ONE

ONE

LILY

“Do not embarrass me today, Lily. I expect that you will be on your best behavior and represent the family well” My father says as he hurries inside my room.

I am facing the vanity mirror but I can feel his eyes on my back as he is taking in my appearance. I am sure he is impressed by the dress I have chosen because he says nothing to counter it.

“When have I never represented the family?” I ask, the sarcasm evident in my voice.

“Do not speak to me that way, young lady” my father snaps back, his eyes glittering in the dim of my room.

I sigh, already feeling the headache come on.

The very same headache I have always had since I was a child. My father had money but not even his money and the numerous doctors could diagnose what was wrong and why I always went into fits and sometimes passed out.

The conclusion was that I was weak child and I probably was going to die early in life; not like my father’s behavior towards me was helping matters.

“You are the reason we are having this auction so please put a fucking smile on your face” he grumbles at me, turning around to leave.

I keep a straight face until I am sure he is out of the room before I stare at myself in the mirror, smiling like a clown.

The daughter of the Blake’s family has to know how to give a wide smile.

My mind drifts as I pick on the perfume bottle in front of me, smiling as the scent pervades my nostrils.

It helps me remember the boy who had first given it to me as a child.

The boy I had fallen hopelessly in love with and who at this moment still brought an ache to my chest.

The boy who had taken the money my father had offered him and left me alone.

He had been bought just like everyone my father came in contact with.

I sigh loudly this time, slipping my feet into the impossibly high heels I am going to be wearing for the night, putting the mask over my eyes and walking out the door, straight downstairs to meet the man my father has picked to be my date for the night.

He is handsome but I cannot help but compare him to Nickolas who even as a child had been impossibly handsome.

I wonder if he still thinks of me just as I do every time, I wonder if he remembers his betrayal towards me or if, like the wind I have faded from his mind.

“Meet Edward; he is going to be your escort for the night and if he performs well, you will both be seen in public together from tonight” My father says with triumph in his voice.

Edward bows low to me as I descend the stairs, stopping in front of him.

“It is a pleasure, Lily” He smiles, bringing out a hand for me to take.

I say nothing but take his hand and allow him lead me towards the limousine parked outside. My mother is nowhere in sight as usual but I am sure she is watching from the sidelines like she always did as she allowed my father pimp me to different men.

It could be anyone if it helped in his ambitions of becoming one of the wealthiest politicians in the country.

I am forced into the limo like a lamb led to the slaughterhouse and even when Edward tries to make conversation with me. I tune him out, plastering a smile on my face and nodding occasionally to whatever he is saying.

We arrive at the event and I am ushered in to take my seat at the head of the table.

The auction as my father loved to call it is going to be a donation to homes that houses sick children and I am his poster girl. It is part of his election campaign and I am to just sit down and smile like the world is perfect and I do not feel like I am being choked to death by him.

I am breathing fast now as my father begins the introductions and the masked faces of every person in the hall is on myself and my mother who had walked in with me.

She is smiling also, her eyes glittering from her mask but I can tell that she is not happy; we have never been happy.

Breathe, I tell myself… breathe and it will soon be over.

It becomes a chant in my head as I continue saying it until I can no longer hear the loud and booming voice of my father. I am focused on the pounding in my chest and the butterflies waging a brutal war in the recess of my stomach.

We are soon asked to join the dance floor and soon I am lost in the crowd, fleeing from everything that makes me who I am and just blending in with the masked people.

Suddenly, I feel eyes on me and when I turn, I am robbed of breath as I stare into the hollow eyes of the masked man standing before me.

I feel like I know him from somewhere, like he is someone I have been waiting for all my life and in that moment, nothing mattered to me than the fact that he is here. I cannot help the tingle that races up my spine as he continues staring at me, his eyes seeming to search deep into my soul.

I do not know how long I stood there, robbed of breath until he raised two fingers in a salute.

I turn around and flee, searching for a familiar face and stumbling into Edward but I cannot help but feel his stare on my back, branding me and daring me to turn around for another dangerous peek.