"Neither, fine I dance but not ballroom dancing. I have no idea what to do here and yes I would prefer not to fall on my face in front of all these celebrities. I would have nightmares for the rest of my life." Charity replied stepping backwards to put some distance between them but Absalom's hand had already circled her waist and kept her body close to his.
"Do you trust me?" He asked and Charity felt hot, too hot, why wouldn't he keep a decent distance between their bodies?
Leaning backwards she looked up at him, "Is that a joke? Of course not."
"You hurt me Charity" he laughed softly and Charity was ready to make a run for it, why just why did she react to this man like this?
"Well, Mr Moretti not only do I know nothing about you but in the two times I have met you, you have displayed characteristics that any moral woman would shy away from." The charity stated and his brows pulled together while his eyes narrowed. "Are you surprised I to know your name?"
"No, I hate that you call me that, it seems so official, so business-like" he stated.
"Well, this is a business transaction is it not?"
"And she keeps on ripping into me," he said tucking a piece of stray hair behind her ear, "but you must know I never handle my business this way, I am not benefitting anything from this" he whispered, and much to his surprise she shoved his chest, hard.
But it would take a lot more force to get him to stumble, he looked at her with wide eyes and a surprised smirk, "Miss Sweeney did you just hit me? I could sue you for assault."
Charity pursed her lips and winked at him coyly, "I am nothing?"
"Ah... I didn't mean it like that" he began but Charity cut him off, stepping closer to him this time, she held the lapels of his jacket and pulled his lower until she was able to whisper into his ear, "I am not nearly the most beautiful woman but I will not ever be considered as nothing, even if you may not think you are benefitting you will smile and act like I am the most beautiful woman in the world today because you chose me as a payment for my debt."
"Hey, Charity-"
"Absalom is that you?" A female voice said from behind both of them stepping out from behind Charity the woman came into full view.
"Faye" Absalom muttered, Charity noticed how he stiffened and the hostility in his eyes was palpable.
"It has been quite a while we have a lot to catch up on don't you think?" She said, her voice low and sultry, Charity looked between both of them and so many thoughts began to burst out in her mind. "How about a dance?"
"As you can see I am not alone," he said keeping a polite smile but he wasn't fooling anyone, not Charity and not Faye herself. "Let's go, Charity," he said taking her hand but Charity stepped back and pulled away. Looking towards Faye she smiled "I can share, and besides it is not as if you are dancing with me. You wanted to dance so dance with her." She said.
"Oh, how nice of you Charity" Faye smiled stepping right in front of Charity, placing herself securely between them.
"Charity" Absalom said again stepping aside to grab her but she was faster, moving quickly she walked around the crowd and headed towards the bathroom.
Charity stared at herself in the mirror as she washed her hands, wondering what she was doing in a place like this with a man like Absalom. "Absalom, the last thing I expected was for him to have a biblical name" she muttered to herself.
"Uh... did you say something?" The lady beside her asked and Charity turned to look who it was, jeez she was just watching this lady on tv a few days ago.
"No! No I was just talking to myself" she laughed.
The woman looked at her from head to toe and back in the eye again, "I love your shoes, and the dress everything is just on point!" She exclaimed and Charity felt her cheeks heating up. "You are the woman who has been on Absalom Moretti's arm all evening aren't you?"
Charity smiled, looking down at her expensive heels, "yeah."
"Did I hear Absalom Moretti? Oh hey there, I don't think I have seen you before?" Another woman approached them and Charity felt like she was going to faint, it was a social media influencer with about 20 million followers on every platform.
"Uh... you haven't I don't usually attend these functions," she said.
"And I wonder why? You look so good this evening and you, 're not a snib either where have you been all my life?" The woman gushed, extending her hands. "April Marin aka April M nice to meet you."
"Oh my gosh you do not have to introduce yourself I know who you are and I am such a huge fan of both of you. You're Anna Patow, I loved you in Sense 134 it was a phenomenal performance." The charity started with literal stars in her eyes.
"Oh you're a sweetheart, and you are?"
"Oh forgive my manners, Charity Sweeney, I don't anything half as glamorous as you girls" she laughed.
"So what do you do then?" April asked and like a flash the past few months of Charity's life came flashing through her memories. How does she tell this high-class woman that she was scammed out of her business and was an odedebtor a few hours ago? By a man, she planned a life with?
"Oh I'm in between jobs, still figuring out what is right for me, She said expecting the conversation to move on but they just kept staring at her. "Okay, we are serious about this, I run a bar."
"Really? What is the name?" Anna asked.
"Uh... it's still a work in progress, I just finished the renovations but don't worry when it opens you'll hear about it."
"No doubt, but having a name is usually an important first step for any business, a name just kind of ties it down you know," April said and Charity nodded enthusiastically.
"Oh that is so true, for any good script the name is usually a defining factor" Anna added
Charity pursed her lips "perhaps you two can give me ideas?"
"I would love to, here's my card you can call me" Anna dropped her business card into Charity's hands and as she did April had to do the same even if she didn't want to just not to look rude. But if she didn't want to Charity would never know.
Too overwhelmed and honestly just shocked charity tucked the cards into the bust of her dress and laughed, "well I've got to go now, thanks a lot this was such a dream, you guys are such a dream."
"Awen you are are are the cutest" April gushed and Charity waved them goodbye one more time before she left the bathroom. The large smile on her face disappeared the moment she saw him, holding a gun.