The Pawn_Athan Ayo.
The Doherty's Castle bustled with high spirits and gaiety evening through the night on the weekend. It was arguably the most colourful atmosphere of the night, star-studded and replete with glitz and glam from showy and fancy-pants sons and daughters of high-class politicians and well-to-do personalities.
The castle, nicknamed The White Castle, was one of the sprawl of numerous fancy edifices in Doherty's possession. Tega had a chronic predilection for houses as much as fancy cars. Without a shadow of doubt, Tega had amassed the wealth in his possession from shady deals and clever abuse of his adminstration as a mayor. The White Castle stood at the heart of the city as one of the edifices to behold, and it remained a stomping ground for his last son, Ajuri.
The air in the White Castle extensive hall on the night was filled with gaiety as different personalities trooped in, in stunning and elegant outfits. Cocktails were elaborately served to the specific tastes of the guests and business chats and classy laughters rang through the high-ceileigned hall by folks who were business inclined. The tables were arranged with specified gender mixture. It was a Dinner Date after all; the gender at each table had to be balanced.
Jenny was seated with Benji at one of the tables. She looked quite alluring in her close-packed, off-shoulder bias-cut gown. The duo were later joined by an overly chatty couple who were too eager to hit it off right away.
''Hullo, cutie,'' the lady said, raising her hand just a bit above her eyebrow and wagging her index finger to signal to Jenny, ''I'm Monica. Can I meet you?''
''Oh, OK, Monica,'' Jenny replied, snatching her attention away from the glitz that pervaded the air, ''pleased to meet you. I'm Jenifer Lawrence by name.''
''And here's is my boyfriend, Jamal.'' Monica continued, pointing at the man in a glossy black shirt and black pants who had joined them at the table.
''Hi, Jenifer.'' Jamal cut in with a humorous smile while wagging his index finger at Jenny.
''And...can we meet your fiancé?'' Monica asked Jenny, brashly, raising her eyebrow in demand for a response.
For once, Jenny's heart skipped a bit, wondering if she should deny this claim. Why would this brash chick just plunge in and assume Benji her fiancé? For a moment, she was not certain of her affair with Benji, or how best to introduce him to this talkative duo.
''Well...,'' Jenny garbled, rolling her eye balls, ''Here's Benjamin,'' she said curtly. ''And he's my friend.''
''Oh I see,'' Monica and Jamal said in sync, shaking their heads humourously. ''Friends indeed''
For a moment, Jenny looked away and across the hall to let her eyes grope for Laura who was seated two tables away from them. Laura was no longer on her seat. Her eyes groped further away to the doorway, and she caught the sight of Laura and George who were in a cheerful banter. It was her first time seeing those two chat excitedly. She had known the two to always be in a heated mode of conversations. But then, again, she wished she could hear a word of their chat. Just a word. For once.
Everyone on the night was well into one conversation or the other. But for Jenny, she preferred to study the environment and make observations. Her attention was now drawn back to her table, only to discover that Benji had hit it off straight with the talkative couple who came to join them at the table. Benji was equally the talkative sort of person, so then, it was a perfect match. This time, she felt at ease that the couple would not have bother her with pestering questions.
Jenny took another sip of her cocktail, and she caught the sight of Ajuri mounting the stage as the master date' for the night. Ajuri had been thrown into a good light with everyone on seat. The anchorman had rightly credited his lavish and philanthropic streak. It came as no surprise that Benji would do anything to pander to his whims and caprices.
His arrival on the stage had been met with a standing ovation by everyone. At first, Jenny had not been comfortable to accord him a standing ovation, but then, she would seem quite odd as would be the only one to refuse him such gesture. She has reluctantly stood to welcome him. He was the reason for the event, after all.
In a moment, the anchor man took to the stage to announce Ajuri's date. Ajuri had scribbled his desired date on paper, to be revealed by the anchor man. Jenny took a moment to look across at Laura's table, and she observed the beam of excitement on the teen's face. Obviously, she could not wait to be announced. It was her moment. She had longed for it.
In a moment of confusion, Jenny could not believe to have heard the anchor man blare her name. She listened again as though the anchor man had mixed up the names. But the anchor man re-ehoed her name.
''Ladies and Gents, let us welcome Jenifer Lawrence to the stage.'' The anchor man repeated, as the gathering began to usher Jenifer Lawrence out to the stage with a resounding, never-ending applause.
Jenny felt her world falling apart. She was perplexed. Why would Ajuri make this devilish choice? Laura was his; the teen had longed for this night to come. Why would Ajuri be so mischievous in his choice tonight? Jenny's heart was strongly racing even as the applause grew louder to usher out whoever Jenifer Lawrence was. She could not fight against the massive encouragement, neither could she make a choice of her own in this classy gathering.
Jenny stood to her feet and sheepishly flung a gaze across to Laura who looked dismayed and shattered at the sudden twist of Ajuri's choice. In turn, Laura shot back a frowned and awful look at Jenny. For once, Jenny was disappointed in her inability to bring her real intent to the fore, as she took a forceful walk to the stage to hook up with Ajuri.