A/N: I'm really sorry for the long wait again! Hope people are still interested in this.
Chapter 13:
"Melissa?", Ray said surprised as he looked down at the person who had called his name.
Melissa stood there wearing a pale blue dress and an uncharacteristic smile (at least where he was concerned).
Completely ignoring Neela who stood awkwardly at his side, she put a hand on his arm and tossed her hair.
"So Ray!", she said sweetly, "I was wondering when I would see you again".
"Really?", Ray said slightly taken aback. Until now Melissa had never showed anything other then indifference towards him. He heard a cough from his right and looked down at Neela, who he had forgotten to introduce in the shock of seeing Melissa again.
"This is Neela", he said taking her hand and squeezing it apologetically, willing that she would understand that he wasn't happy about the interruption, "and this is Melissa" he said nodding in her direction.
"Oh so this is the roommate", Melissa said stressing the 'roommate' part.
Neela fought the urge not to roll her eyes at Melissa's nasty tone. She stopped herself from saying what she really wanted, which was 'oh so this is the bitch'. Instead she settled for "and you're Melissa".
"Oh has Ray mentioned me then!", she laughed coquettishly.
"You could say that", Neela said through narrow eyes. After everything Ray had said about how she had behaved, she couldn't believe the nerve of this woman to come up and flirt unashamedly with him.
"Well our encounters have always been fun", she said once again focusing her attention on Ray.
Ray frowned at her. "Well it was just a few parties I suppose.".
It was at that moment that Ash once more appeared at Neela's side. Oh for god sake. Ray thought annoyed. Melissa seized the momentary distraction on Neela's part to pull Ray aside. She wrapped her arms around Ray's neck and purred in his ear. "So why don't we pick up where we left off". She raised her voice a little and added, "We can ditch the boring roommate now and go somewhere private".
She glanced slyly to the side of him and he looked over his shoulder to see Neela, looking a little hurt, disappear into the crowd.
"Neela wait!", he called out to her peeling Melissa's arms off him, but the crowd had already swallowed her.
He turned angrily back to Melissa, who once again resumed trying to wrap her arms around him. "What do you think you doing? What are you talking about picking up where we left off? As I recall we never started anything".
"Yeah I don't know why. You know, you were really hot up on stage", she murmured running her hand up his chest.
"Well I believe you said that I was too 'shallow' for you", he said coldly taking a step back.
"Well things have changed", she said a little flustered. After Ray remained silent she burst out impatiently, "look its just a bit fun. I thought that's what you were into".
Ray sighed. Its true that there was a time when he wouldn't have objected a good looking girl looking for a fling. But things were different now. He was different. He was no longer satisfied bouncing from one meaningless encounter to another. There was only one woman for him now. Only one woman who made him look forward to coming home, who he wanted to hold in his arms and never let go. He now realised that he had to be honest to Neela as well as himself about his feelings for her. He couldn't go on keeping his feelings buried.
"Look Melissa", he began, "You're right. Things have changed. That's not who I am anymore".
"What you'd rather hang out with your dull roommate?", she said waving her hand angrily in the direction that Neela had gone.
Ray was seething at Melissa's words now, "She is not dull. She's ten times the person you'll ever be. Now if you don't mind I have more important things to do then stand around here wasting time with you".
With that Ray turned on his heel and walked away leaving Melissa in a stunned silence. He searched the crowd for Neela. He had some damage to repair. He could pretty much assume that her swift departure was because of Melissa. Before she had interrupted them he was sure that something had passed between him and Neela. And the way that she had been gazing back up at him, he was sure she had felt it too. If there was any chance that she might feel the same way about him, he had to know.
Neela sighed as she took another sip of her beer. After she had left Ray and Melissa she had managed to find a quite booth in one of the corners of the club and was now sitting there alone feeling quite miserable. She was having a great night before Melissa had turned up. And Ray… Well she wasn't quite sure what was happening but she felt sure that he had been about to kiss her. Much to her surprise she had been greatly disappointed when it didn't happen. And seeing that brazen tramp flirt so outrageously with him, Neela had been in half a mind to give her a good slap. But it was really my place to was it? After all Ray and I aren't a couple. For all she knew Ray might have been glad to see her again.
"Stupid slut", Neela muttered under her breath, earning a odd glance from a guy standing nearby.
There had been some confusion at one point when she had been talking to Ray and Melissa when ash had appeared, and she had turned back to see them wrapped up in each other. After the moment she thought she had shared with Ray it had really stung to see him with another girl. I guess it was only one sided after all. Neela groaned in frustration. She finally realised what she had been feeling all along. I can't believe it. I've fallen for Ray. They had been getting close for so many months now and Neela had long considered him a good friend, but now she realised it was much more. How could I not realise? Neela let out another moan and buried her face in her hands. She glanced up as she heard the people next to her shift away in alarm. Whatever, she thought, Let them think I'm a crazy drunk.
She sighed again. The problem was, what to do now? Would it be worth the risk for her to admit her feelings to him? Okay, lets look at the pros and cons. Neela, always one for organisation, decided to think it through logically. Well, if she told him then there might be a chance that he might feel the same way. On the con, he might feel the same way, they would start seeing each other and it might be disastrous. Then she would have to move out and would have lost her best friend. Neela suddenly had a mental image of herself homeless in a doorway wearing her scrubs.
Melissa certainly was a much more attractive candidate then she was. Neela never thought of herself as ugly but she knew she was no great beauty. Ray only had to walk into a room for girls to take notice of him. But maybe it was possible that he could like her. Even the thought of it sent a tingle through her spine. This wasn't about logic. It was about following her heart. If there was a chance that it could work then surely it was worth the risk?
Neela downed the rest of her beer for some Dutch courage and stood up. There was only one way she was going to find out.
