Ch 16: Unexpected Meetings

Recap:

Cecilia shook her head at him, seriously considering if her brother was bipolar. Hadn't he just been arguing that he needed to work a few minutes ago? "Cole, it's a weekday, we've got work tomorrow."

"Pssht! Who cares about that? It's your fault anyway, 'cos you made me lose my work mood. Now you have to pay the price." He stared down at her sternly. "Are you being a spoilt sport right now?" He pouted at her.

"Hey!" She jumped up, indignant. "Who're you calling a spoilt sport?!"

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"Yeeaaahhh..." Cecilia surveyed the gyrating bodies in the club, atmosphere hot and stuffy. "Maybe this wasn't such a great idea."

"Nonsense!" Cole jumped a little to the beat, grinning widely at his little sister under the flashing lights. "Come on, Cessy! Let's dance!"

Cole pulled her into the thick crowd on the dance floor, and then seemed to promptly forget all about her, as he pulled some buxom blonde to him. Not that she seemed to mind overly much, as she clung on to him with a seductive grin.

Sighing, Cecilia just made her way back off the dance floor and to the side bar. Sitting up on the stool, she massaged her head lightly.

She was in no party mood. Especially now that she knew what Sophia meant to him. Her heart tightened in fresh pain, as she recalled Cole's words.

'He loves her... if he treats her like she's his entire world... he loves her...'

How easily Cole had determined that! How carefree he was, dancing the night away! All the while, not knowing that he'd cracked her heart open to weep silent tears.

But, wait! She thought, suddenly. It doesn't have to mean anything to me. After all, Cole said that it only means something if my heart races and I'm short of breath near him. If that doesn't happen, then that means that there's nothing wrong! Arriving at the conclusion, Cecilia beamed to herself, relief flowing through her. That's right! I only have to conduct the experiment, and make sure that I'm not exhibiting any post-exercise symptoms.

Cecilia spun around and jumped off her seat, suddenly feeling much more in the party mood. Laughing to herself in relieved exhilaration over sorting her feelings out, she made her way to the dance floor to join her brother in his partying - only to crash into a very large, and very muscular wall.

"Hey, you big oaf! Watch where you're-" Abruptly, Cecilia cut herself off, as a 6ft 6" giant peered down at her with a deadly scowl. All of a sudden, Cecilia decided that maybe aggression wasn't necessarily always the best way forward. "I m-mean... Hey, there, big guy!" She put on a cheerful smile. "Isn't it a fine day, today?" Her wild gesticulations towards a nearby window drew a confused frown from the big, unfriendly giant. When her hand movement stopped, but the frown didn't, Cecilia turned her head to see what was so fascinating about a window. Turning, she froze, realising immediately what was so confusing: it was raining. Not just raining, but storming, as black clouds covered the entire sky and rain pelted every surface it came into contact with. Cecilia gulped, before turning around to face him again. " I m-mean, who doesn't like a bit of thunderstorm, right?" She laughed, weakly, before squeaking in shock as the giant lifted a hand towards her.

The giant suddenly grinned, shocking her, as his hand enclosed her tiny waist. "Funnnyy girrrl," he slurred, pulling her towards him. "You vil dance vit me now." He demanded, Russian accent thick.

Before Cecilia could even think to protest, a voice suddenly spoke up from behind her.

"Sorry, no can do, mate. She's with me."

Spinning around, Cecilia felt herself battling surpise and relief when she met Tom's warm brown eyes. Relief won by a landslide.

The Russian giant seemed to look at her for confirmation, before shrugging and letting her go when she nodded.

Cecilia immediately found respite in her rescuer's arms as she jumped forward to hug him.

"Thank you so much, Tommy! He seriously scared me!" She squeezed him tighter.

Although surprised at such a warm welcome, Tom hugged her back tightly, a wide smile spreading across his whole face.

"No problem." He said cheerfully, letting her go. "What are you doing here, by the way? I mean, you're not on your own, are you?" He questioned, concerned.

"No, actually-"

"Hey, Tom! Long time no see!" Her brother's loud, boisterous voice jumped in. He bounced over, clamping his hands on Tom's back, grinning lopsidedly. "Thanks for what you did back there for my little sister, old pal. I always knew you were a good fish!"

"It's no problem," Tom smirked at him, holding him up when he was about to fall. "And we only saw each other last weekend, Cole."

"Still a long time when you think of it in octopus years!" He slurred, not making any sense. Then he leaned forward to whisper conspiratorially in Tom's ear. "That's the way I think, you know. Do you know why?" He looked at him, utterly serious. "Because I'm an octopus!" He finished, triumphantly, raising his hands in the air. His buxom blonde joined him at that moment, stumbling, unaware of the epiphany her potential lover was just having.

