My mouth opened slightly as I saw him. He was dressed in black dress pants that fit him so perfectly it made me salivate, and a black button-down shirt with the cuffs at the sleeves turned up. He had left a few of the top buttons undone, and I could see the top few lines of his tattoo peeking out from above the opening of his shirt. He ran his hands through his ebony hair, which poked out in every direction. With the combination of his nose ring and his wild eyes, it made him look even more tantalizingly rebellious than usual.
“You okay?” he asked when he saw me stop in my tracks in the doorway.
“Yeah,” I said, his voice ripping me from my trance. “It’s just…”
Adam raised an eyebrow at me as he waited for me to finish what I was saying.
“You look so hot,” I blurted out.
I actually can’t believe that I said that.
He laughed and walked over to kiss me. And when he let go, there was a boyish grin that rested on his face.
“I’ll let you get dressed,” he said. “I’ll be waiting in the living room—with Michael.” He rolled his eyes at that last part.
He was so gorgeous. I started thinking about coming back to the apartment after the gala and taking each of those articles of clothing off him, one by one. I stood still for a minute and imagined what it would be like to make love to him, with the sprawling roots inked over his chest wrapping around me. Then I snapped myself out of it so that I wouldn’t make us late.
After I finished getting dressed, I clasped the pendant behind my neck and took one last look in the mirror. The dress fit perfectly. It hugged every curve, and the bones inside the bodice showed just the right amount of plunging cleavage. I managed to not do too terrible of a job with my hair, and it looked like carefully selected pieces were falling down onto my bare shoulders. They happened to just have landed like that, but it worked all the same. For the first time in a long time, I thought I looked pretty. I added one more thing, a glossy lip shimmer that made my lips look as if they were wet with dewdrops and fairy dust, and then I walked out of the bedroom.
Adam stood up when he saw me come down the hall, and he didn’t even need to say anything because his eyes said it all.
“Wow,” he said quietly. “You look absolutely stunning.”
“Thanks,” I smiled. “It’s the dress.”
Then, he shook his head. “No, it’s not, it’s you.”
And his words caught my breath in my lungs as his eyes met mine.
The aquarium was only a short ride away, and when we got there, it was already bustling with people. Only Lineage people, of course, Goldshire was not invited.
I asked Adam to take a picture of me and send it to Julian since he couldn’t come, and since he hadn’t seen me in a dress in years. I figured he’d be amused by my ability to clean up well. I hadn’t been prepared for all the eyes that would turn to look at me as we walked in.
“Why is everyone staring at us?” I asked, feeling suspicious and uncomfortable.
My eyes darted from one person to the next person around the room. I didn’t know most of them, and those that I did know, I didn’t trust.
“Because you are breathtakingly beautiful,” Adam whispered in my ear as we continued to walk in arm-in-arm.
“Or because they know I’m Pauline’s daughter,” I murmured.
When I said my mom’s name, it felt so strange on my tongue that I almost wanted to cry. It made me realize that I hadn’t said her name in many months. It also made me remember my purpose for being here at all.
As we walked through the crowds of people, eyes turned to look at me, and I felt the stare of nearly every man in the room, even Michael’s. He was standing to the side at the front of the room, and I couldn’t help but notice that he couldn’t take his eyes off me either. It infuriated me that he was looking at me, and by the expression on his face, it infuriated him too. Even so, he couldn’t seem to pull his gaze away. Adam and I sat and drank wine and talked casually with the people around us. We also talked between ourselves and made up entertaining and outrageous stories about the people that we watched in the room.
People-watching was another thing that we seemed to have in common.
“The funny thing is that I bet at least one of the stories that we make up tonight will end up being true,” he said.
I laughed because he was probably right.
On a surface level, it seemed like a perfectly innocent gathering. Food, drinks, and a setting inside a room walled by large tanks of sea creatures provided a unique and elaborate experience. Even the twinkling blue strands of lights that I remembered as a child were strung overhead to create ambient lighting that made it feel like we were inside the ocean itself. It was difficult not to get sidetracked, especially by Adam. The more I spent time with him, and the more I felt his touch and saw his smile, the more I started to develop feelings for him. They weren't the kind of feelings that come and go in a lustful moment, but the kind that had me thinking about how we could possibly find a way to be together after this was over.
“I’m going to use the restroom,” I said to him as I pushed my chair back and stood up.
“I’ll come with you.”
“You’re going with me to the lady’s room?” I teased.
“At least let me walk you there,” he insisted.
I giggled. “Adam, I’ll be fine. We’re in the middle of a highly crowded gala inside the aquarium. I’m just going to the bathroom; I’ll be right back.”
He didn’t look pleased, but he sat back down. It might have been the wine that made me feel less wary that I probably ought to have been.
After I left the lady’s room, I walked back through the clustered gatherings of socializing people toward the table where I left Adam. But one conversation among the others suddenly caught my attention. Someone had mentioned my name. I stopped and looked around, not too obviously but only as if I appeared to be trying to remember where my table was at. The more that I tried to listen, the more I realized there were multiple conversations going on at once that all had something to do with a new person in their leadership.
Strange, I thought to myself.
Michael’s mother was the Headmistress of Lineage. I wondered if she was getting replaced. Her family had been high-ranking board members of the college for several generations. I couldn’t imagine anyone who would have more of a claim on the school’s leadership that she did. I didn’t know anything about Michael’s father, but for as long as I could remember, he never existed.
I mean, obviously biologically speaking, he existed, but he was never a part of the picture. It was always Marta who led the family, raised Michael, and headed-up the school ever since I could remember. I weaved in and out of the crowds and conversations, trying to pick up as many bits and pieces of information that I could, which I would assemble in my head later after the gala was over.
“He will be revealed at the charity event,” someone said a few steps away from me. “I can’t even remember the last time Lineage had a new Headmaster.”
Headmaster? Maybe Marta wasn’t being replaced, maybe she was joining up with someone, or even getting married maybe?
