“Okay so Dani pointed Nico Constantin out to me, Celeste. Let’s go introduce ourselves,” said Natalie, grabbing Celeste’s arm excitedly.
“Who’s Nico Constantin?” asked Brian returning his focus to the conversation.
“Oh you know, the mysterious stranger Celeste bumped into at the library over the weekend.”
Celeste noticed Brian’s face tense up, but he coolly shrugged it off. “Nope never heard of him.” He looked at her disapprovingly.
“Oh yeah, I guess it must have slipped my mind,” said Celeste.
“Well, I’m going to grab a beer. You girls want something?” asked Brian.
“Sure!” the girls said in unison.
As soon as Brian walked away, Natalie hurried Celeste over to the cramped kitchen. She pointed at the back corner of the apartment where a tall dark-haired boy was talking to a group of giggling girls.
“Look, is that your mystery man?” asked Natalie.
“I’m not sure,” answered Celeste trying to get a look over the crowd on her tiptoes. “He has his back to us so I can’t see his face.”
“Well get over there Celeste! It looks like you’re going to have to get in line to talk to him. Look at all of those girls all over him!”
Celeste’s heart was pounding as she stared at the dark-haired stranger from across the room. “I don’t know about this Nat. What am I supposed to say? ‘Uh, hi, I’m the girl who bumped into you in the library, nice to meet you’?”
“Who cares? Just get over there! Come on, I’ll go with you.” Natalie pulled Celeste by the arm.
The girls made their way over to the other side of the apartment, weaving through the dense crowd of college students and stopped a few feet away from their target.
“I can’t do this,” said Celeste.
“There’s no backing out now,” said Natalie as she squirmed through the crowd with Celeste in tow and tapped Nico on the shoulder. He turned around with a stunning smile and Celeste found herself face to face with him.
“Well hello ladies, how can I help you?” he asked, warmth exuding from his voice.
Both girls were silent for a moment as they stared in appreciation of this gorgeous and impeccably dressed young man. His aqua button-down shirt was meticulously ironed, and his midnight blue designer jeans seemed custom made. He was tall, his short black hair neatly gelled back, with matching dark eyes and a teasing grin that would melt any girl’s heart.
