THE GALA

**Dominic’s story**

If I could stop time now, I would. How would you get out of this, Dominic? And as if divinity was on my side, even though I was an integral part of the darkness, given my appearance, my phone rang. Just the man I was thinking of.
“Declan, what’s up man?” I greeted him, seemingly happier than ever.
Rebecca’s eyes widened in amazement. She was waiting for my answer, an explanation that probably wouldn’t come now. She complied and took another long sip of coffee.
“Dominic, I sense in your voice that you are perhaps too happy to hear me? Or is it just my imagination?” This man knew me so well. “Don’t tell me, you were about to explain something you didn’t want to...at least not now”
“That’s right...you read me... Rebecca’s having some trouble. We’ll be right with you.” I may have stuttered horribly, but I was mostly right.
“What kind of trouble?” The conversation was veering in the direction I wanted it to go and it seemed Rebecca would not insist.
“Since the morning, she woke up with both legs numb and barely able to use her crutches to get around,” I explained in broad terms what happened watching her fleetingly.
“Then no more talking. I’ll wait for you two here!” And the conversation abruptly broke off without me being able to say goodbye.
I looked at her again, this time even less, then I stood up.
“Time to go. Declan’s waiting for us!”
To my surprise, she stood up without another word. I grabbed my keys, and my next stop was Declan’s clinic. We walked across the hall to Declan’s office and as there was no one there waiting, we just went inside. “Declan?” I asked, poking my head through the door.
“Come on in, friends! Don’t stay at the door!” I let Rebecca in first, then followed her. “What seems to be the problem?”
“As Dominic told you on the phone, this morning I felt something strange. Rather, I felt nothing in my legs but an unexplained numbness. When I intended to go to the window, because even my eyes were sensitive from the light, I... fell.”
“Okay, that didn’t sound good. I’ll set up the CT scanner and run some tests on you.”
The whole procedure took over an hour, but the results were not too bad. And somehow it was what I expected. “As you can see, the bone has a little trauma here. And that’s because, although you’ve had physiotherapy sessions, it seems like you’ve been pushing it a bit lately. On the bright side, this swelling will go down in time.”
“In time? What does in time mean? You know it’s the Gala tonight. Will she be able to come?”
“If you ask me as a friend I would say yes, but if you ask me as a doctor, I would say it would take a lot of effort. However, if she also decides to go, you will have to be very careful. I’d prefer that she stay at the table as long as possible”
“In other words, Rebecca can go, but she mustn’t tire herself out too much,” I concluded, holding Declan’s gaze.
“Exactly, my friend. I won’t keep you any longer. You two must have a lot to do. Perhaps a close friend or someone else could help her with the clothing and perhaps makeup?” Declan was right. Rebecca couldn’t have done very well in the situation she was in.
On our way back home, Rebecca was silent.
And right from the moment we got home, I called Megan, who showed up in less than half an hour.
“Megan, how nice of you to come. I need you to work your magic!” I said with despair in my voice as I looked at my watch. There were less than four hours until we had to walk the red carpet.
“Don’t worry, Dominic. In an hour or so, you’ll have the most beautiful woman in front of you.”
And she was right. With both statements. In less than an hour, and the most beautiful woman.
The most beautiful view I’ve ever had was right in front of my eyes. She was tall, goddess-like, elegant, feminine. My gaze couldn’t turn from her. She knew she was beautiful by the way she stood, chin up, trying to figure me out. Her long black sparkling gown took the perfect shape of her body, tracing those luscious curves in its path. I just couldn’t take my eyes off her. The dress was as breathtaking as the lady wearing it. She was like an angel descended from heaven, making my beastly world a magical one.
I didn’t know how long I stood there, motionless, unable to articulate a word. I approached her with timid steps, for the infinite time in my life having my heart in my throat racing frantically. The awkwardness of our encounter became warmer and slowly I built up the courage to speak.
“Rebecca, you are ravishingly beautiful!”
After I made her blush to the tip of her nose, I motioned for her it was time to go. I had already offered her my arm, and leaning on me confidently, we started towards the car. From time to time I watched her secretly enjoying her beauty but also cursing through my teeth as the wolf inside me became, with every second, more restless.
But from the moment we arrived in the enormous room inside the Treasury Hotel, everyone relaxed. Her, me and the other me.
And just as expected, familiar faces of the film industry, actors, directors and scriptwriters alike greeted us.
“Dominic Stone, if my eyes aren’t glad to see you, then I don’t know who would be!” a thick voice rang out beside us. It was the director of the movie I played in and also nominated for Best Movie Award. “And it seems that also my eyes are glad to see such a wonderfully beautiful creation made by God himself,” he continued, looking at Rebecca.
“I’m Rebecca Holland, Mr. Stone’s partner for the evening. Nice to meet you, Mr...” she intervened in a determined voice.
“Spencer Collins, director and writer!” It was like I didn’t exist anymore. The truth was Rebecca was beautiful, and I took that risk when I invited her. And since all the attention was on her, I had to go with that. And even be proud of it. “Please come to my table. There we can talk better. And it’s right next to the stage. I’m sure the gentleman here will win in all categories.”
Rebecca’s smile was so wide and bright that it lit up the whole auditorium. Just as Spencer said, we sat down at the table and the discussions on various topics flowed by themselves. As soon as the ceremony began, the room went quiet, and the light dimmed considerably. Still, a spotlight shone on Rebecca’s face, highlighting her angelic features. She was lovely to look at. Actors came on stage one at a time and read out the winners in each category. Two were the ones that interested me, the best actor and the best movie award.
And when it was our turn, we were breathless until they introduced all the actors.
“And the winner in the Best Actor category is...” My heart was beating like crazy to jump out of my chest. “Dominic Stone!”
And here was how my acting career paid off. I stood up to everyone’s applause. I looked over at Rebecca, who was smiling widely.
“Congratulations, you deserve it!” she whispered, reading her lips more. I stared at them for a moment, at their perfect red.
I hardly got back to where I was because my imagination had gone wild. I knew then that I would have to go to the stage. Once in front of everyone, I was again having trouble breathing. It wasn’t the first time I’d won such an award, but it was the first time she’d been here. I adjusted my microphone and somehow had to give my usual speech.
“Good evening, ladies and gentlemen! I’m really honored to receive this award! But I’m also grateful to those who believed in me. To my director, Spencer Collins, who never lost faith in me. To my co-stars and fans, and last but not least, I am grateful to God, without whom nothing would have been possible.” Just then, a roar of applause erupted, forcing me to pause briefly and enjoy my success. “It is with humility and joy that I receive this award. Thank you, everyone. God bless you!”
The cheering continued frantically and although I was trying to get back to my seat, something caught my attention and in a serious and unpleasant way. Rebecca was in the company of another man. And that man seemed to be very comfortable around her. And so was she.
A storm started inside me I found impossible to stop. The two were becoming more and more familiar. At some point, the bastard even dared to hug her. Everything was spinning with me and by the time I got to where Rebecca was standing with that cartoon of a man, her face was grimacing from amazement to rage. Yet I couldn’t help myself.
“Who the hell is this?”