Sold #3 - A Haunting Hope

Chapter 15

Milly had to admit that when Antony slipped through the front doors of the restaurant after closing time, she was surprised to find him keeping to his word and, what she presumed to be, picking her up for their 'date'. At the time she had simply thought he was being sweet and letting her live the dream for five minutes but now that he was actually there, talking to Piers the maitre d' as he explained why he was there, she realised he had actually meant it. She only wished that thought had occurred to her before, she would have gone home to change or at least to pick up a more appropriate outfit but then she remembered that he had said he was taking her to his apartment, so perhaps her disbelief had paid her tribute. If she had dressed up it would have made her seem too desperate or slutty, at least not having dressed up for it made it feel more casual and like the first date she hoped it was. When Antony turned round and spotted her, only to smile and make his way across to her, Milly turn to the mirror behind the bar and checked her reflection, ruffling a little body into her hair and making sure that her make-up wasn't too much. She knew how often he had expressed his dislike of her wearing too much make-up and so she wanted to wipe off any excess before he reached her. "Okay, just be calm and don't make a fool of yourself." She told herself as she looked at her reflection, able to see Antony hovering behind her behind her with an expectant look that asked why she was staring at him through the mirror, rather than turning to look at him and so she tried to be as casual as possible and turned round with a smile. "Hi." Was the only intelligible word she could offer at that minute, stunned by the effort he had gone to in his attempt to let her see he did actually want to spend some time with her. He was no longer wearing the same suits she always seemed to find him in, instead he was dressed up smart in a crisp white shirt, partially open at the collar and a pair of deep blue jeans that made his sky blue eyes shine like the sea on a sizzling hot day.

"Should I give you five minutes?" He asked curiously, not sure what to make of the state she was in, her usually messy but stylish dark hair looked as though she had been dragged through a hedge backwards a couple of time and there was evidence of smudged lipstick on her now sore looking lips. She had a coffee stain on the collar of her sleeve and yet, despite it all she still looked gorgeous but he offered her time to clean up if she wanted to, otherwise he might find himself during their dinner date, running his fingers through her hair to fix it back into place and finding himself in a whole lot of trouble because of it.

"Do you mind?" Milly sighed in relief that she would get to sort herself out in front of a proper mirror without being rushed and the smile that came to his lips as he agreed was a godsend, allowing her to nip into the backroom for a few minutes to grab her coat and recheck her attempts at making herself look more presentable for him. But the single glance she took in the mirror of her locker only provoked an aggravated scream when she realised the mess she was in and how Antony had been so sweet not to even mention it in a way that embarrassed her. It only took her a minute to brush down her hair, with the fold-away brush she always kept in her handbag, check her teeth and grab a change of shirt from her locker, which was always there in case of emergencies such as that night. Another minute and she had used a damp tissue to remove the excess lipstick she had noticed and the remainder of green eye shadow that still lingered on her lids before applying a clear lip gloss and grabbing her coat as she made her way out of the back room and around the bar to Antony's side. And he had to say, he was impressed with her efforts and with how little time it took her despite the fact that she hadn't looked all that bad before and when she reappeared in front of him he almost had to bite his tongue to stop himself from telling her how gorgeous she looked with anything other than the words that flew out his mouth in a deliberate diversion.

"You look really, really good." The smile that came to his lips was genuine enough but what bothered him the most was the his desire to kiss her was just as genuine and even stronger than his approval of her new outfit. It had only consisted of a change of her shirt but when that shirt had miraculously changed into an oversized hockey jumper, his imagination began treating itself to all the possibilities that came to his mind. "I thought we could nip across to the shop across from my place to get some ingredients...that way I can get an idea of what you'll like." He suggested casually as they left the restaurant, and the ogling eyes that followed their every move from the maitre d' and the waiters who had so often admired Milly's natural beauty, and escaped to the parking lot to his car.