Chapter Two: Somebody Say "Akwaaaard!"
“Ahh, so nice to see you finally decided to grace us with your presence, Lord Workaholic,” Zach declared coolly, seemingly oblivious to the tension between me and the guy beside him, “Ladies, meet the William Alfonsi. We call him Teddy Bear Liam because, as you can see, he is just so damn approachable. He might look like it, but he doesn’t bite... I think. Liam, these are Alexandria – my colleague, Lynx, and Mhio – the object of my unrequited love.”
“Shut up, you jerk,” Mhio hissed.
“Liam,” Seth nodded with a faint smile, totally ignoring Zach’s jibe, “It’s been a while. How’s it going?”
“Seth, bene, grazie,” Liam smoothly responded in Italian, tearing his eyes away from me to greet the others, “It’s a pleasure to meet you, ladies.”
From my peripheral vision, I could see Lynx raise her eyebrow at me and Mhio stiffen as she tossed me grave knowing look. I had specifically asked for a two-week vacation from work, foolishly thinking that the chances of running across him were slim, and yet, the universe had chosen to not so subtly remind me that few things ever did go my way.
I could feel Liam returning his smoldering gaze on me, and all I could ever think about then was packing my bags and getting the first flight back to New York before I did something monumentally stupid.
“Excuse me,” I murmured hastily while they shook hands, grabbing my purse and half-sprinting to the nearest comfort room before any of them could ask.
The moment I stepped inside, I blew out the deep breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding – a drop of sweat trickled down my temple despite the air-conditioning. Thankfully, I was alone. Or maybe not.
“Alexandria Skye Summers! What the heck was that?!” Lynx’s voice bellowed as she marched in and placed her hands on her hips.
“Trouble,” I answered simply, regaining my composure as I checked my appearance on the mirror. Still presentable. Nothing like a girl that had just watched her worst nightmare saunter into the room. Good.
“Did you see the way he stared at you?” Lynx continued as though she hadn’t heard me, “He looked like… like he wanted to eat you whole, woman! I mean, sure we’ve seen a lot of guys go gaga on you before but, that was different! It was borderline creepy if he wasn’t so damn hot! He couldn’t take his eyes off you, and you couldn’t even look straight at him, which is not you, by the way. Which leads me to think, do you or do you not know each other?”
I looked down on my trembling hands, fearing the tidal wave of memories would come crashing down on me any minute now. I knew I shouldn't have had reacted that way, not after what he did to me five years ago that turned me inside out and broke me apart. But now was not the time for me to berate myself for my ghastly behavior. I had to leave, and fast. But I needed to appease Lynx’s curiosity before she would let me go.
“Yes, I knew him. A little before I met you and Mhio. He’s someone I don’t really want to talk about, but I swear I’ll answer every question you throw at me tomorrow. Just please, I need to go home, now,” I replied, my voice pleading.
“Mhio knows who he is though, doesn't she?” Damn, was she always this sharp?
“Yes.”
YOU ARE READING
Chasing Paper Planes
Teen Fiction“You’re beautiful.” Sometime in my life, I heard those words far too often that eventually they lost their meaning. I was far from being a conceited brat, but after receiving numerous remarks about my physical appearance, I guess you could say that...
