Someone's Someone

Someone's Someone - Chapter Twenty Eight

Danny....

During the course of the meal, between the light chatter and the sociable eating, I enjoy just watching Henna. She's an interesting woman to watch. Her body language is relaxed, her conversations are pleasant and her smiles are plentiful. She and her dad share such an incredibly strong bond, yet she's consciously always including Rita and myself in any exchanges that she and her father do happen to share. That's a very attractive quality in a person, and Henna Nolan is a woman with many attractive qualities. Her hair, very much being one of them. I find myself appreciating every pretty curl that I can see. Admiring their beautiful blonde ringlet formation. And it's while I am silently treasuring them, that I see a few flakes of chilli chocolate in amongst her soft and touch-worthy hair. Seeing them there, is a reminder of Henna's sweet playfulness earlier in the kitchen, and the memory is one that makes me smile. I look momentarily away, still smiling, then look again at her merrily chatting to both Rita and her father about how much she loves to visit stately homes and historic castles. I never knew that she loved them so much. It seems I am learning all the time about the woman who is happily talking with chocolate flakes in her hair. Henna is so completely clueless about them being stuck in amongst her mass of pretty ringlets, it just makes me smile even more. Not only because it is actually quite funny, I smile because it only adds to Henna's charisma and cuteness. Even with chilli chocolate flakes in her hair, she is adorable.

As I sit there, still smiling and still admiring all that Henna is, she soon catches me looking at her.
Again, as adorable as can be, she's now smiling at me with cute curiosity. "What?" Her eyes are trying to follow where mine are fixed upon her glorious blonde hair.

"You...you've got some chocolate flakes in your hair." I point with my finger to the left side of her head.

"Oh." She's ruffling the left side of her hair. "Are they gone?"

Staring, I can still see them. "Nope...still there."

Ruffling her hair more rigorously, she's now frowning with a smile. "Gone now?"

I can't help but laugh. "Nope...still there." To put her out of her adorable misery, I lean towards Henna and ever so gently start removing the few chocolate flakes from within her cloudlike-feeling hair. As my fingers tenderly free them from her curls, our eyes happen to meet. And just for a breathtaking moment, I feel like it's only me and Henna now sat at the dinner table.

"Isn't he such a gentleman?" Rita is the first to gushingly intrude on our breathtaking moment.

Martin Nolan is now staring at both me and his daughter. He blinks with slow and wary motion, like he's figuring something out. Something, that both he and I are only just beginning to understand.

Something really is happening between me and Henna, and her very protective father knows it. Yeah, he definitely knows it.

For the rest of the enjoyable evening, I caught Martin on a number of occasions eyeing both myself and Henna with silent scrutiny. Not a malicious scrutiny, more of an inquisitive kind of scrutiny.

He has seen the quiet connection that I and Henna seem to share. He has bore witness to the sweet naturalness that now exists between us.

"Ready?" Henna cheerfully asks, looping her slightly drunk arm through mine.

Smiling sideways at her, I eagerly say. "Ready."

After bidding the very lovely Rita and the very intrigued Martin a fond goodnight, myself and Henna have decided to give them both some quality alone time to enjoy together, so that we can do just the same up in my room.

We have vodka.

We have a scary film.

We have popcorn.

What could possibly go wrong?