Soulmate

Chapter 15

Kevin and Sophie had arrived somewhat late to the party because of Kevin's tendency to be unpunctual. It also hadn't helped that it had taken Sophie quite a while to pick out the perfect outfit. So by the time they arrived at the party, the house had filled up with people. It took them a while to find Leighanne and Brian. When they finally found them, they both wished Leighanne a happy birthday and stood around talking for a while. Well, Kevin and Brian talked. The girls kept quiet, giving each other the occasional awkward smile. Leighanne didn't like Sophie, and the feeling was mutual.

At one point, Leighanne walked away saying she had to go find someone and Brian followed her. Kevin and Sophie went into the house, had a couple of drinks and talked quietly. Kevin and Brian were the only ones of the band there; AJ and Howie had gone to Florida to visit their families, and Nick was in London. And since Brian was God knows where with Leighanne, Kevin had no one to talk to but Sophie.

A while later, as Kevin casually looked around the room, he thought he saw a familiar face in the crowd. He looked more closely, and when he recognized the woman, it took him seconds to believe it was really her. As fate would have it, at that moment Greta looked right in the direction Kevin was in. Sure enough, she recognized him instantly. She thought about pretending she hadn't seen him and going back outside with her sister and Valeria. But they had already made eye contact. So, Greta approached the couple and started chatting with them. A few minutes later, when Kevin was about to congratulate Greta on her pregnancy, he saw her avert her gaze and open her eyes wide. So he decided to turn around.

At first he thought his eyes were playing tricks on him. But then he thought it made sense: If Greta was there, why wouldn't she be there too? She was pretty much the same as he remembered her: tall, red-haired, bright-eyed and freckle-faced. They both made eye contact, and it was as if everything froze for a moment. Catherine and the brunette girl next to her approached, still silent.

"Hi." murmured Catherine, breaking that tense silence.

"Hi." replied Kevin. There was silence again. "How's everything?"

"Fine. And you?"

"Pretty good."

It was a really tense moment. Greta was practically holding her breath, Valeria was watching the two of them as if it were a tennis match, and Sophia was looking at the newcomer with some confusion.

"This, I'm sorry but... who are you?" asked Sophie looking Catherine up and down.

"Oh, yes. Soph, this is Catherine, Greta's little sister...she went to my high school too." said Kevin "Catherine, this is Sophie, my girlfriend."

For some reason, Catherine couldn't help but feel a pang in her chest when hearing him say "my girlfriend." She looked at the woman in front of her. She was tall, but not as tall as Catherine. She was also blonde and had brown eyes, as well as stunning curves. For sure she was a model, dancer or something like that....

Again, seconds of silence.

"So... how do you know Leighanne?" asked Kevin.