A Man in White Collar (Completed)

Chapter 32 - The Masquerade

Alex left out a giggle, "Oh Gosh, I'm in love with you," then he shook his head, "We should impersonate more scenes and poems. But we should go now, we are late,"

Alex bent his arm and Lou looped her arms to his. She replied, "I thought we could be fashionably late?"

Alex turned his head to Lou, "This is Boston, not Los Angeles, my dear,"

As the car stopped in front of the Boylston Hall of Harvard, they looked at each other and put the mask on. Alex's face was fully covered with the silvered lining mask whilst Lou wasn't. She complained, "So unfair, you're covering up your whole face,"

Alex grinned and cupped her chin, "If you believe in me, you will always find me,"

Lou pulled out a sigh, "Still unfair. I'll have my own game next time,"

Alex smiled, "Deal"

They got out of the car with the mask on their faces. The front yard of Boylston Hall was decorated like masquerade party in 90s. Everyone was glowing in their fancy garments as Lou and Alex stepped inside the hall. Servants with fine tuxedos were strolling around offering a glass of champagne to the attendees. Suddenly a woman in short blue dress which pressed her thin body approached Alex and Lou. She was wearing a black mask which only covered her eyes.

The woman smiled as she came over, "You must be Alex,"

Lou smiled, feeling confused. Her subconscious started to speak,

How did she recognize it's Alex? Who is this lady?

Alex chuckled, "And you must be Brooke,"

And again,

How did he know either? Well, her mask is really revealing her face but how did she recognize Alex?

Brooke chuckled and gave a big smile. She extended her arms as she gave Alex a friendly hug, "How are you doing, Alex? It's been a while. I heard you start to build your own company in Milan,"

Alex answered as he pulled away, "Good and yes, just trying to not depending on family's company," Alex then turned to Lou, "Oh, sweetheart. This is Brooke Ashton, my classmate. And Brooke, this is Lou, my girlfriend,"

Lou gave her a smile and extended her hand, initiating a handshake. Brooke shook her hand warmly, "Oh, Lou! Nice to meet you. You should know Alex used to write a bunch of poems about a girl he met in Arnold Arboretum, that girl must be you,"

Alex's eyes widened and Lou turned her head to Alex, "Is that true? Why you never showed me the poems?"

Brooke left out a chuckle as Alex tried to answer Lou's question but interrupted by the host. It was a male wearing a white tuxedo holding a microphone. He cleared his throat and said, "Good evening, ladies and gentleman. We are about to start the slow dancing session. Make sure you have your mask on but we don't recommend you to stick to your partner,"

Everyone was looking around with confused look. The host then continued, "Because we are turning off the lights,"

Suddenly the lights turned off. The hall was completely dark and suddenly bunch of people bumped into Alex and Lou which parted them. It was the procedure of the game. Everyone got panicked and the host quickly stopped the crowd, "Calm down, ladies and gentleman. It is the procedure of the game. You must have felt random people bumping and you are probably now parted with your partner. Now, in the count of 3, you must hold someone's hand and make sure the person is the opposite sex of yours. If you've got it, then that person is officially your dancing partner in this session,"

Lou got panicked and her heart started to beat faster. She tried to manage it by taking a deep breath.

"The counting starts from 1," led the host.

Everyone started to yell one another asking, "Are you a guy?"; "Are you female?". Lou was confused and had no idea what to do. She froze in the moment and suddenly somebody grabbed her hand.

"2.. I hope you've found your partner already," teased the host.

Lou was aware and tried to find the owner of the hand, "Lou?"

"3.. Okay, done, everyone. Stop looking!" ordered the host.

Lou's eyes widened and quickly replied, "Alex? Is that you?"

The man who held Lou's hand continued, "I found you,"

The crowd started to calm down, waiting for another direction from the host, "Lights on!"

Suddenly the lights turned on and lightened the whole room. Lou's eyes got blurry after trying to adapt with the darkness. She saw Alex standing in front of him, still wearing the mask. Music started to play, the singer started to sing "Whenever I Say Your Name" by Sting.

Then Lou's eyes got clear, she could see things clearly, "Alex, I'm nervous,"

Alex lifted her hand and kissed it gently, "Don't be,"

Lou smiled and placed her right hand on his shoulder. Alex put his left hand on her back, slowly pulling her in. Lou's left hand extended, interlaced to his right hand. They started to dance slowly following the rhythm until,

Whenever those dark clouds hide the moon, whenever this world has gotten so strange

Alex lifted his right hand and led Lou to a slow spin. As she turned around, he bent his arm, leading Lou to rest her back on his embrace. He wrapped his arms around Lou as their hands interlaced.

I know that something's gonna change, something's gonna change

Alex then whispered to hear ear, "Let's run away,"

Lou swang her body to the rhythm, Alex followed. She still rested her back on his chest. Lou replied, "Where?"

He leaned closer again whispering, "Come back to Paris,"

Lou gawked after hearing the answer. She stopped and quickly pulled away, turning to see the man she had been dancing with. Lou quickly put the mask off of his face. As the mask was pulled off of his face, she gawked and all the past memories started to flash in her mind, "Paul."

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What is Paul doing in the ball? Will Alex find out and save Lou from there? Stay tuned for the next chapter!

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