A Touch of Heaven (14 page)

The low rumble of voices barely registered
when Megan guided her into the dining hall and towards their table.
Kim's loud voice carried over the chatter in the room. Her heated
protest about the seating arrangements gained the eye of almost
everyone in the room.

"You are not sitting there," Kim said,
loudly.

"Sorry sweetheart, but this is my seat,"
Travis said, grinning.

"Well, just because you have to sit at our
table, doesn't mean I have to sit beside you," she said, before
going over to the other empty chairs.

"They're assigned, Kim," Courtney said,
rolling her eyes at Kim's behavior.

"Like I care," she said, looking at the name
cards at each setting.

Megan found her seat, sitting down beside
Heather as Paige found hers and sat too.

She looked up when she heard voices and her
anger vanished. She was suddenly face-to-face with the one person
she didn't want to see again.

"Hey, Paige."

Her old high school flame, Lance, gave her
his all too familiar hundred-watt smile before pulling out his
chair, sitting down quietly as his date grabbed the chair next to
him.

"Hey Lance," Paige said, trying not to stare
but finding it difficult not too. The whole table seemed to calm
down immediately.

She knew she would run in to him again and
dreaded it from the time she received the announcement of the
reunion. But looking at her old high school sweetheart, she felt
absolutely nothing. He wasn't even as good looking as she
remembered.

She wondered how'd she feel seeing him again
and now that he sat two chairs over from her, he was just a guy who
held memories to her past. Nothing more.

He stared back at her, and a slow smile
began to form on her face when she realized she'd been worried for
nothing. No remaining feelings were there unless she counted her
remorse at losing so much sleep when they'd broken up. Her friends
were all in a tizzy at the time. It just didn't look right if one
of the most popular was without a steady beau.

She almost rolled her eyes at her last
thought. Her friends, although she loved them dearly, were the
shallowest people she had ever known.

Kim walked around the table before grabbing
the chair beside Paige. She sat down between her and Lance's date,
smiling before looking down at the place setting. Her eyes widened,
a small grin curving her lips before saying, "You know what? I
think my seat was just fine."

Paige watched her stand back up and walk
around the table, sitting down between Travis and Heather. She
leaned over, whispering something to Heather before they burst out
laughing.

Reaching over to the place setting next to
her, Paige picked up the name card and felt her heartbeat once
again quicken at the name of the person assigned to sit beside of
her. Colin Gregory was printed on the card. "Remind me to find the
person responsible for the seating arrangements before we leave,"
she said hatefully, flinging the card back down and slumping back
in her seat.

* * *

Simon stood in the hall, reading the seating
arrangement before glancing at the last few people walking into the
dining hall. He couldn't believe his luck. Okay, maybe luck was
being a little too optimist. He knew whoever made the seating
arrangements had done this out of pure spite.

No matter, he thought. She was where he was
headed anyway.

"This is it," he said softly to himself.
This was the minute he'd been dreading since first laying eyes on
Paige back at the club.

Taking a deep breath, Simon let it out
slowly, straightening his shoulders before turning and walking
through the door.

* * *

"Holy shit, Paige! That man is turning into
a regular stalker!" Kim said, grinning.

Paige turned her head, looking over her
shoulder and she clenched her jaw when she saw Simon walking toward
them. It really was him. She tried to convince herself she was
wrong but as he walked across the room and held her gaze, she knew
better.

"Hell, if my stalkers looked like that, I
wouldn't feel the need to have them locked up all the time,"
Heather said, smiling as Simon approached the table.

"No doubt about that one."

The girls all smiled when Simon finally made
it to the table, pulling the chair beside of Paige out and sitting
down.

"Hey Simon, you aren't following Paige, now
are you?" Kim asked. "Not that she would mind, would you,
Paige?"

Paige sat staring at Simon, unable to look
away. She could see it clearly now, the quiet shy boy that used to
blush every time she smiled at him.

