Chapter 2 Chapter 2

Nicole:

Maybe I shouldn't have listened to Olivia. Anything would have been better than standing here, watching the guests exchange pleasantries with the beautiful bride and groom while I stood there trying to shove my envy down my throat.

The lump did not disappear even when the crowd dissipated and the bride and groom entered the hall to continue the events.

It should have been Raymond and me.  Around this time a week ago, I should have been that bride, beaming and smiling with the love of my life clinging to my hands as he pushed out the stray strands of hair that framed my face.

Yet here I was, trying to heal from him abandoning me a month before our wedding. Running away with the woman he loved.

None of this was fair.

I choked back the tears I could feel gathering in my eyes as I turned back to head into the garden, at least it was safer to stay there away from the joyous environment that would just further push me into depression.

I must not have been staring at where I was heading because I bumped into a hard shoulder, myself loathing coming to a brief standstill as I massaged my nose.

Ow.

" Oh, I'm so sorry....wait. Nicole?" The voice said.

I stared at this tall figure that I had bumped into who somehow knew my name.

It took me a brief minute to place the face.

"Tobias?" I called in shock.

His face broke into a surprised smile.

" The one and only! Oh my goodness, fancy seeing you here Nicole!" He yelled.

He did not wait for me to snap out of my shock before pulling me into his arms, those huge arms now wrapping around me as I took a few seconds off to process my thoughts.

But I did not mind.

Tobias had been my close childhood friend, a constant figure during the period of my growing up and one of the few people I actually liked to hang out with.

I moved away from the small town I grew up in to go to high school, and that was when we lost contact.

" It's good to see you too! You have gotten so..."

He smirked.

" Hot? Big? Irresistibly charming? The love of your life?"

I returned his smirk, my troubles temporarily pushed to the back of my mind.

" I see that you are still the same cocky man I knew as a child. " I mused.

He made a grand gesture of flipping his imaginary hair on his shoulder before sighing exaggeratedly.

" Well, what would you do without my cocky and charming personality? I have to be this way for you, you know? You saved me when we were younger.”

A small laugh left my lips. I couldn’t remember when.

Maybe coming to this party was not so bad after all.

" I can't believe I am staring at Nicole! We really need to hang out more and catch up on the times and…”

My eyes caught the figure that passed him as he was speaking.

I stared at only the side view of this man, my eyes wide as a sense of familiarity struck me.

It was not just the fact that he was drop-dead gorgeous, his beautifully toned skin a perfect mix of velvety and rich, but it was also that tattoo that ran down his neck and disappeared into his shirt, only to reappear on his fingers.

I had seen that somewhere. But where?

" Can you hear me, Nicole?!" Tobias asked, snapping his hands in front of my face and jolting me back to reality.

I smiled, embarrassed.

" Yes, I can. I'm sorry, I just caught something that I really have to do now. But I will be sure to get in contact with you okay?"

“Excuse me,” the words were out of my mouth before I turned around to find that figure that I just saw.

Where the hell did he vanish to?

I stared at the huge halls that sat in front of me, all empty, the man that I had spotted now feeling like a speck of my own imagination.

I walked out of the hall and out to the garden, I turned through the garden maze, walking towards the garden I had originally planned to go into and staring around.

Amidst the lilies and roses, there was not a single soul in sight.

"Looking for someone?" a voice asked behind me, dangerous, yet so fucking enticing.

I whipped my head back so fast I felt a small crack sound from my neck.

He was standing there again, just like before in the hall where he had disappeared like a ghost, he was here now.

I have always been a confident woman with equal grace but somehow, in his presence, words failed me.

He took two steps forward and I took three back.

" I was just..." My words came out in a shudder and a stammer.

I face-palmed internally. Was that the best I had?

He reached forward for me, and even though I wanted my feet to move, they didn't.

Eventually, his hands connected with my chin as he let out another small hum.

" What is a beautiful woman like you doing outside when you should be in there enjoying the party?"

I let out a small involuntary gasp.

" Who are you?"

My eyes fell on that tattoo again. I had seen this somewhere but where?

Just then, I heard my name ring out through the hallways.

" Nicole?!" Tobias' frenzied voice called.

Sigh.

Of course he was worried. I had just ducked and left like a running puppy.

With the last restraint in my head, I pushed this devastatingly gorgeous man away from me.

He just let out a small hum, a smirk covering his face.

" I will see you again then. Very soon" he said.

A shudder slipped through my spine.

Who was this man?