A Chance Meeting | Chris Evans

Chapter 57

'Move up Matt.' Chris said, indicating that he wanted to sit in the gap between him and Becca.
'I'm too comfortable.' Matt grinned, knowing it would annoy Chris.
'Move or get sat on.' Chris said.
When Matt still didn't move, Chris was as good as his word and sat down anyway, half squashing Matt and half wiggling his way into the gap. For a few heart-stopping moments, Chris's entire thigh was pressed up against Becca's. He was so close that she could feel the heat coming off him.
Oh my God! I think I'm going to spontaneously combust.
'You weigh a ton!' Matt moaned and finally moved over, giving Chris some more room.
Becca leant forwards and had a drink to try and hide the fact that she was blushing slightly from the contact. When she sat back up, she could see that Scarlett was watching her with curiosity and looked to be about to say something. Thankfully Scotty chose that moment to join the group and distract Scarlett.
'Hey everyone! Look who I found lurking around.' He said and stepped aside to show a man behind him.
'Colin!' Everyone greeted him enthusiastically.
'Hi everyone.' He said and walked over and gave Scarlett a kiss. 'Hey babe.'
Scarlett quickly introduced them.
'So Becs, what did you think of it?' Scotty asked.
'It was great! I really enjoyed it. I'm looking forward to the second half.'
He grinned at her. 'They'll be some of songs you might recognise in there, then we're going to change the pace a bit and go with some rock and roll.'
'Sounds great.'

***
Meanwhile, Colin and Scarlett were talking quietly.
'So, is this the girl we're here to check out?' Colin whispered in Scarlett's ear.
'Yes.'
'And how's it going so far? Does she pass the test?'
'Yeah, I like her. She seems nice.'
'That's good. Nothing to worry about then.'
'Hmmm.'
'Why 'hmmm'?' Colin asked.
'We're not just here to make sure she's nice enough for Chris.'
'What then?'
'Rob wants me to check out how they are together - is she attracted to him or does she just like him as a friend? Does she know he likes her? That kind of thing. He thinks - and I agree with him - that Chris might be just being too gentlemanly and she may have no idea that he's totally crazy about her.'
'So what's the verdict? Is she attracted to him?'
'Oh yes, definitely.' Scarlett said with a smile.
'And does she know he likes her?'
'That one's a bit more difficult.' She admitted. 'I'm not sure that she does. I mean, I KNOW how much he likes her, and I can hardly tell from how he's behaving, so I don't know what chance she has.'
'So what're you gonna do? An adult version of 'my friend has the hots for you'?'
Scarlett laughed, 'God no - Chris'd kill me. Plus tonight is just information gathering. I thought that maybe you could have a little chat with her and see what you can find out.'
'Why me?'
'She's going to be less guarded with you than me - she might let something slip.'
'Okay. What should I say?'
'Just get her casually chatting about Chris and see if she gives anything away. I'll keep the man himself occupied.'

****

'Chris, have you got a minute?' Scarlett asked. 'I kinda wanted a word.'
'Yes, of course. What's up?' Chris asked.
'Can we go over there a bit?' She indicated with her chin to an area nearer the bar.
'I guess so.' Chris said, looking confused. 'Be right back.' He said to Becca and walked after Scarlett.
What's going on there?
'I imagine that it's just something to do with work.' Someone said. Becca looked round and it was Colin talking to her.
'You know, the trip to Seoul?' He added.
Becca nodded and watched the two of them talking.
You know if she wanted a private chat, she's picked a rubbish place for it - they're completely on show. It's not going to take long for someone to spot them. They're kind of super conspicuous when it's the two of them together.
And sure enough, it only took a minute or so for someone to approach them.
'Have you managed to get your head around that yet?' Colin asked, looking at them.
'Around what?'
'The whole fandom thing? It took me a long time to get used to it, and Scarlett mentioned that you hadn't known Chris for very long.'
'It is weird.' She admitted.
'You're handling it better than I did.' Colin said. 'When I first started dating Scarlett, I hated it.'
'Oh, we're not dating.' Becca said a bit too quickly.
Dating? Who told him that we were dating?
'I'm sorry, I just assumed you were.' Colin said.
God know what it is, but it sure as hell isn't dating.
'That's okay.'
'So, are you in the business too?' Colin asked her.
'God, no. I'm a librarian. You?'
'I work in finance.'
'Okay. And have you and Scarlett been together long?'
'A couple of years. Although it would have been longer if I'd had my way.'
'Why's that?'
'It took a long time to convince her to go out on a date with me.' He said. 'She was going through a divorce and Rose was still a baby, and she didn't want to get involved with anyone.'
'You obviously changed her mind.'
'I was sneaky.'
'You were? What did you do?'
'Well, I just knew that we'd be great together if she would only give us a chance, and I was crazy about her, so I just gave things a little...push.' Colin explained.
'I'd asked her out so many times and she'd always said no, so in the end I just said that I'd be waiting for her at the theatre at a certain day and time and that she could either come and join me or not. I said that it didn't matter if she said no, I'd still be there.'
'So she either had to turn up for the date or stand me up. I gambled that she was too nice to leave me standing there. And the rest is history.'
Becca laughed.
Oh my God! Is that where Chris got the idea?
'What? You think it's too devious?'
'No, it's just, Chris did something very similar to get me to meet up with him for the first time.'
Colin smiled. 'Thought you said you weren't dating?'
'Oh no, it wasn't a date, just hanging out.'
'Seems like a lot of effort to go to to just hang out with someone.' Colin said.
Thankfully, Chris and Scarlett came back to the table at that point, so she was spared having to answer.

***