We pulled up in front of a grand hotel whose name I couldn't catch before the car stopped in the patio. A black suited guard opened the Audi's door to let me out. I stepped out in the high heels, matching with the dress but not with the person wearing them. I was so not used to wearing such heels.
Balancing myself firmly I stood up straight while being utterly conscious of my bare back and limited fabric around my breasts. Noberto had repeated I was looking perfect before we started from Fritz mansion but I was nowhere close to feeling perfect. May be the dress was perfect, but for its rightful owner, which wasn't me. I was not made for such dresses.
Still, I had changed my dress at Fritz mansion like yesterday and got ready for the party. But when Noberto had seen my footwear, he had pulled out couple of racks full of women shoes. There was one of every kind. He had pulled out a pair of golden stilettos and told me to wear them. I had somehow managed to convince him that I will not be able to walk in such killers. Instead I had searched for something else with less of heels.
Unfortunately, none of them were less than four inches. Finally I had settled for a black footwear with block heels. Fortunately it had fit me too. Though I was still not very confident, I was about to move around without falling on my face. That is, I had not yet fallen on my face till I reached the hotel. Who knew what would happen later!
Noberto handed the keys to the valet and stretched his hand towards me to take my hand. Before I know it, I was holding on to his hand as if my life depended on it and being ushered into a brightly lit glamorous hotel.
Noberto seem to know the place as he took me straight to the lift and within few seconds, we had reached the floor where the party was happening. Just when we were about to step out of the lift, Noberto squeezed my hand and whispered softly, "Breathe."
I looked at him in amazement and released the breath, I myself didn't know I had been holding. We walked out of the lift, took few turns and reached an entrance. Another pair of dark suited men, greeted Noberto and opened the door to usher us inside.
It was a grand sophisticated party with a large crowd of well-dressed men and women. Almost everyone seem to be knowing everyone else with lots of hugs & kisses being exchanged. Noberto seem to one of the favourites with everyone coming to greet him the moment we stepped in. That the number of women around him was significantly bigger than the men was no surprise to me.
Some of the ladies were openly swooning on him but what surprised me was that he didn't let go of my hand. At some level, I was even grateful to him for his support though it was he who was responsible for dragging me here when this was the last place I wanted to be.
Parties were not my cup of tea. I had hardly attended parties in my life, except the ones where I was working as a waitress. And even those were disaster for I would never have a minute to relax. By the time they would get over, I would be drowned in fatigue, praying to be out of that clustered, crowded environment. I never enjoyed these things like an everyday teenager.
So, being there was obviously not something I was very happy about but I had to give him credit for he had probably sensed my unease and therefore kept his word of keeping me close to him throughout.
Not that gesture was truly helpful in every way. I could detect open dislike, in some case even hostility directed towards me from some of those elegantly dressed ladies around Noberto. They would either ignore me completely or when Noberto introduced me, they would acknowledge my presence half-heartedly, before quickly going back to pandering all their attentions on him.
One such instance, I suddenly felt a glass of drink tripped over me by one of such desperadoes. She was immediately quite apologetic, crooning artificial sorry and offering to get the dress cleaned up for me but I could pick up the negative vibe from her.
I was shocked to see how it all worked in the so called sophisticated high society. If this is how they behaved when she was just a model working with Noberto what would they do to his real partner? Tear her to pieces and then offer in their saccharine laced voices to sew her back together?
I excused myself from the group and went in to look for a restroom. Noberto looked at me with question but I smiled back at him to let him know I was okay.
In reality, I was not okay. I was not one of them. I was a misfit here. Not even twenty minutes here and I was already feeling the need to get out. The place and the people were closing on to me. They were hypocrites and they were mean. And I had no business to be here. No business to give them the impression that I was his love interest or his partner, inviting their delirious loathing when none of it was true.
If they were so interested in him, they were more than welcomed to pose nude for him. From the way most of them were dressed, it didn't appear they would have any trouble shedding those two bits.
But then what about you? What about your job and the money you get to buy medicines and food for your father? The voice inside my head spoke.
And that got me back to reality. It was true I a misfit there. I was not one of them. And it was also true that I was not there for the reasons they were there. I had come to this party as part of my job. Yes, my job. I am supposed to be here as part of my work with Noberto. He had taken me here because he wanted me to know first-hand how this world works and to know what I have gotten myself into.
