The Annual Charity Gala is one of the most important nights for the high-class people of New York and you could sense that as soon as you enter the venue.
The grand hall is filled with every champagne-colored decoration you could find under the sun but honestly, it looked breathtaking. There are multiple chandeliers and crystal balls hanging from the ceiling, which cast magnificent reflections whenever light hit them. The red roses placed on all the roundtables, scattered across the room, stood out beautifully.
Ethan and I enter the venue with linked arms and wide smiles. As we stand on the threshold, I feel Ethan's hot breath on the side of my face as he leans towards my ear, "You didn't tell me there's gonna be a red carpet."
His amused voice causes me to chuckle heartedly. He's right. We had to walk on a red carpet to get here. I completely forgot about that part, if I'm being honest.
Turning my face towards him, I move closer to him, so that my lips are almost touching him before lowering my voice to a whisper, "Are you complaining?"
My breath hitches as he leans down to place a kiss on my neck, "I never said that."
Fighting the smile on my face, I look at Ethan with wide eyes, "Behave, Mr. Knight."
"Hard to, when you look like that, Ms. Reed." He says. His eyes trail over me, agonizingly slow, and I can't help when a red hue takes over my face. Suddenly, the hall feels hotter than it was a second ago.
Before I could say something, a familiar voice makes me pull away from Ethan to create a more acceptable distance between our faces.
"Iris, is that you?"
Turning my face towards the voice, I come face to face with a slightly more mature but equally beautiful version of Dani.
"Yes, Lauren," I chuckle, lightly. "It's me."
"Oh, my." Coming closer, she instantly pulls me into a warm hug. "How long it has been?"
Lauren is Dani's mother, but honestly, she's been a mother to both of us. Once my world collapsed, she was the mother figure in my life who taught me everything I know today. In fact, she was the one who helped me move on from Chase after making me realize how big of an idiot he was.
'He's the world's biggest fool for letting a girl like you go by. You deserve the world, my dear.'
That's what she told me when I spent nights crying inconsolably in her arms.
Pulling back from her, I smile as I find her eyes filled with more warmth and love than my own mother, "It's been too long."
Her eyes flicker over to Ethan, who's standing quietly beside me and a knowing smile forms on her face. She doesn't move her eyes from him, "Is this...?" She trails off.
Blushing slightly, I nod. Grabbing Ethan's hand, I interlock our fingers before meeting his eyes. "Yeah, this is my boyfriend. Ethan Knight. You might know him. He's Mason's roommate."
Lauren has met Mason because Dani took a week off to come back home and she brought her boyfriend along.
"Hello, Ms. Ainsley." Ethan says with a sweet smile on his face and by the charmed look on Lauren's face, only I can see the nervousness behind his smile. "It's nice to meet you finally."
"Please call me Lauren." She says and her eyes flicker over to me with an amused glint for a second before returning to Ethan. "And the pleasure is all mine. I finally get to meet the famous Ethan Knight, who apparently has turned my Iris into a smiling fool."
Her words cause me to blush like a rose as Ethan chuckles along.
Before anyone could say anything else, the announcer picks up the microphone and asks everyone to gather around the stage.
"Oh, looks like we're starting," Lauren says, looking at the stage where a bunch of people are greeting and hugging each other. "I'll see you around, honey, and don't leave before meeting me." With a kiss on my cheeks, she's off to find her husband, I presume.
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The gala is in full swing. People are gossiping, dancing, laughing at their business partner's lame jokes, and pretending to be the closest of friends with that one person they hate the most in this huge hall.
But right now, the surrounding people are the least of my worries as I stand with my arms around Ethan's neck and sway to the soft music playing. We aren't the only ones on the dance floor, but it certainly feels like that to me because Ethan's the only one I could focus on.
"This isn't going as bad as I thought it would." He whispers, his lips brushing the shell of my ear with every word.
"Don't get your hopes up. We still have a few hours." I tell him, chuckling. I look up at him when I feel his arms tighten around my waist. When our eyes might, I can see the genuine happiness swimming in his eyes and I know he could see the same in mine.
When he didn't stop looking at me even after a few moments passed by, I feel my cheeks heat up. "What?" I asked, chuckling nervously.
"Nothing." He says, shaking his head slightly. "I just... Thank you for trusting me enough to share this part of your life with me."
There's something about this moment, something about his words that made my throat close up with emotions. Not knowing how to communicate the overwhelming feeling in my chest, I simply rise up on my tiptoes and pressed a kiss to his lips.
When I feel him smile against my lips, I pull back slightly to let my own smile blossom. I wish I could freeze time and stay in this moment forever. Just staring into Ethan's eyes with smiles on our faces while the world rustled around us.
A whirl of emotion passes over his face, but before I could understand them, someone clears their throat behind us, trying to get our attention.
Turning my neck slightly, I glance at the person standing behind me and instantly turn back around to face Ethan.
"Fuck me." I murmur, closing my eyes. "Did this really have to happen?"
"What's going on?" Ethan asked softly, his eyes flickering between me and the man standing behind me.
"Hey, Iris." The man behind me called out softly, and I groaned as all my hopes of this being a weird dream come crashing down.
I look up at Ethan to see the pieces finally come together in his head before he looks down at me for confirmation, "Yep, that's him."
Taking a deep breath, I turn again to face Chase, who is looking between Ethan and me with confusion written all over his face.
"Chase," I say, causing his focus to shift back to me from Ethan.
"Iris." He breathes out, with his hands in his pockets. As I let my eyes wander over him, I see the tension in his shoulders, making me think he's nervous.
Well, he should be.
"It's nice to see you after so long." He tells me with a small smile on his face.
