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Post by Bryce Andrews on Sept 29, 2009 21:35:07 GMT -5
He saw the moment her eyes caught his, when recognition dawned and she moved through the crowd and he simply watched, taking another sip of his beer but his eyes never leaving her blue ones. She stopped in front of him and seemed as though she was trying to make herself believe it was really him and it gave him a moment to study her, to note the changes in her body; girlish angles turned to womanly curves and a maturity and elegance that she'd always had simmering to the surface beneath her sparkling features.
He caught her when she launched herself at him, wrapped an arm around her waist and hugged her close for a brief moment, something about her scent altogether familiar and foreign at the same time. "Naomi," He said softly, pulling back to look into her eyes and lifting a hand to push a strand of hair our of her face. "Of all the places..." He looked at her and was transported back to another place and time, by turns ugly and beautiful. "You look good, baby doll."
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Post by Naomi Talbot on Sept 29, 2009 21:41:01 GMT -5
She beamed at him, it had been to long and it had been dangerous back then. Even so the feel of his arms around her again brought back so many memories. She refused to let them go, ever. When he touched her hair, all the other people in the world were lost and it was just the two of them lost in a moment. It was so bittersweet her heart clenched.
"So do you, sweetheart. It's been a long time." To long, way to long. "I've been thinking about you a lot.." Ever since she'd left him to his fate because he'd all but demanded it. She smiled and let her hands roam over his face as she got lost in those big dark blue eyes of his. So many things raced threw her mind and all she could think about was who she was standing with.
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Post by Bryce Andrews on Sept 29, 2009 21:48:33 GMT -5
Bryce had learned a long time ago that regretting the past was an exercise in futility, only leading to frustration and anger that was better left for other things. As it was, the sight of her was refreshing, especially in a sea of strangers. Bryce was an intensely private and quiet person by nature, but events in his life had strengthened those elements, forced him to build stronger walls than he had ever imagined. Naomi was one of the few that had ever managed to break through.
He caught her hand in one of his larger ones and drew it away from his face, stroking his thumb along the back of her hand. "A very long time," He agreed, a note of regret in his voice as he remembered the last painful time he'd seen her face. "Thinking of me?" He questioned, eyes searching her face before dropping her hand. "There are better things to occupy your thoughts with baby doll."
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Post by Naomi Talbot on Sept 29, 2009 21:54:17 GMT -5
"Not really," she murmured as she looked around, not wanting to draw a scene knowing how private he was and how much she didn't want to share him she took his hand and put her finger to her lips as she lead him around the bar and into the back room. She'd managed to make the place an oasis in the store room where it was more private.
"How are you?" a million questions raced threw her mind, years and it had tore her heart out to leave him behind. She had been worried, more than she'd said to anyone since then. When she was alone he occupied her thoughts constantly. Thus was young love she imagined.
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Post by Bryce Andrews on Sept 29, 2009 22:01:44 GMT -5
He allowed her to lead him, noting that no one was paying much mind to the two of them as there were plenty of other people and things to occupy their attention and if anything he was grateful for her discretion. Once the door closed behind them he looked at her and leaned back against the wall, resisting the urge to pull her into his arms. Whatever their past might be, time had passed and they both had changed...grown up.
"I'm good," He promised, because now that he was out of London that was mostly the truth. He'd thought of her as well, wondered where life had taken her, if she still smiled the same and laughed like she had and just lived. "How are you? Is this place yours?" He asked, deflecting and redirecting the conversation to her.
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Post by Naomi Talbot on Sept 29, 2009 22:04:36 GMT -5
She sensed the redirection and sighed, she knew him to well but for now she gave into his need to not tell her anything of himself. He'd always been a private man, she was lucky to know what she did. Sighing she folded her arms and sat down on one of the crates.
"I got it from the former owner, it needed a little more sass so I asked my friend Sarah to come from out West I--- did a lot of traveling in the last few years.." She'd starved a lot the last few years, she was far from what she'd been so long ago.
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Post by Bryce Andrews on Sept 29, 2009 22:12:08 GMT -5
"More sass than you?" Bryce arched an eyebrow as he recalled that the Naomi he knew could pack quite a punch of sass when the occasion called for it. "She must be a piece of work." He smiled then, relaxing slightly as he crossed his arms over his chest. "You've done good, Naomi. Has all the guys down on the docks talking."
It thrilled him somewhere deep inside to see what she had accomplished, to know that this place was hers and she was making something for herself. Naomi had always been the type to go after what she wanted and most of the time she got it, it's part of what he admired in her. "Out West then? Sounds like you kept your nose for grand adventure."
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Post by Naomi Talbot on Sept 29, 2009 22:15:33 GMT -5
She had to smile and she shrugged, with him alone she was humble. "I did a lot of starving, if I recall. I did a lot of singin' for my supper for my nose for adventure. And yet, in the end I'm here with a place of my own and I've got something that's mine. Doesn't belong to anyone else, it's mine.."
"What brings you the New York, Bryce? How's Brooke?" she swallowed and wished she had a smoke, she was awkward and she was never awkward. Bryce drew things out of her that no one else could. She'd compared every man to him in form and personality. But there was no comparison. Bryce was Bryce.
