‘Melody’s not here yet,’ George pointed out.
‘If we wait any longer, we’ll be getting to bed after midnight.’
‘We’ll be getting to bed after midnight anyway.’ He smiled wryly at his friend, his eyes pleading. ‘We can wait for her, right?’
‘Ah…so you do like her.’ Carmel’s tone changed to one of delight. ‘I knew it.’
‘She’s nice. Everyone likes her,’ George felt compelled to point out.
‘It’s OK to like someone, George.’ Carmel’s words were soft and encouraging. ‘You’re not meant to spend the rest of your life alone, you know.’
George shrugged a shoulder at his friend’s words because he wasn’t sure how to respond. He wasn’t used to having these sorts of feelings, especially when he carried the memory of his wife with him wherever he went.
Carmel glanced at her phone to check the time. ‘We can give her another five minutes and I’m only acquiescing this once because it’s great to see you taking a chance to move forward.’
‘But I’m not.’
‘Lie to me, George, but don’t lie to yourself.’ She fixed him with a firm stare before heading off.
George exhaled harshly and ran a finger around the collar of his shirt. The room was becoming too stuffy and he sneaked out the door, heading towards the lobby. Was Carmel right? Was he lying to himself? It was true that ever since meeting Melody Janeway that morning, he’d had a difficult time removing her from his thoughts. She was beautiful, intelligent and funny. What a lethal combination!
He checked his watch again. Ten minutes late. Was she lost? Was she at the wrong hotel? Why was she late? Veronique had been three hours late and he’d been telling himself back then not to worry. Yet all the time she’d been—He stopped his train of thought. This was no time to be thinking about Veronique.
As soon as he saw Rick enter the hotel, he almost pounced on him. ‘Where’s Melody?’
‘She’s not here yet?’ Rick asked in surprise, immediately pulling out his phone.
‘No.’
‘It’s gone straight to voice mail. She’s probably at the hospital. I’ll ring the ward.’
‘Thanks.’ George started to relax. At least Melody hadn’t been involved in an accident.
‘She’s just left?’ Rick said into the receiver. ‘Good. Thanks.’ He disconnected the call. ‘She left the hospital five minutes ago so she shouldn’t be long now. She’s a great doctor.’ Rick grinned, then shook his head mockingly. ‘Pathetic head of department but a great doctor.’
‘I guess that’s what’s important.’ George smiled, feeling more at ease. ‘Why don’t you go and tell Carmel what’s happening?’ he suggested. ‘I’ll wait here for Melody.’
‘You just don’t want to face Carmel,’ Rick stated with a knowing nod, and George laughed.
‘Caught me out.’ As he watched Rick go, he knew that wasn’t the reason he didn’t want to go in. He wanted to see Melody with his own eyes. To make sure she was OK. There were still other people trickling in so she wasn’t all that late, even though his aide would disagree. George walked over to the wall and looked unseeingly at a painting. Why? Why was he so anxious to see Melody?
On the drive from the hospital to the hotel, he’d been happy in her company, chatting and getting to know her. With the schedule he’d maintained throughout the tour, he’d rarely had the opportunity to get to know the people he’d worked alongside. Every week it was somewhere new, every week it was giving the same information to a different group of faces. He’d met some lovely people, some overly academic professionals, and some people with no sense of humour whatsoever.
Yet from the moment he’d shaken hands with Melody Janeway, experiencing that instant jolt of awareness, he’d been captivated by her. Her twinkling green eyes, her unruly auburn hair with the odd curl that didn’t seem to want to do as it was told. He liked her laugh, he liked the sound of her voice and he liked her intelligence. Never in his life had been so instantly drawn to someone. Was it wrong to want to know her better, or was it foolish not to? As Carmel had said, he wasn’t meant to live the rest of his life alone.
‘George?’
At the sound of her voice, he spun on his heel and gazed at her. There it was again, that instant jolt of awareness.
‘What are you doing out here? I thought you were supposed to have started by now.’
George felt as though he’d just been slugged in the solar plexus. She looked…stunning. Wearing an off-the-shoulder, black beaded dress that shimmered when she walked, Melody was a vision of loveliness. The dress was expertly cut, falling to mid-calf, and moulded superbly to her shape. Her auburn tresses had been wound on top of her head with a few loose tendrils springing down. She wore a necklace with a small square-cut diamond pendant and matching diamond studs in her ears.