Tom and Cecilia just exchanged a glance. Disentangling himself from Tom, Cole grabbed hold of the girl before they both made their way back to the dance floor, giggling like teenagers.

"Tom, leave it," Cecilia told him, when he made as if to go after them. "I know my brother. He won't stop until he's good and drunk. He tends to leave all his regrets to to the day after." She shook her head after him, fondly.

Tom frowned. "Still, he brought you here. The least he could do was look out for you. How is he going to do that if he's drunk?"

"Tom!" Cecilia let out an exasperated breath. "I'm an adult. Cole knows that. He knows I won't do anything rash. Besides, trust me, Cole is extremely overprotective of me. The only reason he didn't come over just now is probably because he saw you handling it. Otherwise, he would have been over here, punching the guy in the face before he'd even be able to say 'what?'"

Tom remained unconvinced. "Even if that's true, do you really think your brother would have been in the right state to be dealing with anybody, let alone a guy like that?"

"Trust me, Tom," Cecilia laughed. "My brother is nowhere near being drunk. You should see him when he's actually drunk. This was nothing."

"Hmmph." He crossed his arms. "Still, someone should be looking after you." He surveyed her, seeming to fight an internal battle, before he finally reached a conclusion. "I'll look after you while I'm here."

"What? No. Tom, please. You please go and enjoy. I'm sure the last thing you want to be doing is babysitting me." She reasoned. "I'm sure the people you're here with are looking for you."

"It's ok, I'm actually here with-"

"Tom?" A tall, slender brunette came up behind him and linked her arms with him. Pressing up to him, she smiled frostily at Cecilia, reeking of possessiveness. "Who is this?"

Shifting uncomfortably, Tom subtly disengaged himself from her, before pulling Cecilia forward with a hand. "Rosie, this is Cecilia Knight, Roger Knight's daughter. And Cess, this is Rosa Darling, a fashion designer for Paris runways."

"Nice to meet you." Cecilia smiled at her, only to be met with a cold glare and a huff of impatience.

"Yes, yes, that's all very well." She spoke to Tom without giving any acknowledgement to Cecilia. She linked her arm back through his, as she pressed close again. "But can we go back now?" She whined. "I'm so bored without you, and this is supposed to be my celebration!" She sent daggers Cecilia's way once again, making it clear she was not invited.

"Um, Tom, you go on. I will see you later." Cecilia smiled at him, uncomfortably.

"No way!" He exclaimed. "Come on, Cess, this is the best way for you to meet everyone. We're all here to celebrate Rosie's promotion. I was planning to get everyone together this weekend to meet you, but now that you're here... Come on!"

He smiled at her so brightly, and with so much hope shining in his eyes, Cecilia just couldn't find it within herself to say no. She reached out to take his outstretched hand, and followed them back to their side of the club.

***

"Haha! Oh my God, I still have the recording of that! Please remind me to bring it to show you when we meet on Saturday!" Samantha laughed, short blonde hair sticking up in all directions.

"Yes, please!" Cecilia giggled, as Tom playfully scowled at her. "Tom proposes to his teacher... this has the capability to become a hit comedy show!"

"Or go onto a hit comedy show," Xavier butted in, glee shining in his baby blue eyes. "Remember, we still have 'You've been framed'!"

"Don't you dare!" Tom burst out, causing the group to burst into fresh waves of laughter.

"Oh, Cessy, it was sooo good to meet you! I'm so glad Tom finally introduced us all!" Tina hugged her lightly.

"Finally?" Cecilia asked, raising a brow.

Tom kicked the raven-haired beauty under the table, as she grimaced and then swiftly mouthed an apology back to him.

"What she means is, even 5 minutes' wait is too long when kindred spirits are meeting!" Xavier grinned, rescuing his friend.

Everyone exhaled a sigh of relief as Cecilia bought it, laughing at his words.

"Huh, what kindred spirits?" Rosa scoffed, inspecting her nails. She was the only one at the table that had been silent the whole time. "More like pestilence, if you ask me!"

An awkward silence came over the table, as Tom glared at his friend, and Cecilia lowered her head, uncertain where to look.

"Rosie, don't be so rude to our guest." Xavier scolded.

"Whatever." She dismissed.

There was another pause, before Tom spoke again.

"Cecilia, would you like to dance?"

"Sure," she smiled at him, relieved that she would be able to get away from the tense atmosphere.

Leading her on to the dance floor, Tom dragged her towards him, bringing her flush to his body. Smirking down at her, he slid his hands around her waist as she put her hands around his neck.

