Compulsion

Compulsion Part 11

What Elias wanted to happen and what happened when he got to the restaurant shared little in common. Elias was responsible for the arrangements this evening. It was a special event for his parents and so his intention to seek Georgia out and have a chat with her had to take a temporary backseat, as he made sure that everything was on track to make this a special evening for his parents. This evening was celebrating his parent's wedding anniversary and that meant they came first. His own private wish list would have to play second fiddle for a few moments longer. So on arrival while Harry and the two women went in search of their other friends, Elias went in search of the restaurant manager.

He and Georgia were going to talk. There was no doubt in his mind about that. He just had to make sure that this was a memorable evening for his parents and that meant making sure that everything was in hand at the restaurant. When Elias arrived at the restaurant some of the guests were milling around while others were settling at various tables.

The local restaurant was one of his parents' favourites. So in preparing for the evening Elias had kept in touch with the owners to ensure the arrangements for the night were perfect. As to be expected on the night everything was progressing smoothly, there were no unforeseen circumstances and according to the manager there was nothing to worry about.

It was only after Elias finished talking to the restaurant manager that Elias decided he could get on with tracking down Georgia and having that long over due conversation. He'd spotted her and her father a few minutes earlier and while Elias spoke to the manager he had tried to keep an eye on Georgia and Jacinto's movements. So he knew roughly where they were once he'd finished his conversation with the manager.

It was as he watched her thread her way amongst the tables that he realised that Georgia had steered a path well clear of the table with his friends. Feeling guilty for causing this predicament Elias tracked her movements and wondered what would be the best approach to take. His best ally, he decided, was her father. So he stealthily made his way in that direction, stopping every now and then as family and friends stopped him for a brief chat.

Georgia was several metres ahead of Elias. She headed for her father's group. They of course told her to join the younger set! So, rather reluctantly she turned and scoured the room and noticed that Elias appeared to be heading in her direction, though at present he was distracted as family friends asked him a question that necessitated him half turning and pointing toward a table. Using his distraction to her advantage and without any further hesitation she threaded her way through the maze of tables and headed for a table in the opposite corner of the room. She smiled graciously and hid her relief as people she knew took their seats beside her and shielded her from Elias' view.

Now where had she gone? Elias wondered as he turned around ready to continue on his way to the table she appeared to be heading for. He could see Jacinto was at the table, but there was no sign of Georgia. Hiding his frown and trying not to appear as if he was searching the room, Elias never the less scoured the room. Where had she gone?

The meal and speeches went well. Throughout, Elias had surreptitiously scoured the room. How could she simply vanish? It was a good two hours later when the managers opened the doors that separated the restaurant and the room set up for dancing and the band hired for the evening began to play a series of recognisable hits. It was as some of the guests made their way to the other room that Elias finally spotted her.

He did not hesitate. He had no intention of letting this matter fester. After silently debating with himself the merits of talking to her at the table or talking to her while dancing with her, Elias opted to ask her to dance.

He just hadn't expected her refusal. Elias saw from the steely determination in her eyes that she had no intention of dancing with him. She'd covered her rebuttal with a series of plausible excuses and couched it with frills, but the end result was that she had refused to dance with him. Her snub took an evening that was already problematic and turned it into an absolute nightmare as far as he was concerned. Not that he had any intention of allowing that nightmare to continue. He just hadn't worked out what he could do tonight to address the problem.