The bar was dimly lit, bustling with the usual Friday night crowd, a mix of casual chatter and clinking glasses filling the air. Nell's friends were back in town and seated at the high-top table near the back. They had been catching up for a few minutes when one of them glanced over at the entrance and froze.
"Is that... is that Nell?" her friend asked, a teasing grin already forming on her lips.
The others turned to look, their eyes immediately falling on Nell as she stood outside the door. But it wasn't just Nell—she with someone else. A tall, familiar figure, his gait confident, his jaw set in a way that could only be described as effortlessly cool. Callen. The accounts guy from Nell's work they had seen a couple of months ago.
Nell and Callen paused just outside the door. He leaned in toward her, his hand resting gently on her back. As she looked up at him, he placed a slow, lingering kiss on her lips, the kind that spoke volumes even without words. The kiss wasn't rushed or casual—it was deep, filled with emotion, and undeniably tender, as if time had slowed down just for them.
Nell's friends exchanged looks. Their mouths hung open, none of them sure what to say or do next. It wasn't just a kiss; it was something that felt... serious.
When they finally pulled away, Nell smiled up at him, the soft glow of the bar lights casting a warm hue on her cheeks. Callen gave her a small, almost satisfied smirk before he turned and let her go inside.
As she sat down with her friends, she was bombarded with questions, making her laugh.
"You said he wasn't interested. You said you didn't like him like that. And now you're kissing him? What gives?" Lindsay asked.
"It's new and it's..." she didn't want to say complicated because it really wasn't complicated, in fact it had been anything but complicated since the night he first kissed her. "...it's good." She finished.
"I new it the minute I saw him in the club, that man was head over heels for you." Michelle said knowingly.
"Well I'm head over heels for him too." Nell's eyes flickered toward Callen, who had just taken a seat at the bar. He caught her gaze, and even from across the room, he gave her a small, knowing smile, as though he could sense the storm of questions among her friends.
"It's love." Lindsay gasped, holding her hands over her heat dramatically.
"Oh stop." Nell laughed. But deep down she couldn't argue. She'd been in love with him for years and they were both finally in the same place at the same time.