Standing in front of you |ON HOLD|

The 'date'

Seb looked at Olly questioningly as they met in the lobby while she waited for Curtis. He'd been given a loan car while he was at the factory and so had driven back separately from her.

"What?" She asked, meeting his gaze while her stomach churned inside.

"Is there a reason you didn't tell me you'd got a date when you picked me up from the airport?"

"I wasn't even sure I was going to go," she admitted before adding, "if I'm honest I'm still not."

He leant back against a white, square pillar, shoving a hand into his jeans pocket, "you don't have to hide from me the fact you've got a date with someone. Just because I've lost Heidi and I'm not ready to be with anyone, it doesn't mean that you have keep it from me. I won't break if you start seeing someone. You should go, if anyone deserves to have some happiness and fun, it's you and you're dressed for it now so you might as well go."

She looked down at her rather short, long sleeved, button down, emerald green dress. Urgh, that's not what I want to hear Seb. I want to go out with you, not Curtis. I want you to tell me that you don't want me to see someone else, that you want me all to yourself and that you'll be taking me out instead.

"Relax, you look great." He noticed the way she was looking at her dress, as if she was having a small crisis of confidence in herself.

Great. He thinks I look great. Not sexy or pretty or stunning....just great. Great. "Thanks," she uttered quietly as the feeling of dread at seeing Curtis intensified.

Seeing Curtis entering through the automatic doors, Seb stood upright and gave her a gentle nudge with his elbow, "go and enjoy yourself. Life's too short. And next time, tell me when you've got a date, don't hide it because you think I'll break. I want you to be happy, I want you to have relationships with other people, don't stay single just because of me."

She forced a smile behind her mask while inside she felt herself die a little because Curtis wasn't Seb and he never would be. I want to stay single because I'm waiting for you, because you're the only one I want. No one will compare to you.

He placed a hand on her back, giving her a gentle push towards Curtis, like a father encouraging his child to go into the school playground and make friends on her first day, "go on, have fun and tell me all about it in the morning."

She looked up at him for a moment, her eyes silently pleading him to take Curtis's place. As expected though, her silent pleas went completely unnoticed.

"All ready?" Curtis joined her side, nodding his head in greeting to Seb, "hi Seb, I promise I'll take good care of her tonight."

"Just enjoy yourselves. See you tomorrow," he waved a hand before turning and walking away in the direction of the lifts, leaving Olly watching him with a bereft expression hidden beneath her mask as the man she loved walked away from her, completely oblivious to her feelings for him.

"Olivia, you look amazing," Curtis was quite taken aback by her beauty. With her figure subtly showcased in her dress, she really did have the figure of his fantasy woman, Kylie Minogue, and the legs too. He could well imagine how she'd look in a pair of Kylie's famous gold hot pants. When her luminous green eyes rose to meet his, he was nearly rendered speechless. How the hell this woman was single he had no idea, he wouldn't have even been surprised if she was seeing Seb, no one could blame the German if he'd fallen for her.

"Thank you," she felt strangely shy and a little awkward, quite unlike her.

"Let's go, shall we?" He placed a hand on her back, his fingers splayed out, making his hand look enormous on her.