~04~A Night Out

Third Person POV (Point of view)

It's been a month since Gregory met Celine and he had spent more time with her than professionally necessary.

Her case against her ex boyfriend had been going fine and with the way she is now, one would say she's gotten over him.

Only downside to that is that she might be falling for another woman's husband without even knowing it.

~^~

After a long day's work, it's finally noon. Time for Gregory to go home-except he's not going home.

He's meeting up with Celine again in a nearby bar...again.

Gregory sat on bar stool next to his best friend, Diego.

"Greg, I still think this s**t is wrong" Diego informed him for the nth time.

"What?" Gregory groaned knowing exactly where Diego was going.

"You've got a hell of a fine wife in your house loving your shitty a*s and you're freaking cheating on her" Diego said, shaking his head disapprovingly at his best friend.

"I'm not cheating on her, Diego. Celine's just a friend"

"Oh really? Then why are you lying to Julia about your whereabouts? If she was just a friend, you'd introduce her to your WIFE" Diego scolded, putting more emphasis than necessary on the word 'wife'

"I will" Gregory replied but even as he said it, he knew he had no plans of doing that.

"No you won't" Diego's face pulled into a frown

"End this while you still can Greg. Things are gonna get real bad if you don't end this quickly"

And after that, Diego walks away, leaving Gregory with nothing but his own thoughts to battle with.

"Hey, you" Celine beams as she sits down where Diego did a few minutes ago.

"Hey" she repeated when she realized that Gregory hadn't even noticed her presence.

"Gregory" she called a little louder this time and that seemed to bring him back to earth.

"Hey, beautiful" he smiled eerily at her, still trying to convince himself that he was doing nothing wrong.

"You okay? You were so lost in thought" Celine asked, her face scrunched up in concern.

"Uh..yeah, I'm fine. Work issues" he lied smoothly.

"Oh okay"

"How was your day?" He asked to change the topic

"Twas good, yours?" she muttered absentmindedly

"Stressful" he groaned and was about to go into details when she spoke.

"Gregory, I don't know what's happening to me anymore"

"How do you mean?" Now it's his turn to show concern.

"What are you doing to me?" she sighed and he just stayed quiet, urging her with his eyes to keep talking.

"You make me feel different. You make me feel things I never knew was possible. Just one smile on your perfect face, one word from your perfect lips and I'm floating on the cloud of happiness"

"What are you saying?" he asked slowly and cautiously

"Gregory, I...I think I love you" she whispered, her voice cracking a bit.

"What? No" he shook his head frantically "You can't love me"

"Why not? Gregory, I've only known you a moth but you've made me smile more than I have in 7 years" she mumbles quietly.

"Celine, you're a wonderful person, you just need to lighten up and give people a chance" says Gregory in a feeble attempt to steer to safety.

"A first class certificate from Fordham University. A well doing business that fetches me a lot of money" Celine states slowly

"That is all I have, Gregory. No family to spend time with. I just want to be loved."

Sad tears trail down her cheeks .

"Celine..." Gregory reaches out and takes her hand in his but that's it. He didn't know what to say or how to encourage her.

"I'm not so ugly, am I?" she asks and he shook his head 'no'

"I'm attractive enough for men to want me?" she asks and he nods.

"Celine, you've got everything any man could want. Beauty, intelligence, independence, hell you're as perfect as it gets. So, never underestimate yourself, okay?"

"Any man but you.." she whispers sadly and more tears begin to roll down her cheeks

"Celine, you're everything a man can desire but me...I'm..." He's about to tell her his marital status but she doesn't wait to listen.

"No, stop" she shakes her head, withdraws her hand from his hold and squeezes her eyes shut.

"If you're gonna tell me I'm not good enough for you, don't bother"

He reaches for her hand again but she freaks

"No, don't touch me. Stay away from me."

She grabs her bag and dashes for the exit.

He couldn't let her go home by herself in that situation so in a flash Gregory is up and on her trail.

She's already in her car when he arrives at the parking lot so he gets into his and follows her.

~^~

After a long car chase of Celine turning in circles trying to lose Gregory, they finally arrive at her house.

She rushes out the car and into the house in a pathetic bid to lock him out but he's way faster.

"Celine, please listen to me" he called as he pushed her front door open.

"Celine" he called from a passage way, unsure which way she went.

"Celine, please talk to me" He pleaded

"I'm just gonna sit here until you come out and talk to me"

He scrambled over to the nearest sofa.

After what felt like forever to Gregory, she finally came out.

"Celine" he murmurs, pain striking him like thunder as he takes in her appearance.

Within seconds, he's merely a few inches away from her, staring into her eyes which are as red as blood to see the pain he had inflicted on her.

But besides the pain, there was something else in her eyes...A hint of hope. Hope that came alive because he had followed her home but what could he have done? Leave her alone and endanger her life?

He stared right into her eyes, not uttering a single word. Wanting to tell her how sorry he is, for not telling her he had a wife, for leading her on, for letting her fall in love, he just stood there unable to manufacture any sentence.

Celine's hope grew with every passing second he spent staring into her eyes.

In a moment of lustful confidence, she acted without thinking, smashing her lips into his.

He wanted to fight her off but the warmth of her lips against his left him powerless.

She nibbled on his bottom lip asking for permission which he granted quickly, all thoughts of trying to stop her vanishing from his mind.

After a few seconds, when they were both breathless, she pulled away and looked him in the eyes, a small smile gracing her lips as she whispers "I love you Gregory, please stay with me"

Coming back to his senses, he wants to let go and tell her he's married but she pulls him back into a kiss-a shorter one this time- effectively paralyzing his thoughts.

Pulling away, she spoke again "I know you don't feel the same right now but please give us a chance, will you?"

Staring at the hope in her wide eyes and intoxicated by the kiss, he couldn't help but nod in agreement.

Her lips break out in a wide smile"Spend the night?"

He nods again, his sense of reason absolutely paralyzed.

Just before taking a shower, he texts Julia he's sleeping over at Diego's, knowing his best friend will cover for him anytime.