Eirene Queen seemed unfazed from all the blinding flashes and a lot of talking and screaming at the place. The paparazzi took photos as if there was no tomorrow. And the news reporters' spit came out of their mouths like a never-ending founding.
As expected, when others heard about the commotion, they all rushed to the very beginning of the red carpet, abandoning other celebrities on the spot. They fought messily and ugly for the best positions and places to take photos of the goddess-like beauty.
A shrill followed by a scream was the sign for the actress to start moving. With every step, she took, another work of art was created.
She was breathtakingly unreal and extra-terrestrially gorgeous. She wasn't flashy or had loads of makeup but still held a power to make anyone who saw her gape in awe and silent. She carried herself with her manager right behind her was like watching a queen walking up to her throne with her loyal knight.
The celebrities, who were still stunned by the disrespectful attitude they just had, saw the woman walking up the stairs and sucked their breath in.
Eirene Queen was the moment.
With her dress and cape dragged on the carpet smoothly, the actress eyed everyone as a greeting. None of them managed to return that. They were still posing, although no one was taking photos of them anymore.
As the woman passed by, they could feel the difference in the air. They were heavy and leaked danger. She also had that aura around her that didn't allow anyone to get close to her.
People at the entrance silently watched the actress and her manager walk up the stairs graciously. Until the doors of the elevator they entered closed, nobody moved.
Other celebrities who came after the duo, expecting flashes, were astonished by the abnormal scene in front of them. Everyone, including some of the most famous actors, was facing the same direction as if a UFO was there.
----
As soon as the elevator door opened, the people waiting to go down naturally moved to give more than enough space for the queen and the knight to pass. They watched as the duo walked out and even turned around to see them entering the hall.
By the time they snapped out of the Eirene effect, the elevator was long gone, and they needed to wait for another one to arrive.
Eirene Queen walked into the hall. She didn't need to say a word to let people know she was there. It was unnecessary as people who saw her audibly gasped, and the people in the back could see her head from afar because of her height. Somehow, some of them knew she was here and rushed to get a glimpse of her.
Conversation halted, and all the stares were at her. She firmly took steps towards Archer Collins with welcoming arms.
"Great to see you, a minha Bonita." The director bent down to lightly kiss the actress's hand respectfully and stood back to greet Jaxon. "Great to see you too, Mr Easmon."
The two shook their hands with smiles, "Great to see you too."
Eirene then greeted back, "Great to see you too."
When a waiter passed by, the movie director exchanged an empty glass with a full one, "My dear, I didn't expect you to actually show up." He also took one for Eirene and handed her as Jaxon also received it from a different waiter.
The actress took a sip and said, "You sound as if you didn't want me to show up."
Archer put his hands up in defense as he said, "That's not what I meant."
She chuckled, "I know."
The director sighed before he raised his glass to someone he knew, standing in the distance. "From my knowledge, you don't like attending this kind of thing. By the way, you look like a nymph." He winked at her and later wiggled his eyebrows.
"Thank you. And you are right. I still don't like it, but eventually, I have to get out of my comfort zone." She said and stared down at the glass in her hands. The champagne was golden, and the constant raising up of bubbles somehow didn't settle well with her.
Archer nodded, "You are making baby steps. I'm happy for you."
"Thanks."
As the three of them sipped on their drinks again, Archer spotted someone and raised his so the other could notice him. A man saw the director and approached the group while avoiding people. "I want you to meet my high school classmate."
A man, appearing in his fifties, stood in front of the three. He was dressed in a simple but fine suit, meaning that it was expensive, and had a genuine smile on as he greeted. He had black curly hair and sharp silver eyes, reminding Eirene of a poodle. And the smile he gave her was way too familiar, but she erased the thoughts before they escalated.
Archer first greeted the man, "How's it going, Queens?" Eirene checked the man up and down in a millisecond. His face sure looked familiar, like she had seen it recently. He also reminded her that she forgot to look up the bartender boy's name Ronan gave her.
