CHAPTER 5
Banjo watched Emily's face for any clue of what she was thinking after he had finished his rehearsed speech. He had finally done it. He had been itching to do this for almost a year but had not known how to broach the subject. He had been surprised that Emily had not seemed to notice his gradual withdrawal from her over the past year but if her earlier questions and comments were anything to go by, she had. She just had not said anything about it.
"Emily, please say something." he entreated.
"What would you have me say?" she responded in a quiet voice, a wounded voice. They lapsed into silence once again. The noise of the party seemed jarring in Banjo's ear. He wished they were somewhere more private than at a welcome party at the Okwaras' for Maggie and her beau.
She jerked up from her seat and began to walk away. Banjo let her go. He did not know what to say to her and to be honest he was relieved that she was not creating a scene. He had fully expected her to throw some sort of tantrum. He leaned back on his chair and contemplated how soon he could leave the party. He had said his hellos to the Okwaras and especially Maggie and Quinn. He seemed like a nice enough man. He was happy for Maggie. She looked as though she were floating on a cloud.
"You have the looks of a man in deep contemplation." Olly boomed as he took the seat beside him. "Planning your escape already?" he continued.
Banjo held out his hand for a bro handshake. "Not exactly." he smiled, "Just thinking about the possibility."
Olly snorted and took a swig from the bottle he was holding. "So what do you think?" he nodded towards where Maggie and Quinn were chatting with a group of their friends or rather, Maggie was holding court and Quinn and all the others were just part of the retinue. Banjo smiled wryly. While Maggie was as lovely inside as she was outside, she was a bit much to take in one large dose. She'd go straight to your head like extra mature brandy. He hoped Quinn would be able to keep up. So far, he looked like he was hanging in there nicely.
"He seems like a cool dude. If a bit of a...it's not the right word but, dandified?" he turned to Olly as he shrugged wryly. He figured Olly would get what he was trying to say.
"Yeah." Olly nodded his agreement. "I wouldn't have thought he'd be Maggie's type."
Banjo pondered that comment for a moment and frowned mildly at his friend. "Maggie has a type?" he asked.
Olly gave him an 'are-you-kidding-me' look. "What do you think? Doesn't everyone?"
Just then, a pretty dark skinned lady joined the group gathered around Maggie and Quinn. Maggie's squeal of delight could not be masked by the thumping beat of the afro-centric music booming around them.
"Wondered when she would show up." Olly commented dryly even as he tensed in his seat beside Banjo. Banjo eyed him and took his tense posture and the tone of his voice in as he said.
"She looks pretty familiar. I can't seem to place her though. Who is she?"
"Ally. Alero, Maggie's friend." Olly responded a strange emotion in his tone as his eyes remained locked on the young lady even as she took a seat that Maggie had squeezed out beside her.
Banjo looked across at the young lady, her features falling in place with the memory of the young girl in his mind. Why had he not realized that she would grow up some, just like he had done?
He whistled his appreciation. "She grew up nice." he said as he looked at her sitting primly beside Maggie while the other went on about something, her mouth, hands and shoulders all moving in cadence with whatever she was saying. Alero was nodding and smiling and laughing out occasionally as she let her friend go on and on. She turned and smiled at Quinn including him in the conversation that Maggie was having.
"They are still friends then? I thought they had drifted apart when she stopped coming around." Banjo commented as he took his eyes away from her to look at his friend. He found that Olly had been watching him speculatively. There was something else lurking at the back of Olly's gaze but Banjo couldn't quite put a finger on it. He raised a questioning eyebrow at him.
Olly drew a deep breath and took another swig from his bottle. He shrugged as he got up from his seat and stretched his taut muscles. Olly had grown into a real bear of a man. He could be a teddy bear when he was in a good mood or a grizzly when riled. He was good looking though, and if the numbers that constantly flung themselves at him were any indication, he had the right pull with the ladies.
"I'm going over to say hello. You want to come along?"
Banjo shuffled his options with lightening speed in his head. Did he want to get sucked into Maggie's orbit or did he make good his escape now? Just as he was about to decide to leave, Alero looked towards them, apparently drawn by Olly when he had stood to stretch. Her eyes took in the picture Olly made as he stretched in his snug t-shirt and well fitted jeans. It was a fine picture. She looked at Banjo as he shifted on his seat. Her eyes had widened slightly and then she gave him a cursory once over and looked away disinterestedly, or not. There had been a sheen of something decidedly interesting in her eyes as she had flicked it away from him back to Olly. She smiled cheerily at Olly as he finally abandoned his friend and made his way over to her. It was her that Olly was making his way over to. Not the group, but her.
Banjo cocked his head interestedly and stood to follow his friend towards the group. He suddenly needed to see how this played out.
At another corner of the lounge area, another pair of eyes tracked them with unwavering intensity as they made their way over to the group.