"By the way, I really like that dress." He whispered in her ear.

Cess looked down for a moment to recall what she was wearing, before she laughed.

"What, this old thing?" She teased, having to shout to be heard over the loud music. She wasn't kidding when she called it old. She'd had the black strapless dress for many years now, and had just thrown it on when Cole had insisted they go out since she hadn't really been in the mood to party. She liked the way it faithfully molded her body, showing off her slender curves, without being overly revealing.

"Old?" He looked at her with an expression of such utter disbelief, she couldn't help giggling. "Don't tell me: you also wash the dishes in it?" He raised an eyebrow sceptically.

"Well..."

"What?" He gasped. "Really?!"

"No!" She laughed, tears coming out of her eyes. "I'm just messing with you."

"Oh." He pouted, looking entirely too adorable. "Well, that's not fair."

"Aww," she pulled his cheeks, lightly. "Is someone upset?"

"Everytime I meet you, you're always making fun of me!" He exclaimed, growing visibly upset. "Why do you do this? Do you only think of me as a child? Is that why? Why can't you think of me as a man? Huh?" He shook her lightly.

Lost for words, Cecilia just stared up at him, blinking. "Tom... I'm sorry... I didn't know you felt like that..."

"Well, I do!" He turned his face away.

"Tom," she turned his head towards her again, feeling tears fill her own eyes. "I'm so sorry..."

"GOT YOU!!!" He exclaimed, laughing. His laughter died an abrupt death when he saw the tears in her eyes. "Hey... Cess..."

"YOU A***OLE!!" She ran off the dance floor, Tom following her swiftly. Suddenly, she spun around and punched him in the arm, repeatedly, as he winced and cried apologies.

"You. J*rk. Sh*tface. Mean. Pr*ck!" She exclaimed, punches punctuating her words.

"I'm sorry!" He cupped her face, tenderly. "Please forgive me?" He asked sweetly.

Cecilia narrowed her eyes, checking his sincerity. "What will you do for my forgiveness?"

"Anything!" He declared, proudly.

"Anything?"

"Yes!"

"Hmmm," she thought hard for a moment. "Flowers."

"Flowers?" He questioned, confused.

"Yes, flowers. I like flowers. Brightly colored ones. And chocolates. Lots of them."

"Aaahh..." Tom nodded his head in understanding, a smile dawning on his face. "What else do you like?"

"Aaand... I like animals. Kittens and puppies, to be more precise." She looked at him sternly as he stifled a smile.

"Ok."

"But, first and foremost," she said, voice hardening as she thought of her pseudo Boss, "I need revenge."

"Revenge?" Tom questioned, growing alarmed. He knew - hell most of the county knew - of the famous pranks that she'd pulled on her brother and her other nemeses throughout the years. He grew afraid. Very afraid. "Surely there's no need to take revenge on me?" He pleaded.

"Not you!"  Cess let out, impatiently. "Someone else. But I'll need you." She looked at him, assessingly.

Breathing in a sigh of relief, Tom felt pity flood him for the poor man who was going to face this woman's wrath. Briefly he wondered what he might have done to incite such a reaction, but then just shrugged, happy to be in her good books once more.

"Sure. What did you-"

"What are we talking about?" Cole spoke from behind them, making Tom jump.

"Chr*st!"

"Revenge." Cecilia answered her brother.

"Ooh, now that sounds more like the sister I know!" He rubbed his hands together in glee, his buxom blonde still leaning against him drunkenly. "What are we planning?"

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AN: Oooooo.... What evil do you think  Cecilia is planning? What did you think of Tom? Who are you guys shipping?

Let me know!

Seriously, though, gotta admire a girl: she may be confused, heartbroken and sad, but she doesn't back down from a good old-fashioned revenge! 😋😋

Once again, please VOTE, COMMENT and SHARE if you like this book. It would mean so much to me! 😘😘

One thing I do have to warn you about, is that this book is not going to be all light-hearted. I will always do my best to have some fun moments, simply because that's the sort of person I am 😉, but this book IS called 'A Tormented Heart', after all. Which means that there will be some torment.

So, I'm really sorry to any of you guys that really want their favourite couple to just get together straight away, because I will warn you now that it won't be easy for them. Any of them. They all have a long journey ahead of them, in which they will discover who they are as people, and what beliefs define them. Trust, loyalty, integrity, honesty... all of these will be tested.

I just wanted to prepare you guys a little bit so that none of you are shocked or disappointed with the direction the story goes in.

Anyways, have a lovely week, my lovelies!

Xoxxo😘😘