Through The Dark COMPLETED

Chapter 66

The last stop on the leg of the tour was Dubai. They had left South Africa just after the last show and arrived in Dubai a couple of days before the next show. The band was invited to a high-end party thrown by a Prince of Dubai the night before the show. It was a fancy masquerade ball. It took some convincing, but with the Prince's assurance that there would be no paparazzi there and no phones allowed, Harry had conjoled Julie into going. Amanda was in from the start. Niall had no problems getting her to agree to be his date. Harry and Niall were standing in the grand ballroom with the rest of the guys, some of their security, and other members of the party. The girls were whisked away by the Prince's team to get ready with the rest of what was considered VIP women guests. They were to get ready with everyone and have a grand entrance. Harry laughed to himself when he thought of Julie's reaction to being completely pampered and dressed up. Just by the looks of the room, he knew everything was extravagant. He couldn't wait to see what she looked like.

"Geez, they had the girls come this morning, the party started an hour ago, and we still haven't even heard anything." Niall said. "Do you think the Prince decided to keep them for himself?"

Harry laughed. "Well, I wouldn't blame him. I mean, we do have some hot girlfriends, but I think they are making this a grand entrance. But yeah, I'm starting to get a bit impatient myself." Harry looked around the room. It was an amazing sight. The money that must have been spent on this party was something even he didn't think he could dream of. Everyone was dressed in elegant attire and drinking expensive champagne. He looked down at his outfit of choice. Unlike the girls, they were on their own. He'd chosen all black. He didn't know what Julie would be wearing, so figured it would be safe. It was suggested to him that black would be best. His suit was a classic black two-piece suit from Saint Laurent. It was made of cotton-virgin wool blend with the jacket enhanced with a silk/satin shawl lapel, a two-button fastening, with a chest pocket, front flap pockets, long sleeved button cuffs, a rear central vent, full lining and a straight hem. The trousers featured a concealed front fastening, side slit pockets, a silk satin side stripe, regular length, and a tailored design. Under the suit jacket was a black chamisas rose mesh transparent shirt which remained unbuttoned to the chest so that only a hint of his butterfly tattoo was showing. His feet adorned with a pair of Saint Laurent boots made of Cordovan calf-skin leather with an extended throat and a subtly pointed toe and a stacked heel.

Niall's suit was an ultra slim fit grey mini-herringbone suit from Calvin Klein, made from virgin wool. The jacket featured peak lapels, a two-button closure and three front pockets, double vented, fully lined, and with four-button cuffs. The pants were also grey mini-herringbone with a zip fly, interior tab, extended button closure, front open pockets, back button pockets, tonal topstitching, and seaming details. His shirt was a regular fit dress shirt with tonal herringbone pattern, button front and cuffs, tonal topstitching, and seaming details. He finished his look with a plain scarlet red silk tie as was suggested by part of the party team. Niall completed the look with a pair of deep red leather Tibaldi derby shoes from Dolce and Gabbana featuring a textured leather detail, an almond toe, and a lace fastening. He felt semi-uncomfortable being so dressed up for a party of such caliber, but mostly he just wished Amanda would get here.

About 30 minutes later, an announcement was made that the women would be arriving and entering at the top of the grand staircase. They would be introduced and escorted down to their dates at the bottom of the stairs. They had waited through a lot of announcements and watched a lot of beautiful women in beautiful gowns walk down the stairs to meet their lucky dates. It just made them more excited and impatient to see Julie and Amanda. Their girlfriends.

When Niall heard the words, "Ms. Amanda," announced over the sound system, he walked slowly to the bottom of the stairs and looked up. He couldn't believe what he saw. She looked amazing. The dress was a scarlet red satin, sleeveless floor length ball gown with a full skirt and a brushed train. The bodice was intricately beaded with garnets, diamonds, and silver with a jewel neckline that gave the illusion of a garnet and diamond silver necklace. The skirt was full with a brush train and overlaid with scarlet red tulle that was sparsely enhanced with sparkling diamonds. Long matching red gloves went all the way up to her biceps and a large ring adorned her right ring finger. Her earrings were sparkling and beautiful. Her hair was in an up do with a beautiful diamond tiara. When he saw her pick up her skirt to walk down the stairs, he noted her shoes; they were striking gold-tone Romy pumps from Jimmy Choo. They sported a glittery crystal embellished finish with a high stiletto heel. A simple black masquerade mask over her eyes. He couldn't believe she was walking down those stairs into his arms. "Oh, my god, you definitely look like a Princess, love." He took her hand when her escort brought her to him. "You look amazing." He held her hand and looked her up and down. "Wow. And your hair is all blonde now."