Page 20 of Rivers of Ink
“You always look hot to me, babe,” said Callan. He pulled her towards him and smashed his lips to her. “Shall I meet you there?”
“Probably best, we don’t want to be late…” Alicia winked at him.
“Eugh, too much information, guys,” said Aidy. He pretended to stick his fingers down his throat. “Don’t get me wrong, I think you two are great together, but I don’t want to know every detail.”
Alicia laughed and went to get her stuff from upstairs. She was grateful that Nell was at home when she got there. Her fashion stylist elect would be able to help her find a knockout outfit to wear. However, when she found Nell sitting on the sofa, sobbing her heart out, all thoughts of dresses went from her head.
“What’s wrong?” Alicia rushed to sit beside Nell, gathering her up in her arms for a hug. Nell’s shoulders heaved as she tried to catch her breath.
“I’m probably being silly,” she gasped.
“Whatever it is that has made you this upset can’t be silly.”
Nell hiccupped a bit and wiped the sleeve of her sweatshirt across her face. “It’s Rory. He’s working late again, and we were supposed to go out for a nice dinner at Sarastro in North Ridge. I’d been looking forward to it for ages because he promised me he wouldn’t duck out and now he has.” She looked at Alicia, her tear-stained face blotchy and red. “Stupid, isn’t it?”
“Not at all. He’s an idiot.” Alicia fiddled with the strap of her bag. “Did you want me to stay home tonight? We can find all your favourite chick-flick movies that Rory hates and eat ice cream.”
“Don’t you have plans with Callan?”
“I can cancel. I only just found out about them anyway.” Alicia rubbed Nell’s arm, hoping she wouldn’t spot her crossed fingers behind her back.
“Oh. What were you going to do?”
“It’s Aidy and Wren’s joint stag and hen do. I was literally told about half an hour ago. That’s why I’m home early.”
Despite her tears, Nell forced a smile. “No, I can’t make you miss your first proper night out with your new work colleagues. I’ll be fine. I’ll hang out with Ben and Jerry and Tom Hardy…”
Alicia breathed a mental sigh of relief. Despite it being sprung on her last minute, she had been excited by the thought of the dinner. “Will you help me pick a killer outfit first though?”
Nell brightened at the request. “Of course! Now you go get a shower and I’ll find something for Cinderella to wear.”
A niggling sense of guilt still hung over Alicia when she arrived at the Fork and Dagger shortly after eight o’clock. She felt bad for leaving Nell on her own; Rory really had been letting her down lately. Nell had insisted, telling her she shouldn’t miss out on the night. It had been ages since she’d been to the restaurant. The three storey Victorian building was on one corner of Oakridge’s busy shopping centre, the whole of the top floor dedicated to private parties. She made her way upstairs, following the sound of loud chatter as she got closer. There were around thirty people there, the team from the shop: Jason, Miles, Aaron, Marek and Pearl; Wren and other people Alicia recognised from Books ’n’ Beans; plus a lot of other people that she didn’t know at all. She went to the bar and was handed a complimentary glass of Prosecco. Callan was already there, mingling with the crowd, effortlessly moving from group to group, kissing the women on both cheeks and either shaking hands with the men or gathering them in a hug. She watched him, admiring how sexy he looked, his dark hair roughly styled, the stubble darkening his jaw, how his fitted dark grey shirt clung to his muscular chest.
“Alicia, you made it!” Wren embraced her, interrupting her reverie. “I gather Callan forgot to ask you to come tonight.” She rolled her eyes. “He’s not always the best at the detail.”
“Yeah, I gathered. I should have known that based on the mess that was the booking system in the shop.” Alicia hugged Wren back. She was easy to talk to and Alicia appreciated being brought into the clan so quickly. Wren pointed out people in the room, explaining who they were and how they fit in to the group. After a few minutes, Alicia’s head swam from all the information she was being bombarded with.
A soft touch on her hip, followed by lips grazing the side of her neck, made her jump.
“You look amazing.” Callan’s voice whispered in her ear, his breath tickling her.
“Before you two need to get a room, I’m going to find Aidy,” said Wren. She smiled at Alicia. “I’m really glad you could make it, Ali.”
Callan grabbed her hips and turned Alicia to face him. She slid a nail across the exposed skin at the top of his shirt, her fingers itching to undo the buttons. His hand grabbed hers and stopped it.
“There will be plenty of time for that later.” His eyes teased hers. “If you’d like.”
“Oh, I would like very much.”
“Good, because I’m looking forward to seeing what you’ve got on under that dress.”
He held her at arm’s length and appraised her outfit. Nell had chosen a black dress that stopped just above Alicia’s knees and was embellished with silver beads. It had a scooped neckline that showed a glimpse of her breasts, and Callan’s eyes lingered there. He pulled her towards him, and she could feel the outline of his cock hardening against her.
As Callan was about to lean forward to kiss her, Aidy tapped a knife against a glass, capturing everyone’s attention.
“Ladies and gentlemen, dinner is about to be served, if you’d like to take your seats.” He waved to the three round tables that were set up for ten people each. “We’ll move around a bit between courses, so you don’t get bored of sitting with the same person for too long.”
A ripple of laughter swept across the room and there was some general confusion as everyone found their seats. The first two courses passed in a blur as Alicia was introduced to more people. They bombarded her with questions about what she did and how she knew Callan, both of which were easy enough to answer. There were mentions of Xander, and Alicia reached for Callan’s hand under the table, knowing he still found it hard to talk about.
