Once the party was at its full fledged state, I strongly suggested to Skye that we split up to find the Rick hyena guy. He wasn't ready to oblige but I stood rooted to the ground, not budging with my decision either.
Skye must have gotten the hint that I needed my space because he went the other way. It was true. I needed this space. I needed to stay away from him for the time being.
The revelation inside my brain gave me the jitters and I just wanted to close my eyes to forget everything. All of it.
Finding a lone wall, I leaned against it and looked up at the sparkling chandelier on the ceiling. It was really attractive and I found myself studying it absent-mindedly. Its precision, intricacy and all the stuff dangling on it.
After gazing upwards for a really long time, I averted my vision and looked ahead. When I did, I saw Skye waving at me frantically. It was then that I noticed him with another man. His protruding belly gave me an idea of who he was.
I quickly walked toward them, fisting my huge dress and faced Rick just as I reached them. "He's telling me that our guy's not here," Skye informed me, not beating around the bush. "He bailed out at the last minute."
"But why?!" I all but shouted. When I received some odd looks, I sent them all an apologetic smile. "Why?" I whispered angrily this time.
Rick, who seemed like he managed to assemble all different types of clothing to wear for this event, looked almost frustrated. He stood out like a sore thumb.
"Because he got the whiff that you'll be attending. Wait a minute. If you're Valerie then why are your pictures on the internet captioned as "April Glow"?" Rick asked dubiously.
I stilled because I forgot to pretend like April at that moment. What was even more agitating was that my pictures as April were already being circulated everywhere. I can already imagine the newspapers with our pictures together as well.
I started breathing normally again when I felt Skye's hand wrapping around mine comfortingly. "That's because she is April Glow. I told her everything about what happened."
"Seriously?" Rick scrunched his nose as if disgusted. "You really want me to believe that? I am a journalist. We are professional liars. You gotta be a better liar than that. Besides, I'd seen you staring at your ladylove the other day-" He smirked at me. "-and that's the same way you've been staring at her," he finished, satisfied before pointing at me.
"What way?"
"Stop with your nonsense!"
Skye soon followed after me and we both glanced at each other.
"Ooh, this is gonna be something juicy for me again," Rick spoke up, drumming his fingers together and giving us a nasty look.
"Go ahead, Rick. I bet you'd want the whole world to know about your pervy fantasies and the types of pictures you click," Skye gritted and I stared at him with wide eyes.
Eww, I thought and took a few steps away to keep my distance from the disgusting hyena and clung more onto Skye.
"Wh-what?" He stuttered, all the color draining from his face.
"You heard me." Skye smirked and fished something out from inside his suit jacket and flashed it in front of his face. He was about to sneakily snatch it but Skye was quicker and pocketed it again. "Ah-ah, not so fast."
"What the hell, man?! Please!" Rick looked frantic now with the way his huge, bulbous eyes shifted back and forth from Skye to me.
"No and if you reveal the truth to anyone that she's Valerie," Skye said before pausing for a second. Wrapping an arm around my waist, he pulled me to his side and continued, "Then I won't hesitate to put you behind the bars. Remember, it'll even squash your Pulitzer dreams."
Skye looked so dangerous but I was mesmerized by how controlled he seemed to be. How everything was in his hands and he knew it. His arm around my waist didn't help either because I could feel my chest thumping as if it was a trampoline and someone's jumping on it.
Rick scowled at us but he knew that he lost the battle as his body hunched forward with a loud huff.
"Tada." I waggled my fingers in a wave and gave him a laughing smile. "The joke's on you, hyena."
With one last glare, he trudged toward the exit and I finally turned to Skye. I expected him to take off his arm from around me but he kept it there fearlessly. Truth be said, I secretly liked it even when my head seemed like it was drowning in the deep waters.
"What was that about?" I queried, honestly oblivious to that small chip and its contents.
"Let's just say that I'd managed to steal his memory card the other day in D.C.. You know, when I had threatened to break his camera." Skye snorted and looked down at me.
Chuckling, I started glancing around me to avoid his eye contact. "So you went through his stuff, huh?" I remarked, recalling his comment toward hyena's "pervy pictures".
"Don't even remind me. He's a sick man," Skye replied with a pinched face. It was as if he might throw up any time soon. I giggled and he just shook his head with a small smile. "The only reason I'd gone through it was because I thought that he might have your pictures from that day in D.C.. My intentions were to delete them and that I did, but my eyes lost their purity as soon as they landed on some... voyeuristic ones." My heart stilled for a second but he assured me with his next words. "They weren't yours though thankfully."
