The Jungle

Chapter 9 - Meet-Cute

Once the doors close behind Ben and Vivian I realise that there is a faint whisper of background pop music floating through the air. I'm sure it was supposed to be romantic of sorts, but to me it sounded rather ominous.

"So..." Harley almost shouts, "Lovely weather we're having!" He winks at Penelope and she snorts. Beau smirks and leans forward to look at Harley, "Great ice breaker, mate!"

I look at Jordan and see that his eyes are still wandering back towards Russell every five seconds. Suddenly I stand up and have a boost of confidence; "Alright everybody! So, in all honesty, who has already met before?"
I look around and see everyone's eyes meet as they struggle whether or not to admit this on camera. I decide to be the first, "By fault, I have already met Jordan, Harley and Johnny. And I simply wondered if this was by accident or was somehow planned by the directors of this show." I smile at Johnny and he smiles back at me. A small part of me melts at how adorable he is.

"This is true guys," says Jordan, "I met Kiera before we even boarded the plane! Then I met Silva as we shared a car to the hotel." He states, nodding his head in Silva's general direction.

Nick pipes up, his right hand half risen in the air like a shy middle school student, "I ran into Russell before we boarded the plane too. And then Libbi in the car and Belle upstairs as she was looking for her room."

After further discussion we find that somehow we have all bumped into at least one person of the opposite sex. I have sat back down again as the waiters bring in the starter which is a selection of rustic breads and olives. 

"So do you think this is all planned?" Asks Belle openly to the room as she picks up a slice of bread and breaks it apart in her hands. 

Beau nods his head, "I think so. Our stories are just too random. Like Jordan's bag just happens to be right in front of Kiera? Nick just happens to lose his photo of his daughter where Russell is walking? Silva and Owen just happen to be handed the wrong coat after being searched? It's so weird!"

All of a sudden the lights dim and the pop music in the background changes to an old jazz love song that sounds like it was produced in the 1960s. The table in front of us separates into three tables as they start to descend into the floor. I look around and everyone has the same expression of shocked amusement on their faces. Harley grabs his glass of champagne before it disappears into the table and takes a swig. 

The music gets louder and it is now obvious that they want us to start dancing. I lean over to Penelope, "You'd think they'd want us to dance after the meal, not mid-way." I say, holding back my want to explode in a coughing fit because of her extremely strong scent of sweet fruits. 

She nods in reply, and then leans back to me - the smell is even in her hair! 
"Who goes with who? Do we dance with the same numbers?"

Her words tumble around my mind. My first choice would be Jordan, but I'm not going to make myself look a fool when his mind is obviously pre-occupied with Russell. 
Someone taps me on my shoulder and I turn around to see Owen beaming down at me, his jacket now hugging his chair and his long sleeves rolled up to his bony elbows, "Do you wanna dance with me?"

I smile, flattered to be asked at all - usually the gingers don't tend to get asked to dance that often, well I don't anyway. I nod at him and stand up, brushing my dress down and walking behind him to the floor. Nick and Silva, Harley and Libbi are already dancing. Silva is very obviously leading Nick around the room as his feet struggle to keep up, and Libbi and Harley are very close for two people who only met half an hour ago; Harley's hand is just above Libbi's bum and her face is burried in his neck. 

I look back at Owen and watch him drag one of his hands through his bright white hair.

This is so weird.