Craving Scarlett

|6|. Unexpected

I walked off in search of Tom. Just where had he gone off to anyway. I couldn't stand this party anymore. I felt so tired and angry and I wanted to go home. I tried following the path I think I saw Tom taking but I couldn't seem to find him.

I sighed, smoothing my hand over my hair in frustration. This was the second time that I was looking for Tom in the space of one evening. The first time I was looking for a drunk Tom and now I searched for a mildly sober but completely heartbroken one. I don't know which was worse.

I tried calling him but it went straight to voicemail-again. I placed back my cell phone into my purse, huffing. This was starting to get on my nerves. Why wouldn't he just pick up his phone?! Didn't he know I was worried for him? That I was also hurt by Audrey's actions? Why wouldn't he just let me comfort him instead of shutting me out?

That's what best friends do for each other. They are there to cheer you up when you're down, celebrate with you when you're happy and tease you mercilessly over an embarrassing situation you were caught in. It was about always being there both in the good and bad times. Tom had always been there for me, right from childhood even up till now. He has always been such an amazing friend. But he wouldn't let me be there for him when he so obviously needs my help.

A familiar voice called out my name, dragging me out of my deep musings and bringing me back to Earth.

I swiveled on my heels to face the person, my mouth curving into a smile when I saw who it was. "Sam! It is so great to see you. How have you been? I was just asking about you the other day when I was with Tom."

Sam chuckled, his hazel eyes twinkling in delight. "It's nice to see you too and I am fine. Just great really. And I can see you're also doing very well. In fact, you look great as always." He gave me a slow, admiring look and I flushed. Sam was a really attractive guy with twinkling hazel eyes and sandy blonde hair. Add to that, an amazing personality and perfect smile and you've got a guy, most ladies would kill for. Fortunately, I wasn't one of them.

"Oh Sam, you haven't changed at all." I laughed. It was really refreshing to be with someone like Sam. It was just what I needed right now.

He winked at me. "But how can I? The ladies love me like that. By the way, wherever is Tom? I'm going to have to give him a piece of my mind for leaving a beautiful lady such as yourself alone at a party."

My smile disappeared. "Oh my God, I almost forgot about him." Guilt ate me up from the inside out. Tom was in pain and I had been here flirting with his colleague. "I have to leave," I mumbled to Sam, already turning away from him.

"Wait a minute," Sam said, holding me back by my arm, his brows furrowed in confusion. "What happened? Who did you forget about?" He inquired.

I bit my lip apprehensively. I didn't know whether I should tell him everything that had happened or not. He might be able to help me look for him-the hall was too big for just one person to cover alone and there was no way in hell I was enlisting Marco's help-and besides, he was a good, trusted friend of Tom's.

After I finished telling him everything that had happened, he sighed, a deep, heartfelt sigh. "I already know about the breakup." At my look of surprise he elaborated, "Actually, I pestered him until he spat it out. He doesn't want to show it but he took it pretty hard."

Tom was a kind of person that was always closed off and guarded his emotions so well. If you didn't know him, you'd think he was cold and unfeeling. But to the contrary he was quite a sensitive guy and when people like him fall in love, they fall quite hard.

"I know. Which is why we have to find him. He shouldn't be alone at this time." Sam nodded, agreeing with me. We both decided that we should give the room a thorough check once more and if there was still no sight of him, we would go to the room we had go to the room Marco had lent us for the night.