by Jolie Day
That was just the beginning. She had to face an entire evening in close proximity to him if he did not to immediately turn around and leave.
It didn’t look like he was going to. When she casually turned her head, she saw how Connor and his female companion were ushered in the same direction she and Luke were going. This meant that Suzanne had done it once again. She had managed to lure Connor Carmichael to this event and now it was literally up to Mira to take over. Her mood had dropped accordingly by the time she and Luke arrived at the table and were greeted by Suzanne with a beaming smile. Russell stood up and greeted her before greeting Luke. Then she noticed that something behind Mira had caught his attention and she knew exactly what that was. “What the hell…” He didn’t finish the sentence, but he did give his wife such a sinister look that Mira knew instantly what kind of a night Suzanne would have after this.
“Would you be so kind as to tell me what is going on here?” Luke whispered into Mira’s ear, when he pulled her chair out for her.
“A family matter,” she replied, as he sat down on his chair to her left. “I am afraid that you have got caught right in the middle of it and it will be a rather tedious evening. I can only repeat what you said to me earlier: If you would like to take a break and escape all of this, I am your girl.”
His warm smile literally warmed her soul.
At first everything seemed to go pretty well. Connor, who had been visibly tense before, had somehow lost this tension miraculously on his way to the table. First, he introduced his female companion to everyone and when it was time for him to be introduced to Luke, nobody said anything, so he took charge of the awkward silence and simply introduced himself. Luke was guarded, however, since he didn’t know Connor and only saw everyone’s reaction, including that of his boss, so he played along. Russell had to fight hard to not lose control of his raging anger, which made him look like he was fighting a stroke. He welcomed the extremely beautiful Tatjana Usharova with a quick bow and ordered one of the many waiters that were flitting around, to immediately bring a bottle of champagne to their table. Mira shared a resigned look with her sister and hoped that her brother-in-law would hold it together until after he had given his speech as the guest of honor – which literally meant nothing other than that he had given a lot of money to this foundation. On the other hand, she wouldn’t even care if Russell Forbes embarrassed himself at this gala in front of everyone by stumbling behind the speaker’s podium and possibly making some very inappropriate dirty jokes.
Connor had silently slid into his seat next to her, after he had taken the fur wrap from Tatjana’s shoulders and handed it to one of the waiters. Despite the discreet exchange of a banknote, it wasn’t discreet enough for Mira’s hawk eyes. Her feeling of disgust towards the woman at Connor’s side was surely only based on the fact that animals had had to die so that this skinny woman had something to warm herself with. What other reason could she possibly have to spontaneously dislike this woman?
After a thankfully very short opening speech, they started serving the first course of the dinner. It was an amuse-bouche — a tiny little culinary delight in the form of a type of profiterole filled with an undefinable fish crème. Apart from Connor, who had no problem spiking the chef’s introduction onto his fork and then simply letting it all disappear into his widely moving mouth in one single bite, everyone else struggled to eat the tiny thing. The glasses that were filled with white wine, which at least tasted good, were emptied somewhat faster.
The appetizer was next. It was beef carpaccio with Nebraska beef, topped with roughly shredded parmesan shavings. The pure taste of the meat was delicious as it almost melted on the tongue. Everyone at the table obviously enjoyed this particular dish, apart from the quiet beauty, who didn’t touch her plate at all. Luke was the first to interrupt the slightly awkward silence at the table.
“So, what is it that you do, Mr. Carmichael?” His question was completely innocent, but Mira felt that it did sound slightly challenging, which she thought was odd. Russell, who sat opposite her, snorted loudly and Suzanne made a face as if this place was the equivalent of hell. This was typical for Suzanne. First, she would be full of enthusiasm and come up with a completely ridiculous plan, just to then get scared off by her own courage. But Mira still gave her sister an encouraging smile. After all, this unpleasant situation did have a positive side. With a bit of luck she would maybe even see the craziness of it all and how ridiculous her plan actually was.
“Oh yes. What exactly is your occupation, Mr. Carmichael?” Had these provocative words really come out of her own mouth just now? Mira could not believe it.
“I work in the security industry,” Connor replied and patted the corners of his mouth calmly with his white napkin afterwards.
“Well, they really put the fox in charge of the henhouse, didn’t they, old boy?” Russell’s voice sounded contemptuous. Mira’s eyes left Connor’s face and now she stared at her brother-in-law. The usual unhealthy red color in his face had now disappeared to reveal an even less healthy-looking paleness, but he seemed to be able to keep his obvious anger in check – at least enough to have a civilized conversation. These dark and dangerous undercurrents they were headed towards in this rather strange conversation, did not seem to bother Connor at all. Quite the opposite, because his amusement was clearly audible when he answered.
“Nobody knows the tricks and knacks of criminals better than a former criminal – isn’t that what you are referring to, Mr. Forbes?” He took a sip of his champagne and raised his glass one by one to every single person at the table. “I have no idea who I have to thank for the invitation to this event, but I am honored that you consider a man like me to be worthy of being a part of this illustrious and elite little society.” For a moment, his eyes rested on Mira and she could feel how her heart skipped a beat.
