Eve..
“I thought I told you to stay put.” Jason snapped and I felt Alice giggle as I looked down as if the floor had something interesting happening there.
“You don’t have to snap at her.” One of the business men said and I glanced at him before looking down.
They all looked like they were around Jason’s age which explained why Jason was with them this whole time.
They were probably classmates or college mates, if that makes any sense.
“Why do I feel like Jason was caught doing something he shouldn’t be doing?” Someone else said.
“Jason, don’t you want your wife to get to know your friends or are you shy to introduce her to us?” Another one asked.
“Y’all should stop teasing Jason.” Alice said laughing as she removed her arms from Jason’s shoulder so that I could stand in between her and Jason.
“He’s probably embarrassed of her.” She mumbled the last part of her words but I heard it since I was standing close to her.
“Not at all.” Jason said changing his demeanour.
“I just don’t want others to see my wife.” Jason said putting his arms around my waist and I looked up to see his face.
“Oh that was cringy.” The first person joked and they all laughed.
I was still not feeling comfortable because Jason’s grip on my waist was tight and It was hurting me.
“Nice to meet you, I’m Kendall.” One of the business men extended his hands to me and I shook them smiling forcefully.
“Go back to where I asked you and stay put.” Jason whispered in my ears and I nodded as he let him out of his grasp.
“My lovely wife here just wanted to tell me something, she’s leaving to go back to her friends now.” Jason said, faking his smile.
“I never knew Jason was a romantic.” One of the business men said to another and they all laughed. I could feel their stares on me as I walked away.
“When you meet the right person, you even become clingy.” I heard Jason say and they all laughed.
“The right person.” I thought as I walked away.
Am I the right person for him?
Was he referring to me when he said that or was it to Alice?
“I thought I asked you to stay put.” His first word when he saw me was resonating in my head like a broken record and I was moved to tears once again.
I walked towards where Max and I stood earlier but when I got there, he was no longer there. I searched for him until I saw him slow dancing in Ethan’s arms.
I looked around for Mia or grandma Nini but they all had someone they were talking to or something they were doing.
I sighed heavily as I left the big hall where everyone is and went outside the party. I didn’t belong here at all.
I had no one to talk to and I didn’t know how to start any conversation.
A few people that had approached me only wanted to know how I managed to seduce Jason.
They asked rude questions like-
What school did you attend?
What is your career like?
How many Louis Vuitton bags do you own?
Have you ever been to Maldives?
One even went as far as asking me a stupid question like –
How good is Jason in bed?
Well, of course I avoided them all and went away because these women were probably a fan club of Jason’s and I had nothing to say nevertheless.
Instead of just standing outside the hall, I made my way to the bathroom to ease myself. Maybe I will feel better after that.
I eased myself and flushed the toilet. I came out of the stall I was in to wash my hands only to find Alice standing there as if she was waiting for me.
“You hear that sound?” She said and I furrowed my brows.
“The sound of the water flushing down, that’s how you’ll be in the next few months.” She sneered. I ignored her as I turned the tap on and began to wash my hands.
“Idiot.” She scoffed but I didn’t say anything to her. I didn’t want to start a fight, especially not in the bathroom.
“You think he would want to introduce you to his friends from school? You must be delusional. These are people that he grew up with, you think he wants them to notice the one flaw in his life.” She continued talking.
I tried not to pay attention but I couldn’t help it.
“You’re the flaw in Jason’s life Incase you don’t know ”
“He’s so perfect and that’s why he just had to use you to represent the flaw in his life because if he didn’t, they might even consider him a demi-god.” She said as if in awe of Jason.
“If you think you’re important to him, think again, he won’t ever choose you.” She said and turned on her heels leaving the place.
I heard the stomping of her heels as she walked away. She was probably pissed off that I ignored her but I knew it was best not to create a scene especially not at a party that the whole media is following.
But the words she said to me were already sinking into my head and getting to me. Was I truly just something he would use and toss away?
Have I in no way made an impact in his life?
I felt a tear trickle down my face and I quickly wiped it off before I ruined my makeup. Max would kill me if I did because he spent hours trying to make me look beautiful.
I checked myself in the mirror and once I was sure that I looked very much alright, I left the bathroom. I entered back inside the hall and more people were already slow dancing like the other ones before.
I stood in one place because I couldn’t dance, I knew nothing about dancing so I didn’t expect anyone to ask me to dance nor did I expect Jason to ask me either. I saw him dancing with grandma Nini and I smiled sadly. It could have been me.
