Loving Someone

I will be waiting for you_3

When she reached the office with the files, Aria managed to snap herself out of her thoughts. It's all right now, she had managed to steer him off her.

She put the files on a desk when all of a sudden someone slapped her on her back. Biting back a yelp, Aria turned around, looking into Meg's laughing eyes. "What do you think you're doing?" Aria asked, rubbing her back with one hand.

Grinning, Meg said,"Looking for you. I've been all over the school. Now come with me, I've a surprise for you." And then she tugged at her arms, leading the way.

Meg started off in quick steps, but Aria had no problem keeping up with her long strides. They stopped when they reached a classroom, and Aria heard people inside it.

When Meg opened the door, Aria was surprised to see Ryan Frankley among the few people inside, all sitting around in a circle. "This is it," Meg enthused, dragging Aria inside.

Aria evaded looking at Ryan and pulled a chair out to sit. Everyone shuffled around to make some space for the two of them. Finally settled, Aria whispered to Meg,"What's this all about?"

Meg grinned," You'll know eventually."

Aria looked around the group, avoiding looking at Ryan, who coincidentally sat directly opposite her. There was a total of six people in the group, two Aria recognised as Pete and Tory from the editorial board, and one guy Aria didn't know, but he did look very familiar.

Aria was not surprised when Ryan chaired the meeting. "Hello everyone, I am sure all of you know the purpose of this meeting." If he noticed Aria's confusion, he chose to ignore it. "Though this is basically just a small group, but I'm confident that everything will work out just fine. We have two members from the editorial board, Pete and Tory, to smoothen things out," he gestured at them. He then looked at the guy next to him," This is David, from the photography department, and he is a sure bet that we will have great pictures for this, and," he looked across at Meg,"Meg, Aria and I will be the one scouting out fresh materials." Looking at everyone in general,"Any problem so far?" Silence greeted him. Unpertubbed, he said," Great, then lets begin."

Halfway through his explanations, Aria realised that this meeting was for the committee in charge of making a multimedia presentation for the graduating classes. Everything was fine until Meg suddenly interupted,"I don't think David will be able to handle getting all the pictures on his own, not to mention the videos as well."

David looked slightly affronted,"If you doubted my abilities, then..."

Meg was quick to clear up the air," Of course not! What I meant was you shouldn't be the one handling all that alone, you need someone to help you." Smiling brightly, she added,"And I'll be happy to be the one to help." Looking at Aria then back to Ryan, she said," As for the materials, I believe you can do it very well with Aria helping you. I'm more interested in the lively part of this project."

Shocked, Aria gaped at Meg. This meant Aria would have to partner Ryan on her own, and this also meant lots of time alone with him....

"All right. If it's all right with David, we'll have it this way," Ryan said, looking expectantly at David.

When David shrugged his consent, Ryan said,"Good. Now we will all work in pairs. Now that's settled, I believe we will continue the meeting another day. People, work with your partners and plan what you want for your part, and we will present this on Friday."

Everyone was getting out of the room when Ryan looked at Aria, who was still in shock. Ryan said expressionlessly to her,"Don't worry, I'll try to bear with you. God knows I have done an admirable job out of it for the past year." With that he walked out of the room.

Clearly surprised, Meg asked,"What is it with the two of you?"

Aria did not reply. She was too dumbfounded.