She gave herself a once over again as she stared in the mirror. The dress looked good on her, not so tight around her torso and flowing from her waist. She paired it with a pair of leopard print wedges and a black clutch. She accessorized with a pair of gold loops and a gold locket. She let down her hair allowing it to frame her oval face and applied a subtle amount of makeup. Finally satisfied with how she looked she went to join the rest. They all stared at her in awe.
"You look beautiful, Miss. Quaye." Mr. Mensah complimented surprising the rest of them as well. He was mostly reserved around her.
"Thank you, sir" she replied with a shy smile.
"Well let's go. I think Mr. Finn is waiting in the lobby." They arrived at the lobby to find him waiting and made their way to the van. As they drove off, Peter who was seated next to her nudged her softly.
"You really look beautiful, Adeline." He whispered.
"Thank you but why are you whispering?" she whispered back
"Oh was I?" he spoke in his normal voice letting out a nervous chuckle and she laughed.
"Adeline..." Aaron called turning to her, "Let's take a picture." She obliged and soon everyone in the car had joined the photo taking adventure. By the time they stopped in front of a grand red brick building, they'd gone halfway through their gallery of memories.
"This is the Renaissance Hotel, one of London's famous hotels." Mr. Finn informed and they nodded in admiration as he ushered them inside. Unlike the Waldorf, the lobby was painted mostly white. One thing they definitely had in common was the calibre of people walking around, rich people. The place reeked of wealth and extravagance. Mr. Finn led them to a huge room elegantly decorated with various assortments of flower arrangements and chairs surrounding lace covered tables. Mr. Finn told them the luncheon was organized by a charity foundation Noah was a staunch contributor of. He showed them their seats and excused himself for a moment. They began talking among themselves as other people walked in. Adeline kept her gaze locked on the entrance like she was waiting for someone.
She finally gave up after a while and indulged in the conversation between Aaron and Peter. She zoned out on them again and involuntarily scanned the room her eyes landing on the familiar green ones, the very ones she'd been searching for. He held her gaze until he was at their table then tore his eyes away long enough to acknowledge the others. He opted to sit with them and got into conversation with Mr. Hayford and Mr. Mensah letting out a hearty laugh from time to time. Adeline was stunned by his presence and tried to remain cool and collected though a storm of excitement and so many other emotions she couldn't name raged within her. Soon the event was started and it took part of her attention however from time to time she'd steal a glance his way and caught his gaze each time. Lunch was served after a short speech by the host about the need to create awareness for kids with autism. It was indeed a captivating speech which got everyone overly sympathetic. Cool jazz sounds evaded the room from the live band and couple filed to the dance floor after lunch. Adeline and the boys watched with amusement as their bosses showed a bunch of old women some old school Ghanaian moves.
"Would you like to dance?" Noah's voice asked from beside her. She looked up into his eyes to catch the mischievous glint dancing in them.
"Ugh...yeah sure." she obliged and took his hand following him to the dance floor. He wrapped his arm around her waist pulling her closer to him as her arms reached up his shoulders. They began dancing to the rhythm of the song playing.
"You don't need to be nervous." he whispered in her ear his breath creasing her neck.
"I'm not nervous." She replied defensively.
He gave a low chuckle, "Really! I think you are."
"Why do you say so?"
"For starters, you are breathing irregularly and you..." he held her chin and tilted her head up slightly till she was staring directly into his amused eyes. "...have been avoiding my eyes since we began dancing." She moved his hand and lowered her gaze again but he only lifted her head again. "Don't lower your eyes. They are beautiful."
Adeline was unnerved by how flirtatious he was. The player alert sounded in her head but she was too engrossed in his meaningless words to pay heed. She wished she could flirt back but she was as clueless about it as she was about Pluto.
"You're quite the flirt, aren't you?" she suddenly blurted not knowing where the confidence came from. Either way she felt empowered.
"It's not as if you're not enjoying it..." he retorted cockily.
"What makes you think so?"
He chuckled knowingly, "I know you find me attractive, Miss. Quaye."
Embarrassment enveloped her threatening to swallow her whole but she still found her voice, "It's Adeline and I don't find you attractive."
"Well that's too bad because I find you very attractive." his voice had lost its playfulness. She found it hard to believe his words so she studied his face for any signs of mockery but found none.
"Really?"
"Yes, Adeline. I do."
"Do you say this to all your girlfriends?" she asked apprehensively. There was no way he was being serious.
He gave a soft laughter and leaned in, "What girlfriends?"
"Ne...never mind. Thanks for the dance, Mr. Hedlund." She broke away from him and walked out the room in search of the bathroom.
Peter had been watching them the entire time and couldn't help but feel jealous at how they felt at ease with each other yet they'd just met a few days prior. He'd been walking on eggs around her, treading carefully and bidding time for when he'd make a bold move towards her. Adeline returned to her seat the encounter still playing over in her mind. What was he playing at saying those things to her and why did she almost believe him.
Night had fallen and Adeline laid between her sheets reading a novel she'd borrowed from the van's driver. It was a crime mystery novel by her favourite author, Agatha Christie. A knock sounded at her door and she got up to open it.
"What is it, Pe..." she begun unable to finish as her words got stuck in her throat at the sight of the person before her.
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Hello, I want to make a song suggestion. If you're into Christian rock like me, please listen to "Drops in the Ocean" by Hawk Nelson. You should listen to it even if you're not a christian. It's a song for all. You can check out their album "Diamonds" as well. Makes you fall in love with Jesus all over again and oh..."Jesus in Disguise" by Brandon Heath is great as well...thanks for reading *_*