Jossy laughed defensively, shrugging. "He is the host, after all. All eyes are on him," she joked, a small blush rising to her cheeks. George chuckled, shaking his head, and they moved further into the party, both enjoying the music and warmth of the celebration.
As the host, Noah drew attention from everyone in the room, including some female employees who had always been eying him. Who wouldn't be interested? He was twenty seven, powerful, smart, kind, and single. Of course, women noticed him. That night, some were bold enough to ask him for a dance, to which he politely declined. Others hung out a little too close to him, starting conversations, hoping he would notice them. But none succeeded.
Noah had long noticed Jossy, who was now standing at a corner with his best friend George and Clara as they laughed at something Clara said. Jossy looked so beautiful in her long red dress that he could hardly focus on the conversations he was having with their top partners. What was she doing here? He had no idea she was coming. Did George know? He wondered. His best friend should have told him she was coming. That way, he would have been emotionally prepared to see her again. Now, caught off guard, he had been thrown off his game.
Yes, the two of them kept in touch in the last one year, but only with rare check-ins on how she was doing. Since her 25th birthday, he kept his distance because he didn't want to overwhelm her with his presence or his feelings. But today..today his emotions were not in check. He just wanted to walk to her and hug her. It had been over a year since he last saw her, and although Hazel regularly visited her and gave him updates, it wasn't the same. He had missed her.