If You Love Me

Fiddling with the ends of her blonde hair, Nora chewed on her lip, her blue eyes scanning the seating chart which sat ahead of her. She had been working on it for a while, with her client’s event due to take place in a couple of days, she had been working on getting the final details completed for a while, and she was looking forwards to it being over with. It had taken a lot of work, her client had been particularly certain and slightly demanding about what it was that she wanted for her event, and Nora was looking forwards to getting it out of the way. She wanted to ensure that things passed by without so much as a tiny hiccup.

Allowing her eyes to scan over the chart once more, she made a couple of small adjustments before the sound of a knock at her office door reached her ears, causing her to lift her head slightly, her blue eyes settling on Emilia who stood in the door way. “Emmy” she breathed softly “What are you doing here? I didn’t forget that we had plans, did I?” she posed, a small frown on her face.

Emilia, who was rested against the door frame, shook her head. “You didn’t” she noted “But, I was in the area and I thought I would drop by on my baby sister and see if she had time to get some lunch with me” she added, flashing Nora a small smile.

Nora tilted her head, her eyebrow raised slightly. “You never just drop by, Emmy” she pointed out “So, why are you here?” she added. It was sudden, Emilia’s appearance at her office door had caught her off guard, but she knew that it wasn’t a spur of the moment decision, even if her sister insisted that it was. Emilia wasn’t the type to just show up without any sort of warning.

Emilia offered her sister a small look before she shook her head. “I was just in the area, Nora” she insisted softly.

Nora offered her a slightly dubious look, not entirely convinced, before she nodded her head. “You want to go to lunch?” she posed softly.

“If you’re not too busy” Emilia replied “Mateo has got us a table at a restaurant not too far from here and I figured I’d ask if you wanted to join us. It’s been a while since you saw Mateo, hasn’t it?” she posed softly, her eyes watching her sister quietly. She knew that Nora was suspicious, the look on her face when she had suggested that they go to lunch had confided it, but still Emilia wanted to encourage her, even if her plan did have the potential to backfire slightly, she wanted to encourage Nora to go along with her.

She knew that it wasn’t her place, whatever it was that was happening between Gerard and Nora was very much between the two of them, but still Emilia wanted to give her little sister a nudge, hoping that it would figure things out one way or the other. She knew Nora, unless Gerard made the first move, Nora wouldn’t make any sort of move, and she wanted to encourage her to, even if it did mean setting her up with one of her husband’s friends. She wanted her little sister to figure things out one way or the other.

Nora, who’d to collect her jacket, nodded. “It has been a while since I saw him” she agreed “Is he still disappointed that you’re having a girl?” she added, her voice bright and teasing.

Emilia rolled her eyes slightly before she shook her head. “You can ask him yourself” she noted “Now, come on. If we sit here much longer, we’ll waste most of your lunch break” she added as she moved to wrap her arm around Nora’s, carefully guiding her out of the office. She knew that it was a risk, by not telling Nora about Mateo’s friend who would be joining them for lunch, she ran the risk of upsetting her little sister, but Emilia wanted to do something, even if it merely served to prove that Nora was smitten with Gerard. She wanted to encourage her sister to do something about it.

~#~
“Nora, it has been while”

Nora, who’d been quietly sending a text to Gerard, lifted her head, her blue eyes settling on her brother-in-law who stood ahead of her, a warm smile perched on his face. “Mateo” she greeted softly “It has been a while, but only because you keep ducking out of coming to lunch with our madre” she added, offering him a bright smile.

Mateo rolled his eyes, mumbling something about Maria not being his biggest fan, before he stepped towards her, wrapping her in a soft hug. Nora smiled gently and hugged him back gently. “It’s good to see you, Mateo” she mumbled softly.

Mateo held onto her for a couple of seconds before he stepped back, offering her a small smile. “It’s good to see you too, Nora” he enthused warmly “You’re looking very beautiful as always” he added gently.

Nora flashed him a small appreciative smile before she spotted the man who stood behind him, his grey eyes settled on the two of them.

Emilia, who stood beside her sister, followed the line of her stare before she quirked a small smile. “Mateo, don’t you have an introduction to make?” she posed, nudging her husband slightly.

Mateo flinched, not quite expecting the slight nudge, before he nodded his head. “Of course” he noted “Nora, I’d like to introduce to a friend of mine, Daniel” he added, gesturing towards the dark haired man who stood beside him “Dani, this is my sister-in-law, Nora” he added, a polite smile perched on his lips.

Daniel smiled a little at the introduction before he reached his hand out ahead of himself, offering it towards Nora. “It’s nice to meet you, Nora” he enthused softly “Mateo, he’s told me a lot about you, and it’s nice to finally put a face to the name” he added kindly.

Nora blinked a few times, more than a little surprised by the introduction, before she placed her hand in Daniel’s, allowing him to pull it against his lips, pressing a gentle kiss against the warm skin. Nora’s cheeks blushed a little at the action before she quietly shook her head. “It’s nice to meet you too, Daniel” she mused softly.

“Dani” Daniel corrected gently, flashing her a soft smile.

“Dani” Nora repeated softly “It is nice to meet you” she added softly.

Daniel offered her another bright smile before he gestured over his shoulder, musing about having gotten them a table before he stepped away, making his way towards the seat that he had gotten. Mateo offered his sister-in-law an awkward smile before he followed after his friend, something which left Nora alone with her sister. Ensuring that Daniel was out of earshot, Nora turned and looked at her sister, a frown on her face. “Emmy…”

“I’m sorry” Emilia interrupted “I’m sorry that I sprang this on you, but it might do you some good, Nora. You can’t just sit around and wait on Gerard forever, you need to get out there and this lunch with Dani might be good for you. It’s been a while since you dated” she added before she flashed her sister a small encouraging smile, moving away to sit down at the table with her husband and Daniel.

Nora watched her go for a couple of seconds before she followed after her, sitting down beside Daniel who offered her a light smile. She knew that Emilia had a point, with things between her and Gerard unlikely to change, there was no sense in dwelling on it, but still she was irked that Emilia had set her up without her knowing.