The One That Got Away (5 page)

There is much
excitement in the store as it is Bob’s leaving do at the end of the
week and they have hired out a really posh hotel for the venue. All
of the staff have been invited and everyone is looking forward to
the excuse to dress up and let their hair down.

Work is taking its toll on everyone and we
could all do with the distraction.

I will really miss Bob. I have always found
him good company and very fair. Even though I know Ben it is still
strange and I would rather that he wasn’t my new boss.

The day of the party dawns and luckily I have
the day off with Nathan. I stayed at his flat last night and
happily wake up next to him.

We have a lazy morning, most of it spent in
bed. I cannot wait for his project to finish and for life to get
back to some sort of normality as I really miss him when I don’t
see him.

Soon it is lunch time and we have to go our
separate ways. I am meeting Phoebe for a girly afternoon in town
and Nathan is meeting up with his friend Bradley for a lunchtime
drink.

He watches me getting ready and then says
petulantly. “Have a great time baby, I wish we weren’t going out, I
would rather have you all to myself.” Going up to him I kiss him
gently on the lips. “Me too, I hate the fact that we don’t spend as
much time together. I really miss it you know.”

He grabs hold of me and holds me to him and I
inhale the musky scent that I love. “I am hoping that this project
will finish soon and then we can get back to normal,” he says
almost squeezing the life out of me.

“
The sooner
the better,” I reply and kiss him, desperate just to feel his
closeness.

The doorbell rings and reluctantly we pull
away. Phoebe is waiting impatiently outside in the cold air so I
quickly run down to join her. I am looking forward to our afternoon
of girly fun. We are both having our hair and nails done and then
are going for a pizza.

I laugh as I
take in her appearance. She must have about three scarves on and
the biggest padded jacket that I have ever seen. She is wearing
snow boots and thick snow gloves with a colourful bobble hat on her
head.

“
Cold
Phoebs?” I ask her grinning. She absolutely hates the cold and
should really live in a warm country.

Our flat is
always roasting and I am sure that she always lights so many
candles just for the extra heat that they give off.

“
Hurry up B,
I’m freezing. The sooner I get my head under the dryer the
better.”

We link arms and head off into town. Luckily
Nathan’s flat isn’t far from our local town so we are there in less
than 10 minutes. As we sit side by side our heads in the
hairdressers our conversation turns to the evening ahead. “What are
your plans tonight Phoebs? Are you seeing Boris?” She nods looking
quite excited. “Yes we are going to see the new James Bond film and
then Boris is taking me to Casanova’s.”

I laugh out loud at the thought of Boris in
the local night club. “Why on earth are you going there?” I
splutter. “You’ll look so out of place amongst all the cool and
trendy teenagers.”

Phoebe grins at me. “Well Boris is getting
lazy and so I thought that an evening gyrating madly on the dance
floor would do him good. I reckon he could lose half a stone by
midnight.” I laugh loudly. “I can think of better ways to lose a
few pounds.” She laughs wickedly. “Don’t worry I’ve got a fun
filled evening lined up afterwards. He won’t know what’s hit him.
Anyway what about you and Nathan, isn’t it Bob’s leaving Do
tonight?” “Yes, I would rather stay in as I haven’t seen much of
him lately, but we can’t miss it, I am really going to miss
Bob.”

Phoebe looks at me with a worried expression
. “Are you sure that your job is secure? I haven’t asked you much
about it lately, is everything alright?”

“
Yes I think
so. It’s all a bit full on at the moment but hopefully things will
calm down after Christmas.”

She thinks for a second. “What about your new
Boss, didn’t you say he was an old friend of yours?” I think about
Ben and wonder if I should confide in Phoebe about my mixed
feelings towards him. She is looking at me questioningly and I
decide that it is best if I try to keep them firmly buried deep
inside me.

“
Yes, but I
haven’t seen him for years. It’s a bit strange though. I am not
sure how to treat him.” Phoebe nods sympathetically and then we are
distracted by the hairdressers who finish our hair and then direct
us to the nail technicians.

Soon we have been well and truly pampered and
head off to the pizza restaurant. Over our meal Phoebe asks me
about the wedding preparations.

