The One That Got Away (3 page)

We get to the 2nd floor and more people get
in. He moves even closer and I am backed into the corner and still
we don’t speak or look at each other. I feel him pressing against
me more firmly and I hold my breath as a feeling creeps through my
body of anticipation. I can feel every movement that he makes and
hear his breathing next to me. Once we get to the 3rd floor the
customers get out and we spring apart, once again the sole
occupants of the lift. I feel flustered and sneak a look at him. He
is grinning at me and I can’t help grinning back.

All at once
we reach the 4th floor and the doors open. In silence we exit the
lift and I guide him towards the IT department. I pray that Nathan
isn’t there, I don’t know why but something within me doesn’t want
them to meet. I feel as though I am betraying Nathan in my mind
with somebody that I haven’t thought about for years until
today.

As we enter the department I get a sinking
feeling as I see Nathan sitting at his desk laughing with Billy.
They look up and Nathan jumps up with a welcoming expression on his
face. He smiles warmly at us. “Hi Bella.” Then he looks at Ben with
curiosity.

“
Nathan,
allow me to introduce Mr Hardcastle.” I say it brightly, possibly a
little too brightly as I notice that Nathan looks at me with
concern.”

“
This is
Nathan our It Manager,” I say to Ben, whose expression is blank and
very businesslike all of a sudden. Nathan smiles at him and shakes
his hand. “I am very pleased to meet you, this is Billy, my
assistant,” he says gesturing to Billy who looks very uncomfortable
at meeting the new owner.

Ben replies, “Please call me Ben, it is great
to meet you both. Perhaps you have some time to show me around your
department?” Nathan smiles at him and begins to show him how things
operate. I notice that Ben is not as relaxed with Nathan as he was
with Kevin in the warehouse which surprises me, as Nathan is the
easiest going and most relaxed person that you could wish to
meet.

Nathan appears oblivious and excitedly
explains how his department works. Once they have finished Ben
looks at the various photographs pinned up on the wall. They are
mainly of Nathan and football, but there is one of me with Nathan
that was taken at his mum’s birthday party last month. He has his
arm around me and we are laughing at the camera. I feel
uncomfortable but I don’t know why. Nathan sees me looking awkward
and winks at me.

I can see that Ben notices this and his eyes
narrow. He turns to Nathan and says, “I see that you are a
footballer, do you play much?” Nathan smiles excitedly. “Yes most
weekends. Do you play?” Ben smiles. “I used to but business has
sort of taken over. I would like to get back into it though.”
Nathan’s face relaxes. “Well you should come along to our team. We
are always looking for new members.”

Oh my God,
the thought of Ben playing football with Nathan somehow unsettles
me. I can feel Ben watching my reaction and he pulls his business
card from his pocket and offers it to Nathan. “Why not, it sounds
like fun. Text me the details and I will come along.”

Nathan looks excited and smiles warmly at
him. “Great, I will.” Ben turns to me and says, “Right then Bella,
where to next?” I feel relief wash over me and smile. “What about
the buying department? I need to see my assistant anyway as my next
meeting is due, she can see them on my behalf if you want to see
more.” Ben looks at me and studies my face for what seems like
ages. “Yes, that sounds good; we have only just started after
all.”

As we carry on towards the Buying office Ben
says, “So how long have you been dating Nathan?” The direct nature
of the question shocks me but I don’t know why. “Seven months,” I
say offering no further explanation. We walk on in silence and once
again I feel awkward. Then out of nowhere Ben grabs hold of my arm
and pulls me to face him. He looks at me intently with a strangely
hypnotic look in his eyes and says urgently,“Bella, this all feels
unnatural to me. We were once friends and I think that we can be
again. Let’s forget the tour and go out and grab a coffee and catch
up properly as friends would. I can feel that you are not relaxed
which is unlike you. There’s a coffee shop down the road. I’ll take
responsibility for keeping you from your work. Let’s just get out
of here.” I am taken aback but feel relieved. Of course he is
right. We need to start again; there is no reason at all why it
should be difficult between us. He has obviously forgotten about
the party and so should I. With relief I smile at him and nod.
“Come on then, I’ll grab my coat and bag and we can go.”

