Thanks for all the awesome reviews, as promised here's the next chapter x
For Harry the rest of the week went much too quickly for his liking it wasn't that he didn't want the chance to spend time with Nikki, far from it, it was the fact that the university ball would not generally be his idea of fun. Unforturnately for Harry it was soon Friday night and he was stood outside of Nikki's apartment waiting for her to open the door.
"Hurry up Nik, if you don't come down here soon they'll be a harry shaped icicle stood at you door!" He called into the intercom hoping that she'd be down soon as the taxi was already waiting to take them to the ball.
"I'll be down in a minute, Harry, I'm just finishing getting ready. Go and wait in the taxi if it's so cold." Nikki said into her intercom hoping that she wasn't going to annoy him by keeping him waiting. It had taken Nikki much longer than she thought it would do to get ready as she had wanted to look perfect for tonight, not just so that she was a good representative for the lab but also so that she looked good for Harry. She still wasn't sure if she had chosen the right dress but had decided if this dress did not finally get Harry to notice her as more than a friend or co-worker then nothing would.
Harry was glad that he had listened to Nikki and gone and sat in the taxi to wait for her as a full 5 minutes later she still had not appeared, he was contemplating going and reminding her to hurry up again when her front door opened and the lady in question stepped out. She had on a long trench coat to protect her from the cold but she was still stunning in Harry's eyes. Her hair had been curled and piled onto her head so that it cascaded down and some of the curls framed her face; her make-up was applied subtly to enhance her already stunning features.
"Sorry I took so long, I'll pay the taxi fare as it's going to be so much because of me." Nikki said getting into the back of the taxi next to Harry.
"Don't worry about it, it's a well known fact that it's woman's prerogative to be late." Harry teased causing Nikki to laugh and shove him playfully.
"Oi! I'd be careful what you say Dr Cunningham or I may decide to leave you alone with the boring academics all night." Said Nikki in mock seriousness, the smile on her lips and the playful tone in her voice betraying her words.
Their playful banter continued throughout the taxi ride and soon they were pulling up at the great hall in the university where the faculty ball was being held. Ever the gentleman Harry ran round the taxi and held open the door for Nikki who smiled gratefully as she elegantly got out of the car. At the main reception both were asked for their names and had their coats taken. When Nikki took off her coat Harry's jaw literally dropped to the floor. Her dress was a deep purple colour, but this was not what had shocked him nor was it that fact the halter-neck dress fitted so perfectly to her form and pooled at her feet giving the impression that she was floating it was the fact that apart from the ties that held her dress up around her neck the dress was backless leaving acres of her perfect milky skin uncovered. It was at that moment that Harry knew that this night was going to be torture, having Nikki so close, looking like that and not being able to do anything about it for fear of destroying their friendship when she rejected him would be agony. Not to mention the fact that he would have to deal with the admiring looks she was already attracting which were sure to only get worse as the night wore on, Harry concluded that he was going to have to take advantage of the free champange on offer tonight if he was going to stay sane.
"Are you alright Harry? You're looking a little pale?" Nikki said breaking Harry out of his Nikki induced daze. Nikki had used this time study Harry's attire. The simple tuxedo he wore fitted perfectly to his athletic form making him look incredibly handsome. He had shaved but there was still a hint of stubble left which Nikki had always found an incredible turn-on. Nikki was worried, however, by his reaction to her dress, thinking from his silence and slack expression that he didn't like it.
"Um...Yeah... I'm fine. Shall we go in; they'll be serving the food soon." Harry finally managed to choke out rather hoarsely offering his arm to her and missing the look of hurt that crossed Nikki's face at the fact that he'd not even thought to mention that she looked nice. This only sought to confirm Nikki's suspicions that he didn't like her dress and that he obviously didn't think of her as anything more than a friend.
They quickly found their places and introduced themselves to their fellow guests. As soon as Harry saw a waiter carrying champagne flutes he waved him over a took one, knowing that he'd need one to get through tonight with his prediction of the event being full of stuffy academics already appearing to be true. Of course Nikki was able to win all those she talked to over with her charm and conversation skills and soon had the whole table vying to talk to her, leaving Harry feeling rather lonely and more than a little bit jealous at the looks that some of the men that they were sat with were sending Nikki. Harry's mood continued to get progressively darker throughout the meal as Nikki continued to ignore him and talk to those on their table rather than him; leaving Harry to drink yet more champagne and get stuck in a conversation with the professor sat next to him about the new mass spectrometer that his lab had just bought that he felt Harry just had to know every detail about.
Nikki could tell that Harry was not happy but honestly she did not care. She was not going to let his mood spoil her night, in their line of work they didn't really get a chance to go to many events such as this one so she was determined to enjoy it even if Harry was ignoring her. She couldn't understand for the life of her how or why his mood had changed quite so suddenly but ever since getting to the ball he had been short with everyone that had tried to talk to him; even her, so much so that in the end she had given up. She had made a massive effort tonight to look good for Harry in the foolish wish that maybe finally something would happen between the two of them but from the signals he had been giving her tonight since they had sat down he clearly wasn't interested. So when one of the men at their table asked her to dance when the meal was finished she politely accepted.
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