next to me, close enough that his thigh touched mine. He turned to look at me. "Good morning," he said, and his hand grabbed mine under the table. I smiled back.

"Hey, thanks for coming." I turned to Alice and Christine. "You guys remember Sean from last week at the pub, right?" Alice definitely remembered him, but I wanted this to be as casual as possible, since Christine was also there. I'd tell her about Sean and I on another day, when I wasn't trying to fit him into my university schedule because of lack of available time.

Christine was a lovely girl, very focused on her grades and getting the best exam results. She was tall, her shoulder-length hair was light brown and her eyes were a similar shade. Her skin was slightly tan, and she had high cheekbones which made her look very sophisticated. Her low self-esteem lay in the fact that she was a size 14 - which to me didn't mean much, as I told her she looked wonderful the way she was often. She'd make the smartest and most sophisticated lawyer out of our whole group, for sure.

She looked at Sean now. "Oh yeah, right. You disappeared that night. So did Malcolm." Her eyes looked at the both of us inquisitively, particularly at how Sean was sitting so close to me when there was ample space to his right. He dropped my hand and shifted slightly.

"Yeah, I wasn't feeling so well that day, sorry for not saying goodbye," Sean said to her. "Remind me your name please?" He gave her his most dazzling smile, which seemingly brought everyone to their knees begging for Sean's attention - not just me.

"Christine," she said to him. She regarded him warily. Sean looked at his best as always, in a black sweater and dark blue trousers and those boots he loved so much. On top he wore his leather jacket which he typically used when driving the motorcycle. His hair was pushed away from his face, and his facial hair intricately cared for. "So you were sick that night?" Christine continued asking. "Because you definitely looked at your best that evening."

And just like that, she'd shot him a compliment, something rare of Christine, since they were typically reserved for me or no one else. Sean seemingly had more charm than anyone else.

I met Alice's eye and she smiled at me, not commenting about it. No one could deny that Sean was gorgeous.

He chuckled. "So what, you're saying that I don't look good today or...?" he said in a playful tone. He trailed off, seeming to realise his mistake. He met my gaze. I looked back at him, not giving anything away. I was now beginning to understand that Sean was a flirt by nature and would always be. Not that I wasn't slightly pissed off at his comment.

"Oh no, you look phenomenal, and you know it." Christine gave him a knowing look. "And are you single?" she asked. I could tell that despite her cold attitude to him, she was still interested.

Sean smiled back at her. "Actually, no. I'm in a very committed relationship," he said. Hearing him say that made my heart melt just slightly. I felt his hand trail up my thigh subtly, and I shifted in my seat, thanking the stars that we were sitting on a bench which had a tabletop, and no one could see, because well... I was having a bit of a problem, what with his words and his hand...