Chapter 1

The First Meeting

Clementine Jane pouted and slumped dramatically in her chair. Her exposed thighs rubbed uncomfortably against the sticky material of her leather seat.

A stream of table salt poured down from her polka-dotted grip as the other lazily held her face up. The crystals collected generously over the ice cube pressed against the inside of her palm. It was the ole' salt n' ice trick. An understandable last-ditch escape from the treacherous depths of absolute boredom.

Anything would be better than listening to the same mind-numbing conversation her parent's insisted on having with yet another business partner. So, naturally, Clementine decided that testing out a chemistry lesson for prepubescent children was a far better use of her time

And- I mean, to be fair, it was her father who had always nagged Clementine to become, "more developed within the world of science." Blah, blah, blah.

Though, those thoughts were quickly shoo'd away when the ice began to burn- or well, freeze- the skin in her palm.

Through scrunched up eyes, Clementine counted the tickings of the huge, decorative clock that hung against the gold-trim wall above them. Her face intensified even further as she watched it tick away with a furious expression. Then she gave in, Clemi flipped her hand over her cloth napkin and sighed in relief.

She smiled proudly, she had held the ice in her hand for two seconds longer than last time. Bouncing in success, she quickly searched her parent's faces but realized they both still very busy. Well that's okay, she could entertain herself just fine.

Hmmm, so now what?

Clemi rested her head back on the table and desperately wished to be back home. Preferably, sitting outside in the lawn reading her freshly checked out a book from the library by her house. She had just walked there this morning and the new book was already a 'Clementine Acclaimed' page-turner.

She imagined the pretty shades of pink and purple flowers blossoming in her reading meadow. Then, she thought of some clever comebacks for when her mother would call them weeds.

"Well what's so wrong with being a weed?" Now that would stump her for sure. "I don't see an issue with them."

Clemi's eyes rose to the high roof covered in fat babies floating through a pink cloudy sky. Seas of gold spread across the waves of the sky. Kicking her feet under the table, she imagined how nice it'd be being a baby, with lots of other fat baby friends. She supposed she'd like that very much. She hated being alone very much.

This thought was cut off though, when a perfectly crispy, honey-gold slice of Baklava floated by in the hands of a woman.

Ding dong! Her stomach growled.

"Mama," Clemi immediately prodded, touching her mother's lower arm. But her mother suddenly snorted loudly into her glass of wine when the rest of the table broke out in to a hefty fit of laughter at a joke thrown out by their business partner. What was his name again-? Todd-?

Clemi shook her head. Back to the subject at hand. "Mama," Her mother smiled across the table as Clemi went completely unnoticed. "Can I get dessert?"

Her mom shook her arm away and agreed to whatever her daughter had asked.

She would take that as a yes!

The intricate placement of tables and booths seemed like a maze to get through as Clemi stepped out. The ballroom was full of grand dividers, statues, and flocks of identically dressed men and women. She finally made it to the center area, it was full of creamy pastas and extravagant dishes. She rounded another turn and sighed at even more tables.

It was a huge event. The Annual Architecture Gathering for highly acclaimed Independent and Senior Architects. Or in Clemi's words, a mouthful.

Her parents worked under a more low-status Independent Architect, so this gathering was pretty important to their never-ending mission of scaling the ranks.

Still, Clementine didn't understand why they had to act so fancy just to go to dinner. She personally just liked to eat dinner in her pajamas. When she had her own house, she'd just melt into the dining chair. She hated the dresses, the posture and the talking.

Clementine aimlessly wandered around the maze of tables and secluded booths, but suddenly stopped in her tracks when she caught a glimpse of something. There, just in front of her, was half a dozen food tables bordering a grand chocolate fountain.

Getting closer she saw that each table was stocked with a mountain of decadent sweets. Rice pudding, tirimisu, flan, rasgulla, baklava. She couldn't name them all. Extraordinary desserts decorated the place.

She watched as a set of women in beaded evening gowns blushed as handsome gloved waiters served them their treats.

