“You okay Ginny?” Drew asks quickly from across the table, rising from his seat, before a team of waiters run from all sides of the room and the broken glass, the mess on the floor is gone in a matter of moments. The noise of the ballroom starts up again, I am quickly forgotten.
“Oh shit, I am sorry everyone. It has been a long day,” I offer quietly to the table. They all wave it off with a series of sympathetic smiles and a few murmured words before they start chatting amongst themselves again. Everyone, except for Drew who is now squatting at my side.
“Ginny, are you okay? You are a little pale. Have you eaten? Maybe try to eat something, and then if you are still not feeling well, I will take you back up to your room, maybe an early night is what you need,” he says as he rubs my shoulder reassuringly.
“Thanks Drew. I am okay, honestly. Just super tired and hungry. I am crazy nervy for tomorrow too,” I reply tentatively, and with a final look at me, he returns to his seat. His friendly eyes, still watching me closely.
“Are you okay?” Dom asks almost as soon as Drew’s gaze drops from me, his interest returning to the food in front of him. Dom’s eyes are far from friendly, as I look into them, they are full of unabashed interest. His look, lingering.
I nod my head in answer, offering a small smile as I break our stare. He settles next to me, his chair inching insurmountably closer, before he too falls back into the conversation flowing around our table, starting his own entree.
The food looks amazing, not that I will expect anything less. The whole place is next level impressive, so the food and drinks will match, but honestly every plate offered tastes like ash. I insist upon myself to be involved in the easy conversation at our table and I will myself not to look at Hunter. I do a pretty impressive job, making it through the evening to coffee, despite my nerves and anxiousness.
The carefree chatter on our table is interrupted when Connor and Hunter suddenly appear.
“How are we doing folks? We are just doing the rounds, super fast tonight! I just really wanted to quickly introduce ourselves. I am Connor, and this is Hunter. Welcome to St. Joseph’s, we hope you have had a good night, no doubt one or both of us will hopefully catch up with you individually over the next few days. It’s great to see you all settling in,” Connor is a natural, people person, it is so evident in his words and how he stands, his confidence wraps around him like a wooly jumper. I focus absolutely everything I have on him. I will myself, not, to look at Hunter.
I succeed at my little game of ignoring Hunter, until Dom makes a move. Whether calculated or not, Dom takes the opportunity to place his arm over the back of my seat. To anyone else it will be a relaxed, innocent gesture but my body locks down in surprise, while my eyes flash to Hunter whose pretty eyes betray his aggravation, he avoids my gaze though, instead locking on Dom’s arm over the back of my chair. A quick look at Dom and I note a little smirk runs over his face.
“Ahh, there you are!” Connor says with a laugh on his face, unintentionally breaking the strange battle between the three of us, “I am glad you found your seat after I rescued your bag.”
“Um yeah, I’m a terrible klutz, thanks again, I appreciate you grabbing it. I seem to be dropping and breaking everything at the moment,” I reply back, good-naturedly, my words flying out of my mouth, trying to calm the rising tension that quickly descends over our table. Drew, Caleb, Hartley, and the unknowns ping pong their eyes over the four of us.
“You are breaking everything aren't you,” Hunter snarls back and silences the table completely. I drop my eyes in shock, instantly a heated flush starts from the bottom of my feet and rushes through my body. Hartley turns to look at me, but I refuse to look at her too.
My face continues to redden as I feel nearly everyone turn to look at me, no doubt trying to figure this out. Dom takes the rising tension even higher, placing his hand suddenly on my shoulder, “Come on, you have had a big day, I am walking you up to your suite,” he offers, ignoring everything happening around us, either ignorantly or not, standing beside me quickly and grabbing my bag. “Goodnight gents, ladies thank you for a pleasant evening. I will see you in a bit Drew, otherwise till tomorrow!” Dom takes command of the situation when he grabs my hand, pulling me away from our stunned table. I throw a half-assed wave over my shoulder and swear I hear a growl sounding from behind us.
It’s a strange feeling being dragged, rescued from the table by Dom. I am beyond thankful for his presence but at the same time I am a bit put out by his ballsy assumption. He doesn’t stop or even speak to me until we are back at the lifts in the main foyer, which is a good distance from the dinner in the ballroom. Still silent and a little domineering, he walks me towards the mirrored lifts, pushing the button for the lift before taking a stand behind me while we wait. I feel his presence at my back and strangely it fills me with comfort, a sense of protection almost. Dom shamelessly watches my every reaction to him with a burning intensity, that I feel and see in our reflection on the mirrored doors.
“Ginny, I would really like the opportunity of getting to know you. I think we have an instant connection, can you feel it?” he says softly as he watches my reaction before he allows his finger to slowly trail up over my shoulder to the base of my neck. He flicks my hair out of the way and lets his fingers linger in the intimate space. I honestly feel this connection he speaks about, but it feels too raw, too sudden and I can only focus on all the bad things it stirs in me at the moment.
Thankfully, or regretfully, the lift dings and his fingers still. It’s probably a good thing that the mirrored lift doors slide open, our reflection disappearing because he confuses the heck out of me and I am sure, it is written all over my face.
“Yeah Dom, I think I would like that, too. I need a lot of time and some space, but getting to know you sounds good,” I offer back to him, my face and body still facing the open lift, so he can’t get a proper read on me. I step towards the empty lift turning to face him, “thank you for bringing me safely here,” I say as the doors start to close between us, a small smile on my face. Movement behind Dom has me looking over to the glass doors that lead from the foyer, to the outside walkway back to the ballroom, where a visibly angry Hunter lurks in the shadows.
This night can’t get any stranger.
The days after the welcome dinner, as the staff indicated, are a chaotic, organized mess of small intimate meets, while we also try to find our classes, adjust to the very demanding curriculum at St Joseph’s and get used to living away from home. The sheer amount of work they distribute in the first week alone has me clenching my teeth at the end of each lesson as I struggle to figure out how I will juggle all the expected assignments and homework tasks. My mind is abuzz and I feel like I am being pulled in every which way, even sometimes struggling to remember the names of people in my class. Either way, I am really enjoying the challenge and quickly force myself into a good structured routine.
Each morning through the week, I start the day at the gym at five am, meeting my PT to work through a cardio then weights session. The workout leaves me sweaty, energised, and focussed for the day. Even at home, I have always been active, participating in a myriad of sports, after school activities, committees. The physical challenge certainly helps me reign in the buzz in my head.