Sighing in relief, I lowered my head. I started feeling something and I was about to find another reason to keep my distance from him when his fingers tenderly touched a loose tendril behind my ear.
"Are you okay?" He whispered.
I took a step back, a sign for him to take off his arm from around me which he thankfully understood. However I felt a pang in my chest when I saw the discreet hurt in his eyes. "I'm all good."
We were brought out of our trance when a voice interrupted us. "Is that you... Skye?"
Skye reluctantly pulled his gaze away from me and I turned to my side to see an old man in a crisp suit. I didn't recognize him but the thinning hair on his head was quite perceptible and also the first thing to catch my attention, especially in a mask.
"Mr. Miller?" Was Skye's confused reply. That's when it dawned on me that he's Joseph Miller, one of the directors of Skye's company.
"Yes, son." Joseph laughed heartily and shook hands with Skye.
I just watched their interaction absent-mindedly. Mr. Miller looked at me questioningly. I was caught a bit off guard by the frown etched on his face.
"Is that... Valerie?" He finally asked.
I had to literally look away to not roll my eyes out of instinct. That's when I noticed a guy staring at me with a wide smile. I could tell what was the cause of all this attention. My dress was fanned around me too much to not attract a few eyes.
Looking away from him in annoyance, I turned back to Mr. Miller with a forced polite smile. "I am April Glow," I introduced myself in my practiced Welsh accent and he recoiled back in surprise.
It just took him a few seconds though because he was convinced that I was someone else entirely. "Why, you look beautiful, Ms. Glow," he complimented me with a huge grin.
I passed him another phony smile, not interested in talking to him. I don't understand the concept that why does everybody choose the exact moment to compliment you when you know you're at your best? Nobody tried to compliment me when I was at my lowest, when everybody was pasting my pictures everywhere, saying bad things about me? Didn't they even for a fleeting second think that I might need a moment or something even remotely close to good when I was falling into an abyss. Why does the world uplift the already uplifted people and push down the already casted off ones?
Ever since I saw Mr. Miller being rude to Skye in the meeting room, I've envisioned him to be one of those pompous old men with an old-fashioned way of thinking.
I realized that I had spaced out, losing some part of their conversation but tuned back in when something caught my ears. "I am so sorry for how it turned out to be but it was a unanimous decision by the Board," Mr. Miller spoke empathetically and patted Skye's arm gently.
"I am good, Joe. Don't fret over it. C'est la vie." They both laughed at that and I was mesmerized at how beautiful Skye's French accent sounded.
Mr. Miller gave him one last pat on the shoulder and began milling around in the crowd. Pun intended.
I was about to ask him the burning question when he beat me to it with an amused smile. "I still can't get over your Welsh accent. Like you don't even sound like you." He said 'you' in a hushed whisper.
I chewed on my lip to suppress a blushing smile as my eyes caught onto the shimmering sparkles on my dress. Just as I was about to drift into that "shy" phase, I remembered my question. Looking at him seriously, I asked, "What was that?" I pointed a finger toward Miller's direction discreetly.
Skye's playful mood all but vanished. The gleam just completely disappeared from his face as if he wanted to run in the opposite direction.
"What?" He asked, trying to stall. It was quite evident with the way he was working his jaws.
"What was that?" I repeated slowly. "What did he mean by "a unanimous decision", Skye?" I knew that it was something related to our pictures flying everywhere.
He opened his mouth to answer when I felt someone's tap on my shoulder. I turned around to see a guy who seemed to be about Skye's age, smiling at me softly. He seemed cute with his dark curly hair, green eyes and soft features. However I couldn't make out much because of his mask.
"Hey," he said, his voice really low and soft. I frowned because I was actually anticipating to hear Skye's answer. My hard expression somewhat loosened a bit when he didn't stop smiling.
"Hello," I greeted him and was actually surprised that I remembered to keep my Welsh accent. Tucking my upper lip in confusion because I couldn't remember seeing him before, I glanced at Skye over my shoulder who was already scowling at the guy. When he felt my eyes on him, he shrugged as if to say he didn't know him.
"I am Cameron." I heard the guy say. "And you must be April Glow? Everyone seems to be talking about you," he told me with a sheepish grin.
"Oh. Oh, yeah." I chuckled awkwardly. I don't know why he approached me but an idea was starting to formulate in my head. If he wanted to have a conversation with the enigmatic April Glow then so be it. Taking the advantage, I might even ask him about this incognito man, Kyle M.
