The Elementalists

24.

The room allocated to me at the hotel was huge. I had a massive living room, even a kitchen area and plush lounge. The straps of my heels also broke as I tugged them off so I could feel the softness of the plush carpet under my bare feet. There was a huge couch surrounded by armchairs. All in white leather in keeping with the theme. The glass coffee table was adorned with magazines and a bowl of fruit. There was a huge TV mounted on the wall.

There was a huge fridge and a mini-bar. The walls were floor-to-ceiling windows with a magnificent view of the property the hotel covered. I could see the blue shimmer of the pool amidst the greenery and white granite walkways. There were solitary villas dotted here and there. I could even see the staff scuttle about down below in white and black uniforms.

I pulled myself away from the view and spotted a card carefully placed in the centre of the dining table. My name embossed on the white front in gold. An invitation.

Ms. Fiera
Trial’s Representative for the element of Fire
Is cordially invited
To
The Introductory Dinner
In
The Ivory Lounge
At
2000 hrs
Dress Code: Casuals

Fancy. Unnecessarily fancy. A text message with when and where to show up would've been enough. I let the card fall back onto the table as I strolled into my room.

It was a bit like every other hotel room ever. Golden comforter in keeping with the soft yellow lights glowing in the room. Pillows half my size and super fluffed up. There was a dressing table and a full length mirror to go with it. Chocolates were kept in a basket on the nightstand. The carpet in here was a darker shade. Looking more beige than cream in the soft lights. The curtains were drawn, giving the room a comfortable feel.

Nice. But as of right now, I was hungry. Might be because I'd been ushered out of the house without even getting a bite of breakfast. I skipped gleefully to the fridge in the first room, happy to find it chock-full of snacks. Grabbing everything I could fit in my hands, I flopped onto the couch, connected to the hotel WiFi and wasted the day away. I might participate in next year's Trials again just for this.

About an hour before the mentioned time, I started to lay out my outfit for dinner. As I tugged the dress out, it got caught on something. A tug, another, yet another and it came free. But so did one strap of the slip dress.

I paled as I took the frayed strap in my finger. One end was still attached to the front of my dress. This is the only dress I got for tonight. Wafi would kill me if he found out I showed up to the dinner in the same dress I arrived in.

Ensue panic. Ensue a call to Wafi.

"Hello?"

Ensue a panicked rant about the messed up dress.

"What?!"

Ensue apologies.

"Okay. Okay. Calm down, Fi." There was a pause while Wafi thought. "Give me five minutes, let me get to a private place. I'll give you a video call."

"Hurry." I glanced at the clock. "Please."

He hung up and left me alone with the dress. I flounced on the bed and tied on a robe as I tried to figure out anything I could do to try and make it stick together just for a few hours. Nothing came to mind. But Wafi's call came on time.

"Wafi!" I picked up, sounding extremely agitated. The background on his side was dark but I could make out his features well enough. "What the- where are you?"

"In my car." He replied. "I told them I had to leave early to run an errand before the dinner."

"What dinner?"