“Evelyn told me I would find you here. I wanted to touch base to see if there was anything else you needed help with before tomorrow’s event?”
“No, I think we’re good. I just received Carmen’s revised menu.” She picked up the menu and passed it to Tony. “It looks amazing.”
Tony took a few moments to review it before handing it back to Eve. “She’s very good.”
“Everything’s set. Oh, can you do me a favor?” Eve reached for the envelope with the tickets inside and handed it to Tony. “Can you give this to Lance? Or Amy. They worked so hard to make the ball a success I wanted to make sure they had a chance to enjoy it as well. Tickets for them.”
Tony took the envelope and slipped it inside his jacket pocket. “I’ll make sure one of them gets it. That’s very kind of you.”
Tony remained seated across from Eve, sipping his coffee. Once he finished it, he gently put the tiny cup back on to the tiny saucer. He slid it aside and within seconds of this happening, the disappearing waiter reappeared, scooped up the cup and saucer without stopping, then disappeared again.
Eve shook her head from side to side. “Does that always happen?”
“What? Does what always happen?”
Eve pointed to the empty table in front of Tony. “That. The espresso, the cup. Here one moment, gone the next.”
Tony chuckled. “Oh, that. Yeah, well, it’s a game that Ray and I play. Just a bit of fun we’ve developed over the years.”
“Fun,” she said.
“Speaking of fun, I have something I want to ask you.” Tony grew serious, looking at Eve from across the table.
Eve put down her pen, giving Tony her full attention. “Sure.”
“I wanted to ask you if you would consider taking over my position here at the hotel.”
A surprised look came over Eve’s face. “Are you leaving?”
“No, nothing like that. But now that I represent the Ownership Group, I won’t be able to hold on to my present position.”
“You want me to run the hotel?”
“Not the entire hotel. I’ll be doing that. I’ll be taking on the role your aunt held. General Manager. I want you to run the executive floor, the Penthouse Suites.”
Eve sat silently, thinking. Tony allowed her the time she needed to do so. “Why me?”
“You said you were looking for something in your life, some fun, some adventure.”
“I also said danger.”
“Yes, well,” said Tony. “The job isn’t dangerous, although with guys like Racocco around I guess it can be. But no, generally it’s not dangerous, but it is a big challenge. Something tells me it’s just the kind of challenge you need. I think you’re up for it. Your aunt thinks you’re up for it.”
“She does? You asked her?”
“Of course. I wouldn’t think of speaking to you about it without talking to Evelyn first.”
“But I don’t live in the city.”
“So you move. Is there anything keeping you where you are now?”
Eve hesitated for a moment. “No.”
“The job comes with a suite.”
Eve was silent again. She picked up her pen and began drumming it on the table. When she realized what she was doing, she put the pen down. “Can I think about it?”
“Of course. I didn’t expect an answer on the spot. It’s big move. It’s a big job. I just wanted to make sure I spoke to you before you left in a few days. I wanted to plant the seed.”
“I’ll give you an answer before I go.”
“Perfect.” Tony rose and stood beside the table. “No pressure, but I think you would be perfect for the job. And I think it’s exactly what you are looking for as well.”
Eve smiled, and Tony left her. She picked up the pen again and began drumming it against the table once more.
Lance cast a big shadow as he stood beside Amy’s desk. She didn’t see him at first, nor was she expecting him. She had never seen him in the executive offices during the day before, except for the one time this week in Alison’s office. He stood silently, watching her work. When she finally did notice him, sensing his presence more than seeing him, she jumped a little, startled to see him standing over her, watching her.
“What are you doing here?” She was pleased to see him but caught off guard at the same.
He was smiling, seemingly pleased catching her off guard. “I came to bring you this.”
He handed her a ticket to the Lover’s Ball. When she saw it, her eyes opened wide.
“Where did you get this from?”
“Tony. Well Eve, really. She gave it to Tony to give to us.”
Amy appeared in awe of the ticket she held in her hand. She held it gingerly, as if it were fragile, turning it over to look at one side of it, then the other. Still looking at the ticket, she said, “What am I going to wear?” She looked up at Lance. “What are you going to wear?’
“I’m not going.”
“What? She only gave you one ticket? For me? What about you?”
“No, she gave me us two, but I can’t formally attend.”
“Why not?”
“I’m working the event. I can’t go as a guest.”
“But you’re not security for the Dominion, you work here.” Amy’s voice had lost its initial excitement.
“Tony asked me to help out.”
“Why you? Why not hire a rent-a-cop?”
“I used to work there, remember? I know the place better than any rent-a-cop. Plus, he trusts me.”
Amy dropped the ticket onto the desk. “Then I don’t want to go.” She sat back in her chair and crossed her arms. “I’m not going.”
“You are.” Lance’s voice dropped. It was the voice he used when they were alone. It was him telling her what to do, the one that would allow for no opposition.
“I don’t want to.” Amy surprised herself when she said this.
“You’re going.” Although his voice was softer, it was still commanding.
He stepped forward, leaning his thigh against her desk. He picked up the ticket and offered it to her. She looked at him and then at the ticket. He waved it twice in the air and she took it.