Chapter Two

Sitting here in the coffee shop I look over
at Ben queuing for the coffees and laugh at the memory of April’s
face as we both left the office to come here. She looked in total
shock and disbelief that I was playing truant with the new
owner.

Ben carries the coffees over and laughs as he
sees my expression. “Penny for your thoughts,” he grins. I laugh as
I say, “It’s just April’s face as we left. I certainly have some
explaining to do.” He pushes my coffee over to me and settles down
opposite.

“
This is
better,” he says happily, “much more relaxed and how it should be.”
I nod taking a sip from my drink. “Did you keep in touch with any
of the old crowd?” I say looking at him with interest. He shakes
his head. “No, unfortunately not. I heard that Craig married Helen
which is bizarre when you come to think of it.” I raise my eyes up
in disbelief. “But wasn’t he going out with Anna?” Ben laughs and
nods. I shake my head. “Did you?” he asks and again I shake my
head. “No, I kept in touch with Julie for a few years but then she
moved to Canada so we lost touch.”

We both sit there for a minute pondering the
past. Ben looks at me and his expression changes slightly. “So tell
me about Nathan, how did you two get together?” I blush and say, “I
had problems with my computer so we spent a lot of time together
and it went from there really.” He raises his eyes up and laughs.
“So, the typical office romance hey. Well he seems like a good
guy.”

I nod. “Yes
he is. The only bad thing I can say about him is that he is a total
tech freak, but then that probably comes with the territory of an
IT manager.”

Ben laughs and feeling bolder I ask him,
“What about you Ben, is there anybody special in your life?” He
fixes me with a strange look. His eyes burn into mine and once
again I feel compelled to stare into them and can’t look away. Then
he breaks the stare and answers, “I have a girlfriend, Melissa is
her name and we have been together for just a few months.”

I feel strangely deflated. I don’t know why
but part of me was hoping that he would say that he hadn’t met
anybody. I can feel him studying me and my reaction so I just smile
and say, “Where did you meet?”

“
A friend of
a friend,” he says still looking intently at me. “What does she do
for a living?” I continue, wanting to know everything about her and
their relationship. He grins. “She’s a model."

Suddenly I feel very inadequate and now just
want to change the subject. I don’t want to know any more. “So how
did you go about building up your empire?” I say quickly changing
the subject away from glamorous girlfriends. He smiles at me and
the checks his watch “That particular story will have to wait for
another day. I am afraid that we need to get back as I have a
meeting with Bob at 4pm that I mustn’t be late for.”

“
Of course,
I’m so sorry; yes we must be getting back.” I say feeling very
flustered all of a sudden. I jump up quickly and he looks at me
with amusement.

“
Come on then
Bella, we can carry this chat on another time.”

As we walk back along the road I have to ask
the question that has been eating at me all day. “Ben, will there
be a lot of changes, I mean should we start looking for new jobs?”
He stops suddenly and I look at him with trepidation. Maybe I have
overstepped the mark and I am suddenly afraid. However he just
looks at me steadily and says, “I have a large organisation that
can perfectly well accommodate most people. Jobs may change but
there should be enough opportunities for everyone within it. Don’t
worry Bella; I always look after my friends.”

I flush, annoyed with myself for putting him
on the spot like that and I am glad when we reach the store.

He turns towards me and I notice how his eyes
light up. “It was great seeing you again Bella, thank you for the
tour.” He then leans over and kisses me on the cheek and whispers,
“Don’t worry, everything will be fine. Take care and I am sure we
will catch up again soon.” With a last toe curling sexy smile he
hurries away and as I watch him disappearing into the distance I
feel strangely alone.

The rest of the day passes by uneventfully
and I am soon home in the flat that I share with my best friend
Phoebe. She is totally scatty and we have been friends since
school. Phoebe works in an Art Gallery as she is into Art in a big
way. Our flat is decorated in her bohemian style which I love even
though it reflects her personality a lot more than mine. She is
already home and looking forward to our night with George
Clooney.

