Chereads / MEET YOU AT SUNRISE / Chapter 26 - A dance to declare my love

Chapter 26 - A dance to declare my love

It was Oriana's birthday party. Everyone was busy preparing for the party and Oriana was not allowed to enter the garden area as it was supposed to be a surprise for her. Around 6 pm, the guests started to arrive at the party. Mr. Summer and Eleo were in charge of ushering the guests. Whereas, Mrs. Summer was busy getting ready with Oriana and helping her to wear the silvery blue strapless long dress Mrs. Summer bought for her. At 6.30 pm, all the guests arrived and Mrs. Summer joined them. In a while, soft music started to play and Oriana walked down the staircase. She was escorted by other servants to the garden area. She was really happy to meet her relatives, friends, and classmates at the party. She was later guided to the nearby canopy that was set up for the dance session and cake cutting ceremony.

Oriana walked past the swimming pool to reach the tent and she was astonished looking at the decoration made. At that moment, she realized that the theme of the party was 'Starry Night' as the roof of the canopy was transparent and decorated with some LED lights which looked like stars in the sky. Besides that, the whole canopy was filled with space blue background and some star-shaped ornaments hung around it as well. She felt like standing in outer space with a mesmerizing view. Suddenly someone tapped Oriana's shoulder, she returned to reality and turned around to look at the person who tapped her. It was her friend, Lily who invited her to join other classmates as they wanted to chat with her.

While chatting with them, Oriana was complimented for her dress and the decorations at the party. Some of them were wondering the reason behind the theme that was chosen but Oriana said she wasn't sure why her parents chose such a theme. At the same time, Julia, who was standing with her group of friends in front of them, was dissatisfied as no one in the party admired or complimented her dress. Green-eyed Julia purposely bumped with Oriana and spilled her drink on Oriana's dress. After doing it, Julia reacted as if it was an accident and apologized for what happened. Oriana thought that Julia wasn't intentionally doing it, and accepted her apology. Some of her friends helped to wipe off the spilled drink but the dress was stained by the color of the drink. Oriana excused herself to change her dress and started to walk towards the house.

Since the party had already begun, Oriana's parents and the servants were busy handling the guests. Subsequently, Eleo glanced to look for Oriana and he saw her moving hurriedly into the house. Instantly, Eleo ran behind Oriana to check on her. He stopped her and questioned about the reason she was leaving the party as the next agenda would begin soon. She answered him and then he even helped her to climb the staircase. Later, Eleo stood in front of Oriana's room door and waited for her to change into her new dress.

After a few minutes, Oriana slightly opened the door and asked Eleo, "Eleo, is there anyone out there to help me zip my dress?"

Eleo walked around and found no one nearby the room.

Awkwardly Eleo requested, "There is no one here. If you don't mind, I can do it for you."

Oriana, who was running late for the party, agreed to Eleo. Eleo went inside and Oriana was standing in front of her dressing mirror. He gradually moved closer to her and gently moved her hair to the side so that he could zip the dress. After that, both of them looked at the mirror and Eleo uttered, "You look more dazzling than the other day." He also helped to fix her hair and Oriana shyly thanked him.

While going down the staircase, Eleo offered to assist Oriana and both of them walked while linking their arms. When they reached the garden area, people surrounding them were blown away as Oriana was wearing the navy blue halter neck long dress that Eleo bought for her and it matched with the suit Eleo was wearing which was also bought on the same day. Right after they reached inside the canopy, soft jazz music started to play by the musicians. Eleo stepped out and offered his left hand to ask her to dance with him. Oriana accepted his offer and Eleo escorted her to the middle of the tent whereas other guests joined them as well.

The beats were slow, they danced lightly and Eleo whispered to Oriana, "You know something?"

"Uhmm, what?" Oriana questioned him.

"You know how much I love to stargaze….," he explained.

Oriana voiced out, "Yes, I know," and the beats started to get faster.

They began to dance quicker. Then, Eleo made Oriana to spin and pull her back towards him which made her land in front of him.

Then he whispered again, "But remember today is the last day I would be stargazing stars in the sky…."

Oriana looked puzzled with his answers.

As the last step, he lowered Oriana while holding her waist and hand, and he said, "Because after this I would be gazing at the brightest star that shines the whole day and guess what? I am looking at the star right now, in front of me."

For the time being, both Eleo and Oriana were staring at each other's eyes and catching up with their breath, Eleo lowered his face and kissed Oriana. Then, he gently rose up with Oriana while kissing and the whole crowd was witnessing them. All of them were clapping and that caused Oriana to realize others' presence which also made her pull away from Eleo and she blushed.

When the crowd was excited to watch Eleo and Oriana, they started to move around and they began to push each other. Eventually, one of them accidentally pushed Julia who was standing near the swimming pool. This made her lose her balance and fell into the pool. Oriana and Eleo were unable to notice this incident as they were surrounded by the crowd and at the same time, the loud background music was playing behind them. Julia was embarrassed and left the party, immediately after Oriana's servant gave her a towel to dry herself.

Suddenly, the spotlight focused at the corner of the tent where Oriana's servants were pushing a trolley with a birthday cake on it with her parents walking beside it.