Chapter Three

“Where did you get your dress, Hera?” Nina asked me for the umpteenth time that evening. Her hand ran over the fabric of my dress.

“I told you that already.” I said, looking ahead. We were currently on a hummer bus, Gabriel one of the chauffeurs of that house was driving us to the location of the event.

“No, you didn’t. The fabric feels so silk and real. If I didn’t know any better, I would have said it was an original. I only know it’s a clone because I know you could never afford the real thing but not many people at the party will know that. You might even get convinced for one of the guests. It’s just so…so real that it makes my dress look shabby. Tell me where you got it from?”

I squirmed in my seat knowing that I would have to lie to her about the dress. I’d never felt comfortable lying to people ‘cause I didn’t really see the point of telling lies but then again I couldn’t exactly tell her that the boss gave it to me. I couldn’t tell her that Dylan gave me the dress because I didn’t want her to get any weird ideas. I know the only reason he got me the dress was because he felt responsible for what his wife did to me. The dress was like a way to appease me but Nina would never understand that. She might start filling my head with theories that will only make me get my hopes up.

“I-I got it from a- a thri-thrift store.” I said staring straight ahead. I couldn’t meet her eyes ‘cause I feared that if I did, she would know that I was lying.

“What?!” She exclaimed and suddenly grabbed my arm, startling me. “A thrift store? What thrift store? Tell me.” She pleaded with wide brown eyes.

I shifted in my seat.

“Um, I- It was the one around the corner of…not far from Mr. Johansson’s home. I got it that day Mrs. Amelia asked me to…” I trailed off not knowing what else to say. It was such a task to lie, I can’t believe how easy it comes to some people. I was silently hoping she would just drop the topic and forget about my dress but well, she didn’t.

“You’re so gonna be taking me there. How does next weekend sound? When Mr. Marshall and his family go to church?”

“Um Nina, Mr. Johansson’s house is quite far away and—”

“Don’t worry about the bus fare. I would be covering the bill.” She grinned widely at me. I bit the inside of my cheeks wondering if there was any way I could avoid the situation I found myself in.

I let out a silent sigh when I realized that it was near impossible to escape from Nina. She was so adamant and the huge smile on her face just told me that she can’t wait till next Sunday.

And this is why I hated lying, it just brings you more problems.

We were the first to arrive at the venue like every year (besides the waiters). Nina entwined her arms with mine as we walked into the large room that was elegantly decorated. The hall decoration is never the same each year. The ambiance every year outshines the one from the previous year.

“OMG! This is so…” Nina gasped as she looked around the large room. She pulled us over to the refreshment table that was at the far corner of the room. “And this is the best part about working for Amelia Johansson.” She said just as she picked up a glass of champagne from the table and downed the content in a go.

“Um Nina, I don’t think we are supposed to touch that.”

“Relax Hera, the witch isn’t here yet, the least we can do is enjoy ourselves and pretend like we are one of the elites. I’m pretty sure the next time I would get the chance to drink a glass of champagne like that is in three hundred and sixty-five days.” She picked up a round mini chocolate with a golden wrapper from a basket and unwrapped it. “You only live once, remember.” She said and then threw the chocolate in her mouth. “Oh my goodness Her, you have to try this.” She said with slightly wide eyes. “I have never had chocolate that tastes so expensive. Hmmm, this sure is heavy on earth I tell you.” She picked up to golden chocolate balls and unwrapped one. “Open,” she said as she placed the naked chocolate in front of my lips.

“Nina, I don’t think—” I almost choked on the ball that rolled down my throat. Nina had taken advantage of me speaking and then put the chocolate in my mouth.

“No talking Hera. I don’t want you behaving like the uptight girl the evil witch turned you to. Tonight is the only night you get to be yourself, to be the real Hera, the bold Hera I know that is somewhere down her.” She placed a hand on my chest. “Who cares about rules? I mean they were literally made to break them and that my friend is what we’ll be doing tonight.” Nina picked up two champagne glasses and held one out to me which I took without any protest. She clicked our glass together and down our throats, the champagne went.

******

The air smelt rich.

Two hours has passed and the party was now in full zeal. The hall was filled with hundreds upon hundreds of the richest elites. The men were dressed smartly in their overpriced designer suits and their dates were dressed in the most elegant dress. There was chattering going around as business partners and acquaintances exchanged pleasantries with a glass of sparkling wine in their hands. There were smiles and waves of laughter everywhere and as I walked around the hall with a tray of champagne glasses in hand, all I could wonder about was why Dylan wasn’t there yet.

And yes I was able to tell that he wasn’t at the party yet because each time the large double doors were swung open, my eyes would snap up at the door to see if he was him. And the moment I saw it was someone else, a frown would settle on my face.

I don’t know why I was so excited to see him. It could be maybe I wanted him to see me in the dress he bought me.

They never used to take this long to arrive at the party. I wouldn’t be surprised if Amelia had started another fight again and thus made them extra late.

“Ms. Can I get a glass of sparkling water please?” A woman who looked to be in her early forties asked me. It was the third time she had requested something from me that night. The first time she saw me walking around with a tray in hand she had asked why I was helping the waiters with their job as she had thought I was one of the guests. I had to tell her that I wasn’t a guest but rather that I was working as a waitress that night. She then proceeded to ask me where I got my dress from as it had been the reason why she thought I was a guest. I knew I couldn’t tell her the same thing I told Amelia ‘cause she looked like she could tell a real dress from the one you would find at a thrift store so I told her the truth or partially the truth. I told her my boss lent me one of her dresses.