“
Have you
decided on a date yet?” she asks looking excited.

“
Not really.
We haven’t had much time to even talk about it. I think that it may
have to be a longer engagement than planned.”

Phoebe looks
at me thoughtfully. “You know I could have a word with Boris if you
like. His Uncle has a fantastic manor house in Berkshire that he
opens to the public. Maybe you could have it there. If you want I
could find out all the details for you?”

Liking the
sound of this I nod enthusiastically. “Would you? I like the sound
of it already; however do you think that it would cost a lot? It’s
just that we haven’t saved up much yet and weddings cost an
absolute fortune.”

“
I’m not sure
but I will find out for you.” Phoebe suddenly looks excited. “You
know what B; I could be your wedding planner! I have lots of time
and I am sure that I could sort you out the wedding of your dreams
on a shoestring. Oh please let me, please!!!”

I laugh at my friend, what a mad wedding it
would be if I let her loose on it. “Go ahead Phoebs, but you’ll
have my mother to fight off first.”

She claps her hands excitedly. “I will start
on it first thing tomorrow. Don’t worry it’s in safe hands. Just
you concentrate on spending time with Nathan and I’ll do
everything.” We spend the rest of the evening throwing ideas around
and by the end of the meal we have well and truly covered every
type of wedding possible, each one crazier than the last. I look at
my watch and notice that I am running late, we have to be at the
Party by 8pm and it is 6pm now. Goodness, I had better get a move
on. We pay the bill and hurry back. Phoebe picks up her car from
Nathan’s and we vow to swap notes on our evenings tomorrow.

Chapter 6

Nathan is still not in when I get back so I
have a leisurely bath and do my make up in peace with a glass of
wine. He gets back at 7.30pm and I am relieved as I was beginning
to wonder if he would make it back on time. He rushes in and with a
sinking feeling I can see that he is in a very merry mood already.
I had wondered if it was a good idea for him to go for a drink with
Bradley. The two of them when they get together are a nightmare and
the thought of Nathan worse for wear at the party is not a pleasant
one. He sweeps into the room and lifts me up spinning me
around.

“
Hello my
gorgeous girl, what do you say we ditch the party and have one of
our own instead?” He then proceeds to undo my dressing gown and run
his hands over my naked back, heading further down and pulling me
against him whilst kissing me passionately.

Pushing him away I can‘t help laughing. “Down
boy, hurry up and get ready or we will be late.”

“
Spoilsport.”
He says petulantly but does as I say and jumps in the
shower.

It doesn't take us long and soon we are
ready. I have decided on a pink satin dress with a diamante
necklace. My blonde hair is styled in waves and due to the cold I
have a faux fur wrap to keep me warm. Nathan looks gorgeous in a
black dinner suit and despite being a bit merry scrubs up very
well.

We are getting a taxi which arrives on time
and we soon find ourselves heading off into the night towards the
country hotel.

As I sit next to Nathan in the back of the
taxi he strokes my hand and I feel so happy to be snuggled up next
to him.

In no time at all we are there and quickly
make our way inside. We go through a massive doorway into the warm
light filled reception and I am struck by how amazing this place
is.

We are directed to a large function room
where the party is already in full swing. The room is packed and it
appears that the whole of Kinghams has turned out for the
event.

Soon we are caught up in the thick of it.
Nathan is always popular at these things as he is such a joker and
good fun to be around. I enjoy spending time talking to my
colleagues out of work and just make the most of having a relaxing
time.

All of a
sudden I see Ben walking through the crowd, holding the hand of an
extremely glamorous blonde and my heart does a somersault as I see
them coming.

He looks amazing in a black dinner suit and
she is wearing a fabulous emerald green silk dress and her hair is
up in a complicated top knot. I can see why she is a model as her
figure is to die for and she certainly commands attention as
everyone stops open mouthed to look at her as she walks past them.
They stop in front of us and I am amazed when Nathan grins at Ben's
girlfriend and winks. “Hi Melissa honey, good to see you again,
you’re looking hot tonight.”

I look at him
in confusion and she kisses him on the cheek saying, “Nathan, you
scrub up well, aren’t you going to introduce me to your lovely
lady?”

