Sold #2 - A Desperate Love

Chapter 4

Darcy was surprised by how much fun she was having as Greg recounted another funny story about her boyfriend, revealing a side of him that she barely knew existed. She liked sitting there, in the beautiful restaurant Michael had chosen to taken them to for lunch, listening to the two passing comments about the things they used to do when they were younger and laughing as they argued over the specific details, each one insisting he was right. But most of all, she liked the way Michael looked at her each time she spoke. It wasn't a look she hadn't seen before, but there seemed to be an extra intensity to it as he sat there listening to her, resting his elbows on the table, his hands locked together as he leant his head on top. There was something that said he could listen to her forever and never be bored, something that made her feel extraordinarily special in the busy restaurant that held more than a handful of women that she considered more attractive and beautiful than herself. But Michael couldn't agree with her.

He could see the shy blushes Darcy let slip whenever she thought that he was making a particular fuss of her, telling Greg about how accomplished she was with the piano and her other hidden talents, but he did it because he loved her and couldn't help himself from placing her in the centre of attention, where he felt she belonged. He didn't care who was in the room, how special they thought they were, how important or beautiful they considered themselves, to Michael there was only one girl that made the cut. One girl that had it all, every selfless thought, every glance that made him want to kiss her. Darcy was the only girl he could ever see himself with and now that he had her, now that he'd made love to her and heard her say she loved him, now that he'd let her into his heart, he knew he couldn't be without her. "So this little bugger decided that if we weren't going to be let in, he'd just have to break in." Greg announced with a deep laughter, not oblivious as to the blazing chemistry between his two companions.

He decided to ignore it as long as they did, because he knew that by Michael asking him to meet his girlfriend and be the first to do so before they flew off to Tokyo, he was obviously scared of something happening, or expecting something to come between them. They both knew that they would never criticise each other for falling in love, no matter who she was or what kind of girl she was, purely because they were such good friends they weren't going to argue over something that, if it wasn't going to last, would bring about it's own end. "And considering it was about two in the morning and we were both working the next day, and the fact that I'm an entire decade older than him...he got us all to climb over the wall and sneak in, dressed as bloody waiters." He laughed, making Darcy smile as she took a quiet sip of her wine, intently drawn into the stories about how crazy her boyfriend used to be, before he had responsibilities to think about and before his father began bullying him into thinking about marriage. "We were all sweating it, thinking we were gonna get caught and have the shit beaten outta us at any minute."

"Well we would have been fine if it wasn't for Paul walking into the kitchen saying 'we're gonna get caught...we're gonna get caught' under his breath." Michael agreed with a smile just as the waitress came back over to the table, taking away the soup bowls quietly. It wasn't as if he was complaining, they had all found it hilarious at the time, sneaking into the private game at the casino downtown. They were all pretty young, everyone having only just turned eighteen except for Greg, who as he had admitted was a full ten years older than them, but he was just as big a kid as they were on the inside. He had been having a bad time at work and so they all figured it would be a good idea to do something crazy for one night and cheer him up, but when they saw the guards at the door of the actual game, two impressively large bodyguards blocking the way, they all chickened out and left, laughing about it all the way home.

"Yeah and what about when he saved your ass back in the first year you started your business...he wasn't such a pain in the ass then." He reminded him jokingly, the serious nod that came from her boyfriend, confusing Darcy a little as she looked between both men curiously, but having both avoid her as discretely as they could, obviously not wanting to discuss it with her.