I feel Ethan's hand tighten on my waist as he tucks me into his side. It catches Chase's attention as his gaze flickers over Ethan's hand wrapped around my waist and the other splayed on my hip.
"Wish I could say the same." I say, smiling sweetly at him.
For a second Chase looks surprised by my direct response before he looks down at his feet, "Yeah, I deserved that."
Humming in response, I engulf Ethan's hand that's laying on my hip with mine. "Anyway, Chase, meet Ethan, my boyfriend." I look up at Ethan and without meaning to, a smile forms on my lips.
The butterflies I feel while introducing him as my boyfriend will never get old.
I can practically see Chase's eyebrow touch his hairline when his eyes widen. "Boyfriend?"
"That's me," Ethan speaks up from the back, making my smile grow wider. God, at this speed, my cheeks are going to hurt by the end of the night.
Chase takes a moment to look at Ethan and I can tell he doesn't like what he sees by the way his body tenses all over again. Someone better than him.
After assessing Ethan, he looks back at me, "Iris, can we talk?"
"Unfortunately for me, we are already talking, Chase."
Sighing out, Chase massages his forehead in irritation while Ethan squeezes by hip in appreciation.
"I meant, in private?"
"No, we can't. I have nothing to hide from him. Whatever you wanna say, you can say it here. In front of him."
Looking between the two of us, he says, "I'd rather not talk in the middle of the dance floor."
I consider his words for a moment. I'm pretty sure whatever he has to say is far from pleasant and I also don't really want to create a scene here. If something like that happened, I would be the hot topic for at least a month.
I relax slightly when I feel Ethan lean down and brush his lips below my ear before whispering in a soft voice, "Don't worry about me. If you wanna talk to him alone, go ahead, and if you want me to stay beside you while you tear this asshole apart, then I'm right here."
Tilting my gaze slightly, I look into his eyes, only to find sheer honesty and freedom to make my decision without being pressured.
Turning back to Chase, I tell him in the hardest voice possible, "This is the last time you'll ever get to be in the same radius as me, alone or not. Make it quick."
I turn around in Ethan's arms and place a kiss on his lips, "I'll be right back." and understanding flashes into his eyes.
Walking towards Chase, I scoff when he offers me his arm and walks ahead towards the balcony with a roll of my eyes.
I enter the balcony and instantly feel a little colder than I did inside as the light chilly breeze kisses my skin. I hear Chase enter behind me and turn around to close the door, but he decided to leave it unlocked.
"You have two minutes." I tell him as he steps in front of me.
Instead of saying anything, he looks around for a second or two before glancing down at his feet and says, "So, you have a boyfriend now?"
I sigh when I hear his question. Is this what I'm going to waste my time on?
"Yes, I do."
Listening to my words, he looks up and meets my eyes with a hard stare, "So, you've moved on?"
"Well, your actions definitely helped." I scoff.
Throwing his hands, he looks at me with tired eyes, "Oh, come on, Iris. That was like two years ago or some shit. I was a kid."
I couldn't help myself as I burst out laughing. "Seriously? You were a kid? That's all you've got?"
Running his hands through his hair, he takes a step closer to me before saying, "You can't keep punishing me for something I did long back."
Looking between at the space between us, I raise an eyebrow at him, "Come any closer and you'll be walking out without a limb."
Shocked by my words, he raises his hands before taking a step back and re-establishing the distance between us.
"And to answer your stupid statement, I'm not punishing you, Chase."
He looks at me like he doesn't believe me. "Oh yeah? Well, then why do you have a boyfriend within months of us meeting again in LA?"
I can't believe I used to date this guy. "Contrary to what you believe, Chase, my world doesn't revolve around you. And I really don't owe you an explanation as to why am I with someone, but if that's what you need to stay miles away from me, then so be it." I take a deep breath, trying to calm myself. "Ethan is ten times the guy you'll ever be, and I'm not with him to move on from you. I'm with him because I have moved on from you."
My words don't seem to go down his throat smoothly by the way he's raking his hands through his hair and staring at me with narrowed eyes. "It was a mistake, Iris. Don't you think I deserve a second chance?"
"Yes, you deserve a second chance. Just not with me."
Just as I finish speaking, the doors of the balcony are pushed open and I immediately feel myself tense when I see my mother standing on the threshold. Chase turns around to see the new person involved in our conversation and for a hot minute, none of us say anything before, out of nowhere, my mother starts grinning.
Walking towards us, she spreads her arms towards Chase and side-hugs him. "You finally got her back to her senses, honey."
Oh my god, is this woman ever going to give it up?
Chase looks at her, scratching the back of his neck with his other hand before saying, "Caroline, actually..."
I interrupt him, loudly, "No, mom. I'm still very much out of my senses and I prefer to keep it that way."
Mom looks between us with skepticism written all over her face, wishing it's a cruel joke that we're playing on her. Realizing it's not a joke, she fixes me with a hard stare. "You know what, Iris?" She detaches herself from Chase and takes a step toward me. "I have always thought that one day you'd finally be on my side. That you'd finally do what's right by me, right by your mother... but no."
Exasperated, she huffs loudly, "You will always be selfish and look out for yourself. I'm your mother and all I've ever wanted was for you to be happy-"
Before she could complete her sentence or I could reply to her false claims, a loud voice filled with amusement says, "Do you really believe that, Caroline?"
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Hey guys! How're y'all doing?
One word for Mommy Reed?
Who do you think is the speaker of the last sentence? Also, I really, really can't wait for you to read the next chapter!
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QOTD: If you could have one mythical creature as your pet/friend which one would it be?
Stay safe, Stay grateful!