"Would you like to dance with me?" He asked me shyly, scratching his eyebrow. On any other day, I would have politely declined his offer but right now, I wanted to find out more about the host of this event. I was ready to take my chances.
I started smiling at him but Cameron's face quickly fell. He wasn't looking at me but behind me. I tilted the upper half of my body to glance at Skye again but he began whistling a tune all of a sudden. His hands were shoved in his pockets while his eyes were roaming everywhere but us.
I had forgotten all about Skye standing right behind me. For some reason, my heart felt like I was betraying him. I wanted to dance with him.
I turned back around to face Cameron but he seemed scared out of his wits. "You know what? Never mind. I was just joking." He was about to bolt off but I caught onto his wrist.
"Wait," I ordered but I was glad that it wasn't too brash.
Cameron was surprised but he passed me a tentative grin. Intimidated still, he looked behind me, probably at Skye and all the color from his face drained in an instant.
Exhaling in agitation, I fully turned toward Skye with my hands on my hips. He quickly averted his eyes and whistled another random tune. "I am dancing with you, Cameron." I said with a tone of finality, all the while looking at Skye.
Skye stopped whistling altogether and gave me a hard look. However it went away as soon as it came. He shrugged and winked at me before walking away.
"Well, that was intense," Cameron mumbled.
I felt another pang in my chest because I didn't want to dance with this guy at the cost of making Skye walk away. I wanted to call him back but I pushed that urge away.
"Shall we, Ms. Glow?" Cameron asked, coming in front of me and offering his hand to me flirtatiously.
Good. I groaned internally. That's the last thing I want right now.
A soft melody started playing and I followed Cameron toward the ball court at the center of the huge room. My eyes fell on the stage ahead but the band was wearing elegant masks and I couldn't recognize anyone. Whoever they were, they were really good because I was lost in the soft rhythm.
I was brought out of my reverie when Cameron snaked an arm around my waist while holding my hand with the other as I put my free hand on his shoulder.
An unfamiliar song was playing and we swayed to it along with the other couples. I had purposely pushed Cameron to the side to not be the center of attention. This wasn't a romantic dance for me. That's when I felt guilty because I felt like I was using him for my benefit.
"Look, Cameron... uh-"
"Call me Cam." He smiled.
"Right, Cam. I just... I wanna let you know that I am not interested... in... you," I tried to keep my tone as gentle as I could, which was hard because I didn't want to hurt his feelings.
I watched his reaction closely but he didn't seem so fazed by it. "I know." He nodded his head.
"Oh." I sighed in relief. "I am sorry."
"Don't be. I just thought that you looked so pretty and wanted to ask you for a dance. Didn't really think about your date actually. God, I sound so corny, don't I?" He laughed shyly and looked away.
"I don't think so." I beamed. "It's all right. Where's your date? Or... you don't have one?" I questioned but I knew how intruding that sounded. Though it didn't matter anymore because I couldn't take it back.
"I do but since I don't have any girlfriend or anything, my best friend volunteered to tag along with me. Her name's Chloe," he explained to me, embarrassed.
"Do one thing, Cam. As soon as our dance is over, go over to Chloe and ask her for a dance. Hell, even ask her out by the end of the night," I suggested, wiggling my eyebrows.
"Wh-what?" He choked on his spit and I rubbed his back. Regaining his composure back, he looked at me uneasily. "Why-why would you say that?!"
"Because I have a feeling that Chloe clearly likes you. I mean she helped you out by being your date..." I trailed off.
"I don't think-"
"You have got nothing to lose. She might be your best friend but nobody in their right mind would attend this boring event, best friend or not." As soon as I said those words, I glanced around for Skye. He was sulking at the buffet table and eating muffins like his life depended on it.
"You like him." It wasn't a question.
I shrugged, not wanting to admit it.
"I'd actually thought that he was with this Valerie chick. Kinda shipped them." He looked at my face and continued quickly, "No offense though. You guys look pretty good too!"
"Don't worry about it." I smiled at him earnestly. "Anywho, how'd you get the invite to this event?"
"My dad's in the business world. He gets it all the time. But... eh, he couldn't make it so here I am," he answered truthfully..
"Um... so, you don't know who the host of this party, Kyle M., is?"
"Wait, I know him. But like, not really, you know?"
"No, I don't. Elaborate."
"Okay, so I know him because this Kyle guy always organizes such events. Like almost two to three times a year. We get each and every invite to attend his parties. And honestly, he's a hit in doing all of this," he spoke, waving his fingers all around.
I furrowed my brows and narrowed my eyes. "I am sensing a but here."
