Chapter Thirty-seven

The morning of the engagement finally came. It was to be an evening affair that would run until late but Claire had to be up early for the preparations anyway.
She had avoided the ballroom where the ball would take place but now she gave into curiosity and went to take a look at it.
Lola was in her element, overseeing the finishing touches when she caught sight of the bride herself peeking in.
“Claire! Hi! I’m so happy to have you here, what do you think?” She hurried over with a big smile on her face, it was clear that she really loved her job.
Although Claire wasn’t very excited that all this was being done for her, she appreciated Lola’s skill nonetheless. The theme for the engagement ball was black and red, it was quite exotic.
The decorations were truly befitting the engagement of royalty and even without the crowd that was sure to show up that night, Claire already felt overwhelmed.
“It’s gorgeous.” She answered truthfully. “You did an awesome job, Lola.”
Lola glowed at the compliments she received. “Thank you.”
“I have to run now before Senite comes looking for me.”
Senite and her mom had taken it upon themselves to get her ready for her big day. Senite alone was already a force to be reckoned with, now with Julia to back her up, they were unstoppable.
When her outfit for the day was taken out, a maid had noticed that the buckle on her heel was broken and the both of them immediately went into action mode. That was when Claire had gotten a chance to escape the nail tech that had spent hours perfecting the intricate design on her nails.
She was sure that both women had returned now so she had to go back as well or she would risk a commotion happening because of her disappearance.
Claire peeked nervously into her bedroom which was crammed full of women busy doing something or the other and the many odd pieces of equipment that had been brought in.
“Are they back yet?” She whispered to Sara, the sweet lady that had done her nails. She was already packing up her box to leave because she had already completed her task and now she needed to make way for the hairstylist who was preparing the tools of her trade.
Sara laughed goodnaturedly. “Not yet but I heard them saying that they had found someone to fix the buckle so they should be back in no time.”
Claire snuck back in with a sigh of relief and just as she got on the chair in front of her dresser for the hair stylist to begin, Senite and Lola came in.
“... oh she’s here.” Julia sighed when she stepped in.
“I told you she would be.” Senite said smugly.
“What are you two talking about?” Claire couldn’t help but ask.
“Matt and Rachel are helping out Lola down at the ballroom and they both say they saw you.”
Claire winced, she hadn’t noticed them. “I was just checking up on them.”
“Well, we don’t have any more time to waste, Miss Gia, please get started on her hair…”
Claire just smiled, her mom seemed more strung out about this than she was but she could also tell that her mom was having the time of her life making a fuss about her daughter’s engagement. It must be like a dream come true for her.

-*-

The day ran by and soon it was early evening and the early guests had started arriving. Even the hallway and the foyer had been decorated in red and black streamers and balloons, as well as the path that led to the ballroom.
Claire was already fully dressed, she sat nervously in her bedroom, panic in her eyes. There was a special cue for them to show up at the engagement ball and that was when it was already in full swing.
It was easy enough, they would show up under the spotlight and a rain of confetti, the crowd cheering, then Lukas would go down on a knee to propose to her. After putting the ring on her, they would then mingle with the crowd, drinking and dancing till late.
Claire didn’t think she could survive that long, hell, she wasn’t sure she could even make it to the ballroom in the first place.
She had been left alone, to gather her thoughts, they said. But she knew it was so that Lukas could come to her and then they would be alone. It made her more nervous than ever.
So for the past fifteen minutes, she had been staring at her reflection in her dressing mirror, nervously waiting for Lukas to come. She absently traced a finger over the black diamond inlaid in her silver necklace, deep in thought.
Matching pairs of earrings adorned her ears and there was an intricately designed diadem worn on her styled hair, also made of black diamonds and silver.
The silver and black matched perfectly with her dark red engagement dress. It was a sleeveless heavy silk dress that seemed to glow, it had a long flowy skirt and a high slit up one leg that showed off her beautiful heels.
An hour passed like this, the sky darkening outside, yet Lukas still didn’t show. Turbulent emotions stormed within Claire at this, was the punchline of the joke about to happen? Did he just plan to leave her here?
That would be incredibly cruel of him, to drag her along on the wild ride of his then right at the climax just leave her to fall to the ground.
She glanced at the time, it was 7:15 PM. Only fifteen minutes left until the time for them to show up to their engagement ball. The bride-to-be had been waiting for over an hour but the groom-to-be was nowhere to be found.
Tears gathered in Claire’s eyes but she couldn’t cry! That would ruin her makeup.
*7:23 PM…*
Every rotation of the second hand caused Claire’s anxiety to rise, she no longer stared at the mirror now, her glassy eyes fixed on the large ornate clock on the wall.
*7:28 PM.
Lukas wasn’t coming, was he?*
Claire got up at this point, she might as well leave her bedroom now, there was no reason for her to keep waiting. She wasn’t going to find Lukas, on the contrary, she just wanted to leave, maybe hop in a car and take advantage of the ongoing engagement ball to escape.
*7:29 PM…*
She reached for the handle of the door with a sigh, it was all her fault for getting caught up in this. What did she think? That she would finally get a chance to be Cinderella and have her dream wedding?
The door opened before she could touch it, a regally dressed Lukas standing on the other side. “Going somewhere without me, little human?”