An Unbreakable Bond

Chapter 2 - Compatible Partner

I remember when I met Aaron for the first time. He was a friend of the family, and he came as a guest of my cousin, to my seventeenth birthday party. I didn't want a party originally, not something that ever interested me. I would have been happy to have had a quiet girls night in, or just go out for a family meal or with friends, but Aaron changed all of that.

Damn he was hot. I was never interested in guys before this day. Just never seemed to have the confidence to approach any, and when they would approach me, I would make my excuses and leave.

With Aaron, it was different. The second he walked into the room, he caught my eye. He was the only thing my eye was on all night. He was nineteen and had just left college. He didn't have a job and he came across as 'one of the lads', but still, I was out to enjoy my birthday and he seemed like the perfect present. I had always had an attraction to guys with brown shoulder length hair and a little stubble, he ticked those boxes nicely. He was also slightly taller than me, which was always good, and he had that medium build, not too muscular, but not too skinny. It was almost like my ideal man had finally been sent to me. The hardest part now, was to get over my confidence issues and to somehow start talking to him. I needed my cousin's help with this one.

"So, Paul, who's your friend?"

"Which one? You mean the guy in the garden? That's Aaron. Do you want me to introduce you?"

"I wouldn't be asking otherwise."

"Okay Anna, but don't get any ideas, he has a girlfriend."

Oh my God, I was so nervous as we walked outside to meet him, I am never this curious with guys. My heart felt like it was about to smack me in my face and I had no idea what I was going to say. The closer we got to the garden, the more I felt myself shaking. Just as we got outside, my nerves got the better of me and I was about to go back inside when:

"Aaron! Come and meet the birthday girl!. Right, that's my job done, I'm off to get some beer, catch you later Anna."

"Don't just leave me!"

"You must be Annabel?"

Dammit. "Don't ever call me Annabel!"

"If you don't mind, I think I will stick with Annabel. If you look as cute as you do when you're mad, then I will be a lucky guy when I see you happy."

And that was it. I couldn't resist him. I hated being called Annabel, but his voice was soothing and I liked his cheeky reply. Most people would just apologize, which often leads to the dreaded awkward silence, but not him. He was confident and I wanted to see how lucky I was going to be.

We were inseperable for the rest of the night. We talked about anything and everything that came to mind. The weird part was, he actually took an interest in me. Most guys I know, are just immature and can't string a sentence together without involving sexual innuendo's. Aaron was different. He payed attention to me, he listened to me and most of all, he would make eye contact. Usually, guys would just take glances at my breasts and couldn't help themselves but hold the gaze most times. Since that was all guys would look at, I was beginning to think it was normal. Just by looking into my eyes, Aaron made, what I thought was normal, feel perverted. I liked this feeling, it instilled a wave of feeling interesting, secure and confident.

We talked a lot about my parents, and how I had been coping. I was not even afraid to shed some tears. I usually kept my emotions locked up inside for fear of being laughed at, or looked upon as different. I was never a strong character, but talking about my parents to him unlocked emotions that I think needed to come out. I didn't feel different and he didn't laugh at me, he just wiped my tears away and shared in my pain. Crying to him actually made me feel happy. It was a relief to get it out, and long overdue. I felt so comfortable being with him, almost like we had known each other for years. He was pressing all the right buttons for me.

"Well Annabel, it's getting late, I should go, and you still have a lot of guests that you've neglected."

"Can't you stay a little longer?"

"How about I give you my number and we can go out for coffee tomorrow if you like?"

"Yeah, that would be nice."

"Well here's my number, call me tomorrow. I had a nice time tonight, so thank you."

He kissed me on the cheek and left. He may be playing hard to get, he may even be genuine, but I wanted to know more about him. He seemed too good to be true. He was a completely different person to the one I had of him in my head when he first caught my eye, but I liked it, I liked him. I can't believe that I fell for him so quickly.

Damn, then I remember. He has a girlfriend.