Did he honestly believe that it was she who had invited him here? The thought alone, that he could possibly think that she had lured him here, filled her with shame and with anger. “Maybe you should attend to your guest? She looks a little pale around her nose.” She just wanted to get rid of him as fast as possible, to finally put an end to this embarrassment.
“I believe that she is exceptionally beautiful, to be honest,” Connor replied, being deliberately misleading and lascivious. He lowered his eyelids and despite this half-obscured look of his, Mira suddenly felt naked. His gaze rested on her cleavage for way too long, until Luke’s hand blocked Connor’s view, when he laid his tanned hand on Mira’s arm. Connor’s eyebrows pulled upwards and he grinned blatantly. “Oh, sorry. I was distracted there for a minute. You can’t possibly blame me, Dude,” he said, deliberately pronouncing the vowels excessively.
Before Mira could do something to stop him, Luke had jumped up and pulled Connor off his chair. Both men were of the same height and build. With a very casual movement, Connor pulled Luke closer to him and whispered something into his ear that Mira could not hear. Whatever he had said, it did the trick, because Luke didn’t do anything else and instead just wiped Connor’s hand away and sat back down in his chair. At the same time, Connor dodged a waiter, who had started to serve the main course, and sat back down into his chair with the creepy and quiet elegance of a mean cat. His girlfriend, who had looked up just once during this altercation, turned back towards her plate and stared at her food.
“I sincerely apologize,” he said to Mira. “That was extremely rude and very disrespectful. I believe that a beautiful woman has the power to awaken either the best or the worst in a man.” The first two sentences had been spoken loudly and for everyone to hear, but the last words were for Mira alone. For a short moment, both of their heads had been tilted towards each other, until a waiter had stood behind them and cleared his throat to get their attention. Mira sat back as if she had been caught doing something naughty and she felt the looks of everyone at the table on her. Instead of accepting or denying his apology, she focused on her grilled lobster au gratin instead. It arr
ived on three whole salad leaves and they served freshly baked bread with it. As much as she liked this typical American dish, every single one of her bites seemed to clump together in her stomach. Then again, she had never really been a huge fan of the combination of seafood and cheese anyway.
She noticed at the back of the room that a band was setting up. The formally dressed musicians had sat down and started to unpack their instruments. “I didn’t know that there would also be dancing here,” she said and then she remembered Luke’s earlier comment. Suzanne put down her fork after having picked undecidedly at her lobster and quickly turned around. “Yes, it is not common. However, it is tradition. This is why they left the middle of the room empty.”
“Complete nonsense, if you ask me.” Russell literally shoveled the remaining bits and pieces of his main course into his mouth. “They could have made so much more money if they had filled that gap with more tables.” He pushed his empty plate away from him.
“I am actually looking forward to dancing,” Luke announced. “Even though I might have gotten a little rusty since the last time I danced.” His fingers skillfully dunked his fork into the cracked open shell of the lobster as he fished out the last piece of flesh. “Mira, when was the last time you danced?”
She felt how next to her, Connor leaned in ever so slightly to hear her answer. He didn’t really seem to like the melted cheese on top of the lobster either, as he had carefully pushed it aside on his plate and only eaten the seafood. “Oh, it has been a very long time. I don’t really remember how to dance, to be honest,” she replied shyly.
“It’s just like riding a bike,” Connor added self-confidently. “Once you know how, you never lose it. May I have the first dance?” Mira caught Suzanne’s pleading eyes and after a short pause, she sighed and gave in. Luke didn’t say a word, but she thought that she had noticed a hint of anger in his eyes. However, given the fact that this wasn’t technically a real date, he would simply have to accept it.
“One dance,” she clarified the situation. As soon as she had given into Connor’s urge, she regretted her decision to do so. At this point, only the dessert they were serving now separated her from actually having to fulfill her reckless promise.
Just like the appetizer, Mira preferred the dessert over the other courses. Maybe it was also because of the polite and yet somewhat difficult conversation that the knot in her stomach seemed to loosen slightly, but she was the first to finish the baked vanilla ice cream on a raspberry glaze. Connor smiled at her as she put her last spoonful into her mouth, and she immediately thought that she knew what he was thinking: Just like when she was a child and she couldn’t resist the creamy deliciousness. An image appeared in her head: She and her mom, as they were strolling through the park on a sunny day, a cone in her hand with melting ice cream. Connor had walked next to her mother and he had spoken to her quietly, but with a certain urgency.
No. This was complete and utter nonsense. Her memory must be hazy and showing her things that never really existed. Why would Connor and her mom meet in the park? She shook her head, to get rid of these unwelcome images, just as the musicians played a short fanfare to announce an elderly man, who now entered the podium. Unfortunately, his speech wasn’t very long at all. If Mira had understood him correctly, then his job was merely to introduce the main speaker, who was the main sponsor of this event. He kindly asked for applause for “one of the most generous people I have ever known and a man who has an open ear and who will lend a helping hand to anybody seeking help – Russell Forbes!”