The man replied. "Nothing much. But I hope that all of you are enjoying this."
"Oh, we are." Archer laughed and turned to the duo, "This is my star actress in the movie I shot recently, Ms Eirene Queen. And the man behind her is her manager and companion for tonight, Mr Jaxon Easmon." He gestured to his friend and said, "This is Cristian Queen. Owner of this hotel and the big bad CEO of Queen's corporations."
Cristian laughed at how his friend introduced and greeted the actress and her manager.
"Nice to meet you." All three of them shook their hands, and when Cristian shook Eirene's hand, he said, "I've heard about you. In fact, I have a son who seemed to have a big interest in you. Let me call him. He's going to be excited!"
The woman awkwardly smiled as the man went to find his son. She was used to being given awkward smiles and suspicious frowns once they knew who she was, but this was her first time seeing someone excited to meet her, so she didn't know how to react. She was also not interested in looking for a significant other.
"Can I go now?" Eirene asked quietly and finished her champagne while waiting for Cristian.
Jaxon and Archer both gave the same looks.
The director said, "Eirene, I thought you were stepping out of your comfort zone..."
"That was then. I don't feel like that anymore."
Then the manager said, "Eirene if you back out now, you are not coming back again. You know you are going to regret it."
The actress's hands were trembling slightly. She had been too soft on herself, avoiding the situation she didn't want to be in. It was time to change that, but it still took a lot of courage to put that into action. "Maybe next time." The moment she decided she couldn't do this, a voice of a boy and a man approached them.
"...Dad, you didn't."
"Yes, I did. Aren't I wonderful?"
"No, you didn't..." The boy's voice sounded sad, embarrassed with a fair amount of anger.
Eirene had her face away, but she recognised the voice approaching her from behind.
"I'm sorry I took a long time. Let me introduce you to my son, Ares Queen."
Eirene quietly accepted her fate and turned to face the family of three. Cristian on her left, the mother on the right and the stunning-looking young man, Ares, in the middle with an adorable flushed face.
Without confirmation, she felt Jaxon poke her back with his elbows while suppressing his smirk.
"Hello." Eirene offered her hand to the boy.
----
The glass with champagne hit the wooden table, creating a loud noise and making it spill some of the liquid onto Hannah's custom dress she ordered for tonight.
"WHAT THE HELL, RUBES?!" The girl frantically snatched napkins offered by a scared waiter and began to wipe off the alcohol before it left a stain.
The banging on the table was enough to get attention but the other girl screaming was a whole drama. Either way, the one who caused her friend to scream didn't appear to care.
When Ruby later found out the boy she failed to catch was the only son of the Queens' corporations, she knew she had to get him. He was rich, good-looking, and most of all, innocent. There was no way she would let him slip away from her hands. Innocent people were easy to manipulate.
He was the type who would devote himself to the person he loved and would do anything to appease her. If she got to date or even better, marry him, the media would be all over her, and she'd have a rich life for the rest of her days.
All she had to do was dress up as much as she could, stand out from all the others and act all cute and kind to make him fall in love. But that plan was ruined by that b*tch, Eirene Queen.
That woman showed up before her and stole everyone's eyes, so when she reached the hotel, the photoshoot was basically done as not a single person dressed better than her. And now, Ares was talking with that actress with a shy smile. That spot was supposed to be hers.
After Hannah managed to rub it off, she shook her hand in front of her friend, still mad about what happened, "Hello? Are you not going to apologise?!"
Ruby scoffed, "Your dress is way cheaper than mine. Shut up."
The other girl drew back her body, offended. "Just because you are jealous, stop getting out on me." Yes, she knew her friend was jealous and going crazy with that.
Ruby stood up. Her ugly, blinding, sparkling pink dress made her appear as a pink disco ball jiggled. "Then you should help me get that b*tch away from here." She angrily retorted and stabbed the last strawberry on her plate before deciding to approach Ares.