Chapter 50 Jealousy

Her screw-ups were way too obvious, and even though George was all about Isaac, he couldn't help but notice her too.
But George didn't make a big deal out of it. He just looked away, took a sip of water, and tried to play it cool.

Where havd he seen him before? That weird sense of déjà vu...

George racked his brain, digging through memories from the past few years, trying to figure out if she was part of one of those tomb-raiding crews he'd chased down. They knew the Seventh Bureau inside out and had even clashed with them a few times...

As he mulled it over, he took another sip, set the cup back on the coffee table, and soon enough, Ellie came out with Allie. He noticed she was rocking pants instead of the short skirts her cousin usually wore, and he let out a sigh of relief.

It wasn't that he was some old-school prude who couldn't handle a skirt; it's just that this place wasn't exactly a legit dance school, but a slick trap, all dolled up.
From the teacher to the students, even that girl at the counter earlier, they probably all had some shady agenda. Plus, he heard the guys at the gym across the street hit on girls here... total creeps!

"How's it going, getting the hang of things?" Ellie walked up to him, flashing a smile.

"The place is nice," he said, with a little smirk.

"I asked if you're getting used to it, not about the place," she shot back.

"Uh... it's alright."

Allie, standing nearby, cracked up watching them. "Come on, Ellie, George's a grown-up, and you're still sweating the small stuff."

Ellie had asked because she could tell he was uneasy when she dragged him in earlier, especially with her cousin making a big deal out of it. Seeing George seemed chill now, she smiled and said, "Alright, I'm gonna head over there."
"Alright," George said with a grin and a nod, as Ellie got dragged off by her cousin towards the dance line.

George watched them weave their way around to the back. Ellie smiled and greeted the guy leading the dance, nodding and calling him Mr. Richardson. The man smiled back, not missing a beat, and then they ended up next to the woman who kept screwing up the rhythm—probably the infamous Linda Abigail.

George barely glanced at Linda before locking his eyes back on Ellie. From a psychological angle, this Linda chick was just a side character, and someone else was already keeping tabs on her.

But this Mr. Richardson... he was someone to watch.

Ellie could feel George's eyes on her. At first, she was all flustered, messing up her steps and moving all stiff. Every now and then, she'd blush and sneak a peek at George.

George caught her shy looks, and so did Isaac.
Isaac dropped his gaze, staring at his own feet, a flicker of jealousy in his eyes... man, jealousy was such a buzzkill!

Ellie showed up late, so she hadn't been dancing long before it was time for a break. She let out a sigh of relief, still trying to find her groove, and headed over to George in the resting area with Linda, her cousin Allie, and three other close friends.

After a quick round of intros, everyone plopped down, pulled out their water bottles, and started chatting. Naturally, the convo zeroed in on Ellie and George.

Ellie was used to this kind of teasing, so she just rolled with it, but George felt awkward and didn't know what to say, so he just kept smiling.

Barely two minutes into the chit-chat, Allie, who couldn't resist bringing up Isaac, chimed in again.

"Hey, don't you think Ellie's hubby looks a bit like Mr. Richardson, especially from the side?"

Her comment not only made George's heart skip a beat but also made Ellie squirm uncomfortably. The first time she met Isaac on the bus, there was this weird spark...
And then Isaac went and spilled his guts about his feelings. Now here she was, still stuck in dance class...
Ugh...
She never really had a thing for Isaac, and after he found out she was hitched, he kept his distance. But she couldn't help but wonder what George would think if he knew...