The evening was going well and Rachel thought to herself on more than one occasion that she should socialise with her staff more often. Although she supposed she should stop referring to them as 'her staff' if she was planning on doing that! She had actually had quite interesting conversations with Steph, Jasmine and Davina and was surprised how much they all had to talk about after a few glasses of wine. Come to think about it, Rachel had had quite a few now. She was feeling a little light headed and in need of fresh air, and so was grateful when someone suggested they drink up here and order taxi's into town. She hadn't intended to join the others in town, planning on making her excuses after the pub and heading home, but found that she was enjoying herself so much she was going to make a night of it. After downing their drinks, Rachel, Eddie, Melissa, Tom, Davina, Jasmine, Matt and Steph were all crowded around the pub entrance deciding who was going to share which taxi. Rachel groaned to herself as she realised that she would be sharing the last cab with Eddie and Melissa, just what she needed. She had managed not to think about them at all for the past few hours as she had been engrossed in conversation while Mel and Eddie were talking with Tom and a few of the others. She would have their relationship flaunted in front of her now however, as Melissa already had her arms wrapped around Eddies neck as they stood and waited.
As they set off for some bar or other that Steph and Matt had decided upon due to the Karaoke that always took place there on a Friday night, Rachel, Melissa and Eddie climbed into their taxi. Rachel took the front seat next to the driver and rolled her eyes as she heard Melissa gigging in the back. Mel had had quite a few drinks by the look of her and was already well past the slightly tipsy mark. Eddie had his arm wrapped around her, more to keep her stable than for any other purpose at the moment, and Melissa was clinging on to him for dear life, enjoying the closeness to her boyfriend and hoping this would just reinforce to Rachel which sister it was that Eddie was in love with. She didn't want to lose him after all.
Upon arriving at the bar, they located the rest of their colleagues congregated around a karaoke requests book and filling in slips 'ready to get their party started in style' as Matt had put it. Melissa joined in eagerly while Eddie and Rachel stood on the sidelines, neither of them to keen on the public humiliation that would follow if they attempted to sing. "Good night Rach?" Eddie asked. Rachel flushed and hoped he couldn't tell in the dim light of the bar, she loved it when he shortened her name, no one else ever called her Rach, well except Melissa, and it sent a small shiver down her spine. She grinned back up at him. "You know, I'm really enjoying myself actually. I had expected to be at home by now, but I'm having a great time. How about you?" "Me too" he agreed, "It's nice to get everyone together and chill out away from school stress. Looks like Mel's enjoying herself too. She's certainly been enjoying the wine!" "Yeah, I had noticed," agreed Rachel with a forced grin, noticing that he had also fondly shortened her sister's name. "She never did know when to stop. Still, as long as were all having fun. There's no way you'll catch me on that Karaoke though!" "Well I'm certainly with you on that one" replied Eddie with a laugh, "I can't sing for Toffee!"
Just then the DJ's voice broke into their conversation, and Rachel's expression turned to one of horror when she realised it was her name he was calling. Before she had time to respond, Melissa had grabbed her hand and was dragging her up to the stage. "What is going on?" she hissed at her sister, "you know I don't do karaoke." "Oh lighten up Rach, it's a bit of fun, besides, I'll be up there with you!" "Great" Rachel said, but it was too late now she realised, as she looked up and found herself facing a crowd of her staff with the DJ thrusting a mic into her hand and the first few bars of "sisters doing it for themselves" blared out of the sound system. 'Oh God!'
As Rachel heard Melissa blast out the first few notes of the song and saw the grins on her colleagues faces, she relaxed a little, remembering that Melissa herself was a much worse singer than Rachel. With the next line of the song, she let her inhibitions go and joined in at full volume, her and Melissa dancing together and entertaining their assembled crowd of friends. There was one member of staff in particular who couldn't keep his eyes off Rachel up there on the stage. Eddie was angry at Melissa for dragging Rachel up there against her will, but as he watched her join in with the singing, reluctantly at first, he saw a transformation come over her as she relaxed and began to enjoy herself. He had never seen her look so carefree and it most definitely suited her. Her eyes shone, she almost seemed to glow up there on the stage, and she looked completely beautiful to Eddie. He laughed at the two of them dancing around together, having a great time and not caring about the fact they were actually almost completely tone deaf! As the song came to an end, the two women climbed down from the stage and were enveloped in hugs from their laughing colleagues. Melissa and Steph ran for the bar to top up their drinks before Steph and Matts turn on the stage, and Eddie placed his arm in the small of Rachel's back to get her attention. A tingle ran down her spine at the touch and she turned to find him standing close beside her so she could hear him over the music. "I could be fooled into thinking you enjoyed that," he said with a laugh. "Much more than I expected to," she replied with a grin, "I'm having a really great time tonight Eddie." "Me too" he replied giving her a quick squeeze before turning away and heading for the bar. He didn't know what had made him put his arm around her, but he knew that the physical contact between them had been almost unbearable to him. He wanted to hold her close to him, to feel her heart beating next to his, to take her in his arms and kiss her deeply and never let her go. But he couldn't he reminded himself, it was too late for him and Rachel now, and he had Melissa, his beautiful fun loving fiancée.
Rachel shivered as Eddie moved away from her, feeling suddenly cold now she didn't have his warmth resting against her side. She had loved the feeling of his arm resting on the small of her back, his breath tickling the sensitive skin of her neck as he leaned in to speak to her. She hadn't wanted it to end, could have stood there forever, leaning on him for support as she supposed she had done all year. But she and Eddie had missed their chance, she realised that now. Things had moved on so much since the start of the year. She could see how happy Eddie and Mel were together and she was trying her best to be happy for them too. But still as she turned around to look for her colleagues and caught sight of Eddie now standing at the bar with Melissa, resting his hand on her shoulder as he leant in to speak with her, Rachel felt the familiar jolt of jealousy flood through her. Her heart seemed to contract and she had to make an effort to stop her eyes filling with tears. She wanted Eddie so much, turning him down on he first day of the year had been the most stupid thing she had ever done. She shook her head in attempt to clear her thoughts; it was too late now, she had to accept it and be happy for the couple she couldn't take her eyes off. Sighing, she forced a smile and turned around again to speak with Tom, laughing as Steph and Matt took to the stage to give the all a rendition of "I got you babe".