“Is someone there?” I heard the woman ask. I said nothing, retreating quickly to the house like they were chasing me. My face was burning. I felt like a peeping tom. It was worse than that. I felt betrayed. I was embarrassed that I had walked up on the couple kissing, but I was even more embarrassed that I had even expected anything of Niall. I don't know, maybe part of me thought he was single. Even if he was single that didn't mean he owed me anything. Come to think of it, that behavior was perfectly acceptable for a single man. It was none of my business. I had ditched him the night before anyway. I didn't want anything from him. There was nothing more to get from him. The ache in my chest still raged and I found myself peering over my shoulder to make sure they weren’t following.
I had to get out of here. I suspected that at any moment I would probably burst into tears, which was an embarrassment I didn't know whether I'd be able to get over. I looked for Missy.
“I have to leave,” I told her when I finally found her, cutting in the rudely into a conversation she was already having. Missy excused herself from her conversation and pulled me away slightly.
“What?”
“I have to get out of here, Missy. We’re leaving.”
“Don't be silly, we just got here. I haven't even talked to Dirk. I want to flirt with him but I'm rubbish at flirting. I need someone with me, and you are my wing woman.” I was shaking my head vigorously throughout her speech. I needed to get out of there. If I had to face Niall, I had no idea what would come out of my mouth or what my body would do, and I didn’t want to know.
“Missy, please.”
“Wait, Shh. Dirk is making an address.” The whole crowd fell silent and turned their attention towards Dirk who was standing on the little stage that the live musicians were performing on. I tried to get Missy's attention again, but she shushed me.
“I never thought I would have a turn out like this for my birthday party. It's the greatest gift any of you could have given me. I want to thank you all for coming, I know that some of you have crossed oceans to be here and that means the world to me. It's a special occasion, my birthday, of course,” he paused for laughter, “but that isn't the only thing that makes today special. Could you come up here please, Jamie?”
A woman in an emerald green gown, presumably Jamie went up and stood next to him on the little stage, taking his hand.
“Today, I asked Jamie to be my wife and she said yes.” The crowd erupted into applause. He dipped her dramatically, planting a kiss on her which prompted whistles and cheers from the audience. Oh, dear. Well, that was a development I wasn't expecting. I looked over at Missy. She was staring at the pair open-mouthed. I grabbed her hand to get her attention. She looked over at me slowly.
“Okay. We can go.” I hated how defeated she sounded, and that this was what it took to get her to agree to finally leave, but she was my ride here and I really needed to leave. It was sad, but now we had something in common. Both of us had come to this party and both of us had been slighted by the men we fancied. There was ice cream and champagne at her place; we could fix this when we got home but we needed to get there first. We were about to leave when I felt a hand on my back. I turned around.
“Eddy, I have to talk to you.” I froze seeing Niall. I wasn't sure that he had seen me, but now that he was here, obviously about to offer an explanation I no longer wanted to hear, I was not interested. How did you explain away a kiss? How did you kiss someone by mistake, or kiss someone like that and somehow not mean it? I pulled my mouth into an artificial smile.
“I'm afraid we have nothing to discuss.” His face darkened. He knew exactly what I had seen and why I was upset.
“I can explain.”
“Nobody asked for an explanation, I don't understand why you feel the need to offer one,” I said.
“Eddy, who is this?” Missy asked.
“How rude of me,” I said, continuing the battle of wills with him. “Missy, this is Niall Bridges. Niall, this is my friend Artemis.”
“Everyone calls me Missy,” she said, cutting her eyes at me. Yes, that Niall Bridges, the one from last night.
“Charmed,” Niall said shortly.
“So, you're the famous Niall.”
“Please don't, Missy,” I whispered harshly. A blonde woman was approaching us from behind Niall. We made eye contact. She waved at me.
“What's all this then, and why wasn't I invited?” she chirped happily, coming to stand at Niall's side. My stomach tightened.
“Sorry, I don't think we've met,” Missy said because I already knew who she was.
She waved and smiled. “I'm Lisbeth Lane. Niall’s fiancé.” I didn’t think it could get worse but then it just had. That word hit me like a punch in the gut. It was already too much for one night, and now this had to happen.
