Veronica sent a quick SOS text to April while her eyes dart to the door in a panic.
She didn't wait to see if her message was sent as she headed for the door with a gulp.
"Hello, I'm here to let you know that the first part of the party has almost ended and all adult guests are asked to proceed to the event hall for the second part. Here's your number for the children's art auction later." A woman in a server uniform handed her a wooden number before saying goodbye to knock on the door beside the room she's in.
Veronica can't help but exhale a heavy sigh of relief as she closes the door. Her heart almost leaped out of her chest. God.
She walked to the table to get her phone to check if April has seen her message when another knock came on the door. This time, Veronica didn't felt as much nervous. She opened the door expecting to see the same person earlier but a tall man with chestnut hair was there instead.
"Hi," the man in a black suit and a white mask that covers his eyes greeted once the door opened.
He paused for a second before his head tilted slightly as if he was observing her, "Hmm…you look different but that's fine." he casually said to himself with a shrug before taking Veronica by the hand to pull her out of the room.
"H-hold on. E-excuse me…" she tried saying but he only shushed her.
"Shhh…I'm not supposed to be here," he informed her in a hushed voice.
Veronica made a sideways glance at the man walking beside her; trying to make out the face underneath the mask. "Neither am I." she whispered back, "Did April send you?"
But before the man was able to answer her question, a gush of cold air touched her skin as they enter a wide brightly lit hall. Colorful paintings and drawings surrounded the large hall. Guests were scattered around the room some are seated at the round tables with extravagant centerpieces. Most of them were standing and walking around the hall while holding wine flutes while chatting away with other guests.
Her eyes immediately scanned the crowd to look for April and when she spotted her, a sense of relief washed over her whole body. She was about to thank and walk away from the man who brought her out but he was on the phone. Veronica was going to walk over to her friend without saying her goodbyes but he was still holding her hand. She tried to break free but he only held onto her tightly.
"-uh…my hand." She tried to interrupt him but he was too busy laughing with someone on the other line.
He then let out a fake gasp, "Bastard! Did you know what I have to go through just to prepare all of this perfectly in time for the charity event?" he said with an impish smile on his face but the tone of his voice feigned hurt.
The conversation ended after that and the man turned to face her. "Ms. Theresa, I want you to stay right here while I go backstage, okay? Don't go anywhere. The show's about start." and then the man let go of her and left.
Veronica took this golden opportunity to escape and find April but she was gone from the desserts table where Veronica saw her a few moments ago so she tried to scan and find her from the crowd once again but she seemed to have disappeared.
In the end, Veronica decided to just look for her inside the hall herself. She checked behind her where the man went off to before walking away to join in the noisy crowd.
***
"Excuse me, I have to take this call," Cedric announced before walking away from the group, leaving the old man hanging.
As soon as he was far from them, he answered his ringing phone especially after seeing the name of the caller. "I would have appreciated it if you had called earlier."
The other line chuckled playfully. "Sorry, Ced. I was busy preparing what you asked me to."
"What do you mean?"
He made another short laugh, "Oh you'll see. Did you see the card I sent you?"
Cedric can't help but let out a sigh. His headache has seemed to have come back when a throbbing pain sliced his temple. Shit.
He removed his mask when he started feeling stuffy and looked around to see if the air-conditioning is on and doing its job.
"I'm not up for your games, Luc. Just tell me if it's too much for you and I'll give it to George instead."
A voice gasped on the other line, "Bastard! Did you know what I have to go through just to prepare all of this perfectly in time for the charity event?" he feigned hurt.
"I was expecting you to find me someone for the job by next week. I wasn't rushing you to do this right away-" he stopped, "-wait. What did you say?"
And then Cedric remembered the couple mask Lucas sent him. Fuck. Now, this kid had done it. When Cedric sees him, he'll make sure to beat the shit out of him.
"What are you talking about, Lucas?" his teeth grit at every word. Cedric takes it back when he said that Lucas is a good kid. He thought that he'd turned over to a new leaf and has finally matured when he went off to college but he's mistaken after all. His cousin is still the same old spoiled brat who used to order people around and does whatever he wants.
The line remained silent before the call clicked and his eyes zeroed into the screen of his phone that says 'call ended'.
That kid even dares to hang up. Cedric ran a frustrated hand to his hair. Fine. He may have overdone it when he left everything to Lucas but he trusted the guy because he's like a brother to him. He hadn't expected him to throw a tantrum in the middle of this.
That's when his eye caught the woman wearing the same mask he saw in the card standing among the crowd. Their eyes met and for a moment Cedric saw recognition flashed her face.
Before he knew it, his feet started to move to where she is.
That's right. He won't let Lucas do what he wants. He can still stop it. He can fix this.
Cedric walked in large strides to reach the woman fast and talk her out of whatever Lucas had planned, get the hell out of here, and beat his cousin to a pulp later.
He reached the masked woman in a few and hurriedly took her hand to lead her out of the room when the sound of the microphone feedback echoed inside the large hall.
"Mic test...mic test..." Lucas cleared his throat and all heads turned to look at the man on stage.
"-Ladies and Gentlemen! Before we start the auction, Mr. Cedric Ford will be announcing very important news so take your seats and grab a glass of champagne while he shares the most memorable event of his life to us, his engagement."
_to be continued_