Freed From Desire

Part 20

Nora

"I'm sorry, I didn't realize you two were.." Viv trailed off. She had waited for me to catch up and we were walking to the table together.

"We weren't," I said. Not that I knew what exactly she had meant with that but.. whatever it was, it was not happening. Just a small lapse in judgement.

There were servers walking around, their trays having all sorts of sweet treats and I smiled at one and snagged a plate with chocolate cake before landing back in my seat. Beth gave me a look and then made a show of staring at her already empty plate before looking up again with her puppy eye look.

Which meant that clearly she was the one to blame for the lack of information in Katie's part. I just shook my head and took a bite of the cake, closing my eyes as it melted in my mouth.

"Where did you leave your girlfriend?" Oliver asked without an ounce of shame. At least he did it quietly enough that no one else seemed to have heard him.

"Just eat your cake," I shook my head at him, not wanting to get into whatever the hell happened in the hallway. Especially since I was still unsure myself.

Katie had basically given me a choice. Friends or more. And I definitely leaned towards more. Towards her. Before reality came crashing in. And now I was as confused as ever.

And just to make matters worse, she walked back to the table and took her seat. While staring at me the whole time. Nice one, Katie. Real subtle.

I focused very hard on getting a perfect bite of my cake, making sure the little fork cut through all the layers. It took me long enough that when I looked up, she was no longer looking at me and talking to Beth instead.

At least there was no bad blood there since Beth got her to smirk and eventually laugh softly. I sighed and took another bite.

"Drowning your sorrows in carbs?" Teresa, Jonas's wife asked from the seat next to mine. Did everyone know about this? 

"No, it's just good cake," the lie came out easy, especially since it was half-true. This cake was delicious.

"Mhmm," Teresa hummed knowingly. "Well just in case.. I grabbed this for you earlier," she said and pushed a glass in front of me. It looked like some sort of a whiskey based drink which I appreciated immensely. My favorite spirit after all.

"You're an angel," I sighed with a smile on my face and took the glass, clinking it together with hers. Me and Teresa had never been sister-level close, Eva was always the glue that bonded us together. But she did know me for many years so this gesture was literally perfect.

We both took a hefty sip and I felt my body relax as the liquid warmed my body up. This was a much better way of drowning said sorrows.

___

The evening had progressed into the typical part where the older people, khmn Jonas, had left and the young ones were partying it up. The band was on their last rotation on the stage and this time it was all upbeat and known hits that filled the room.

Jen had gone around and single-handedly pulled every single person from the female team up to their feet and onto the dance floor. Including me. And Katie.

Oliver had found some of his friends from the men's team and was chatting with them somewhere last I saw him.

I laughed as Alessia and Lia sang along very loudly to the song currently playing, feeling the bass notes thrum through my body. Some of us had neglected the high heels somewhere near our table and were all jumping and dancing around barefeet. 

For once I was not thinking of any of my worries or work or unnecessary feelings. And it felt really great. 

I couldn't even blame it on alcohol. That one drink had been my last of the night, memories of painful hangovers still too fresh in my brain. And this somehow felt even more freeing.

"LET'S GET LOUD!" Beth came up next to me, singing along to JLo's hit song very loud and very much offkey which made me burst out laughing again. She put her arm around me and I put mine around hers as we half-swayed, half-jumped along to the rhythm. 

Vivianne was just off to the side, doing her little two step and looking at us like we were monkeys in a cage. To be fair, we probably moved like ones. Katie was next to her, her movements a bit calmer since she was still in her heels and also had a glass of either water or pure vodka in her hand. I was really hoping for the first one for her sake.

We locked eyes for a moment, what felt like the hundreth heated glance exchanged between us. The more the night progressed, the more we seemed to be pulled towards one another.

The song ended and everyone turned to face the stage and applaud the band who had kept us going for a while now.

Just then they announced that it would be the last song of their set and a slow one this time since the night was starting to wrap up and someone needed to pump the breaks on our energy levels.

I couldn't tell what the time was but I would guess somewhere around three or four in the morning.

"I love you, but I gotta grab Viv for this one," Beth laughed next to me and I rolled my eyes playfully. As if I expected to sway in her arms to a romantic tune.

"Go get your girl," I told her and turned, heading back to the table. The floor emptied out quite a bit, mostly couples staying behind and a few pairs of friends just goofing around to the gentle notes of a John Legend song.

I slid my heels back on, leaning over to adjust the straps and reached for a glass of water.

The sip I took almost went down the wrong pipe when Katie stepped in front of me. We really had to stop meeting like that.

I managed to swallow and cleared my throat, looking at her expectantly. 

But Katie didn't say a single thing, instead she gently took my hand and gave it a small tug. It took me two solid seconds to get what she meant and I automatically looked around.

Sure, a lot of people knew already that there was something going on but slow-dancing to John Legend was a hard launch of a relationship that didn't even exist.

But my thoughts and body disagreed with each other as I already took a step, following her to the dance floor, Katie taking slow steps backwards and not dropping her eyes from mine for even a second.

I swallowed hard as she pulled me closer, guiding my hands to rest on her shoulders and bringing hers to my waist.

I think I moved out of reflex cause even with the extensive dance classes our parents had put me and Oliver through, I couldn't remember how to even take a step right now. And yet we moved in perfect unison, in our little bubble on the dance floor.

I took a deep breath and relaxed my body, moving just a tiny bit closer and sliding my hands to rest behind her neck, one of them finding Katie's soft skin through her silky hair. I could feel her fingers tense on my waist before she followed suit, closing the gap between our bodies even further until I could feel the heat radiating off of her.

Neither of us had still said a word, both scared to ruin this spell we were under. If it weren't for the very public place, I would've kissed her. And this time the realization didn't scare me as much. But we were in the middle of our colleagues and friends, even if I hadn't looked to see if anyone was staring, I knew they probably were.

So instead I moved closer, holding her tighter and leaning my head to rest against her shoulder. Her strong arms wrapped tightly around my waist and I could feel her heartbeat against mine.

Katie sighed and pressed her cheek against my head and I closed my eyes, wishing for this song to never end.

_______

I have learned that Jonas is indeed married but idk what his wife's name is irl so I just made up a random one. :D