"Have you seen your husband?"
"I have, yes, he's very handsome."
"But where is he?" Rachel, the assistant of the committee chairman, asked, looking a tad desperate.
"I'm sure he's around here somewhere."
"Where?"
"I've no idea," Selene smiled sweetly. "Have you tried calling him?"
"Obviously, he's not answering."
"Does he already have your number?"
"I…I'm not sure, I've only ever called from the office."
"He only ever answers callers he knows on his personal cell." Or he has your number and is avoiding you, she silently added, that was infinity more likely.
"Can you help me find him? He's due on stage in under an hour."
"I can't promise anything, but I'll try," Selene assured her, although she was starting to get a little pissed off at the woman's tone. They had an hour, panicking and demanding to know where John was at every given moment was taking things a bit too far for her liking. "He's probably just gone to the bathroom or to get some air."
"Thanks." Rachel was gone without another word, leaving Selene standing alone.
OK, so she'd been lying. Yes she was going to track down her husband, but only because he'd vanished in the time it had taken for her to navigate the endless hallways to find a bathroom, to wait in the line that every ladies room seemed to magically form at any function and then find her way back. She didn't care that Rachel needed him, she cared that he was missing.
She looked around, hoping that he would appear in a puff of smoke or that there would be some kind of clue as to his disappearance, but she saw nothing. No flash of gorgeous red hair in amongst the more boring browns and blondes, no strong arm looping around her waist to pull her in closer to use as a shield, in short…no spaceman.
"Where is your husband, young lady?"
Damn, this was getting old real fast. Selene turned to the older gentleman that had popped up like a meerkat beside her. He had that look about him that some overweight, past middle age men had. He looked rather like an uncooked sausage trying to burst out of its skin, all pink flesh oozing from his too tight collar, his shirt and jacket buttons straining valiantly to hold back the tide of his belly, and a perspiring brow that he was mopping with a monogrammed handkerchief.
"Bit bad of him to leave such a lovely thing as you unattended," the man continued, his eyes blatantly checking her out as he folded the sweat rag and tucked it back into the small ticket pocket of his jacket where it stuck out like a wilting flower. "I feel it's my duty to keep you company."
"He's just gone to the bar to fetch me another drink, he'll be back in a moment or two, so don't let me take up any more of your time." The last thing she wanted was this man hanging around any more than he needed to, creep would be too nice a word to describe him.
"Then I'll just wait with you until he gets back."
"That's OK, I see my father-in-law over there, I think he needs me," she babbled before making a swift and not at all dignified exit, almost plowing into Jeff in her eagerness to seek the safety of his company.
"Whoa, where's the fire?" Jeff greeted her, steadying her with a hand on her arm when she wobbled dangerously.
"Have you seen John?"
"No, I thought he was with you." Jeff's face sported a confused frown, showing that no matter how old your kids were, you still worried when you couldn't see them in a crowded place.
"He was until all that orange juice from dinner went straight through me, the second I left he took full advantage to do one of his disappearing acts."
"Ah."
"Yes," she paused to look around. "Where's Alan? Why do we keep losing Tracy boys?"
"He's not lost, he said he was going to the bathroom but he's actually in the cloakroom watching videos on his phone. I'll fetch him if he doesn't come back on his own in the next fifteen minutes."
"Good plan, I'm gonna go find John, but in case I don't, can you be on standby to take his place if needed?"
"Sure, if I need to," Jeff said with a shrug.
"Thanks," she said, planting a kiss on his cheek. "I'm going John hunting, I might be a while."
"I'll hold down the fort," Jeff promised. "I'll claim there was an emergency, it's not like they can argue that."
Selene saluted as she wove her way through the crowd towards the exit.
"I'm going on a hubby hunt, I'm gonna catch a hot one," she chanted to herself as she wandered through what seemed like an endless mix of corridors and dark rooms that were either locked or totally empty when she stuck her head inside.
"I need a damned map or something," she grumbled, pulling out her phone to search for one. She eventually located it, hidden deep in the university's website on a questions and answers list.
"OK, labs...think I've checked those, observatory is out because that's too close to the function room and he'll be avoiding that like the plague…" She continued to search the map for any likely hiding places that might attract a John. She almost facepalmed herself into unconsciousness when she realised that she was completely missing the obvious. He'd be wanting quiet, he'd be wanting somewhere he could be alone but, most importantly, not bored.
She peeked in through the door, spotting him immediately and once again she found herself caught almost unawares by just how amazingly handsome he was. He always looked good in a suit, but this one, a charcoal grey with a perfectly white shirt, set his pale skin off to perfection, creating a beautiful contrast to his hair.
Standing as he was, leaning back against a bookcase full of leather bound books, one of which was currently open in his hands, he looked like an advert for the world's most perfect man.
