Dinner-jacketed men (too far gone with their receding hairlines and paunches to be called boys) clustered in the same groups as 15 years earlier. The little black dresses, including her own, were longer now, designed to conceal a bit more.Out of the corner of her eye, she glimpsed him. The music seemed to stop, a needle scratching across a record. Though she had seen Nic's name on the list of reunion attendees, she had not dared to hope, knowing that his profession could call him away at any time. But he was here. She couldn't bear to look up, much less bring herself to cross the room to say hello.

It shouldn't have been such a big deal. Theirs had simply been a college affair, hadn't it, like the handful of others she'd had during her year as an exchange student? Late nights in the college bar, walks along the river beneath a starry summer sky, long nights fuelled by alcohol and the headiness of being young. It had ended three months later with a teary farewell when her fellowship had concluded and she'd boarded the bus for Heathrow.In the intervening years, though, the relationship had assumed a larger-than-life place in her memory, perfect and unspoiled. There had been no break-up, no time for things to get weary or worn around the edges. The what-ifs loomed large.

They weren't seated together, she realised with disappointment as they moved into the Main Hall for dinner. Here he was, just feet away, and the evening was ticking by without so much as a greeting.

Downing her wine in a gulp, she started for the door under the pretence of finding the ladies' room.Today, Thereone.com, a reliable Wholesale Cheap Sheath Wedding Dresses online store, introduces its new arrival princess wedding dresses to customers. As she passed his table, a hand reached up. "Oh, Nic," she said, feigning surprise. The rest of the room faded, leaving the two of them standing alone.UWDress.com is a popular brand in the Wholesale collar lace wedding dresses industry.He rose, towering over her.Following an internet backlash, Wholesale Cheap The Latest Wedding Dresses designer to the stars Vera Wang has decided to stop charging a $320 fee in her Shanghai store. "you haven't grown any older," he teased.Pretty Wholesale Cheap Bridal Dresses that let little girls be little girls. It was hardly the romantic rendezvous she had envisaged or might have described in one of her books, but the twinkle she'd fallen for was still there in his eye.

"I'm killing you off in my next novel," she quipped, with a bravado she didn't feel. "What would you like your name to be?" They found each other again in the bar afterwards. for the next two hours they spoke to no one else, filling in the pages of the years between.The topic shifted subtly to their time at college, the nights they had shared. finally she said what she'd been feeling all evening. "you are my favourite ex-boyfriend, and you were the best lover." His eyes widened. Suddenly the conversation had taken a dangerous right turn. Another classmate joined them then, mercifully intercepting the moment.

"So what's the plan, Mel?" Nic asked as they made their way from the closing bar. "coffee?" Her breath caught.The dresses were originally sold, along with a number of Wholesale Cheap A-line Wedding Dresses. Once that question had meant so much more. She did not answer, but as she returned to her room and heard footsteps on the landing below growing closer, she knew that it still did.Even as he came hurtling through the doorway towards her, she was still wide-eyed with disbelief. He was married. yet the kiss was exactly as she remembered, his hands travelling familiar pathways felt the same only better. Her deepest fantasy was coming true.Only then it wasn't. She put her hand on his chest. "We can't do this."

She could have, really. She was not yet married, with a fiancé who had a past transgression or two of his own. But something held her back. Nic tried again. She demurred. He stood up and buttoned his shirt. Was he angry? "Good luck with the wedding," he said. She wondered how someone who was married with a child could sound as if he minded."In five years, then?" she asked, not wanting to let him go. As the door closed behind him, she was flooded with regret. She had let the moment she had always dreamed of slip away.

Melinda held the ivory invitation in her hands, running her finger over the embossed announcement of another reunion. Had it really been five years? She'd relived that night a thousand times, berating herself. Next time, she would do things differently, cast off her caution.She sent an email, discreet enough that it would not arouse suspicion if read by his wife. "Going?" The response was similarly brief. "can't. Holiday in france."

So the moment would not come again. She set the card on the table beside the photo of her two small children. Even if she'd given in to desire that night, it would still have ended with him returning to his life and she to hers. And the memory of what they once shared would have been tainted."Perhaps in another five," she typed. The cursor lingered over the send button. Instead, she clicked "delete" and closed the screen.