Note: All characters are above 25 years of age.
*****
It was a long day, I was tired of work, love and life in general. Just wanted to go home and soak in a bath tub filled with hot water and vanilla bath oils. I was headed towards the elevator, ready to leave work when my boss approached me.
"Megan, I want you to attend a party at my house tonight, all our clients are going to be there, it will be a good opportunity for you to meet them and get acquainted. I will text you my address, be there by 8:00 PM."
I couldn't say no to him since he was my boss. (How obvious is that) but I knew I really wasn't in the mood to attend a party. There were a lot of things going on in my mind and I didn't know what to do. I had just recently broken up with my girlfriend and was trying to recover from it. It wasn't a long relationship but it did mean a lot to me.
I got home by 7:00 PM and with only an hour to go I didn't have much time to leisurely lie in the tub. So I took a quick shower and decided on the clothes. It wasn't as hard since I am ok with either girly or tomboyish look. Some would call a person like me an "Andro". But lately I was leaning more towards the tomboyish look so I decided to wear a pair of jeans and blazer.
My black hair were small and easy to manage, they went well with my black eyes. It was a good thing I loved to workout, otherwise my eating habits would have made sure I gained more weight each day. Lately hadn't been able to do any working out thanks to a broken heart and depression.
My boss had messaged me his address and it wasn't hard to find. He belonged to one of the richest family in Hamilton and their estate is well known by all. I took the cab since I didn't have a car and reached there in about 20 minutes.
The house was a huge mansion as expected surrounded by gardens on all side. It had a 19th century castle thing going on. At the door a gentleman in a suit was greeting the guests and inviting them in.
I reached the door and he asked my name to check if I was invited. You see my appearance might have confused the fine man and made him wonder whether this girl/boy (since my appearance was deceiving) was invited to this high class event. He finally found my name and read it out loud as if was reassuring himself.
The house was beautifully decorated with wooden furniture, silky drapes and flowers everywhere. I spotted a few people from my office who I knew and walked towards them. They were as stunned as me to be a part of such an event. Various scenarios kept crossing our minds but before we could come to any conclusion our boss walked up towards us and greeted us.
"Welcome everyone, I hope you are enjoying the party. Please help yourselves to some appetizers and drinks. Later I want you all to meet some of our esteemed clients."
With that said he left us and signaled the waiter to serve us some food and drinks. We all stood there casually talking and enjoying the party. I wasn't really enjoying but they didn't have to know that.
My glass was empty and I wanted to keep it down but I couldn't find any waiters so I looked around for a side table or something to place the glass on. Finally I found a table near the corridor and walked towards it. A woman in a red dress raced out of the corridor and before realizing crashed into me and we both fell.
I got up and helped her get up and when she looked at me I couldn't help but stare. She had the most beautiful hazelnut eyes but they seemed upset, as if she was crying. I didn't realize I was still holding her hand until she tried to move away from me.
"I'm sorry, I didn't see you there." she said with a weak voice.
"It's alright, I should have paid more attention too, by the way I'm Megan"
"Claire"
"Are you ok Claire? Where you in a hurry to go somewhere?"
"I..umm I was just leaving." she said hesitantly.
"Why is that? Are you not having fun?" After a moment of silence I realized maybe she didn't want to discuss her problems with a complete stranger. "I'm sorry I didn't mean to ..." but before I could finish my sentence she broke down and started crying.
My protective instincts kicked in and I quickly pulled her in my arms and hugged her in an attempt to soothe her pain and calm her down.
"It's alright, you don't have to tell me anything you don't want to. But I am here for you if you feel like talking."
She looked up in my eyes and I could sense her pain, it felt familiar.
"Could we go somewhere private? I don't feel comfortable being around people right now."