Since her phone was still in her hand she readied the camera before pushing open the door. As predicted he looked up the moment the door opened, just in time for her to snap a couple of pictures in quick succession.
"Was that really necessary?" he asked by way of greeting.
"Of course it was, I need all the decent pictures of you I can get since you avoid cameras just as much as you avoid social situations."
"They tend to go hand in hand," he said, closing the book, although she noticed that he kept a finger between the pages, as if he wanted nothing more than to get back to it, like he couldn't quite give up his little place of solitude.
"Everyone's looking for you."
He made a face. " I don't know why they couldn't have done this virtually, that way I wouldn't have to be here."
Selene moved a little further into the room, coming closer. "You don't have to go back out there if you don't want to."
John snorted out a humourless laugh. "Yes, I do."
"No, you don't," she repeated, a little more firmly this time.
John had yet to put down the book, it was still clutched in his hand like a life preserver. She saw his eyes dart down to it, then back up to hers. He took a deep breath, as if steeling himself.
"I do, they're all here for the award ceremony and I...I just…" he hesitated, not sure how to verbalise it. He didn't want to sound ungrateful but at the same time it just wasn't a comfortable situation for him.
"You just can't deal with the people," Selene supplied, once again showing her uncanny ability to know exactly what he was thinking without needing to be told.
"Exactly," he sighed, pleased she understood. "I could feel their eyes on me even when we were eating, it'll be worse later. Everyone looking at me, watching me." He shook his head, not even liking to think about it. "What if I say something stupid? What if I make a fool out of myself?"
"You won't," she soothed, perching her butt on the back of a chair, taking some of the weight off her feet in their beautiful, but rather uncomfortable, heels. "I have total faith in you, because you're you and you're amazing."
"I don't feel it," he whispered, so low she almost didn't hear him, his eyes studying the cover of the book in his hand. "This was all so sudden, I've had no time to prepare, not like when I lecture. Then I'm in my comfort zone, it's my research, my words. I've had time to practice, to know exactly what I'm going to say and when. This is different."
"This is uncomfortable," she supplied. "Because it wasn't your choice. You choose when and where you lecture, you are in charge of the subject and everything is on your terms."
He nodded slowly, not liking to admit that certain situations still got to him, it made him feel weak and useless.
"Babe, you earned this award, it's your night, that means we can spend it however you want." She shifted, trying to get comfy on a chair back that wasn't made for such a thing.
"We?" he clarified, but she could see a small smile beginning to form on his face, replacing the doubt and worry that had been there.
"Of course we, you don't think I'm going to go out there and leave you here on your own, do you?"
"I wouldn't blame you if you did."
"Sweetheart, we're here to celebrate your award, an award you got because of your hard work, your dedication and research with Maurice."
"I know that."
"You also knew that the lectures were being filmed and that people would hear about it, your ponicpod is revolutionary and you deserve this."
He opened his mouth to argue but she cut him off with a raised hand. He did as he was told and closed his mouth, gesturing for her to continue.
"But you also deserve to celebrate it how you want to and if that means spending it here reading books then that's what we do."
The small twitch of his lips grew into a full smile as he finally put the book aside and held out a hand to her. She got carefully to her feet, not sure what had been worse, the pinching of her toes due to her shoes or the now aching buttocks from the back of the chair.
"But you got all dressed up, you bought a new dress and everything." His hands skimmed the length of her arms, coming to rest on her hips, his fingers spanning her waist.
"The only person I got dressed up for is you. I planned on spending the whole night with my husband, it doesn't matter to me what we do or where we do it, as long as we do it together. This is your night, so you call the shots."
"I don't deserve you," he said, and he meant it. He didn't know what he had done in a past life that meant he got to spend the rest of his life with the woman he adored more than anything, but he was extremely grateful.
"Yes you do. It's me that doesn't deserve you. Look at you, looking so delicious in that suit." Her hands slid along the front of his jacket, getting a hint of the spectacular chest that it hid. She wound her arms around his middle, feeling his fingers tighten on her waist as she moved closer.
"I really should go back out there and accept my award," he murmured, letting his chin come down to rest on her shoulder, giving every indication that he still had no desire to leave the comfort of the library.
"We can if you want to, but your dad's on standby. He'll make our excuses and accept on your behalf if needed."
He made a noncommittal noise, a little hum in the back of his throat that could have meant anything or nothing.
"We've got time so there's no pressure," she continued. "We could stay here for a bit longer and just see what happens, yeah?" She looked up at him then, her beautiful eyes full of love and understanding.
"Yeah," he agreed, pulling her fully into his embrace, his arms sliding around her waist. He honestly didn't know what he would do without her. She understood him, she knew when to push him outside of his comfort zone and when to camp out in it with him. And this was definitely one of those times.
