Sold #3 - A Haunting Hope

Chapter 5

Michael was truly worried about Darcy and whether she would be alright when he finally found her, even though he was on the verge of shouting at her for taking so long just because he was so worried and he didn't appreciate the fact that she had lied to him in order to sneak off to cry to herself. And when he saw her, calmly walking out of the ladies restroom with two other girls, giggling away with them as they sipped past a group of teenage boys, though however much closer to her own age they were and however much Michael hated to admit that to himself, he was glad to see she could only roll her eyes in disapproval when they tried to make a drunken pass at her and the other girls she was with. The three of them very quietly snuck past them and it didn't do his jealousy any good to see the taller of the six guys grip Darcy's elbow and move in front of her as he heard him asking her to dance, but he did feel better when he heard her answer, very gently letting him down by admitting that she was married. He didn't seem to believe her and claimed that she could use all the excuses she wanted but he wasn't going to give up, catching her arm again when she managed to slip away from him. And Michael decided that however amusing it was to see her trying to find a way of explaining the truth to him, as she showed him her wedding ring, he should really do the right thing and be a good husband and save her. Stepping up behind her he could detect the irritation and almost territorial safeguard the six boys put up the second he stepped up close to Darcy, slipping his arm around her waist in a way that only made her smile up at him adoringly. "Hi." He returned her smile as he gazed down at her, brushing his thumb over her wedding ring in approval of her blushing smile as he gently lifted her hand to his lips and planted a kiss there, just below her ring. "Sorry boys, but this girl's all mine. Right baby?" He explained, able to see their disappointment when Darcy nodded a silent concurrence as each of the boys gave them a curious glance, focusing on Darcy and them himself in confusion, before holding their hands up in defence, admitting that they were only hitting on a beautiful girl. And he had to agree, taking her hand in his and letting their fingers intertwine as he led her away from the drooling teenagers and over to a quiet spot where they could talk in private.

"Lucky sod." Michael caught the faint grumble from behind him and could only smile in agreement as he found an empty seat and leant back against the arm rest, gently tugging on her hand as he urges her closer, wrapping his arms around her waist when she stepped up between his legs with a smile.

"Now that I can agree with." He approved, looking her over with the highest admiration, not sure which topic he wanted to begin with, whether to get straight to her tears or whether to ask her why she had felt it was necessary to lie to him. They had never lied to each other and ever since their serious discussion the night he proposed, when they had promised never to keep any secrets from each other, they had kept to their word and so he didn't like that she had gone against that and kept something so important back from him. "Baby, are you okay?" He asked softly, not sure why she suddenly couldn't look at him, gazing down at the floor guiltily as a faint blush of pink flushed her cheeks in embarrassment.

"Hmm...I guess they told you?" Darcy presumed the worst and could only chew her lower lip in a nervous disbelief, wondering why his friends couldn't keep their mouths shut for once. They were always sticking their nose in and if she was entirely honest, though she hadn't had time to speak to Ronin or Kaede, the only ones she really got on with were Ben and his wife Nara, and Paul. That was it, and that was only because no matter what their opinion was about things, they were nice and polite enough to keep any bad things to themselves and only share the good to their faces. Everything else they could say behind her back, she didn't care, but not to her face and not in front of Michael. It made her feel as though they were trying to persuade him that what he was doing was a bad idea and she hated it and if it went on any longer, she would end up hating every single one of them, just because the nice ones never stood up for her.