Holding the hem of her dress with one hand to prevent herself from tripping, she took a quick peek to see if the shoes she had borrowed were visible as she walked.
It was kind of Lara to lend her some heels since her own were still in her bag. Though these were a bit big for her and she could already feel blisters forming on the backs of her heels.
The three made their way through the crowd at a snail’s pace, stopping to talk with a few of Mark and Lara’s friends.
Everyone was very cordial and polite to her, an out of towner, but once they had asked Ally an appropriate number of questions about her career and Boston, the conversation would once again turn to community or children.
And once again Ally felt herself at a loss, beginning to realise that her life was totally defined by work. She didn’t belong here, and the realisation made her sad.
J.T had requested to meet at the top of the staircase at 9pm. Which was only a few minutes from now.
Ally was eager and nervous all at the same time. Though once the exchange was final, at least she’d be free to head home and put herself out of her misery.
“Hey, it’s almost 9pm,” Lara said then, touching her arm gently. “Are you sure you don’t want Mark to just meet the guy and switch back the bags?”
“Thanks but no, I’m fine.” Ally couldn’t quite put her finger on it.
But for some reason this felt personal.
She madeher way back out front, where there was a small table and friendly volunteers that checked everyone’s tickets.
They had been kind enough to watch the suitcase and Ally did her best to smile as she grabbed it and headed back up the staircase to the meeting spot.
Feeling unaccountably alone, she just hoped he would be punctual so they could get this over and done with.
And instinctively reached into her purse to check the exact time on her phone, feeling silly yet again for relying on it when it was long dead.
She looked around and spotted a grandfather clock at the top of the stairs whereupon a loud chime announced 9pm exactly.
“Ally?” The voice from the bottom of the stairs made her breath catch in her throat a little.
And as her gaze moved down the stairs to the marble tile of the lobby floor, the first thing she spotted was her case.
The slightly worn wheels, the wonky top zipper … how had she not noticed at the time that the other one was far too pristine to be hers?
The man holding her own picked it up in one hand and began climbing the stairs. As he climbed higher, Ally noticed first what a nice tux he had on. Obviously must’ve found a replacement somewhere.
And next, that Lara was wrong about J.T. being an old man.
In fact he seemed to be about the same age as she.
It was only in that moment that it finally registered; he’d called her by name. How on earth did he know her name?
Ally finally looked up at his face, and the instant she looked into his blue-green eyes, she couldn’t believe it.
The guy from the flight … The plaid sports coat, the water, him jokingly reading his book - all the memories of that brief encounter suddenly came rushing back.
“It’s … you,” she gasped.
Chapter 20
But still, how on earth did he know her name?
Then Ally felt silly, realising that she’d forgotten her business card was attached to the handle.
Which meant that it should’ve been easy for him to reach her before now?
But of course, she remembered then, her phone was long dead and Mel had since disappeared into the festive ether.
