The door flew open and the cheers from outside got even louder.
Emilia stood in front of the room, looking radiant as always.
Every single eye was on her, something she knew and enjoyed.
She strutted through the middle of the room, the crowd clearing a path for her.
It was so silent you could hear a pin drop. Adrian pushed through the crowd and came to stand beside her.
His clapping was the only sound.
"Everyone, a round of applause for tonight's leading lady, Emilia Sanders."
The cheer was hesitant at first, but it quickly became loud, Emilia gave an exaggerated bow that made the crowd laugh and waved to them wearing a massive smile.
This was where she was happiest, in the middle of a crowd, receiving love from everyone around her.
Adrian's gaze swung to my balcony, I yelled and ducked hoping he hadn't seen me.
It was like he'd known I was there. Could the nameless stranger have told him?
He turned away and offered Emilia his arm.
There was no other explanation, the nameless stranger had told him, which meant they were most likely close friends.
"Let's get this premiere started." Emilia yelled, and the two led the crowd to the theatre room.
I followed behind at a significant distance, terrified I'd run into my Mother.
Staff positioned around the room led each person to their seat.
"Miss," someone called behind me, I jumped surprised.
I turned around and one of the staff stood behind me looking impatient.
"Could I please see your ticket and escort you to your seat?"
"Of course." I muttered, I pulled the ticket from my purse and passed it to her.
She examined it, shock washed over her face and her expression became pleasant. "Please follow Miss." She led me to the first row and escorted me to my seat.
I was positioned between Adrian and Emilia. "If there's anything else you need, don't hesitate to call me."
I nodded, she gave me one last smile and walked away. I turned to Emilia.
" I can't wait to see your movie."
I whispered. An expression flashed on her face, but it was gone before I could recognize it and she returned my smile.
"I'm glad you're here." She whispered back. "Me too." I muttered.
I turned to Adrian on my other side, just in case anyone was watching.
He returned my smile and reached over to grab my hand.
His thumb ran over the back of my hand and I shivered. I tried to pull my hand out of his, but he held on tight.
He leaned over my chair, still smiling and whispered in my ear. It must have looked like we were lovers, and he was telling me a secret to anyone watching.
"It would be in both of our best interests if you didn't pull away right now." He whispered through gritted teeth.
"There's a reporter a few rows down, wearing glasses, they have a camera in them. He's staring our way and taking pictures. So you'd better stay still if you don't want the whole word to think we're having issues."
His breath tickled my ear, goosebumps spread all over my skin.
He motioned to one of the staff nearby.
"Sir?"
"Someone explain to me why there is a reporter a few rows down wearing glasses with a camera in them when I gave clear instructions to have none in the theatre."
He sounded irritated. The man went pale.
"Such a mistake will be corrected immediately, sir."
A few minutes later, the reporter was escorted out of the room.
I followed the reporter with my eyes and caught Emilia's expression.
She was wearing the same expression as before, one I could not recognize.
She leaned over her chair to stare at me and rested her face on her palm.
There was something in her face that made me uncomfortable, I turned to face the projector, waiting for the movie to start.
"Ray?"
"Hmm?"
"Will you trade seats with me?" I whipped my head around to face her.
She leaned even further onto my chair. Her breasts were spilling out of her dress at this angle.
The dress slipped even further down, and I looked around worried that someone would see.
"Emilia, your dress is slipping," I hissed. She laughed loudly drawing the attention of everyone near us, I blushed in embarrassment.
"Don't be such a prude, Ray." She was still laughing. Even more people were turning to look at us now, I could hear their whispers.
"Gosh, you're so uptight, it's exhausting." She moaned and rolled her eyes.
The whispers grew louder, Adrian was staring at us as well.
"Stop it, Lia!" My palms were moist, and my face turned even redder. My hands squeezed my dress as I struggled to keep my breathing stable. She rolled her eyes.
"You're no fun Ray, can't even take a little joke." She muttered.
"Embarrassing me is not a joke." The words were spoken around clenched teeth, I was too embarrassed to even look at anyone and see what they were thinking.
"Fine, I'll stop. But only if you switch with me." She smiled at me a calculating glint in her eye.
My hands were wrinkling my dress and I clenched teeth so hard, I thought they'd break.
My foot bounced on the floor, and my hands flexed on my dress. I had no idea what my expression looked like, but I knew one thing for sure, my mask was slipping.
I forced my arms to let go of my dress, and my legs to still.
Slowly but steadily, I regained control of my mask and put in back in place.
"Of course," I smiled sweetly at Emilia. She stood up and smirked as if she'd won.
My gaze darted to the glass of champagne in her chair, and I made up my mind. My heart was racing, and my palms were moist, but I was determined to do this, although it could cause a scene and backfire.
I rose as she walked past me and 'accidentally' knocked over her glass while reaching for my napkin.
Gasps spread through the room as the drink stained her gown. She froze mid-step staring at me in shock.
"Oh no, Lia." I gasped.
"I'm so sorry. I can't believe I'm so clumsy." I said as I grabbed a napkin and dabbed at her dress, making the stain even worse. My voice was full of with fake concern.
Murmurs spread through the room. Emilia's composure snapped, and her hands began to tremble. She glanced around, her face red as people whispered behind their hands and pointed fingers at her.
"I'll fix this," I said loud enough for everyone around us to hear. "Don't worry about the stain, it's not that noticeable." I tilted my head and faked an apologetic smile.
Emilia stared at me for a long moment, then muttered hurried excuses and rushed off to the power room.
Staring after her, the high began to wear off, and I wondered why I'd done it in the first place.
She was my little sister, and I couldn't believe I'd sunk to such levels and humiliated her at her event.
I took my seat and stared at the floor as the lights dimmed, and the room began to quiet down.
"I'm sorry for causing a scene at your premiere." I whispered to Adrian knowing he could hear me. He turned to me and stared, but I refused to show him my face. He turned back to the screen and shrugged.
"It's not like you did anything she didn't deserve." And with that, we settled down to watch the show.
with that, we settled down to watch the show. But, I couldn't help but wonder if this small victory had been worth it in the end.