The look in his eyes wasn't the same as it
had been earlier that day. His entire demeanor was different. The
badass, cocky man she'd met the day before, was gone. Now, he was
Colin, just wearing Simon's clothes. The insecure boy who followed
her around finally emerged, and she felt her anger wavering
slightly as she looked at him.

"How did you get in here anyway?" Kim asked,
staring at Simon.

"Through the door," Simon told her, tearing
his eyes away from Paige and looking at the others.

"How'd you find us? You left the store
before we did."

Simon ignored their questions, looking back
over at Paige. He stared at her for a few minutes, turning in his
seat slightly before saying, "Paige can I talk to you… in private?
There's something I need to tell you."

"Yeah, something you should have told me two
days ago," Paige snapped, her voice louder than she had
intended.

Paige saw Heather and Kim both glance at
each other, one of them whispering, "he said her name again,"
before Kim spoke up. "Uh, Simon, we've kind of been wondering how
you knew Paige's name."

"He knew it because he already knew me. Just
like he knows all of your names."

"Huh?" Heather and Kim both said
simultaneously.

"Isn't that right… Colin?" Paige said, her
head leaning to the side she looked at him. The anger resurfaced
and she took a deep breath to try and calm down. She waited for him
to deny it. Waited for him to tell her she was crazy and she never
wanted anything more in her life.

When Simon sighed heavily and looked at her,
she knew. "I wanted to tell you," he said softly, his eyes darting
away briefly before he looked back up at her.

"Then why didn't you?"

"Wait a minute!" Kim said loudly, getting
everyone's attention. "Would someone like to run that last bit by
me one more time `cause it sounded a whole lot like you said his
name was Colin."

"That's because I did," Paige said. "Girls,
you remember Colin, don't you?"

Kim stared across the table at Simon for a
few minutes before she giggled, the sound abruptly stopping before
her eyes widened. "Colin? Colin Gregory?"

Paige nodded her head in confirmation before
Kim laughed again and yelled, "You're Colin Gregory!"

The noise in the room vanished completely.
Everyone in the dining hall turned to stare at them.

Simon sighed again, looking at Paige for a
minute longer before turning towards Kim. "Yes, you remember don't
you? Tall, glasses, the one you and your friends made a daily habit
of torturing with your constant taunting."

Kim shook her head, looking
at the others at the table before turning her attention back to
Simon. "Colin Gregory?
You're
Colin Gregory?"

"Yes Kim, I'm Colin Gregory," Simon said
irritated.

Kim stared at him for a few seconds before
she laughed loud and boisterously, the sound bouncing off the walls
around the room before she stopped abruptly and yelled, "No Fucking
Way!"

* * * *

Chapter 13

No matter how upset Paige was at the
situation, she couldn't help but be amused at Kim's reaction. The
look on her face was priceless, her loud outburst sending the
entire room into a frenzy of hushed whispers. There wasn't a person
in the room that wasn't focused in on them… or more specifically…
Simon.

The others at the table sat in stunned
silence, each of them undoubtedly trying to grasp the concept that
Simon, the guy they had all practically drooled over and made lewd
comments about all weekend, was Colin. Every person at the table
sat gob-smacked. They stared at the now completely transformed man
sitting with them.

Paige looked around her, seeing every eye in
the room on them before she looked back at Kim and said, "Kim, sit
down."

Kim stared at Simon with her mouth gaping
open, her eyes wide. She blinked a few times, finally looking over
at Paige before she started to laugh.

Paige sighed heavily, looking around the
room when Kim fell back in her chair holding her stomach. Her
laughter rang out through the banquet hall and the longer Kim
laughed, the madder Paige became.

"Heather, make her shut up before I hurt
her."

No one moved. Paige gritted her teeth,
listening to Kim before she saw Megan stand. She grabbed Kim's arm
and pulled her from the chair before guiding her out of the
room.

