Love at Second Sight

Chapter 21

More than kisses, letters mingle souls.

~John Donne

***

Savannah wiped her cheeks and eyes with her hand while walking on the sidewalk. She hauled her suitcase behind her as she rummaged through her tote bag for a few tissues. If only she could find them. Her bag seemed to have developed a mechanism over the years—it effectively hid whatever she needed whenever it was required. Always.

But. What the fuck had she been thinking running like that into his arms and sobbing on his shoulder? What the actual hell? She didn't get vulnerable like that in front of just anyone. But then again, Zac wasn't just anyone, he was...Zac. She'd come to trust him more now, after the way he'd blindly given her what she'd asked for—only friendship—after that night of opening up to him, even though he wanted more from her.

Maybe he was telling her the truth. Maybe he truly was in a terrible phase when that incident had happened. Because there was no way that Zac was this one. The one she'd been around these past three months showed absolutely no semblance whatsoever with the one she'd witnessed all those years ago. He was such a changed man. The way he loved Stella. The way he would stand by Rhett if need be—she knew that—despite all that bantering they did. The way he respected his parents. The way he'd behaved, all throughout these three months, with her.

Everything told her, time and again, that she could trust him now. That he was trustworthy. That she could take a chance on him, give him a second chance.

But just now, he'd let her go. He hadn't even asked her once, to stay. He hadn't begged, pleaded, raised his voice asking her to stay. She knew she was sounding hypocritical, feeling bad about that when she'd decided she didn't want anything more to do with him. She was a mess.

She walked through the doors of Magna and barged straight into the ladies' room. She needed timeout. She just stood there, leaning against the washbasin and took a few deep breaths. She splashed water on her face and huffed. Mentally, she flipped on her work-mode switch, swearing to God that she would not, in any case, let her emotional whirlwind affect the reason she would be getting her paycheck. Nothing was getting in the way of her cooking, nothing.

She walked out of the washroom looking more like the collected Chef Reece she was required to be and less like the emotionally wrecked Savannah she had been a few minutes ago.

She commuted to Abbey's floor via the elevator. She heard the sounds before she tracked where they were coming from. Abbey and Rhett. Abbey's door was open all the way and Rhett's body was pressing her against it. His hands were everywhere on her, and hers were everywhere on him—wherever they could reach. They were practically groping each other while having their tongues deep down the other's throat.

She could think of just one thing watching both of them there: 

Abbey and Rhett sitting under a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G. 

Well, not under a tree, more like, against an open room door. But, come on, surely that small technical glitch could be overlooked.

Not wanting to disturb their...canoodling, she strode forward consciously avoiding making any noise. She quietly left the bags against the wall beside her bedroom door, and turning her head to the other side, she said, "I absolutely hate to interrupt your pashing—" she absolutely loved that Aussie slang word, it was so...she couldn't explain it "—but Abbey, it would do me real good if you made sure that my bags made it inside your room without missing anything." She started to scamper away, but Rhett's voice stopped her.