So you're probably thinking omigosh Avery how cliché! Just as you're talking about having no one to dance with along comes a really hot guy who wants to dance with you. If that's what you're thinking well you're wrong. Real life is a funny thing you know…
"Would you care for a dance?" I lock eyes with an older gentleman who is reaching his hand out to me. He smiled kindly and I smiled back. Okay, so this isn't exactly what you had in mind. But it is a guy and he is asking you to dance, I thought. "I saw that you were standing by yourself and I thought to myself that no woman that beautiful should be all alone."
"Thank you. That is very nice of you to say."
"So Miss…?" He looked at me, waiting for an introduction.
"Miss Waldorf." I said with slight hesitation. I felt bad lying to this sweet old man but I couldn't exactly tell him who I am. For all I know he could be the dean of UCLA.
"Miss Waldorf." The older man's eyes light up and he takes another step towards me. "Would you like to dance with me?"
No. That's what I want to say. Because I loathe dancing, especially ballroom dancing. And two because my stomach is feeling kind of funny after all that food. Now that I'm thinking about it I probably shouldn't have eaten 5 of those mini-hamburgers. But I was raised to be polite and gray-haired gentleman asking me to dance at fancy balls are no exception.
"I would love to." I smile widely and curse Blake for leaving me to fend for myself. The man eagerly grabs my arm a little too hard for my liking and pulls me to the dance floor.
"So you know my name. I think it's fair of me to ask what your name is." I attempt to make conversation, while trying to sneak a peek at my feet to make sure I'm not stepping on his shoes.
"Alexander Moreno." He spins me around fast and I am no longer worried about myself screwing everything up. This man is doing a fine job of making a mess all by himself.
We don't say anything for a few moments and Mr. Moreno elbows a couple near us as he picks up speed just as the song starts to slow down. Does this man know anything about rhythm?
"What do you do for a living, Mr. Moreno?" I ask, hoping that by forcing him to communicate it will get him to slow his feet down.
He laughs hollowly and gives me a quick "Stocks." I wonder why he asked me to dance. It certainly wasn't to get to know me better.
"Ms. Waldorf." He says my name all breathy and slow. He steps hard on my toes and I hope that he hasn't left a mark. Jimmy Choo will be expecting them in near perfect condition tomorrow morning.
"Yes?" I ask calmly. My toe is throbbing but I try to not let any of my annoyance seep into my voice. Someone younger must have paid off the DJ because Pompeii by Bastille starts playing and everyone stops ballroom dancing and bumps their heads and sways to the beat. Mr. Moreno leans closer into me and hugs me halfheartedly as if we are back in middle school about to slow dance for the first time. It feels as if every eye in the room is on me and not for any reason that I would like. He puts his meaty palms around my waist and I try to focus extra hard on the words coming out of his mouth, but the cologne he poured on tonight is making it hard to breathe. He reminds me of a high school boy who just discovered AXE.
"Would do you say about getting out of here? I have the penthouse suite at the Beverly Hills Hotel."
"Excuse me?" I ask, thinking that there is no way in hell this man could be serious. He's hardly said two words to me and he has the gall to ask if I will go back to his hotel with him.
"You think I haven't noticed, Miss Waldorf?" He leers at me and moves his fingers up and down my back. The hairs on the back of my neck stand up straight and a shiver runs down my spine. I want this man to stop touching me and I want it now. "You have been all over me since we started dancing. Did you think I wouldn't pick up on those glances and looks you've been giving me? I know you want it. And I want it too." He whispers the last part right in my ear, a move that he probably thinks is sexy but in reality has me two seconds away from kicking him in the balls showing him just how much I really want him.
"No." I shake my head and try to wiggle out of his grasp. "I'm sorry that you seem to have picked up on some mixed signals but I am not going to your hotel with you."
"Why not darling?" His hands leave my waist and start to travel lower, stopping at my butt. I move to get out of this man's grasp but my dress is heavy and long and his hands are a lot stronger than they look, so when I jerk to the left nothing happens except a swish of my dress. I can't even kick him in the balls because the fabric is too bulky to move upward. "I know you like this."
I open my mouth to scream loudly and try to get the attention of someone dancing around me, when a man appears at my side.
"Mind if I cut in?" This new man is much younger than Mr. Moreno and has shiny black hair. Mr. Moreno curls his lip in disgust, but removes his hands from me. Thank you, Thank you my black haired knight.
"We were actually just about to leave." Mr. Moreno grabs my wrist and begins to tug me along with him. My body starts to follow him but my feet remain firmly in place. I twist my wrist quickly to the side, a move I learned in self defense, and escape his grabby callused hands. He turns around in shock and looks at me wide-eyed. I flip him off and tell him hell will freeze over before I ever choose to willingly spend another second with him.
