Take Two

13. Christian

7 years ago

"Hailey, again! You are still not highlighting the correct messages in the presentation. I'll send you some notes."

I watched her tightly wrap her fingers around her coffee mug while still maintaining the smile on her face. I had to clench my teeth hard to stop myself from laughing out loud. Everyone had left the client office for the day, but I made Hailey stay over with me because I wanted to work on the presentation together with her. I was acting like a little kid who loves to bully the girl he likes. I know I should act like an adult, but I think almost every man has that kid inside of him.

Honestly speaking, I couldn't think of any other excuse to spend more time with her.

"Come with me. Let's go to the hotel together." I told her once we were finished. We were working in a different city for the client and had reservations in the same hotel for the week. Well, I made it that way at the last minute. It took me a while to figure out which hotel she was staying at.

I swear I heard her curse under her breath which only made me chuckle.

The ride to the hotel was a relatively quiet one, with us making some small talk and her mostly texting on her phone.

"Do you want to have dinner together with me?" I asked her once we dropped off.

"Umm.. sure, let me ask the others if anyone else wants to join us."

"No!" I grumbled. "I mean, we are off work hours. I want to have dinner with you, just you."

She blankly stared at me, her jaw dropping down to the ground, and the sight was really amusing. It had been years since we last talked. We hardly ever spoke in college. But Noah's chapter was over. I could make my move now.

"If it makes you uncomfortable, that's fine. I don't mind. I promise it'd have no bearing on our professional relationship."

She raised a hand to tuck a hair behind her ear while looking down to her right. She shifted her weight on her other leg. This was what I really loved about her. She was so beautiful and yet had no knowledge of her charms. Beautiful both on the outside and inside, one of the kindest yet strongest women I had ever met. She could be a logical consultant and a shy girl at the same time.

"Okay.."

We were headed back to our rooms after dinner. Thankfully we were on the same floor. Suddenly her leg tripped on something, and she stumbled, but I reached forward and wrapped my arm around her waist. She turned around in my hold.

"Thank you.."

"You look so beautiful today.."

Someone was playing that song on their phone in the corner of that hallway. I could never forget that melody because it felt like the composer had written my feelings into those lyrics. I stared into her dark eyes which were staring back at me. I could see my reflection in those, and maybe because I was a little tipsy with the wine, but she appeared to me like the most beautiful angel that had fallen into my arms. I raised my free hand to her cheeks and slowly dipped my head to touch my lips to hers.

That was our day one.

I never stopped being harsh on her at work since that day, but of course, she became more daring towards me after that, and a year later we decided to tie the knot.

Present Day

My eyes were frantically searching for them, searching for her. We separated from them, but nobody seemed to care about that except me.

"Where is she!"

I scanned through the entire crowd, and that was when I caught sight of the centre stage. Noah and Hailey stood there, staring at each other. They weren't dancing to the rhythm. They were just frozen. Noah dipped his head forward, and my fingers clenched into fists on the side. I thought he would have given up over time. More than a decade had passed. How could he still be in love with her?