Chapter 3

Those blazing green eyes are pointed directly at me. My mouth starts to get dry and I can barely manage to introduce myself. "I-I'm Jess-ica."

I hope he will clue in I don't want anyone to know what happened. He looks at me with an amused expression and I can only imagine he is thinking about what kind of a mess I've been the other day.

"Nice to finally get to know the famous Jessica. I'm Jake." A small smile is playing on his lips when he shakes my hand. Why am I blushing??!

"And this is Serena." Gesturing to the blond I've seen him with the other day. She shakes my hand, acting like we didn't yet meet (or she really does not remember me), eyeing me from head to toe and giving me the fakest smile I have ever seen in my life. I almost forget to introduce Hanna until she lightly clears her throat.

"Oh, I'm sorry; this is my best friend Hanna." She shakes hands with both of them and smiles politely, subtly checking Jake out.

"I'm still counting on that coffee." There is no avoiding his mischievous grin. Oh, ground, swallow me whole. I knew he wouldn't be able to keep his mouth shut.

My sister and Brian look at me with confused looks and I can see Hanna connecting the dots in her head. Even Mike lifts his head from his phone, showing mild interest in what is going on. I nod and smile stiffly then not so politely excuse myself, pulling Hanna behind me and dragging her towards the ladies' room. She follows behind quickly, both of us ignoring confused looks left behind.

When we finally reach the toilet I lock us in one of the stalls and start breathing heavily, on the verge of hyperventilating. Hanna is still shocked, but I know she will recover quickly and bombard me with questions.

"Is this the freaking guy from the other day? The one you were so mesmerized of and talking about him for twenty minutes straight while driving here?" I don't have time to reply before she continues with her rambling.

"The guy is actually really hot, you weren't lying. And this Serena-chick is as full of herself as I imagined. What are you going to do? This is straight out from a soap-opera. I can't believe it!"

From rambling, she moved on full-on laughing and her eyes became glossy with tears. Finally, I can break her monologue.

"Yeah, it is him. I am beyond words how fucked up this is right now, so stop laughing!"

I’m irritated but feel the corners of my mouth itching upwards to join her at the irony of the situation.

"I hope he doesn't tell everyone about my epic clumsiness and how much I was blushing. This is so embarrassing. Why this always happen to me?"

I didn't know if I should laugh or cry at the absurdity of the situation. It really was absurd. Seriously, what are the odds? But the small part of me that was wondering if I will ever see him again is extremely satisfied at the moment.

I tried to ignore the voice in my head, but no matter the level of mortification I felt, I couldn't deny how unbelievably hot he was in a suit. My attraction towards him just doubled since the first time I saw him. Fuck, fuck, fuck.

Hanna was looking at me when a full palate of emotions must have crossed my face and she knew exactly what I was thinking as a mischievous grin appeared on her face.

"We are going to have so much fun today."

With that announcement, I'm pulled out of the ladies' room and back to the party. It's showtime.

We head back to the party to find our seats since the program was already starting.

Sitting at a long table on the right side of the bride-to-be, I was next to my mum Anna. She is an amazing woman and looks stunning, her age not showing despite being in her mid-fifties. She is the most caring and understanding person in my life; I couldn't be more grateful to have her as my mum.

On the other side of me was Hanna. The family of Brian was on his left. Since Jake was one of the closest people he had, he was sitting a few chairs down from me. I was happy for some physical distance from him, but I couldn't help my gaze drifting in his general direction every now and then. I could swear a couple of times his head also turned towards me.

I was trying to remember the bits and pieces that my sister told me about 'Brian's best man', but I couldn't recall much. She mentioned he is hot, which I can't argue with. I vaguely remember her saying something about them living close by as kids and Jake used to play at Brian's house often since his parents weren't around much. I know Jake is a few years younger than him, so this would make him around thirty. So probably at least five years older than me. Hm... I always preferred dating older guys... Ok, not the point.

Becca also said that he is dating a lot and that she hopes he won't show up to their wedding with some bimbo on his arm. I faintly recall her saying that lately he was seen with the same woman on several occasions, so I'm guessing this is Serena.

I was zoning in and out like this for the rest of the official program until the music started playing and the party kicked up a notch. I saw Hanna was in her element and I felt a little buzzed myself from all the champagne I drank.

My sister found me after a few "engagement dances" and pulled me to the side. I knew I was going to be questioned with that knowing look on her face.

"So, what's all this about with Jake? You know him?" I hoped this was a sign of him not mentioning the incident to anyone.

"It's a long story, but to sum up," I made a waving motion with my hand to show my irritation at the topic before continuing, "I accidentally met him the other day in my coffee shop and spilled freshly brewed hot coffee on his white shirt. We ended up chatting and just when I was about to buy him a cup, this Serena-chick showed up. Not wanting any drama I basically fled the scene. I thought I'll never see him again, but here we are... The story of my life."

She was looking at me incredulously and then burst out laughing. Yep, welcome to the club. Her next words, however, were a little less expected.

"And you find him so hot that you started stuttering?"

I start laughing at her direct question, but really, how did I expect she wouldn't notice my lack of words. I sort of mumbled my agreement and tried to make her go away by ordering her to go enjoy their evening, promising we'll talk later. There was no avoiding her anyway.

I went in search of Hanna and Mike and dragged them both to the dance floor. I decided to stop thinking about him altogether and just relax in the company of my favorite people.

Little did I know my evening won't end as relaxing as I hoped.