You look so wonderful in your dress…I love your hair like that…The way it falls on the side of your neck…Down your shoulders and back
Tenerife Sea by Ed Sheeran starts playing as I turn to face my knight in shining Armani. His face is covered by a black mask and as we stand there on the dance floor staring at each other(at least I think he was staring at me, it was kind of hard to tell with the mask and everything) I just go completely blank.
"Is that the dean of UCLA?" I ask, scrunching my eyebrows up.
The man in front of me begins to laugh. "No, why would you think that?" He smiles at me and my breath hitches in my throat.
"I don't know. Just wanted to make sure, I guess." I say, giggling.
"You're welcome you know."
"For what?" I ask, indignantly.
"For saving you." He smiles cockily.
"Saving me? You must be joking. You didn't save me. I was handling the situation perfectly all by myself." I fold my arms over my chest. Leave it to me to get stuck with the knight who needs a serious ego check.
"So you're saying you would have been fine if I had not intervened?" He scoffs.
"Well…" I ponder the question for a second.
"Exactly." He smiles triumphantly. Our eyes lock and I am the one to look away first as I roll my eyes exaggeratedly at him.
"Would you like to dance with me?" He extends a hand toward me and every inch of my body lights up.
"I don't know…"I say skeptically. "I didn't have such a good experience the first time around."
"Well that's because you weren't dancing with me." He pulls me in toward him and we start dancing.
And all of the voices surrounding us here…They just fade out when you take a breath, Ed Sheeran's voice sings melodically from the speakers.
"Mhmm." I curl in closer to this mysterious man. "I love this song."
"Me too." He whispers hoarsely.
"Really?" I turn my head and look up at him questioningly. "You know this song?"
"No." He laughs and his entire face lights up. I wish he would take off that damn mask, I think to myself.
"Then why did you say you liked it?"
"Because I am dancing to it with you." My breathing stops for a second and I become all too aware of all the places we are touching. His hand on the small of my back. My head resting on his shoulder. My mind shuts down and I stumble and step on his foot. Great, Avery.
"Sorry." I blurt out meekly. My face turns bright red but I'm sure with the mask and the lighting that he can't see a thing.
"No problem." He twirls me around and dips me and as the song comes to a close, our eyes are once again locked in a standstill, none of us looking away. The music fades away and a woman with big, poufy blond hair appears in the middle of the spotlight on the stage.
"Let's hear a round of applause for all the sponsors tonight who made UCLA's Alumni Gala of 2014 possible." I stop dancing and clap along with the crowd. "Today we are proud to celebrate UCLA's 95th year of educating America's and the world's youth. May there be many more years! In half an hour the silent auction will begin. With prizes like a week in the Hamptons or a meet and greet with Katy Perry you won't want to miss your chance to bid! Dinner will be served at 8 o'clock. Please grab your name cards if you haven't yet done so. Thank you so much for coming and don't forget to donate to the UCLA Foundation. Have a wonderful night!"
The music turns back to soft and classical tunes and the dancing couples began to slowly head over to the buffet or mingle with their old classmates.
I turn back to my mystery man and am surprised to find him studying me intently.
"You look really familiar to me. I feel like I've seen you before."
I turn away fast and hope that I haven't just blown my cover.
"What years did you attend UCLA?" He asks inquisitively.
"Umm" Thousands of thoughts fly through my head as I try to think of something to say. "It's kind of hot in here. I think I'm going to head outside." I turn away from him and walk as fast as I can in a dress that feels like it weighs twenty pounds and make my escape Cinderella-style.
Outside the air is crisp with a slight breeze and I walk around in the garden. No one else is visible but I do here a giggle or two from a bush nearby so I'm not completely alone.
I take a few deep breaths and take in my surroundings. There is a statue of the first dean of UCLA surrounded by a lot of lush green bushes and a bench dedicated to a Christopher Lago. In the middle of the garden is a fountain surrounded by pink tulips. I sit down on the bench and think about how different this night was supposed to turn out. I bet Blake is halfway to having Ryan Gosling's kids.
I hear footsteps heading toward me and look up to see the man in the black mask walking in my direction.
"Hey. Do you want some company?" He stands next to the bench and looks at it waiting for me to tell him to sit down. I'm not sure if I should, though. I want to be mysterious and anonymous tonight and that means not giving out my name or taking off my mask. I've only danced with this man for a few songs and I've already almost ruined everything.
"Yes, on one condition." I say smiling, "I had this whole idea in my head that tonight would be really special and magical in a fairytale way. I know that sounds really stupid, right? But I kind of want to keep my identity secret. That means no names are allowed to be exchanged and our masks have to stay on." I wait patiently for his response, taking in the noise of the fountain in front of me.
"You drive a hard bargain, Miss…" He frowns slightly. "Is there something I can call you? A fake name?"
"Waldorf." My alias is out of my lips before my brain has even had time to comprehend his question.
"Miss Waldorf." The corner of his lips turn up. He sits down next to me and we both stare at the fountain in a comfortable silence. It is strange that I feel so comfortable around him; usually if there is any silence I try to fill it up so that there is no awkwardness. But there is no awkwardness between the two of us.
