A Weird Night Together

He drives us to the party’s venue and quickly walks inside as soon as he hands the valet his keys. If I didn’t know better, I would say he is running away from me. I put on my mask and walk inside to find Aurora. It’s a masquerade party. I see her standing with a group of people who I am guessing are her friends. I tap on her shoulder to get her attention. I know who she is because of her dress.

“Aurora.”

“Andrea, you are finally here,” she says, sounding excited to see me.

“Happy birthday again.”

“Thank you, would you like something to drink.”

“Yes, please,” I say and feel someone tap on my shoulder. I turn around to see who it is, but the person has a mask on, so I don’t know. “Who are you?”

“Andrea, it’s me, Ivan,” he says, taking off his mask.

“Hey, I am so happy you made it,” I say, pulling him into a hug.

“Me too, where is the birthday girl?”

“Here I am, and you are…” Aurora says, looking at me for introduction.

“Aurora, this is Ivan, Ivan, this is Aurora”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Aurora, this is for you,” he says, handing her a box. She opens it, in the box is a rose gold backdrop necklace.

“It’s beautiful, thank you, it’s a pleasure meeting you too.”

“You are welcome, do you mind if I steal Andrea away?”

“Not at all,” Aurora says, winking at me before walking away.

Ivan and I walk around the ballroom discussing things of interest to both of us before he asks me to dance. I don’t know why, but I find myself very comfortable around Ivan. I haven’t known him for a long time but I feel comfortable around him. While dancing, I feel someone staring at me. He takes his eyes away from the man in front of him and looks at me; he stares at me and totally forgets the man in front of him. I wonder why he is looking at me, who he is. He says goodbye to the man and walks towards me without breaking eye contact. He taps on Ivan’s shoulder and asks him if he could dance with me. I hug Ivan goodbye and take this stranger’s hand; something tells me he is someone I know. His green eyes look very familiar. I can’t see his entire face because of his mask but I feel I know him. He takes my hands in his and wraps his other arms firmly around my waist. It’s not too tight, but it feels like he doesn’t want to let me go any time soon. I am about to ask him who he is, when he beats me to speak.

“Who was the man you were dancing with,” The man says in a deep raspy voice. His voice sounds familiar.

“Who are you?”

“What were you guys laughing about,” He asks, spinning me away. Ivan and I were talking about “The Big Bang Theory” while we were dancing. We were laughing as we remembered some scenes from the series. Ivan also enjoys comedy like I do.

“Who are you to be asking me all these questions,” I ask, spinning back into his arms, when it hits me. I lose my balance and spin into his chest; I take in his cologne. His scent is intoxicating but also nice, I only know one person who wears this scent.

“Stefano,” We both say at the same time. Knowing its Stefano only makes me more confused as to why he is asking me all these questions.

“Why are you asking me all these questions?”

“I want to know!” he demands.

“Since when did my private life become an interest to you,” I ask, confused with his behavior tonight and his interest in my conversation with Ivan.

“Your right, just forget I asked.” he says abruptly releasing my hands and walks away. He leaves me standing in the middle of the dance floor, wondering what just happened.

I walk away from the dance floor to find some fresh air, and maybe Ivan.

I find a balcony upstairs away from the party to think about all the weird things happening tonight. I think of reasons why Stefano behaved the way he did earlier, I can’t come up with any reason. I decided to watch funny videos like usual on my phone to entertain myself before going back to the party. While using my phone, someone joins me on the balcony, I am pleased with who it is.

“I can see you are already done dancing with Mr.,” Ivan says, coming up to stand beside me.

“Yeah, we didn’t dance for long.”

“Why is that, if you don’t mind me asking.”

“I don’t mind at all, there was no reason.”

“Alright, I came to say bye. I need to check on my friend before I go back to my hotel.”

“Oh, it’s alright, I understand, Goodbye,” I say, pulling him in for a hug.

“Good night,” he says, hugging me back before he walks away.

I stay outside a little longer before going back to the party, I start to feel cold when I suddenly feel something dropped on my shoulders; It’s a suit jacket. A breeze passes by and the cologne on the jacket goes through my nose. Why is his coat on me?

“If you are feeling cold, go inside, and stop killing yourself,” Stefano says from behind me. I turn around to tell him “Thank you” only to see him walking away. Could this night get any weirder?

I walk back inside to find something to drink. While coming down the stairs, I trip and miss one step. I try to catch myself from falling, but I can’t, so I brace myself to hit the ground. I wait for the impact of the floor on my bum, instead, I feel firm muscular arms around my waist holding me from falling. You won’t believe this; those arms belong to none other than Stefano. Why does he keep appearing out of nowhere tonight? Does he have a bell on me or something?

He helps me stand straight, and I meet his eyes. I stare into his eyes, and for some odd reason, I feel my heartbeat increase in rhythm. It is beating so fast I am surprised he can’t hear it; I feel something else. I placed my hands on his chest while standing straight, I can feel his heartbeat. His heart is beating as fast as mine, if not faster. This night is turning into something else. Stefano quickly removes his hand from around my waist. He walks away from me like he has been doing all night. I need a drink, a powerful one.

By the end of the night, I can barely say my name correctly when talking, and that is all Aurora’s fault. I tried talking to her about all the weird things Stefano did tonight but she was already too wasted to understand me and she made me join her. I don’t even know how her party turned from a formal masquerade ball to me and her getting drunk like we are at a club.

“Aurora, we need to go home. Do you have anyone who can take us home” I say, whispering into her ear for unknown reasons.

“I have someone to take me, but, someone will come and get you soon. Bye, love you, see you tomorrow,” she says, standing up but can barely hold herself. I quickly stand up to help her but almost end up falling myself until we both use the table to hold ourselves. We laugh at our attempt to stand straight. Once we are done laughing, I ask again.

“Who is the person taking me home?”

“That would be me,” A familiar husky voice says. I can barely think straight right now, I don’t know who is talking, even though his voice sounds familiar.

“Goodbye, Andrea,” Aurora says, hugging me before walking away with someone who came with the man with a familiar voice.

“Who are you?” I say, walking closer to see the person Aurora trusted to take me home safely. I can barely keep my balance; I end up bumping into him.

“Come on, let’s get you home,” he says, wrapping his arm around my waist to steady me.

“You sound familar, where do I know you from?”

“I doubt you will remember any of this tomorrow,” he says, walking us outside.

We get into his car that he had waiting for him. He tries to put me in the back seat, for some odd reason, I refuse, so he has no choice but to let me sit in the passenger’s seat. He hands me a water bottle before he starts driving. I drink it, the whole drive home, the car is dead silent, so I decide to play music to entertain myself. While reaching for the radio, he also does, and I feel a spark when our hands touch. It’s not an electrical spark but a different kind. This spark flows through my body in a pleasing way that I can’t explain. I am too drunk to think about how it makes my body feel, so I decide to sleep and think about it tomorrow.