"Yeah that's because there is. Nobody knows who Kyle is and he started doing this just a few years ago. He always says that he's gonna show up, you know, to do the host stuff and all but here's the thing. He never does. Everybody literally just comes here in the hopes that one day, he'll stop with his pranks and show us his face. Let me tell you, though, that his parties are extravagant." He chuckled.
The wheels in my mind started churning at once. "Then I don't think he would be showing up today either," I said it more to myself than Cameron but he heard it anyway.
"Hmm? How can you be so sure?" He seemed bewildered now.
"Just a hunch." I paused, contemplating my next words. "Then did no one ever think that it might be a pseudonym?"
"Trust me, we think that. Because it doesn't even make sense, right? Like you have to be rich enough to be holding such expensive events at such expensive venues. If you have so much money, your name has to shine out in the business world."
"Agreed." I nodded my head slowly in understanding. "Meaning it could be anyone. They might even be attending this yet no one would know. I bet Kyle M is present here but as his real person." I smirked as if I just solved a murder case.
"It could be possible. Who knows, right? Why do you think my father always sends me here? He loves a good mystery," Cameron finished, laughing in the end.
I just smiled at him, feeling triumphant all of a sudden. It could be Ms. Maxwell but in such a heavy crowd, I couldn't even spot her. Maybe she could, she just has those sharp senses. Or maybe, it could be someone else entirely. Someone who Ms. Maxwell hired.
The song came to an end and Cameron soon left after hugging me but he kept his distance which I was grateful for.
A new song came on but this time it was soothing, almost like enjoying a moment on a beach with waves crashing against the shore.
"You wouldn't mind if I wrap my arms around you, would you?" His deep voice whispered in my ear huskily. A delightful shiver ran down my spine. "And have this dance with you," he murmured from behind me.
I didn't dare to look at him but I could feel my heart at peace by just hearing his voice. His fingers lightly grazed on my waist and he wounded his arms around me, all the while circling to stand in front of me.
"Would you?" Skye repeated.
"I would," I joked but smiled nonetheless. I felt like I might even cry with all the emotions brewing inside of me.
"That broken path,
didn't mislead me,
but helped me to find yours.
A token of wrath,
hadn't stopped me,
but helped me to close all the wrong doors.
Turn around, call me back.
Hold my hand 'cause I'm done seeing black."
To hide my oncoming blush, I buried my face in his chest. I had to do that because his intense gaze was pulling at my heart strings in a good way, of course and I didn't know what to think of that.
"Let go of all the problems,
That are breaking our strings.
Keep me dancing,
'Til I can't breathe.
Just one look in your eyes,
I've forgotten all the lines.
Hold me close, got no remorse,
For you've become,
That chosen path."
I still had my face hidden when his chest rumbled with laughter. A smile of my own grew up on my lips.
Skye lifted up my chin and I was lost in his pools of gray like always. "I am sorry."
Tightening my arms around him, I swayed to the beautiful song and smiled up at him. It was my way of forgiving him. It was my way of hiding the realness behind my feelings so that he wouldn't know.
It's true. I love Skye Williams.
"Running through the field of meadows,
Glistening like the cute, little dewdrops,
are your beautiful eyes.
Quicker than the river flows,
beats my heart,
like you own it.
For you've become,
My only path."
"Did I tell you how beautiful you look tonight? No wait, that came out wrong. You always look... beautiful," he told me confidently but a light dusk of pink was coating his cheeks.
I pursed my lips to hide my smile. "Did I tell you how dapper you look tonight? But oh, wait, there's no point because you always look... debonair."
"Are you flirting with me, Ms. Glow?" He began smirking slowly and holy schmuck, did he look really beautiful at that moment.
"Sure." I winked. Sure, I could blame and hide behind this "Glow" personality but still be able to speak the truth.
The song ended but I didn't want this breathtaking moment to end so soon. Our moment. I wanted to be wrapped up like this in his arms forever. Skye glanced toward the stage and gave a two finger salute to the singer who did the same.
"You know him?" But Skye just flicked my forehead lightly.
I don't know what I was doing but it was like my body had a mind of its own. I hugged Skye and this time without listening to my restraining side. God, does it feel so good. I felt ignited when he did the same before placing his head on top of mine.
~♡☆~♡☆~♡☆~♡☆~♡☆~♡☆~♡☆~
Can anyone guess who's the singer?😂🤭
Also, like, yeah, I finally updated a chapter after about a month, I guess. Sue me, lol.
P.S. I wrote that song hehe✨