From the moment he had received the invitation he had been undecided about attending. He'd never been one for parties, in fact there was nothing he hated more. Spending time in a room full of strangers, being expected to make small talk and be sociable when he felt anything but. It had only been the additional invitation that had arrived a week after the first, no doubt spurred by the lack of RSVP for the first.
He'd felt like he didn't have a choice but to agree, they were giving him an award after all. But the closer the night had gotten the more he'd been dreading it. Selene had stuck close to his side during the pre-dinner mingling and they had gotten through the dinner itself with minimal trouble for which he was grateful. But as soon as the meal had finished the vultures had begun circling. When Selene had excused herself to go to the bathroom he'd been vulnerable and the vultures had descended, all desperate to talk to him about their own research, to ask questions or to try to talk him into providing some kind of funding for their projects.
His dad and Alan had been caught up somewhere out of his sight and he'd felt a familiar anxiety washing over him. He'd needed to get away before he succumbed to the panic that threatened to overcome him and made his escape.
The hallway had been just as crowded as the hall itself and when he'd seen someone approaching him with the same determined step that others had done that night he'd abandoned his idea of waiting for Selene and ventured deeper into the building.
He hadn't really known where he was going, he'd just wandered, following his instincts as to where he should go and they hadn't let him down. The library had been blissfully quiet compared to the noise and crowds of the main hall and he'd felt his heart rate slow as he took a deep breath of the familiar scent that every library carried. Cedar wood, leather, old paper, the lingering fragrance of a hundred fires that had filled the hearth, warming the room's occupants as they absorbed the knowledge contained within its walls.
He hadn't meant to stay long, he'd planned on waiting a few minutes then texting Selene to see if she had returned, but then his phone had rung with an unknown number, a slightly demanding voicemail following and he'd turned the damn thing off entirely. He'd wandered the shelves, his eyes scanning the spines, more as a distraction than a desire to find something to read, but he'd ended up being drawn to a well loved title and had plucked it from its spot before he'd even realised he'd done it.
That was when Selene had found him, ten pages in and calmer than he'd felt all day. He'd expected her to tell him he had to leave, that his presence was required. He should have known better.
"So," she said, breaking into his thoughts. "What are we reading?"
He lifted the book to show her the spine. "A Midsummer Night's Dream."
"That's one of my favourites."
"I know, mine too."
Selene pecked a kiss to his chin and released her hold on his waist. "Go sit down, if we're gonna be here we might as well be comfortable."
"Are you sure you want to stay?" he asked as he picked out a squishy looking armchair and settled in it.
"More than sure."
He nodded, not needing to say anything else and patted his lap in invitation. Selene didn't need asking twice.
"I do believe that I neglected to tell you that you look beautiful tonight."
"You know, I think you did, how mean of you."
"You look beautiful," he whispered, turning his head to steal a soft kiss. She did look particularly gorgeous in the simple sheath dress she was wearing, an off the shoulder number in a dark purple, almost indigo colour, that skimmed her ankles without brushing the floor enough to annoy her or trip her up. Although he'd still think she looked beautiful if she was wearing a sack.
She'd left her hair mostly down, just the front sides swept back off her face and fixed with a comb at the back of her head, the rest tumbling down her back in gentle waves. Her makeup was a little more subtle than usual, her eyeliner not quite as dramatic but still accentuating the shape of her eyes.
"Definitely beautiful," he repeated, stealing another, slightly longer kiss.
"Don't think you're going to get out of reading to me by means of flattery and distraction," she mock warned, making him smile once again.
"You only want me for my voice," he accused in the same joking tone she had used as he wrapped his arm around her, pulling her in tight to his side and opening the book.
That was her cue to get comfortable, letting her head rest against his shoulder as he picked up where he had left off when she had interrupted him.
"O, take the sense, sweet, of my innocence!
Love takes the meaning in love's conference.
I mean, that my heart unto yours is knit
So that but one heart we can make of it;
Two bosoms interchained with an oath;
So then two bosoms and a single troth.
Then by your side no bed-room me deny;
For lying so, Hermia, I do not lie."
He kept his voice pitched low enough to just break the silence of the library, but not to disturb the peace. The ebb and flow of the words, their rhythm, their pace, all perfectly matched to create a relaxed atmosphere, one that she knew would affect him as much as it did her.
She cared about his award, she cared about the fact that he had won it and that his work had been recognised, but she cared about him more. And if he didn't want to be there, if he wasn't comfortable, then she would do her damndest to make it better. He was all that mattered to her.
Who cares if they spent the rest of the night tucked away in a library instead of at the party? She didn't, and she could guarantee he felt the same. Life never went according to plan, you had to roll with the punches and make the best of the time you had. Life was too precious to spend it doing things you hated just to please others.
This, this right here, was all she needed.