I look at them both in confusion and then I
see Ben looking at me with amusement. Leaning forward he kisses me
on the cheek, “Bella, you look stunning, please allow me to
introduce Melissa my girlfriend. Melissa this is Bella, Nathan’s
fiancée and an old friend.”

I look at her and she smiles at me, “Less of
the old Ben. Nathan you didn’t tell me that your girlfriend was a
total babe,” she says hugging me warmly.

I feel lost for words. I can’t believe that
Nathan already knows her, he never said anything to me and I feel
extremely wrong footed. I recover my composure and smile politely.
“Nathan, you never told me that you had already met Melissa, how
did you meet?”

Nathan laughs. “Didn’t I baby it must have
slipped my mind. Melissa comes to watch Ben play football every
week so we have got to know her quite well.”

They all look at me and I feel really bad. I
never go to watch Nathan play as it bores me rigid. I must look bad
if every one else’s girlfriends support them.

Ben notices my expression and laughs. “Don’t
feel bad Bella, Melissa is obsessed with football and enjoys coming
along.” He squeezes her hand and she adds, “Sorry, I blame the fact
that I have 3 older brothers. I had to go and watch them play every
week so it’s in my blood. Don’t feel bad Bella, there aren’t many
of us that go and anyway I wouldn’t get to see as much of Ben if I
didn’t, due to the fact that he is always working.”

She looks at him and he gently kisses her on
the mouth. I look away as it seems intrusive to watch. I don’t know
why but I suddenly feel extremely put out. I knew that Ben had a
girlfriend but somehow seeing them here together raises feelings in
me that I never knew were there.

I feel
confused and look at Nathan, relying on him to bring me back to
normality. He looks at me sheepishly, probably realising that he
should have mentioned Melissa to me before.

Ben turns to Melissa and smiles lovingly at
her. “Come on darling, let’s dance, see you later Bella, Nathan.”
He leads her away to the dance floor and I see him take her in his
arms and pull her against him.

I feel rooted to the spot and cannot take my
eyes off them. They make such a striking couple and I watch as they
move around the dance floor totally wrapped up in each other.

Nathan pulls me on to the dance floor and
takes me in his arms. “Come on gorgeous, lets show them how it’s
done,” I follow him on to the dance floor and he pulls me against
him and singing the words of the song to me. I laugh as he is such
an idiot and we soon lose sight of Ben and Melissa and just enjoy
being together.

We carry on mingling with our colleagues and
then a little later we once again come across Ben and Melissa.

“
Hi guys,”
she says smiling at us. “Bella, I don’t suppose you know where the
ladies is do you? I mean would you come with me as I hate going on
my own?”

I look at her feeling surprised as it seems
an odd request but then smile politely. “Ok, no problem,” She grins
and I follow her feeling once again feeling strangely awkward.

Melissa turns to me as we walk and looks at
me apologetically. “I’m sorry Bella, you must think me so strange,
I mean you don’t even know me. It’s just that I felt bad earlier. I
didn’t realise that you didn’t know that I went to watch the
football and had met Nathan and I feel that you were put on the
spot a bit.”

She smiles at
me and I can’t help it but I warm to her. “Don’t worry Melissa; I
hope that I didn’t come across as rude. These men are a nightmare
aren’t they?” We laugh and she grins, “Tell me about it, Ben tells
me absolutely nothing. I have to find out everything myself. He is
always so wrapped up in work, football is the only other thing that
I know him to do on a regular basis. If I didn’t go to watch I
would hardly see him. You are so lucky to have Nathan, he is a
great guy who obviously adores you.”

I smile at her and nod. “Yes, Nathan is
great. I am very lucky.” We carry on and Melissa looks at me
thoughtfully. “I understand that you knew Ben in the past. Was it
strange meeting up again after all these years?”

“
It was a
bit, I mean it was a long time ago and our lives are so different
now and it is strange that he is now my boss.” Melissa laughs. “It
must be. Never mind better the devil you know hey.” As she grins at
me I decide that I actually really like Melissa. She is undoubtedly
the most glamorous person that I have ever met but also seems
really down to earth and approachable. I can’t help feeling a bit
jealous of her though and just tell myself that it is because she
is so amazing looking and not because she is with Ben.