The Dance

Marie brushed her hands through the numerous dresses on the movable hanger in front of her. It was two days after Drey had asked, or rather commanded her to be his date for a ball, and it was that day of the ball.

It was 2pm in the evening, and a team of beauty experts had come to drag her literally from the comfort of her room to doll her up for the event. She didn’t know why Drey had asked her, of all the women at his disposal, to be his date to the ball. She didn’t know much of his personal life, but there had been rumors of the son of The Shadow Empire being a playboy, but she really couldn’t care less.

Now, she was in a dressing room with nothing less than eight beauty workers in the room, some with makeup products, some hair tools, and the others were trying to get her to pick a dress from the options lined up. She was dressed in a robe, as they made her have her bath all over again in a bid to get to work.

After scanning the clothes for the 100th time, her eyes landed on a red, floor-length dress hanging at the extreme end of the hanger. She reached out for it, and instantly fell in love with it. It was cut in a v-shaped neck which plunged down below her bosoms. Although it was extremely long, it had a very high slit. It was simple, but also a statement piece.

She handed over the dress to the worker beside her, and they soon moved her to the seat in order to begin her hair and makeup. After what felt like two eternities later, the beauticians finally announced that they were done with the process.

Marie slowly opened her eyes to look at the mirror, and she slightly gasped. Her hair was curled into full bouncy curls, and the makeup, although minimal, was fierce and bold. Marie couldn’t remember the last time that she dolled up or looked this pretty, maybe high school prom.

Thinking about it now, her ex-boyfriend never took her on fancy dates or made her dress up to go anywhere. She smiled brightly at her reflection in the mirror, and couldn’t have been more pleased with the outcome of the entire look, and hopefully the dress would tie it all together.

And the dress did just that. She was standing in front of the full length mirror, and everything about her screamed royalty and class. The red dress was paired with silver stiletto heels and silver jewelry. The colors popped out on her pale skin, and she really couldn’t have looked prettier.

After a full minute of gawking at herself in the mirror, she heard a soft knock on the door.

By now, she was all alone in the room, so she went ahead to open the door. Standing on the other side of the door was Bob who was dressed in a navy blue tuxedo, and he looked a bit better than the first time she met him. She could see his eyes widen a bit, obviously in amazement of how she looked. Bob cleared his throat softly

“The ball had started, and the big boss had to leave earlier to meet with guests. Now, I’ll be the one to escort you downstairs.”

“Alright, we may leave now” Marie told him with a little smile on her face, and surprisingly, he smiled back at her.

They interlocked arms and proceeded to the direction from where Marie was hearing soft music. Soon enough, they reached a grand staircase with the people dining and networking in the wide area below. As they started walking down the stairs, over half of the crowd turned to them and were gawking in admiration.

Marie could care less about the other people, and looked out earnestly for Drey to see his reaction. Finally, she found him standing beside an equally gorgeous woman, and her stomach churned a little. His face was blank, so she couldn’t read what he was feeling at that point. She couldn’t tell if he was unhappy or impressed about the way she looked. However, she saw his fists tighten a bit as he watched her walk down the stairs, but she couldn’t tell what it meant.

By the time she got to the bottom of the stairs, Drey was waiting for her with his arms stretched out for her. For the first time, she saw his eyes linger on her for more than two seconds, but he removed his gaze right away. They interlocked hands and he they started walking back to the crowd, who had already resumed their mingling and drinking.

“You look good,” Drey told Marie curtly.

With a small smile, she replied him

“You don’t look bad yourself” He was dressed in Jet black tuxedo, with a white shirt, with the first two buttons open with a simple necklace resting on his chest. To be honest, her captor looked hot at that moment.

“Snap out of it, Marie”

“Hi Roberts, meet Marie.” Drey talking to an old couple snapped Marie out of her thoughts. The couple looked sweet, and should be in their mid-sixties. The woman gave her a warm hug and gave her a side to side peck.

The man shook her hand instead and gave her a firm smile.

“Marie, meet The Roberts, our incoming partners” Drey gestured to the couple

“It is of utmost pleasure to meet you, Mr and Mrs Roberts” Marie found herself naturally saying.

“Same here, Marie. Both of you make an amazing couple, and I would love to see more of you two.” Mr. Roberts said with a wide grin.

Marie almost choked on an inexistent drink over the mention of the word “couple” but Drey didn’t seem fazed about it; more like it was all planned out by him.

Drey gave her arm a gentle squeeze, more like telling her to play along with it, and she got the message immediately.

“At least, she seems like a much sweeter person than that young woman, Percy” Mrs Roberts stated, looking over at the woman Drey was standing with earlier, who was now flirting with another young man.

“Wait, wait. That woman is Drey’s ex???” Marie whisper-yelled in her head.

She could see Drey’s muscles tense up at the mention of the woman’s name, and Marie could only think of the numerous ways they could have broken up. Not only that, she did admit that she was a bit jealous of whatever they may have shared.

She turned out of the conversation going on between Drey and the couple, and looked over at Percy. She was a tall woman with the stature of a supermodel. She was dressed in a short, black sleeveless dress which complemented her jet black hair which was put up in a tight bun. Her makeup was bold and fierce, particularly with the bright, red lipstick revealing an amazing dentition when she smiled.

“So, does Sunday work, Marie?” Mr Roberts asked, but she didn’t understand what he was asking since she was zoned out.

“Sorry? I zoned out because I was tired out from the whole planning of the ball.” Marie lied through her teeth, so the sweet couple wouldn’t hate her.

Drey quickly intervened before she made the situation worse

“Mr Roberts here was simply asking if you’d be available for dinner at his villa on Sunday, darling?”

“Oh! Most definitely, sir. It would be a pleasure to be hosted in your home” Marie said, smiling sweetly, grabbing the opportunity to finally step out of this hole that she had been trapped in.

“Alright dear, see you both then.” Mrs Roberts replied this time, and the couple walked away from the couple.

Drey glanced at his watch, and squinted his eyes like it was cue for him to do something in that moment. Surprisingly, he turned to Marie beside and stretched out his hand, doing a little curtsy.

“May I have this dance, my dearest?”

“ Yes, you shall”