She ran and patiently got served until her plate had a little bit of everything. She didn't mind too much how she looked with a pile of desserts, she was too excited to not take advantage of them.

She placed her finger in the small cup of custard she'd got and sighed dreamily when the sweetness hit her lips.

As if on cue, the lights of the building dimmed darkly before a soft jazz started. She guessed the fundraiser auction had ended and they were starting the official dinner.

Excited to see a live band, she hurried back to the table. Scooting back through the tables was even harder in the dimness. She bumped into chairs blindly, leaving a trail of Excuse me, sorry's behind her.

When she tip-toed against a tall, narrow divider and just barely caught a glimpse of the live band.

But eyes sparkled in excitement, the jazz players fingers moved to graciously like a dance.

Then, losing her balance, the enchantment of the musicians was torn out of vision. She side-stepped and fell hard against something, and just barely caught all her food.

When Clemi turned back quickly, she stifled a small breath and a small whine tumbled from her lips. Taken aback, she was frozen looking up to an extremely tall, shadowy silhouette and his equally intense glare.

For some reason, Clementine was suddenly dumbfounded by how much she had to crane her neck to see him. It sort'a reminded her of the feeling she got looking up at her parent's skyscraper building sites from the ground level. But from a biological standpoint, it seemed just a bit excessive.

Her eyes were first drawn to the strong bone structure of his face, and his full, attractive lips. Then it was his muscular neck. Then his white button up, with the sleeves rolled to expose thick forearms.

His face looked domineering like a bull, with the darkened shadows even further defining the edges of his face, that scanning her appearance with just as much vigor.

Suddenly, in her stupor, his lip raised and his eyes became daring. He leaned back just a bit before cheekily responding, "Such carelessness for such a small girl. Don't you think?"

Her mouth opened, but quickly closed when burning spread quickly across her freckle covered cheeks. Small? She wasn't used to getting called that. She was taller than most girls and it wasn't like she was built very dainty.

His eyes glowed that of a predator. Maybe he found a disastrous pleasure in her shocked expression. Maybe that is why he kept going when he knew he shouldn't.

He leaned forward and dropped his voice. "You'll get yourself hurt if you aren't careful."

Looking down at this clumsy young girl, he felt something within him stir. Something dusty and broken. He shoved it to the furthest corner of his mind. It twitched and stirred.

She'd make a fun one-nighter.

Clemi was still silently staring up at him, bewitched.

"Do you have a name?" His voice dripped as sweet as honey as he spoke down to her.

Her voice came out as a whisper, "My mom says I can't talk to strangers."

Then, in a hair-raising, time-slowing move, he leaned down ever so gently until he was eye level to her. God, she was little.

"She's right, you know." Pause. Clemi stared at him with a sort of bewitched worried-ly confusion that had him smirking devilishly. Her lips opened slightly and her dewy eyes glowed naively up to his. He couldn't help himself at this point. Like a predator flashing his canines, he continued his advances. "A stranger like me could eat you up like wolf."

He could barely hold in the laugh at the sight of her worried face. "So...you really should be getting away then, huh?"

Catching her cue, she turned on her heel as and zipped the other way. Not even bothering to look back as she maneuvered across tables and turns toward the welcoming shine of her father's balding head.

She found her seat next to her mother, completely frazzled. No one at the table seemed to even notice. She sunk into the seat as her heart thumped in her ears.

She held her heart and felt a blush burn across her face like a wildfire. Who was that man? She kneeled on her chair, and just barely peeked her eyes over the wooden edge of her seat.

She peeped audiably when she spotted him almost immediately. The man walked into a completely secluded dark corner where three other large silhouettes were lounging at an elegant table. She saw the red glow of a cigar end and the sight of pillowy smoke rising in the air, but couldnt catch any of their features.

A spark of fear ran through her and she quickly turned back in her seat stiffly.

She barely peeped until the night came to an end.

"I see you found the dessert table," her mother eyed disapprovingly.

Clementine sighed. She had found herself much more than that.