I nodded my head to the sound of the music playing as I watched them all dance.
It was going well even if I wasn’t the centre of attraction until I was made one.
I looked around searching for Max and Ethan because they were no longer dancing in the centre where everyone else was. Once I found them, as if on cue, Max turned to face me and our eyes met. He waved at me to come over and I nodded and began to walk towards them. I had almost gotten close to where they stood. Then I felt someone splash their wine on me.
“Oh my goodness, I’m so sorry.” Alice said dramatically as she began to rub the wine more all over my dress, smearing the wine on them. Making the once beautiful and stainless cream gown ugly and smeared with red wine.
However, from other people’s point of view, it looked like she was trying to get the stain off my clothes.
“I didn’t mean to.”
“I wasn’t watching where I was going.”
“Oh my.”
“It must cost a fortune.”
“I’m so sorry.” She continued rambling and acting a bit over the top.
“It’s fine.” I said quietly as I stopped her from rubbing the gown any further.
“Are you angry?” She asked innocently.
“No, I’m not.” I said but she was determined to screw me over because what she said next surprised me.
“You look angry, I really didn’t mean to stain your dress, if you want, I could pay you for them.” She said a little louder than she was talking before drawing more attention to us.
“I’m..” I wanted to say something but I could hear other people whispering amongst themselves already.
“She’s rich already and she wants her to pay for the clothes, this is why you shouldn’t be with those rags to riches people, they always want more.”
“I agree with you.”
“She’s so vicious.”
“Did you see the way she’s looking at Alice?”
“But Alice apologised.”
“She must be a vile woman.”
“How rude?”
“What a beggar!”
I could hear their words loud and clear and I was heartbroken. These people barely knew nothing about me and here they were saying all sorts of things about me. Alice was trying to make me out to be the villain and she succeeded.
“I’m really fine, you don’t have to pay for anything, it was a mistake.” I managed to say a few words and I saw her smirk.
She moved closer to me and whispered.
“This is my world, you had better gone back to the trash where you belong.” She whispered and I felt my jaw clench. What did I ever do to deserve such cruelty from this lady?
“Oh thank you, you’re a really nice person.” Alice said giving her best smile but I could tell it was fake. I nodded as I smiled before walking away from the centre of attraction towards the people I was initially going to meet.
“That was intense!” I heard Ethan say.
“Are you alright?” Max asked and I nodded my head but I wasn’t alright.
No, I’m not alright.
I struggled to fight back the tears that were threatening to fall and gave Max a tight lipped smile.
“Do you want some cocktails?” Max asked but I shook my head.
“You know I don’t drink much.” I said quietly and looked away but I couldn’t bear to be in that room any longer.
“I think I’m going out for fresh air.” I said and without waiting for a response from Max or Ethan, I left the room again.
Once I was out, I thought of where I could possibly go to calm my head and I saw the sign.
Emergency staircase.
I entered inside and I closed the door behind me. I thought about going down but I decided to go up instead. Maybe I could watch the view from the glass windows if I went up.
I was probably on the next floor where I inhaled smoke which could only mean one thing – someone was smoking here.
I wanted to go back down because I didn’t want anyone to see me but the voice I heard stopped me from moving.
“You don’t have to leave, I’ll put it out.” The person said and I turned and looked up. The person was already coming down to where I was standing.
I recognized him to be one of Jason’s businessman friends – Kendall. The polite one from earlier.
“You’re Eve right?” He said as he put out his cigarette and I nodded.
“Nice to meet you Eve, you can sit.” He said sitting down just two stairs above where I stood.
I took two steps and sat down close to him but not close enough. We probably had enough space to fit another person in between us.
” I saw what happened.” He began since I wasn’t saying anything. I looked at him with expectant eyes.
Was he going to say something rude to me too?
“Alice is a sly person, she’s probably just jealous that Jason didn’t end up with her.” He said chuckling but I felt better.
” Don’t mind her.” He said facing me and I smiled genuinely this time.
“Why are you here?” I asked quietly..
“My father’s a shareholder but he couldn’t be here today and I’m also Jason’s friend from school, we’ve known each other for a while but we’re not that close enough.” Kendall said but I was laughing instead.
“I mean, why are you in the emergency staircase?” I said in between laughs and He smiled.
“Silly me!” He laughed.