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Post by Bryce Andrews on Sept 29, 2009 22:22:40 GMT -5
"As I remember it, adventure doesn't come without a bit of sacrifice," He said, smiling over at her and finding he still loved the color of her eyes, a unique blue that he was certain he'd never found on another soul. "And in the end, the rewards can be worth the trial." And sometimes they weren't... Bryce knew all to well the cost of adventure, of looking for it in the wrong places and finding things you never expected. He knew all to well what happened when adventure went wrong.
"Brooke Lynne is wonderful," He said, a smile blooming across his face though his eyes were a bit sad when he thought of the sister he didn't know if he'd ever see again. He owed her a letter, once he felt comfortable enough to send one, he would. "She's headed off to University this year, she's so excited it was all she talked about this past spring."
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Post by Naomi Talbot on Sept 29, 2009 22:31:33 GMT -5
She smiled at that and blew her hair out of her face as she leaned back and crossed her legs. That was Naomi, sensual without actually trying to be. She had the air about her and that air had gotten her into more trouble than she ever cared to admit. "That they are.. it was worth every second.."
Ah this past spring, meant he hadn't been in England in a spell. She knew he said more than he intended and she nodded slowly as she stood up as one of her barkeeps came in to get some more bottles.
"The children are getting restless, Miss Naomi.." he was a stout man with a mean look but he seemed to be under her spell just as many were. She smiled and nodded shaking her head as the man left them. "Miss Sarah is about to go on stage.."
"Thanks Leon." She liked to know, her eyes shifted back to Bryce and really for a moment nothing else mattered. "I'm really glad your here." Because she could see him, see how he grew up. They both had, not rowdy teenagers running wild. No they were adults. And they had to act like it even if she wanted to throw all caution to the wind. That was her way, not his.
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Post by Bryce Andrews on Sept 29, 2009 22:41:13 GMT -5
Bryce allowed himself a moment to admire her, to really enjoy the woman that she had become from the teenager that he had once known, his eyes moving over her body before finally coming to rest on her face. He'd probably said more than he should, but it was Naomi and despite the years she was a friend and he knew deep down that he could trust. Perhaps someday soon he'd trust her with more, but for now he was content to leave things as they were.
He smiled as he listened to her talk to the stout man, the business talk seeming foreign but somehow right coming from her mouth. It seemed that they had both found their way, somehow in this big world they'd managed and really that's all that Bryce could ever hope for. Reaching for her hand he lifted it and pressed a gentle kiss against her palm, smiling softly.
"I'm glad you're here Naomi. Friends are hard for me to find these days." He released her hand then and stepped back under the guise of inspecting the room but really he needed to give himself some distance from her. Complicated and complex emotions were something that he'd deal with later, when she wasn't so near with the past as a vivid reminder of what might have been.
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Post by Naomi Talbot on Sept 29, 2009 22:46:46 GMT -5
Best not to think about what might have been, but what could be was something else entirely. Naomi had trained herself never to flush at a man's attention and mean it but when he kissed her palm her cheeks turned rosy. She smiled a little and then watched him fall back into the shadows.
Biting her lip she searched her mind for the proper words to say, for a woman who always had words he more than often stuck he speechless. Yet he always had. "I'll always be your friend Bryce, if nothing else I will always be that. If you need anything, I'll be here. Though I know you wont because you don't want to burden me. The offer still stands.. " And she meant it. If he needed anything at all, a bed, some food... her.. the last thought she tried to pluck from her mind but it stuck no matter how hard she tried.
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Post by Bryce Andrews on Sept 29, 2009 23:01:27 GMT -5
"I know that, baby doll," He said, turning to look at her from across the room, his face hidden in shadow because he could see the earnestness in her eyes and feel the sincerity in her words. He never doubted Naomi's friendship or loyalty, it was never a question of that. And she was right that he'd never burden him with the things that troubled his path, that weighted down his steps, but her offer still warmed him.
"And you know if there is anything that I can do, all you have to do is ask," The offer was unspoken, his protection was what he was really offering and he knew that she knew. Naomi had never really lost the promise of that and now that he knew where she was, perhaps he'd better be able to keep that one then the others that had been left unfulfilled.
"I never stopped thinking of you, Naomi," He said finally, distance still between them in the room but the air felt heavy with the weight of his words. "I'm proud of you." His voice sounded hoarse to his own ears and he cleared his throat, looking away from her.
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Post by Naomi Talbot on Sept 29, 2009 23:06:50 GMT -5
She was about to say something when his words echoed in the room and she was struck again speechless. She bit her lip as she looked across the room and considered closing the distance. A few steps would be all it would take, but there was a chasm there. Separating them and she wanted to close it. She heard the weight in his voice and she actually smiled a little bit brushing a curl behind her ear.
"I never stopped thinking of you, Bryce. All men tend to falter in comparison. They aren't you, so they aren't good enough." Really, the only man in her eyes was him. Tall, dark and dangerous.
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Post by Bryce Andrews on Sept 29, 2009 23:12:25 GMT -5
He should deny her words, tell her he wasn't worthy of such admiration from her but the truth was it warmed him, and sent delicious thoughts coiling down his spine that he hadn't revisited in years. Time had created distance but it hadn't diminished what existed between them, Bryce just wasn't sure if that was enough; he wanted it to be...more than anything he wanted it to be.
"There are far better men in the world for you than I," He said finally, resting his hands on his thighs and rubbing them across the material of his pants. There was honesty to that statement as well, a woman like Naomi could do better than him, should look for better than him, even if the thought of her with someone else had his stomach clenching.
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