Before we go out I fill her in on what
happened today at work and she looks worried. “Do you think that
you may lose your job?” she says fearfully. I shrug and say, “I
don’t think so but I may have to change direction.” I didn’t tell
her about Ben, somehow putting my thoughts into words seems like a
betrayal to Nathan. Maybe I should just ignore my feelings about
Ben and put it all back in the past where it belongs.

Despite everything we have a great time at
the Cinema and before long we are home again after having picked up
a takeaway on the way. We sit there devouring our meal surrounded
by the many candles that Phoebe insists on burning every
evening.

She asks me about Nathan and I find myself
telling her my news. She squeals with excitement but then looks
worried. “Oh no, I feel really happy for you both, really I do, but
if you get married you will leave me.” She looks so upset and I
race over to hug her. “Don’t be silly Phoebs, our wedding date
isn’t even set yet and Boris will fill my space in this flat
quicker than I can pack.” Boris is Phoebe’s long suffering
boyfriend. He absolutely adores her and can’t do enough for her. He
is forever asking her to marry him but she always turns him down. I
really like him as he is great fun and a total lunatic so they are
perfect for each other. He has a great job in the city which is
surprising given his appearance. He is extremely scruffy but very
clever and is always being head hunted by various companies. He
earns an absolute fortune but you would never know it by looking at
him. Phoebe sniffs and replies, “I know, I do love Boris but it’s
not the same as sharing with you.” I look at her sympathetically
and say, “Come on lets crack open a bottle of wine and watch a dvd.
You can choose." This cheers her up, she always chooses The Sound
of Music and we sing the songs at the tops of our voices, I know
them all by heart now as well as the dances that we have
choreographed to accompany them. I always feel sorry for our
neighbours at times like this.

Three hours and two bottles of wine later we
head off to sleep.

Chapter
3

It’s Friday morning and I wake up next to
Nathan. The last few days have been uneventful, thankfully and we
have a day off together. Looking over at him sleeping next to me I
think back to last night. We stayed in as we were so tired after
work and just spent the night in bed watching TV and eating ready
meals. He stirs in his sleep and I feel a surge of love for him.
Snuggling up to him I think about the day ahead. Today we are
shopping for an engagement ring and I am so excited. The thought
that I am lying next to my husband to be is amazing.

Suddenly he opens his eyes and looks lazily
at me. “Morning baby,” He looks at me with an extremely sexy look
and pulls me against him. He tenderly strokes the side of my face
as he pulls me towards him for a kiss. I feel his heart beating
against mine and can feel his excitement mounting. Suddenly he
pulls me on top of him, pressing me against his muscular frame and
kisses me passionately and I feel desire creeping through me. He
flips me over and soon we are making love, the feel of him inside
me driving me to pleasures that keep me wanting more.

Soon we reach
our climax and lay entwined together; all that matters is us and
our insatiable need for each other. We enjoy just lying there as
close as two people can be, enjoying the feeling that we have
nowhere to be in a hurry and can please ourselves. Nathan breaks
the spell first. “Well my beautiful Bella, I have the need to get
you a ring today so that everyone will know that we are together.
Let’s get dressed. I’ll take you for breakfast first and then we
can go into town.”

I stretch
contentedly beside him, marvelling at how much I love him. “I love
you Nathan,” I say kissing him gently. Once again we kiss but then
he reluctantly pulls away and playfully smacks my bottom. “Come on
you temptress, nothing will stop me claiming you as mine today,”
and with that he throws me over his shoulder and carries me
squealing to the shower.

As the warm
jets of water hit us he gently applies the soap to my body and
kisses me lovingly. He washes my hair and pulls me against him
gently massaging me all over. Once we have finished showering he
wraps me up in a towel and dries me carefully. I smile at him
lovingly. “I could get used to this.” “So could I,” he says
playfully pulling me onto his lap. Once again we kiss and it
wouldn’t bother me if we stayed doing this all day.