For The Empire - Sempre

Chapter 18

I have a moment of panic and seriously consider calling in for the night, not knowing if I could get myself hyped up enough to dance, let alone for a crowd of a hundred people.

After Sean left the Villa, I spent most of the afternoon walking around the huge estate, trying to clear my head. Topo, the dog, and Zeus joined me at one point, and I played with them, throwing a ball for them to catch.

The same thought kept coming to my head about how I constantly find myself in some messed up situations.

I'm well aware of how ridiculous this situation is between JP, myself, Sean, and the kids; both sets of kids. But it's not like I asked for any of this to happen. 

I also spend a lot of time wondering if I should be okay with the fact that Sean's father wants him to walk away from such a complicated situation.

As a parent, I can only imagine this isn't what you would want for your child. And as he mentioned, it's not like I can get a second chance at a first impression.

"Stella, are you okay?"

I snap out of my thoughts and nod at Letty's reflection in the mirror. She looks back at me worriedly but smiles at me. I finish applying my lipstick and clean up some of the eyeliner that's smudged on my left eye.

Due to the larger crowd out on the main floor, the chatter coming from the main room sounds like loud buzzing in the dressing room.

The DJ begins the introduction for the night, and we line up and make our way to the stage. Our opening number begins, Fireball by Pitbull, and the DJ calls each of our names.

As I walk to the center of the stage, I see Sean sitting on the right side of the room, further away from the stage this time. His father and Tommy, and a couple of others are sitting at his table.

Annalisa and Samantha told me they'd be here again, and by the sound of their screams, I find them front and center again. Topo, Rocco, and Mateo are here as well as Enzo and Cristian.

However, I did not expect to see Charlotte sitting at their table, and of course, next to JP. Charlotte's eyes widen slightly when my eyes meet hers; she looks at JP then back at me.

Dean is here, too, sitting next to her. Dean looks shocked when he sees me, and then he notices Victoria.

The dance is fun and has always been one to set the tone of the night. I find myself enjoying the music and moving along with the choreography, and smiling as the crowd claps along and even shouts "fireball" at one point. As much as I try to focus on anything and anyone else, my eyes always find JP's intense ones.

The crowd cheers as we walk off the stage when the song ends. There's a rush to start undressing and change into our specific outfits for our individual numbers.

"Shit, sorry! I should have knocked."

"Sean! What the hell?" Jessica exclaims as she covers herself and hides behind Victoria.

"I just wanted to talk to Stella," Sean says, covering his eyes with his hands. "Also, that dance was amazing; great job, ladies!"

"And I can't talk right now, Sean; I have to go back out next." I pull on my different top and bottoms hurriedly.

"I'm sorry, but I just wanted to see you before I left," He tells me while he keeps his hands over his eyes. I pull him back out into the hallway, so the girls can change without having to cover up.

"You can look now. We're in the hallway," I smile at him, still covered up.

Sean pulls his hands away, and his eyes darken when he looks at me. "Damn, you look..." His eyes travel down what I'm wearing. "Maybe I'll stay." He says as his eyes focus on the cutout sections of the outfit.