“What a very nice boss you’ve got.” She had said and I had to bite my tongue to hold in my snort.

Dylan, yes but Amelia, oh please. She was literally the devil incarnate.

“Yes ma’am,” I said before walking over to the large kitchen to get her a glass of sparkling water.

On my way back, a lady bumped into me, dumping her white wine all over my dress.

“Oh my goodness!” She shrieked. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to—” she paused suddenly. Her scrutinizing gaze wandered around my face down to my dress and then to the tray I had in my hand. “What the fuck is wrong with you! Are you blind? You bitch, you ruined my dress! Do you know how much this costs?” I almost scoffed at her attitude switch when she realized that I wasn’t a guest but a waitress. I’ve come across obnoxious people like her, I mean I work for one of her kind.

“Ma’am, I’m sure we both know that you are at fault here. Ruined your dress?” I snorted. I couldn’t bite back my tongue, not when I already started besides this was me following what Nina said. Being myself. “Anyone with eyes would see that you barely got anything on your dress whereas I, you dumped your drink on me. If anyone here should be called blind I’m afraid that would be you.”

“You bitch!” She screeched before picking up the glass of sparkling water in my tray and threw it at my face. A few gasps were heard around me. I shut my eyes quickly when the liquid started to sting. “How dare you speak to be that way.”

“Bethany!” A man’s voice interjected. I couldn’t open my eyes because they stung badly. I turned around and tried to navigate my way to the bathroom.

“What? It was all her fault. She bumped into me and ruined my dress! She couldn’t even apologize.”

“Stop it, Bethany. You are putting on a show and people are staring, this isn’t what we talked about before coming here.”

I felt a hand on my back and was just about to push them off me when they said:

“It’s me,” Nina said and I relaxed. “I’m sorry that happens. It’s no surprise that there are many Amelias at events like this. But please tell me you didn’t apologize ‘cause I totally knew the bitch was at fault.”

“Of course, I didn’t. Who do you think I am?”

She chuckled. “Good!”

Nina walked me to the bathroom where I managed to wash my face with water and get out the drink from my dress.

“Thank God it was white wine so it didn’t leave a stain.” Nina said.

“But now my makeup is ruined.” I didn’t even get to see Dylan.

“Oh, you don’t have to worry about that. I got you.” She winked.

About thirty minutes later, we left the bathroom to resume back to our duties. And yes, my makeup was on fleek. Nina made that possible and I can even say that I looked better than I did before. I made a mental note to ask Nina later to teach me how to do my makeup.

By the time we got back to the hall, people had started dancing. I searched through the throng of people for the one bad I so badly wanted to see. The only man I was interested in seeing that night. My heart skipped a beat when I realized that he was there. I realized he had arrived not because I saw him but because I saw his wife, Amelia. They usually attended the party together so I knew he was somewhere in the hall.

But, where?

I continued to look around when suddenly a masculine voice beside me said.

“Hi.” I turned to look in the direction the voice came from. The first thing I noticed was his strikingly green eyes which were almost scary to stare at. His facial features reminded me of that of an Ancient Greek god. His face was cleaned shaven making his sharp jaw more prominent. His nose was straight and aristocratic. It looked too good to be natural that I started to wonder if he paid for it. His raven hair was gelled back and I could easily say that his look was out of this world as I had never met anyone as good-looking as that.

He didn’t look innocent or angelic, no, far from it. He had the kind of face that makes you want to sin and forget all your morals. He reminded me of the devil as he was just as handsome as the devil himself.

I blinked twice and looked behind me to check if he was really talking to me because men like him don’t talk to maids like me.

“I apologize for approaching you like this.” He said politely and my jaw almost went slack. People who look as good as him are never polite, never.

“D-do you n-need help with something?” I couldn’t help but stutter.

He shook his head. “I want to apologize for what Bethany did earlier. She could be a bit too much sometimes.”

My brows furrowed as I wondered who the hell was Bethany.

He must have sensed my confusion ‘cause the next thing he said was:

“I’m talking about the lady that threw her drink at you.”

“Oh.” Was all I could say. “Uh, it’s fine. I moved past that already.”

He didn’t say anything else all he did was stare at me in a way that made me uncomfortable.

“Do you, I mean did you come here with a date?” He asked. “Does he own a company in the city?”

I shook my head. It was flattering that even he didn’t think I was a waitress.

“No no. I came here alone— I mean with a friend we, I work as a waitress here, I’m not a guest.” I quickly explained.

“I apologize. I never would have guessed that you were a waitress.” His gaze held so much intensity and I just couldn’t handle it. I needed to get away from him.

“It’s fine. I need to get back to um work if you would excuse me please.” I said before walking away briskly. By getting back to my work what I met was walking away from him to another corner where I could search the hall for the love of my life. I wasn’t interested in talking to any man that wasn’t Dylan Marshall.

I continued to scan the hall for him and a small frown settled on my face when I saw Amelia again.

Just where in the world is he?

Unless,

He didn’t come?

Did Amelia ask him not to attend? Is she that insecure that she thinks he would cheat on her with another woman?

Suddenly I heard a masculine voice say beside me, jolting me out of my reverie.

“Are you looking for someone?” My heart leaped in my chest when I realized whose voice it was.

I turned and to my surprise it was him. The man I’d been wanting to see all night.

I think I’m gonna have a heart attack.