“It won’t be the same without you.” She pouted.
“Who said you’ll be without me?”
Amy’s face showed her confusion. “You said you couldn’t go?”
Lance smiled his charming, disarming smile. His voice was even softer. “I said I couldn’t formally attend. I’ll be there. Even though it will be in more of an official capacity, I’ll be there, and I want to see you there.”
He reached out his hand and she took it. It was warm, familiar—funny how she found his touch so familiar so soon—soothing. Lance continued, “And when I look around the room, I will be looking for you, the prettiest girl at the ball.”
Amy couldn’t find words to express how she felt, so she brought Lance’s hand up to her face and pressed it against her cheek. She didn’t care that she was at work, she didn’t care who saw her, all she cared about was that she was with Lance.
She let his hand go, bringing both her hands up to straighten her perfectly straight, short hair. “I guess I can go with Tony and Miranda.”
“There you go,” he said.
“I’ll have to buy a dress.”
“Well you better hurry, the ball’s tomorrow.”
“Oh my god, the ball’s tomorrow. I’ll go at lunch.”
Amy jumped up out of her seat, throwing her arms around Lance’s neck, hugging him tight.
“I’m so excited.” Everything about her showed that she was, her big smile, her dancing eyes and her nervous energy. She let him go. He stepped back, beginning to take his leave of her. She remained standing beside her desk. He raised a hand and waved goodbye.
Amy called after him, “Hey, what did you do with the other ticket?”
“I gave it to Carmen.” Lance turned on his heels and was gone.
Miranda sat in the wing-backed, purple suede upho
lstered chair in the ladies change room of the department store across the street from the hotel. She hated these sorts of places, she was not much of a shopper herself, but she agreed to accompany Amy as she searched for a dress to wear to the Lover’s Ball tomorrow night. She wasn’t doing out of the goodness of her heart—well, maybe she was—but Amy promised to buy her lunch after as well, and that was a good enough reason.
Miranda sat awkwardly in the surprisingly uncomfortable chair. She shifted from one side to the next, trying to avoid the springs and sagging cushion that came about from too much use. Unable to get comfortable, eventually she just stood up.
Amy pushed through the curtain of the changing room wearing a long billowing red dress, synched tight at the waist with a black belt. The straps were thin, and the back was cut low, v-shaped and descending to the top of her buttocks. She twirled a few times in front of Miranda before settling in front of the mirror, looking at her own reflection.
“Do you like this one?” Miranda asked. It was the fifth dress she had tried on, and Miranda was getting impatient. She was hungry.
“Is it too much red for me?”
“I don’t know. I like it.” Despite her desire to get out of there as soon as possible, Miranda knew her friend was right. She would never let her buy the wrong dress. “Yeah, you might be right about the red. Great dress though, it fits you really well.” She really thought it was. “Maybe in another color.”
Just as she said this, the retail clerk popped her head in to see how they were doing.
“I love the dress,” said Amy, “just not the color.”
“Too much red,” said the clerk.
Amy shot her friend a knowing look. “Do you have it in any other colors?”
“Black.”
“Black,” Amy repeated, looking at Miranda.
“Let’s try the black,” Miranda said.
The clerk disappeared, leaving the two women alone. Amy slumped down on the chair opposite Miranda, lost in thought, looking sadder than she should be given that she was shopping for a ball gown and going to the Lover’s Ball. Miranda sat down on the uncomfortable chair again, sensing her friend’s mood.
“What’s with you?”
“Huh, what?” Miranda’s voice snapped her back into the moment.
“You don’t look happy about all this.”
“I do, I am.” Amy paused. “Really, I am.”
“I don’t think so. Spill.”
Amy shifted her body to face Miranda. “Lance isn’t coming, or at least, he is, he’ll be there, but he’s not coming with me.” She paused again.
“But he’ll be there?” Miranda was confused.
“Yeah, he’ll be there, but he’s working. I’ll see him, I’m sure we’ll have a little time together, but it’s not the same. I pictured it differently. The two of us walking into the hotel together, crossing the lobby, me on his arm, him handsome in his black tux, escorting me up the grand staircase to the ballroom. We’d make an entrance together.” Amy’s voice trailed off. She looked away as if picturing all of this in her mind.
“Well that’s shitty.” Miranda straightened up in the chair, still unable to get comfortable sitting in it. “So don’t go then.”
“I have to go.”
“No, you don’t. Don’t go.”
“But he asked me to.”
“He asked you to go to the Lover’s Ball alone? Again, shitty.”
Amy looked at Miranda. “Well, put that way it does sound a little crappy, but it’s not, really. He’ll be there. We will see each other.”
“Dancing and drinking together?”
“Yeah. Maybe. I think so. I don’t know.”
“Shitty.” Miranda paused. “So why are you going again?”
Amy sat up straight herself, seemingly drawing on a reserve from within. She spoke more forcefully and confidently. “Because Lance asked me to. He told me we would spend some time together, and I believe him. He might be working, but we’ll still be together. We’ll dance, we’ll drink, we’ll be together.”
