Lingering Kiss

Chapter 28

Fred couldn't stop glancing at her every time he tore his gaze away from her. He wanted to reach out and hold her hand, tuck those loose tendrils behind her ear, tuck his finger under her chin and turn her face to his then place a kiss on her lips. He wanted to be able to do all those things with her, the woman he loved who loved him right back, but he couldn't.

He had saved a seat for her next to him because he thought being close to her would be enough but it wasn't, it was plain torture. He had lost count of how many times he had almost reached out before remembering he couldn't and clenching his hand into a tight fist. He watched as she ignored him and made conversation with everyone else around her seat, laughing, smiling. He wanted to be the one to make her laugh, make her smile; he wanted to make her happy but she wasn't letting him.

She wasn't even willing to try and see if things would work out between them, give them a chance. She had blatantly refused.

Mia's plate had been cleared and she was sitting on the edge of her seat, her elbows resting on the table, her hands upright resting on the side of her face as she chatted away with Vincent who sat across from them along with other co-workers. Vincent said something about Andre which Fred didn't catch because he was watching Mia laugh. Her right hand moved away from her face, as her left hand cupped her jaw for support, and fell to the table. Except it wasn't the table her hand fell came into contact with.

Mia's whole body froze as Vincent's voice fell and drowned in the background with the rest of the other voices. All she could hear was a zing that seemed to echo in her ear. Slowly, she looked down at the table where her hand was resting over Fred's large ones. The zing she could hear was coming from their joined hands as it passed through her entire body and went to her ears. Her lips parted of their own will as she sucked in air.

Fred could feel it, and he was certain she felt it too with the way her body tensed as soon as the contact was made. He watched her watch their hands for a moment before he felt the muscles in her hands tighten. He knew she was withdrawing them but he was fast to react as his hand turned, palm-up, as his fingers wrapped around her hand, holding on.

Mia held her breath, a beat, two, before she let it out and slowly wrapped her fingers around his. Her gaze shifted from their hands to his face. She saw the surprise in his eyes which he wasn't doing a good job at masking. She smiled softly at him and watched as the side of his lips quirked up a little before she looked away and resumed her conversation.

Fred didn't want to think too much about what that slight move meant because he would only hold on, in the hope that it meant she was ready to take a chance, she was ready to give them a shot. But then he knew somewhere at the back of his mind that that hope would get crushed. So, he held on tight to the here and the now as he squeezed on her hand, getting a squeeze in return. He was going to enjoy the moment and not think about what would happen afterward.

"We just want to thank everyone for being here with us for this special time in our lives." Izzy stood at the end of the table with Andre's arms wrapped around her. "We weren't able to stay back and thank everyone yesterday because someone was in a hurry." She looked up at Andre as everyone at the table laughed.

"I think they can all understand why." Andre looked at Izzy with so much love in his eyes it made her blush and look away as memories of the night before flooded her memory.

Izzy looked away from him clearing her throat.
"As we were saying..." Andre grinned. "...it means a lot to us that you could find time in your busy schedules and make it here. Thank you." Izzy nudged Andre. "Is there anything you would like to say?"

"Not rea..." Izzy's brow quirked up. "As a matter of fact, there is."

Everyone at the table stifled back a laugh.

Andre sighed.
"I'm not really good at this but since my wife insists." He smiled at Izzy because he got to call her his wife. "Thank you all for being here, I know I don't quite say it a lot."

"You don't say it at all," Fred said and some murmurs from AFTech employees confirmed that.

"I stand corrected," Andre said. "Thank you. One way or the other, everyone at this table is family. Blood or Work, you all matter to us. So, thank you so much for being here."

Everyone at the table clapped and some employees awed at the sentimental side Andre never got to show them.

"And without further ado, we would like to head out. We've got our honeymoon to get to."

"Andre!" Izzy snapped at him as everyone laughed.

"Not now sweetheart." He said before kissing her mouth shut.

Mia smiled at how sweet they were and how good they looked together. Fred leaned behind her and whispered in her ear.
"We could have that."

Mia turned to look at him which was a big mistake as his face was closer than she would have allowed.

"Only if you would give it a try."

Try.
There it was again.

All you had to do was try.
His statement from before now made sense.

All she had to do was try.

It was never about her clothing. It was about the decision she had made on her clothing. He had been the one who told her that she could be herself completely instead of separating the different sides of her. She was either up or down, laid-back or easy-going, she never thought those two things could be mixed; she had given it a try, decided to just go for it, and realized that they could. She had settled in the middle of all those things and found out that she liked it. She had found a balance, her balance, and giving it a try was the best decision she could have made.

He was asking her to make another decision. But only this wasn't as easy as clothing choices. It was much more complicated than clothing.

I didn't think it would work.
Her words from before replayed in her head.

What if things worked out between them? What if she was scared for no reason at all? What if Fred made her better, stronger and pushed her to reach for her dream even more?

Then his reply hit her.
Well, it did, and it's perfect.

She smiled.