The Next Best Thing: Part II

Thirty-Two

"This must be Eoin's girlfriend," a man identical to Thayer Macken boomed behind me. His hand was quickly outstretched to shake mine. "Our boy has finally found the one. Look at the way he looks at her, Julie," he directed to Juliet Macken.

"This is my Uncle Sean," he muttered to me, breaking out of his trance.

"Pleasure to make your acquaintance, Miss Zoe." He took my hand and kissed it politely, making me blush a little. The men in Eoin's family all had me at hello. "I must say, you look lovely tonight," he smiled.

"It's nice to meet you too, Uncle Sean." I returned a lovely smile while Eoin whispered after silently counting down from three, "They are officially obsessed with you. I'm sorry, Zoe," he apologised, caressing my nose.

Juliet Macken pulled me aside to have a girl to girl conversation where she properly introduced herself to me and she wanted to know about my intentions with her son. She asked me general questions, performing a standard nosy-mother-who-means-well background check on her Eoin's 'other half'. I answered honestly and as politely as possible.

"How long have you known my son? He only just recently made mention of you. "

"Well, we haven't really..." I trailed away. My concentration was seized by an easily recognised figure, an image easily formulated by my mind. This ghost was laughing with Gaia, and their body language explicitly displayed their familiarity. "I - I...Please excuse me, ma'am," I stuttered. I was in utter shock, numb, in a state of disbelief of what was happening right in front of me.

I crossed the living room to the bar where they stood, his back to me and her cheery face glancing in my direction.

"Zoe, hey! Look who just dropped by," she exclaimed, waving me over to them. "He was in the neighbourhood and thought he'd show his support. How sweet is this man, Zo?"

Mitchell slowly turned to face me, enough time to put me on edge and bring back those emotions, those feelings I once had and I didn't want to have anymore. Now, he was staring back at me like I was unfamiliar to him. Ouch.

His eyes scanned my body, and I noticed the lust in them. Not today, buddy. Not anymore, I thought to myself.

"Hi. You look good, very good," he admonished.

I didn't know whether to run into his arms and give him a big, warm hug which I craved.

"Thank you. So do you." He'd put on a suit he accessorised with his signature hoops and scoffed leather boots. He looked very good considering.

"I'll let you two catch up. Excuse me," Gaia said, heading back into the party.

"Why are you here?" I blurted out. Rephrasing, I asked, "How do you know Gaia?"

Before he could reply me, Paisley came up to his side and hooked her arm with his. She looked beautiful as always in a flowy lace accented dress somewhat similar to mine.

"Babe, I want to introduce you to Ki... Oh hey, Zoe!" she said cheerfully, pulling me into her perfect toned body in a sweet smelling hug.

My eyes smarted, and it wasn't because of her perfume. He was here with her and she called him babe. Of course, Zoe. What did you expect? That he'd lose interest in the female sex because of you? C'mon! You weren't God's gift to Mitchell.

"You look amazing, Zo! And that necklace, oh my!" she cooed. "It's exquisite."

A small smile crept up onto my lips and I thanked Paisley in a small voice. My throat was dry, a hard lump making it hard to say anything without breaking down. I shouldn't have felt that way but I did and it sucked. Square one all over again.