Miranda picked up on Amy’s tone and decided to go with it. “Good for you. I think you should go.”
“Besides”—Amy’s tone lightened—“you’ll be there. If Lance is busy, we can hang out and trash everyone’s dress.”
Miranda just sat, looking at Amy.
“What, you’re going, right?” Miranda continued to look at her in silence. Amy’s shoulder’s slumped. “You’re not going”
“Not my thing really.”
“But Tony’s going, so why aren’t you?’
“That’s his thing. It’s his hotel. He’ll be…” Miranda stopped.
“He’ll be what?”
“Nothing. I’m just not going.”
“No, tell me, I want to know. He’ll be what?”
Miranda hesitated before saying, “Working. He’ll be working, so I don’t think I’ll see too much of him.”
Amy frowned. “Working. Like Lance.”
Miranda nodded her head in silent sympathy. “Didn’t you say that Lance had two tickets?”
Amy nodded her head.
“So who’d he give the other ticket to? You can hang out with that person.”
Amy looked at Miranda, her expression quite downtrodden. “Carmen.”
“Oh.”
Just then the retail clerk returned with an exact copy of the dress Amy was just wearing, however this time it was black, a red belt hanging from the hanger. She entered the room with a flurry of energy, taking the tension out of the air. She flitted over to Amy, dress held out in front of her.
“What do you think? I think black is the color for you, don’t you?”
Amy perked up immediately, focusing on the clerk and the dress that just entered the room. She smiled, reaching out her arms and taking the dress. She stood up and held it in front of her, showing Miranda.
“I love it. What do you think?”
Miranda smiled and rose as well. She agreed. “It’s going to look amazing on you. Go. Go try it on.”
With a quick look to the clerk, Amy spun around and rushed into the change room, drawing the curtain behind her.
As Miranda reached into her purse and pulled out her phone, she went over to the clerk and whispered, “I’ve got to make a call. Make sure she looks fabulous before she leaves here.”
“Are you coming back?”
Miranda turned on her heels to leave the room. “Of course, but this may take a while. Don’t let her leave here without me.”
As soon as Miranda left the dressing room area she was dialing her phone. She put it to her ear, continuing to walk. As soon as she felt she was far enough away, and wouldn’t be seen by Amy, she stopped walking. The person she dialed answered on the other line.
“Are you a complete idiot?” she said into the phone.
Chapter 9
The day of the Lover’s Ball felt like the longest day Amy had ever experienced. No matter what she did to distract herself, her thoughts eventually came back around to the ball, such was the excitement she felt about everything that was going to happen tonight, or at least, what she thought she was going to happen tonight. Thirty minutes or an hour might pass, but it always came back to the Lover’s Ball.
She was able to come to terms with the fact that Lance wouldn’t be by her side all night. She respected the fact that he had to work, but she also knew that he would find time for her, that they would be together at some point through the evening. Was she concerned that he gave the other ticket to Carman? Maybe, well, honestly, yes. The thought did occur to her that Lance said the same thing to Carmen that he said to her. He couldn’t escort her because he had to work. Maybe this was his way of getting out of choosing between the two of them. Maybe he couldn’t choose between the two of them. Maybe he didn’t want to choose between the two of them. He would invite them both, spend time with them both. It was easier that way.
These doubts kicked around Amy’s head all afternoon, but when it was finally time t
o get ready, she quickly dismissed them. Once the time to get ready came around, she felt a great sense of relief as she no longer had to find ways not to think about the ball. Now, as she reached into her closet and pulled out the black ball gown she had bought with Miranda, she could give her full attention to the evening ahead.
Fifteen minutes before calling a cab, her phone rang. Answering, she heard Lance’s voice on the other end. It made her smile.
“You look amazing.”
Amy laughed. “You can’t even see me.”
“I don’t need to. I’m picturing you in my mind and you look amazing.”
Amy laughed again. “You’re an idiot.”
“Are you ready?”
“Almost.”
“Look out your window.”
“Why?” Amy was excited.
“Just do it.”
Amy moved over to her window and looked out. “What am I looking at?”
“Do you see a big shiny, black sedan out there?”
“Yes. There’s a guy in a black suit and cap leaning against it.”
“That’s Oscar. He’s your driver. He’s waiting for you. He’ll bring you to the hotel. To me.”
“Did you arrange that? It’s not necessary. I’m not even ready yet.”
“Take your time, he’ll wait, but don’t be late.”
“Okay. I’ll see you soon.” Amy was about to end the call when she heard Lance speak again.
“One more thing. Do you plan on wearing panties tonight?”
Amy though this to be a strange question. “Yes. I always do.”
“Not tonight.”
“I beg your pardon?”
“Take them off, No panties tonight.”
“But.” Amy heard the other end of the phone go dead as Lance hung up.
Amy stood looking out the window, her phone against her ear, dumbstruck. She wasn’t sure if she could do that, go out without any panties. She’d never done that before.
Amy saw the lights of the Dominion Hotel from several blocks away. The hotel was lit up by two huge searchlights placed on opposite corners of the building, just like they did in Hollywood on big awards nights.
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