“I don’t really like parties and most people here make me uncomfortable so I came here to smoke.” He said and I nodded.
“They ask questions like when are you getting married or something of those sorts, you know those insensitive questions that make you angry and frustrated.” He said and I nodded because I could relate to him.
“The truth is I’m bisexual. I lean mostly to the guys though. Most of my family knows but it’s hard to reveal it to the media, my boyfriend thinks I’m not serious about him and that’s not true.” He said with a hint of sadness in his voice.
“I’m sorry about that.” I said quietly and he chuckled.
“You don’t have to be, it’s my fault anyways, I think I feel comfortable talking to you because I saw you with your friend earlier. And that dress made you stand out.” He said, making me blush.
“Thankyou.” I said smiling.
“My pleasure, if you don’t mind, could we exchange contact?” He asked and I laughed.
“Sure.” I said giving him my contact details.
“Let’s get back to the party before someone starts looking for us now, shall we?” He said getting up and I got up too.
We walked down until we got to the door and he turned to face me.
“For the record, you still look amazing in the dress despite the stain, think of it as a splash of red watercolour.” He joked.
“Like art?” I asked giggling and he nodded as he opened the door.
We were both laughing so hard that we didn’t even notice Jason standing there with a frown on his face.
He cleared his throat, catching our attention.
“I’ll leave you be now.” Kendall nodded his head in acknowledgement towards Jason before facing me, he smiled at me and then walked away.
“Where were you?” Jason asked coldly as soon as Kendall was far enough.
“In there.” I said pointing at the emergency staircase door.
“With another man.” He said irritated.
“I met him there.” I countered as I felt he was trying to accuse me of something bad.
“You went to an enclosed place with another man. An unmarried man!” He said, raising his voice.
“Why are you putting it that way?”
“It’s not like..” I was still explaining myself when I heard footsteps running towards the direction where we stood.
“Eve, where were you?”
“We looked all over for you.” Max said panting and I frowned.
Did I really spend a long time in the staircase?
“I..” I didn’t know what to say. I felt a lump in my throat as I was unable to explain where I had run off to.
“Just go to the car!” Jason said coldly and I nodded.
I went outside and it seemed as though the reporters from earlier were no longer around because no one surrounded me as I walked to the car.
I found Clinton standing by the car and he looked at me with relief the moment he saw me.
“I’m glad you’re safe, miss Eve.” He said as he opened the back seat for me.
“What’s going on?” I was confused by everybody’s behaviour.
“We thought you disappeared.” Clinton said but I was still not understanding what was going on.
“It’s been two hours since you left the party, it has ended already and since you were not coming back, everyone went to look for you, I was assigned to stay here in case you come to the car.” Clinton explained and my face fell.
They all thought I was in danger. How could I spend a whole two hours in the staircase with Kendall.
We didn’t even talk much and yet so much time has passed.
I felt sad that I made everyone worry about me. I remembered the look on Jason’s face the moment he saw me with Kendall. He looked irritated and it made my inside churn.
” I’m sorry.” I said to Clinton.
“You don’t have to apologise.”
“As long as you’re safe.” Clinton said and I entered the car and he closed it.
Now, all I could do was wait for Jason to come so I could hear him lash out at me.
After waiting for a short while, I dozed off and didn’t even know that we had left the venue and gone home. I felt a tap on my shoulders and I woke up.
I rubbed my eyes and I noticed Jason looking at me with an unreadable gaze.
“Get out.” He said coldly and came out of the car. I followed him out and we entered the house.
I saw grandma Nini and Mia waiting for us in the living room.
“Oh Eve, I’m glad you’re okay.” Mia said as she came to hug me.
“I’m sorry for making you all worry about me.” I apologised.
“It’s fine child, it’s understandable that you need a moment to yourself where you’re in that type of gathering.” Grandma Nini hugged me too.
“But don’t ever run away like that.” She said smacking me lightly and we all smiled but it wasn’t for long.
“Follow me.” Jason said going up the stairs and I looked at him and nodded before following him to his room.
He opened the door down and I entered. He entered after me and closed the door behind him.
We both stood there in silence. And I was scared. Is he by chance going to hit me?
Or is this the moment of truth? Or perhaps this was a turning point where he apologises for being a dick to me all these while and then we become real lovers.
But all my thoughts were thrown in the mud the moment he asked me one question. And that one question wasn’t even close to what I was expecting at all. Not even a teeny tiny bit close and it broke my heart.