I was not here to enjoy the party so I should stop pretending to be like others. Let the other ladies do what they like. I need to focus on my work.
With that clarity finally in my mind, I pulled myself up and went back to the party. There was no reason to be feeling victimized or helpless, I decided to play my part and leave as soon as I could. Feeling better, I went back to look for Noberto. But Noberto was nowhere to be seen. My recently found confidence started leaving me quickly. Where was he?
I didn't know anyone else in this party. They were all strangers to me. Noberto was the only one who knew me here but with him gone, I was clueless what to do. Should I go around looking for me? But what if he came back looking for me? He knew I had gone to the washroom. I kept waiting for long, hoping to find Noberto in the crowd around but he didn't show up. With every passing minute, I was getting more and more worried.
Just when I thought I couldn't stand there any longer, I heard a familiar voice.
"Melanie, is that you?"
I turned around to look at Albert's face watching me with surprise. He was wearing a dark navy suit and looking quite handsome. That's when I remembered it was Albert who had organized for Noberto to attend this party. I was relieved to find a known face in that see of strangers. Though it was an exaggeration to call him a known face, I quickly rushed to be close to him, not realizing till then, how much worried I really was.
"You look.. stunning." He completed his sentence after a pause. I could see genuine surprise in his eyes. May be he was not expecting me here, I thought. Then I saw him watching me and I looked down at myself to realize that he was more surprised with my dress. I saw the patch on the dress which was though not very clear but was visible when watched closely.
"This.. uhmm.. a lady spilled her drinks on me," I said self-consciously.
"No, no, I am sorry. I didn't mean to stare. You are looking beautiful in that dress," he said quickly. I became more conscious of myself even though I thought his eyes didn't seem to suggest anything negative.
I lowered my eyes and didn't know what to say to that. We stood there quietly, not knowing what to say. It was strange for me to stand with him when we didn't have anything common between us.
Except Noberto, who was nowhere around.
"You came with Noberto?" He asked me and I nodded in response.
There was another long pause. We stood there in silence for some more time.
"I never got to apologize to yo-," he had just started when Noberto suddenly came back and cut him in between.
"There you are. Come with me. Quickly," he said and got hold of at my hand. Without waiting for my response, I was hurried away towards the crowd. He didn't say where he was all this time or where he was taking me.
I tried looking back at Albert seeing that he was speaking to me when Noberto came back but he just smiled back and told me to continue with nod of his head.
It was a pain walking in those sandals and with Noberto dragging me, it was becoming even more difficult. I was shit scared I will break a leg, mine or the one I step onto.
And then suddenly Noberto stopped. He swirled me around and pulled me close in his arms. It was all too sudden for me to react but proximity to him was too much to act normal. I looked around and found myself on a dance floor with couples dancing all around.
I raised my eyes to his in alarm. "I don't know h-"
"Relax," Noberto didn't let me complete. It was easier for him to say.
"No. I mean I haven't ever done this before," I tried explaining it to him but he was in no mood to listen.
"Good. You can thank me later. I seem to be teaching you a lot of your firsts," he said with a smirk on his face.
That seemed to silence me. I didn't know what to say in such circumstances. Especially as his hand snaked around my waist and pull me further in his arms. It was impossible to continue breathing let alone talk or even look upto his face. Had I looked up, I would have seen his eyes were fixed at a woman behind me.
As his hand moved up my bare back, I felt my blood freezing in my veins. His other hand moved my right hand onto his shoulder too and came back to settle in the small of my back. I was dangerously close to him when he whispered in my ears, "You should have tied your hair up."
I don't know if it was his words or the touch of his lips around my ear lobes which gave me goose bumps all over my body. I was not even sure if I understood what he meant. My brain or the part of it that was still functional was debating if I should ask him but then I was saved the embarrassment when the song that was playing came to an end.
Nobert didn't release me immediately. I slowly raised my head to find him looking intensely behind me. I turned around and found myself staring at a woman in the arms of another man.
The woman was Greta.
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Dear Lovely Readers,
So Melanie is at the party and she gets to meet Greta.
What do you think will happen next with Greta being there?
Let me know what you think and don't forget to vote for the chapter as you wait for the next update. Believe me, I have planned out lots for us.. I mean Noberto and Melanie:) But I need to see your votes, so keep them coming (author dreaming greedily...)
Love,
Anna