"Am I allowed to ask you anything, Miss Mysterious?" I look at him and he is smiling.
"Maybe." I smile back at him. "Make it a good question though because you only get five."
"Five?" He raises his eyebrows, shocked. I nod firmly. "Fine. How did you know that man you were dancing with?"
"What?! Ewww. Why would you waste one of your questions on him?" I scrunch up my face and try to look as disgusted as possible. He laughs out loud and I blush.
"Seriously I have never seen him before in my life. He asked me to dance and I thought oh what a sweet old man and then he turned out to be a total pervert. The guy was a total psycho he thought I would go back to his hotel after a dance. Completely crazy." We laugh together and I hear the giggling in the bushes get louder.
"Okay, your turn." He says.
"Umm, okay. If you could be anywhere in the world where would you be and why?"
"Belmont Maine. My grandma owns a bed and breakfast there and she makes the best waffles in the entire world. She's in the hospital right now and I haven't been able to see her in a few months, so if I could be anywhere that's where I would want to be." He looks at me seriously and I notice that his eyes are a dark blue. They pop against all the black from his hair to his mask to his tuxedo.
"I'm sorry." I say, mentally kicking myself for asking such a stupid question.
We continue to talk and laugh for what seems like hours and hours. At one point, he puts his jacket around my shoulders when he sees that I am shivering and my heart feels so full that I worry that it might just burst at any moment.
"Do you know how beautiful you are?" His eyes flash a dark shade of blue and I flush bright red.
"I'm not beautiful." I say, looking down at my hands not wanting to meet his eyes.
"Yes, you are. And I wish you would take off that damn mask so I could see your face better." He looks imploringly at me and slowly touches his fingertips to the edges of my silvery mask.
"May I?" His face is so close now that thinking has no longer become an option. I'm wondering what is under his mask as well.
"A deal is a deal." I breathe, my brain a fuzzy hole.
He nods curtly and stands up abruptly. Shit, Avery. Look what you did now.
Walking over to the fountain, he bends down and picks a pink tulip. He grabs it out of the ground as delicately as one can yank a flower of the ground and comes down to sit right beside me.
"Will you accept this Tulip?" He breaks out in a boyish grin, referencing my answer to a previous question he had asked me about what my favorite reality tv show is: The Bachelor.
"Hmmm, I don't know." I tap my finger against my jaw, pretending to think really hard. "What about Edward Dickson?" I tilt my head toward the statue of the founder of UCLA.
"Ouch, I must be really off my game tonight if a dead guy is doing better than me." He clutches at his chest and acts like I have personally hurt him.
"Thank you." I giggle and grab the tulip and sniff it delicately. I look up and find him looking at me. His blue eyes are intense and making me feel like this bench is the only place in the whole entire world. I breathe quietly and the energy between is practically visible. I look at his lips and he leans in slowly and closes the gap and then I'm not thinking at all. My brain has shut off. Kissing is a weird mixture of feeling dead and alive. I feel like someone could smack me over the head and I wouldn't bat an eye. I am not aware of the birds above us or the music wafting outside. However, every cell in my body feels electric and I don't think I've ever felt this alive. His touch is fire hot and I'm not sure what to do with my hands so I let them lay gently at my side. He breaks away after the first kiss and to my shock I am the one who leans in again for a second, then a third, and a fourth. From faraway I hear a loud noise but I ignore it and go back to kissing this stranger. I am kissing a total stranger and loving it.
"Avery! Avery, is that you? Thank God"
I tear myself away from him and open my eyes. They feel so heavy. And I don't want to open them. I want to close them again and go back to kissing Prince Charming.
"Avery!" I look over and see Blake waving her arms around and heading straight at me.
"Shit." Leave it to Blake to screw up the one perfect moment of my life. The man in the mask turns around and looks at Blake and then back at me.
"Avery, we need to go now!" She takes long strides towards me and then yanks me onto my two feet. I feel as if I am in a trance. Nothing about this night, the kiss or Blake's interruption, feels real.
"Avery?" The man in the mask is looking at me as if I am a stranger(which I guess in all honesty I am). He takes off his mask and confusion is splattered all over his gorgeous features.
"Dominic?" I ask, incredulously. This is crazy. This is not normal. This is cinematic. What is Dominic doing here? Omigosh, I just kissed Dominic. I kissed Dominic!
The night is over though and the magic has been ruined. Blake pulls me away before I can say anything to Dominic and we both start running towards the ballroom. Two Cinderellas making their escape before turning back into paupers.
We run and run until we are back in the dorms and safe from whatever Blake was so worried about.
My phone beeps and beeps, presumably texts from Dominic, but I don't move.
I want this night to be perfect. I can wait to see what he has to say until tomorrow.
I collapse into my bed and sit there thinking about my fairytale night while still wearing my sparkly Cinderella dress. I want to put off turning into a pumpkin for as long as possible.