Chapter 23
Mark smiled, as he watched Toni and her friend walk away. His little “talk” with her reminded him of the first time they met, as well as the first time he talked to her. It was exactly the same thing, but this time it all happened at once. She crashed into him again, and she apologized because she wasn’t looking and he apologized as well because he wasn’t looking too. He remembered the way she looked when they talked for the first time ever. She was wearing her hair up in a half ponytail, and there were stray wisps of hair on the sides of her face that seemed to frame her eyes. She played with her necklace as he cast sideways glances at her, feeling so shy. Mark smiled. “She should really watch where she’s going.” he said out loud. “Who should watch where she’s going?” Mark turned around. It was Shane. “Oh… no one.” Mark said, smiling. “Where were you? We were waiting for you at the lobby.” “I got lost on my way to the lobby from the men’s room.” he said, blushing as he finished the sentence. “And you bumped into someone?” “Yeah…” “Who was it then mate?” Shane asked, looking so intrigued. “Just someone.” Mark said. “It was Toni huh?” Shane inquired, his eyebrows raising. “Well…” Mark began. “I thought so!” Shane said, an amused look was on his face. “I didn’t say it was her!” “Mark, what the hell was happening back there in the booth?” Shane asked, changing the topic. He folded his arms across his chest. “Where are the others?” Mark asked, ignoring Shane’s question. “Answer me first.” Shane said. “Shane, I really don’t know. I… I don’t want anyone to get hurt, especially Alessia.” “And just what do you mean by that?” Shane asked, looking bewildered. Mark started to fidget. “Oh! There they are!” Mark exclaimed, looking so relieved. Shane on the other hand, was looking so annoyed. “There you are!” Anto said, looking relieved that he spotted Mark and Shane. “Well guys, since Mark took too long, I hope you guys don’t mind if we have lunch here? We’re already in front of the cafeteria anyway. It’s already 12 so you have 2 hours more.” Anto said, looking at his watch. “Let’s go! I’m hungry.” Kian said, making his way into the cafeteria but Mark stopped him. “Wait. We have two hours more, we could go eat somewhere else.” Mark said, looking nervous. “Come on Mark! Don’t be so picky!” Bryan complained. “Bryan is right.” said Anto. “Okay, I’ll skip lunch. I’ll wait for you guys here.” “What’s your problem Mark? I’ve never seen you like this before. What is it that you don’t like in this building huh?” Anto asked, looking annoyed. “It’s not what, Anto, it’s who!” Bryan said laughing out loud as the others joined in. Looking confused, Anto shook his head as he practically shoved Mark into the cafeteria.
“What is all that noise?” Anne asked, looking at the door. Boisterous laughter filled the cafeteria. Toni looked over her shoulder. “Oh my gosh!” Toni exclaimed, looking at Anne. “What are they doing here? I thought they left already!” Toni said, looking desperately at Anne. “How should I know?” Anne said. “Oh man… please! I hope they don’t come over. Please! I hope they don’t come over!” Toni prayed as Anne erupted into a fit of giggles. “Well darling, looks like your prayers didn’t get answered…” “What?” Toni asked. Anto was heading straight toward them and the five other lads were following him, four of them laughing at Mark. “No way!” Toni said as she looked over her shoulder. “Hi there!” Anto called out. “You’re Toni right? I’m Anto Byrne, Westlife’s…” “…tour manager, I know. It’s nice to meet you once again.” Toni said, shaking Anto’s hand. “Have we met somewhere? I’m so sorry I can’t remember.” “Umm… one of the lads introduced me to you a year back when they were just starting.” Toni said, avoiding to mention Mark’s name in front of everyone. She knew Bryan would start bugging her if she did that. “Oh yes! I remember! Mark introduced you to me as his girl… oh dear… I’m so sorry.” Anto said, turning red from the mistake he made. Everyone was silent. “It’s okay. People do make mistakes you know.” Toni said, looking at the floor.” “Yeah… people do make mistakes…” Mark said. Toni looked up. Mark was looking straight at her. Everyone’s eyes were going back and forth, from Toni to Mark. “That look is in his eyes again. I know I’m not imagining things this time.” Toni thought. There was a long silence as Mark and Toni continued to stare at each other. She was so confused, she wanted to scream, “What the hell are you doing to me Mark?” She tried to search Mark’s eyes for the answers but she couldn’t see. There was so much pain and suffering in his eyes. It was all mixed with sadness and regret. “Regret of what? Maybe it’s just regret that I see in his eyes and nothing else.” Toni thought. She looked away. She just had to. Her head was so filled with confusion. She didn’t know where her so called relationship with Mark stand. He made things so unclear for her. It was as if he wanted to tell her something, without letting her know what it was. “Umm… can I please know what it is that you want Anto? I know you and the lads here are on a tight schedule, and Anne and I were about to leave.” Toni said. “But you haven’t even touched your food yet!” Bryan pointed out. Toni was staring daggers at Bryan. “We’re on a diet.” she said to Bryan, flashing a fake smile at him. Bryan laughed, pleased that he annoyed Toni. Anne joined him, apologizing after she calmed down. “Anyway, I was here to talk to you about that tv thing.” Anto said. “What tv thing?” Toni asked, looking confused. “The one I told you about. You know, the week long presentation on tv?” Anne reminded her. “Oh that.” Toni said, playing with the paper napkins. She completely forgot all about it. She was busy worrying about the radio show. “Umm… why don’t you sit down so we could all talk about it?” Anne said. Shane, Nicky, Kian and Bryan looked at each other and quickly sat down. Sensing that they were all up to something, Anne, who was sitting in front of Toni, moved to a seat to her right when Shane motioned for her to do so. Toni looked at her questioningly. “So that you and Anto could talk.” Anne said simply. “Anne, there are two vacant chairs.” “One’s for me.” Mark said as he sat down, directly in front of Toni. “Oh yeah… sorry.” she said, starting to blush. “Guys, I’m going to get us lunch. What do you want?” Anto asked. Everyone gave their orders and Anne and Toni declined, graciously saying “thank you” when Anto asked them if they liked anything. Bryan was sitting beside Toni, and whispered, “So Toni, why are you blushing as red as a tomato?” “Oh shut up, Bryan!” she whispered, giggling. “Tomato, tomato, tomato…” Bryan kept saying, making Toni laugh harder. She stopped when she saw Mark looking at her. He looked away, suddenly guilty of staring at her. “Don’t do this…” Mark said to himself, looking over to Anne and the rest of the others. He didn’t know what to do anymore. He gave Toni so many hints already, but he didn’t want her to know too much. He might scare her away. It just wasn’t time yet. “Oh my God! What am I thinking about? No, this is not right.” Mark thought. But his heart was more powerful than his mind. He knew what he was about to do was wrong, but how could he stop if deep inside his heart he knew it was worth all the trouble?