Her brother-in-law rose from his seat and walked towards the podium in large wide steps. Mira wondered just how much money Russell had given this foundation and what his motive had been to do so. She knew damn well that it had little to do with humanitarianism as… oh well, it didn’t matter. She zoned out while Russell gave his speech, and instead focused on people’s reactions throughout the room. They all listened very intently — almost seemed mesmerized by his words. This was actually way more than what normal politeness would demand. What did they see in him that she had been unable to see her whole life? Luke touched her hand. She looked over to him. “The second dance is mine,” he said so quietly that she almost didn’t hear him. She nodded quietly. In the meantime, Russell had finished his speech. He made some grand gesture towards the middle of the room and generously announced that the fun part of the evening had now officially started.
Connor got up and indicated a bow towards Miraat the same time stretching out his hand towards her. His hand didn’t even shake, not in the slightest, and somehow that angered Mira. She gave him a stiff nod and excused herself from the table, with a much warmer smile towards Luke, as Connor pulled back her chair. She took his arm. The little orchestra started to play the first notes of a piece. The music sounded loud and shrill in her ears. Connor led her dexterously through the various tables into the middle of the room, which had been left open for everyone to dance. Apart from them, only two other couples had found their way to the dance floor and Mira had the feeling that everybody was looking at them. She was sure that Russell and Luke were watching them intently. Mira saw how her sister said something to both men and at least Luke had the decency to turn around, obviously reluctantly, to look at Suzanne. Russell just shook his head, so it was Luke who got up and led her sister to the dance floor. Did he want to keep an eye on Mira?
“You are distracted,” complained Connor with a whisper as he pushed her hand onto his shoulder. His arm rested loosely around her waist. “Relax, Mira. I am not going to do anything to you. All I want are a few answers.” Thankfully, it was just a very slow waltz they were dancing to. Mira was very well aware of his extremely close proximity. His hand, which held hers, was warm and dry. He was the perfect height to be her dance partner. Her forehead just about reached his chin, so she didn’t have to lean back too far to look at him. However, this dance also permitted her to keep her head low when she wanted to avoid his gaze. She focused predominantly on his bow-tie or on the pearl-colored buttons on his shirt. But he demanded her attention yet again, when he spoke to her with his dark, deep voice, which forced her once more to look him straight in the eyes.
“Mira,” he repeated her name. And there was something in the depth of his voice, the way he said her name, that touched her so deeply that she started to shiver. She felt goosebumps taking over her entire body. His hand, which had been resting perfectly polite on her waist, now moved to stroke her just once over the thin fabric of her black dress. “You look exhausted,” he said.
“You dragged me onto the dance floor to tell me how bad I look?” She immediately tried to stop dancing and just stand still, but she quickly realized that his strength moved her mercilessly even without her complying, and she had to follow his steps regardless. If she didn’t want to cause a scene in front of everyone, she would have to follow his lead. She forced herself to relax her shoulders somewhat and to fall into step with him, but it took everything in her to not run away from him right now.
“Much better,” he whispered into her ear. His warm breath caressed her bare skin. “Don’t overthink things. Let your body go with the flow.”
“What do you want from me?” Mira refused to lose sight of her one goal. Yes, she had promised her sister to get close to Connor and somehow lure him into trusting her, but Suzanne wasn’t the one dancing with him on this dance floor right now and she was also not the one who had to endure their enemy’s hands on her body, touching her skin. Suzanne was dancing with Luke, who was obviously a fantastic dancer and led her sister across the dance floor like a pro. Mira tried to focus on Connor again.
“If you need me to relay your message, then you had better be quick, because we don’t have much time left,” she said deliberately harshly. “Or are you planning on keeping me hostage all night?”
His reply was very quick. “If I have to.”
“I don’t like the games you are playing,” Mira hissed. Connor lead her away from the center of the dance
floor towards the edge, to dodge an elderly couple who had been dancing towards them rather enthusiastically, however, their dance moves weren’t exactly very well coordinated. By now, the melody of the first song had trickled into that of a second and Mira let out a deep sigh. If they kept doing that, Connor would be able to drag out the supposed first dance all the way into the early morning hours. At least the tempo hadn’t changed. Had the orchestra played a slower tune, she would have run away in an instant.
“Tell me why you forced me to come here and I will escort you back to the table right now.”
She looked up at his face. That was when she noticed some tension behind the seemingly relaxed expression. Fine lines framed the corners of his eyes and there was a hint of a shadow underneath them. However, the color remained the same strange gray-blue he had always had, only this time the tone wasn’t as cold as Mira remembered. Instead she saw an icy flame burning in his eyes. As a child back in Switzerland, Mira had once formed a snowball with her bare hands and she remembered her surprise at how much the icy cold of that snowball had simulated a burning sensation when it touched her skin. Connor’s eyes seemed to have the exact same effect on her as the snowball had back then. Hot and cold, fascinating and painful at the same time.
“I have not forced you here or whatever you call it.”
For a moment, he searched her face for answers, but then he just nodded, much to her surprise. “I believe you,” he simply said, and it sounded as if his observation surprised him just as much as it did her.
“So, who was it?” She pressed her lips firmly together, because the words wanted to come out, just to end this farce and the senseless intrigues of her sister once and for all. At that precise moment, Suzanne and Luke waltzed right by them and her sister’s curious look changed everything.
