Beautiful Enmity. (A Billionaire Romance Novel)

A ball to remember

There was a red carpet entrance made for the guests. Photographers were already perched on both sides of the entrance in wait for a figure they could photograph.

Inside the kitchens there was a whirl of excitement as everyone busied themselves with filling the goblets with champagne and arranging delicacies from grilled oysters to mushroom canapés on the trays. I was supposed to carry the trays around and serve food to the guests. Just then Rhea the woman in charge rushed in .

" Erica has fallen ill .She can't make it. I want one of you to join me at the entrance in her place and help lead the guests in."

No one spoke .I realized the thought of greeting all those rich, famous and presumably haughty guests was one which I alone didn't dread. Seeing that no one was willing to volunteer Rhea decided to choose the person herself . And lucky as I was the person turned out to be me.

" Look at the bright side . You might get noticed by some hot rich dude." Fatima my coworker joked on seeing how nervous I looked. I was too agitated to give any response other than a tightlipped smile.

I had always been an introvert not wanting to reveal too much of myself to others . Yet before my father died I could muster up extraordinary amounts of confidence when I felt something important was at stake.

My teachers didn't know whether to call me shy or confident as on one hand I would give killer presentations and on the other hand I didn't have many friends.Indeed I was often the first or the only student who would complain to the principal about a terrible teacher.

But after the traumatic events of the last two years I had slowly started to lose whatever confidence I had . Now I was just shy not someone who could morph between the two extremes whenever she wanted to. I tried to stand tall and be the old Sarah as I stood to receive the guests at the entrance. But God was it hard.

Slowly the guests started trickling in . Strutting in their designer clothes and shoes. Smelling of Givenchy and Hugo Boss. The snakeskin sandals the women wore would probably cost twice my annual salary. The dress code was black and red. Yet many chose to ignore it coming decked in a variety of colors some extremely garish. But what all their outfits had in common was that they screamed
' designer '

Just then a silver lamborghini stopped infront of the entrance and out stepped the man I hated with all my heart. Aiden Victor. The cameras started flashing wildly as the entire horde of photographers tried desperately to get a shot of him. He had clearly followed the dress code. In the sharp black suit and red tie he looked devilishly handsome.

" They are taking pictures of him as if he were the president ". I couldn't help the disdain in my voice.

" He may not be the president but he sure has a handsome face. That alone would make for a juicy headline. " Rhea spoke her green eyes sparkling enough for me to know she was already smitten with him.

Why couldn't people see past his so called charming exterior and see him for who he really was ? Even the word asshole seemed too polite for him.

As he came towards us I felt bile rise in my throat. Not only was he my enemy but I had completely degraded myself infront of him by begging him for mercy.

And now I didn't know how to react to him. I knew I had to be polite for the sake of my job. Treat him just like any other guest. But the thought of being sweet to him made me feel dirty and disgusted with myself. If only this were a masquerade ball and I could hide behind a mask. But it sadly wasn't.

He was clearly just as shocked to see me. But the shock registered on his face for only a second. His expression quickly became impassive giving nothing away. He shot a smile at Rhea who welcomed him with a little too much warmth. I gave him a quite
' good evening ' not looking directly at his face. I led him to the ball room not looking at him but I could feel him observe me.

Even an hour later guests were still coming. I felt dead on my legs. Rhea sent me back but my legs got no reprieve. Instead I was handed a tray bearing shrimp cocktail and made to parade around the ballroom asking for any hungry guests who might want to try.

Here among the crowd of wealthy I felt invisible and alien all at the same time. The talks of world tours and buying mansions in exotic places like the Jumeirah Islands seemed so unfamiliar to me. Once upon a time when I didn't always feel so jaded with life I used to like reading about the lifestyles of socialites and celebrities.

Now I couldn't help but get a pang of envy. Perhaps my not so pleasant current circumstances led me to see everything negatively. Or perhaps observing these people from afar was different from actually being among them where you couldn't pretend you were like them.

" Oh -" I heard Fatima gasp. I turned to see her accidentally bump her tray of champagne glasses into a man. The drinks spilled on to the guy's expensive looking black suit.
To my shock and horror it turned out to be Aiden.

The blonde woman beside him in a low cut aquamarine colored dress gave a gasp of indignation.
" Just what do you think you are doing !" She started scolding Fatima as if it were her clothes that were ruined.

" Don't worry Amanda it's fine. " Aiden cut in. He smiled benevolently at a grateful looking Fatima.
" It's really no big deal. "

" You are such a sweetheart Aiden ". Amanda cooed.

" Would you like a drink ?" Fatima said shyly. " No thanks but I don't drink. " Aiden spoke in his elegant voice.

" You don't smoke. You don't drink. You are too good to be true! " I heard Amanda purr at him. Guess she was also part of Aiden's largely female fanclub.

Soon I saw her take his hand and lead him to where the pairs of men and women stood waltzing to the music. I was given a few minutes breather and I took my place atop the grand staircase where I could watch the couples dancing below.

I imagined myself down there in a beautiful gown of my own. Waltzing in the arms of a man with enough charm to match Aiden's but without his spiteful personality.

" That guy over there is a gentleman ". Fatima had joined me on the staircase. I saw she had pointed towards Aiden.

" I completely ruined his suit but he brushed it off as if it was nothing. Frankly he has so much poise he looks dashing even in those clothes. "

I was sick of hearing people praise him. Yes he was a gentleman to everyone except me. I remembered how my father used to say we were jinxed. That our family made enemies more easily than friends. That even the supposedly good people were unfair to us.

Just then a huge sound booming sound erupted through the air literally shaking the ground beneath my feet. I would have thought it to be an earthquake if not for the huge cloud of smoke which appeared swallowing the ballroom completely.
The fire alarm started ringing. Sprinklers started raining water on top of us but did little to dispel the gathering smoke below.

I heard someone scream that the emergency exits down below were locked. Soon chaos erupted as hotel staff and guests scrambled around for any available exits. The fire had started apparently where the hotel's main entrance and reception area was. So that wasn't an option.
To our utter horror the back exits on the ground floor didn't seem to open. As if they had been locked.

The smoke filled my lungs almost choking me. I realized my blood running cold that there was no way out.

I used to wonder how burning in hell felt for the sinners. I just didn't know I would get a first hand experience even before I died.