Just Friends

Chapter 37

Declan made her jump when he popped his head over her cubicle this time. He laughed 

"Oops sorry, just letting you know it's 5. We're heading to the bar, you coming?" 

Maria looked at her watch in surprise. "Oh wow, I didn't realise the time sorry. Um I'm just finishing something, probably be about 5 or 10 minutes what's the name of the bar? I can follow you" 

"Well if you're only going to be a few minutes I can wait, I'll just tell the others to go ahead. Can't have you walking into two new places on your own in one day" 

Maria laughed "honestly you don't have to wait..." he didn't hear her though, he had already walked away to tell the others. Minutes later he was back and she was nearly done with her design. He walked into her cubicle and looked over her shoulder. 

"Oh wow, that's really good. I can see why Mr Smith was raving about you when he got back from Cork" 

Maria glanced over her shoulder and thanked him. She finished up what she was doing and shut down the PC. She grabbed her bag and her jacket and was ready to go. 

As they left the office and walked to the pub Declan was full of questions. He wondered why she didn't have a Cork accent if she was from Cork and she laughed as she explained she just went to college there, she was actually from Dublin. 

Once inside the pub she looked around and saw some familiar faces from the office sitting in the corner with a few tables pushed together. Mr Smith was standing at the bar and called them as they walked past. 

"Ah Declan, Maria. Just in time for my round. What do you two want to drink?"

Declan ordered a pint of Guinness, Maria ordered a glass of white wine. They waited at the bar with Mr Smith so they could help him bring the drinks over to the table. Maria sat on a stool at the end of the table. Mr Smith was sitting further down and Declan took the stool beside her. 

Within minutes everyone was laughing and chatting as Maria sipped on her wine. Her mind kept wandering to the message from Colm earlier, she wondered what he wanted to talk about. She was lost in thought when she realised Declan was talking to her. 

"Oh sorry, I was in my own world" 

He laughed, "No problem, this is probably a bit much to take in for your first day." He waved his hand around the table and she laughed. 

"Yeah it's slightly overwhelming...but it's nice. Everyone here is so friendly and welcoming" 

He looked around the table "Yeah they're a great bunch of people to work with. We're a good team, you'll fit in well." 

"Thanks" She looked down at her phone as it beeped. 

Hope your first day was good, I'm glad we had a catch up earlier X

Damien nodded towards the phone "Boyfriend wondering where you are?"

She nodded her head "No, just a friend asking how my first day went" 

She put her phone back into her bag and joined in on the conversation. She noticed Declan kept glancing at her but she didn't pay too much attention to it. It was nearly 8pm when she looked at her phone again. She was on her third glass of wine. 

Crap two messages and a missed call from Colm. She excused herself to go outside and call him back. He picked up on the first ring.

"Hey Maria, are you ok?" 

She giggled, maybe she was slightly drunk but she was fine. 

"I'm good thanks, I didn't hear my phone sorry." 

"Maria? Are you drunk?" 

She giggled again "No...well shit...maybe. Ugh can you come pick me up please? I don't want to make a fool of myself on my first day" 

She heard his muffled laugh "Yeah sure, where are you?" 

She told him where she was and he said he'd be there as soon as she could. She went back into the bar and got a glass of water before she sat back down. Declan turned to her smiling. 

"Ok so that had to be the boyfriend checking where you are...right?"

She giggled "No, also just a friend. He's on his way to pick me up though." 

Declan didn't hide the disappointment on his face 

"Oh thats a shame, I'm really enjoying your company."

They chatted a bit longer then Maria's phone beeped. 

I'm outside

She quickly replied back to say she'd be straight out, she said her goodbyes and wished Mr Smith a happy birthday again. Thanking everyone for inviting her she finally left the bar. 

Once she got outside the cold air hit her and she looked around for Colms car. As soon as he saw her he jumped out and walked to her. As he guided her to the passenger side she started laughing. 

"You don't have to guide me Colm, I'm not that drunk" 

Once she was seated safely in his passenger seat and had her seatbelt on he ran around and jumped in the drivers side. She put her head back and closed her eyes as he started the car and drove them home. 

Colm's POV

He smiled when he saw Maria step through the pub doors. She had let her hair down and it fell loosely around her shoulders. Her cheeks were rosy from the alcohol she had been drinking and she looked happy. She looked around and spotted him just as he was getting out of the car to walk to her. 

He held her elbow to make sure she didn't fall as he guided her to his car. She started giggling and said something about not being drunk but he was concentrating too much on trying to steer her around the holes on the road so she wouldn't fall and hurt herself. 

She got into the car and put her seatbelt on, she couldn't get it to click in so he leaned across her and pushed it in. When he got into the driver seat she put her head back against the headrest and closed her eyes. He looked at her before pulling out into the traffic. She looked so happy and peaceful, he really wanted to kiss her but he resisted. He drove the whole way home with a hard on.