Gent of the Night

Gent: a shorter term for gentleman. May mean pretty or graceful.

•°•°•

I came nearly late for the prom day because the stylist took too long to style my hair. I was sure my partner, Prince Ivan Tubog, would scold me for taking too much of my time.

I was uncomfortably walking on a three-inch high heels with the red slit dress that I'm wearing when I saw him from afar, standing and looks so dashing wearing a red suit with black tie while holding a rose and patiently waiting for me.

Finally, our eyes met and I was greeted by his beautiful smile as he approached me.

“A flower for my beautiful lady.” my partner said as he handed me the rose he was holding. I couldn't help but to smile at his gesture.

“This feels weird.” I uttered to myself.

“Which is?” my partner asked me.

“I don't feel confident... and I'm too nervous.” I told him with whole honesty.

“Don't worry. You look really pretty.” he assured me and tapped my head.

“I'm sorry for leaving you alone here, but can you wait for me for a bit? There are some girls who doesn't have their partners yet. I'll just walk them to their tables, is that alright?” my prom partner asked politely when the teacher announced that some of the girls from the other section still don't have partner yet.

“Sure. No problem.” I said and let him be.

It's nearly our turn to go inside the venue and he's still not here yet to assist me. I was feeling anxious when suddenly, “My apologies. Also, thank you. I know you waited long for me.” he apologised though it was unnecessary.

“Shall we, my lady?” he asked and offered his hand to me. I can't help but chuckle as I took it.

We were now the next one to walk down the red carpet when I can't help but notice that he's been staring at me.

“What?” I asked him.

“It's just that... No. It's nothing.” he said then held my hand firmly. It wasn't nothing. I'm sure he noticed that I was walking uncomfortably with these heels.

When we were finally to walk down the carpet, he gently put into place my hand around his arm before we started to walk.

“Tch...” I clicked my tongue when the chains of my sling bag fell from my shoulder which caused us to abruptly stop from walking.

I don't want to cause a scene and embarrass my partner but to my surprise, he waited for me when I put my sling bag back on my shoulder.

“Shall we continue?” he asked, smiling as he offered his hand to me once again. I worriedly accepted it.

He's so full of surprises. Prince and I walked down the carpet once again while holding each other's hand. This was way comfortable than holding his arm. Tables were above the platform and so, there were stairs to take. He was always a step ahead of me to make sure I was able to walk up the stairs with these uncomfortable heels.

When we reached our table, he immediately pulled a chair to let me sit unto. He even assisted me before he sat on a chair opposite to mine.

“Do you feel comfortable?” he asked when he noticed I wasn't associating myself with the others on the table.

“What? Oh, yes. Very.” I answered.

Yearly, it's been a tradition in our school that students perform different social dance by section. For our section, we were supposed to perform waltz. I've never been good at dancing and I heard it's graded for our Physical Education subject.

It was finally our turn. And once again while walking down the stairs, he assisted me. He was staring at me at every step that I take. As I fear I might fall, he makes sure he'd be able to catch me anytime.

We were finally in formation for the waltz and my heart raced as we await the music. I didn't even notice that I was already grasping his hand a bit tightly when he suddenly stroked his thumb above my hand. When I faced him, he was already staring at me and smiling.

“You'll be fine.” he said reassuring me once again.

During our dance, he always give me bits of compliments like a dance instructor. When I was late for a twirl, he held my waist and said to not do it anymore as he doesn't want me to feel dizzy and fall. When the dance ended, we were to form our last formation going back to our tables. He was angry in my place when the girl in front of us have this long gown which made me a step further behind him and we were the cause to almost break the formation. He stepped back to level me. We let the pair in front of us to walk a bit further so that we'd be able to walk side-by-side. But then when we were at the stairs, he was acting like he'd like to step on the girl's gown so I told him off. He then said he was just kidding with a pouty face. I know he was acting childish and immature but I think it's really cute though.

After dinner, there was disco party but I never bothered myself to join. During the slow dance, he was the first one to invite me for a dance.

“I wish I get to dance with Lander.” I was thinking absentmindedly and was being insensitive with my partner. I was thinking about was just to be able to dance with my crush while I'm still dancing with my partner. Gosh! I want the ground to eat me up already.

Ivan suddenly pulled me closer and whispered, “I'm sure you would.” Like always, he was still smiling as we stared at each other for a while.

Like he said, I did get to dance with my crush that night. When we were back to our table, Ivan and I were sitting next to each other. We were singing along the background music, he'd say loads of nonsensical jokes, and made sure I'd have a lot of fun.

The awards for tonight's prom was already announced. My partner was nominated for all the categories but never won any of it, specially the Gent of the Night. Everyone saw how much of a gentleman he was yet never won that award. Still, he was all smiles as he applauded for the winner.

“It's okay. You're still the winner of Gent of the Night for me.” I told him and also applauded for him.

“And you're still my Lady of the Night, my lady.” he flattered me.

Prom is just one night and I never expected I'd have so much fun. It was all thanks to this gentleman I was able to pair with. I hope this gentleman would find a lady who would treat him right someday. I wish the best the world has to offer for him.