Paige watched them go, noticing that
everyone's attention was still on them. She rolled her eyes. It
didn’t matter how much time past; people still gawked.

Looking back over at Simon, she noticed his
entire demeanor had changed. The muscle in his jaw ticked, his
fists were clenched tight, and his eyes were hard and cold. He
stared down at the table, his body still and quiet. He'd sat there
throughout Kim's whole hysterical laughing without saying a
word.

He didn't look scared anymore. He looked
angry as hell. And Paige felt horrible. She realized by the look on
his face that what he'd just been subjected to wasn't anything he
hadn’t suffered through before. Laughter, at his expense, all
because of her. He spent two years being the butt of everyone's
jokes for one reason or another. Now ten years later, he still
was.

"Colin Gregory?"

Paige turned to Lance the same time Simon
did and she wanted to slap her ex. After ten years he was still
just as immature as her friends were. He sat there, laughing at
Simon and she felt her heart break a little bit more for him. Why
did they still do this? Treat him like he was… nobody.

She looked back over at Simon. She saw the
same hurt look she witnessed more times than she cared to remember
cross his face before his jaw twitched and he straightened in his
seat. The pain in her heart for this man was nothing compared to
the way he probably felt. Reaching out, she laid her hand on his
arm just as he turned to her. "Simon."

"Forget it, Paige," Simon spat out
hatefully, jerking his arm away. "I thought maybe ten years was
enough time for you and your friends to get over yourselves.
Apparently I was wrong." He stood and turned, walking away from the
table.

"Simon wait," she said, quickly standing up
from her seat and following him. She couldn't let him leave like
that. She knew the hurt look on his face was once again her fault
and she wasn't about to let it end like this. She wasn't the same
girl anymore. She owed him something for all those years of torment
he'd taken because of her, regardless of his motives in not telling
her who he was. He deserved more than laughter and ridicule.

Simon stopped, turning back before taking a
step closer to her, anger now replacing his obvious pain. "Oh,
before I forget," he said leaning down close to her ear. "Thanks
for the fuck. It was quite a memory. The next time you have an itch
you need to scratch, you know where to find me."

Paige's eyes flew open at his harsh words
before Simon stood up straight and smiled at her before turning and
walking to the door. Every eye in the room was trained on her and
when the whispers from everyone watching the scene started, her
anger resurfaced.

"Do you people not have anything better to
do!" she yelled before taking off after Simon.

* * *

Simon didn't know what pissed him off more.
The fact that things had actually gone worse than he expected or
that his chances of having anything other than a quick fuck with
Paige were over. Or the familiar fact that he was once again left
feeling like the odd man out while the "in" crowd got their
laugh.

He walked through the door of the dining
hall, hearing the whispers of everyone before Paige yelled. He held
back a smile. Bout time the girl spoke up for herself. His
shoulders were straight, his stride sure and no matter how
confident he looked in his departure, all he could think of was the
tears that stung at his eyes.

He buried Colin a long time ago, covering
the weak, shy boy he used to be with the strong, cocky man who
didn't take shit from anyone. Now, not ten minutes after entering
the room, all his insecurities resurfaced and he cursed himself for
even trying to be seen as anything other than what they thought him
to be.

He'd known coming back here would be a
mistake, especially after seeing Paige again, but the insane notion
that she had grown up and started living for herself and not just
to impress her friends made him think that maybe she wouldn't care.
That maybe, she would be able to see past what her friends thought,
and make a decision on her own.

He should have known better.

Reaching inside his jacket, Simon searched
for his smokes, pulling them from his pocket, only to have them
snatched away and a hand grab his arm and jerk him back.

"Just where the hell do you get off!" Paige
yelled, glaring hard up at him. "You think you can just waltz in
here, flash some cocky grin and then just leave without even an
explanation?"

Simon sighed heavily as he stared down at
the now red-faced blonde before him. Her eyes were glassy and she
was trembling, her anger at him apparent by the look on her face.
"What do you want me to say, darling?"