Angel

20 - Noreen

Pointing to my ear, I leaned closer to Inda. "What?"

She over articulated. "When am I going to meet him?"

I was suddenly glad for the music that was loud enough to curtail conversations. I shrugged.

"Soon."

Inda rolled her eyes. "Soon. Sure. He something, something, something?"

I didn't catch the end of her sentence.

"What?"

"He with his sister and parents?"

I just nodded. She didn't know that Jeremy's sister had returned to college.

She kept trying to talk, to her credit. "Where's your mom?" Inda pointed to her watch.

"Should have been here by now."

I couldn't blame her. My best friend was beautiful. Her hair was as dark as a starless night and her kind eyes were a rich, dark brown. She had the type of body jealous women would kill for. Slim but with enough curves to grab the attention of every man in the room. If there was a lull in the conversation, she'd be hit on, guaranteed. So, she made the effort against the music and enthusiastic singing.

If Kennedy were a genius who could sing, she'd be Inda.

The manager jumped on the mic. "Okay, thank you, Ted! Bob Marley never sounded so good.

Let's give Ted a round of applause as we bring up old favourites, Inda and Noreen! Come on up, ladies!"

Wending our way through the crowd, we made it to the small stage. They had our two songs ready and were about to start when Inda leaned into me.

"Is that him?"

"What?"

"With your mom. That's him, right?"

Looking at the entrance, I saw Mom and Jeremy. He seemed incredibly nervous until he saw me.

His face lit up in a smile and every line in his body relaxed. I stood there, staring.

She tapped my leg. "You okay?"

I nodded.

"What's the matter?"

I shook my head.

"Noreen?"

He'd sacrificed some time with Ethan and his family to come see me. And... he'd shaved.

I couldn't stop staring at him. He looked good, but weird. I wasn't sure if I liked it or not. They found a table, probably after Mom bribed the guy at the door. They were seated by the time I realized that the song had started and Inda was singing. Distracted, I jumped in.

He'd shaved. For me. Probably because he knew he was going to meet Inda. There was a fluttering in my chest and I hugged her with one arm and got into the song. Before we launched into Summer Nights, she again leaned into me and held the mic away.

"He's gorgeous."

That was when I realized I'd been smiling for the past three minutes. "I know."

While we were up there, Mom must have ordered five types of appetizers. Our table was swamped with nachos, chicken fingers and everything else you could think of. Jeremy stood as we walked over.

Hugging me, he kissed my cheek. "That was amazing. How did you not tell me how good you are?"

The hell with the cheek thing. I pulled him down and kissed him. "It's just for fun. Where'd my mountain-man go?"