"You look like you've seen a ghost, Solomon." She chuckles
"Not quite; I'm just always astonished by your astounding beauty." He laughed, but I knew he wasn't happy to see her; it was all fake.
"You had better be, baby, because tonight I brought the heat." She smirks, but when she turns to look at me, it quickly fades.
"And so did you," she said in a low, dangerous tone.
I wanted to make a quick comeback, but within a split second, she was between me and Reiss.
Before I could even move a muscle, she planted a kiss on his cheeks and whispered
"Won't you say hello to your favourite girl? This makes me doubt if you ever missed me." She pouts
At this moment, I was about to explode at this girl!
She has no shame!
To come at a married man!
In public!
We were already getting a few glances when Reiss let go of her and coughed before putting on a weird smile.
"You look ravishing, Aracelli."
"You always loved me in red," she quickly replied.
"My wife, Freya," he hurriedly said, trying to change the subject.
I would be a fool if I said I didn't see something between them. The way she just knew the right places to touch so she didn't get a death glare, the way they held each other's gaze like what he said didn't even leave his mouth? Like he was joking when he said, "My wife, pfft!
They probably missed breathing the same air with each other, and we were just left with the tense, suffocating air. They look at each other like they're love magnets with the same poles attracting, while he looks at me like I'm the south pole, which he would without a heartbeat repel.
Why do I feel this way? How is this getting to me more than it should? I don't like this feeling.
"Should we go take our seats now?" She said she was bringing me back to reality.
"Yes, I think we should take our date and wife to our respectable seats," Solomon said, and in my heart I felt like saying thank you. It seems like he's the only one who appreciates my presence here.
But the thing is, I don't know where we're supposed to drop our asses. If I had known, I would have walked off in the middle of this charade of theirs. It's a gala, so certainly there are designated seats for every guest, right? That's common knowledge, so I can't just grab a seat when everyone is engaging in idle chatter.
"Oh, Reiss, what is your number?" Araceli asks as she puts her lanky hands on my husband's shoulder once again.
I mean, why does he even let her touch him that way? And what bloody number are they talking about? Is it a cell phone number? She lost his number so soon?
"Let me check," he answered as he brought out his phone.
"5" he said.
"No fucking way, I'm also sitting at the table." She said with a hint of astonishment, "Bish, I know you paid double for that seat, or something more shady; I don't know.
And I don't fucking want to know.
"Let's go, Reiss," I said. Of course, I was mad at him, but I'm not going to let her get to me.
This is my bloody full moon, and I'm definitely going to own it; she can't ruin it no matter how much of a f*cking goddess she is.
We all walked to our seats, and I think Reiss had finally regained his reasoning as he pulled out a chair for me and sat beside me. At least we were back to normal. With all the show we put out there for the camera, I thought the plan would be to act all loved up all night long, but here we were being hostile as fuck, and it's all because of her.
It was a table for six, and shortly after, a man in his late 50s joined us. We all exchanged pleasantries, and Araceli just couldn't wait to rub off her past relationship with Reiss on me.
"Oh, does this bring back memories, Reiss?" Remember when I hosted a gala three years ago? I was so proud to have you in the audience cheering for me. And after that, we went on a vacation overseas to celebrate my success. Remember the prawns? That starfish you caught and that jellyfish that almost electrified me!" she laughed.
"Solomon, you remember our last vacation together, right? You brought Tatiana along, and we were on a yacht. Reiss and I did a remake of Titanic, which was hilarious when he pretended to draw himself in the water. And Solomon, you made us do a remake of a high school beach party where we had to pretend that there were killer fish trying to eat us alive. Except!" She laughed once more.
"He brought real fish that could actually eat us alive, so we had to take him seriously," Reiss said, and everyone chuckled; even Solomon's date smacked him a bit.
But it angered me to the core how everyone was so chill with her talking about Reiss, like when he comes to his senses, he'll come back to her or something.
And it would be foolish of me to lie just so I can brag about memories with Reiss when I don't have pleasant ones, sex apart, but that can't be discussed because it's private.
"Okay, the show's starting," Reiss finally said, and all the chatter seized. We exchanged a glance before I turned to focus on a blonde woman who was making her way to the stage.
I know he knows I'm angry, but he's not going to do anything about that woman. Or even stop talking to her, at least?
This is all part of her plan to alienate me and make me feel like a nobody. Why can't anyone see that?
~~~
An hour into the event...
A soft melody was being played as the legendary Castro 7 band encouraged the guests to grab their partner and hit the dance floor. Celebrities took to the stage, grinning ear to ear as they danced to the slow music with their partners.
"Reiss, I want to dance with you," Araceli said out of the blue as we were about to stand up.
"What?" I couldn't help but utter. Now this is really getting out of hand.
She rolled her damn eyes at me and was still focused on Reiss. "Reiss, remember our first meeting at the private club? We danced to this song, and you promised me I would be the only woman you'd dance to this song with."
"Are you fucking kidding me? That was a long time ago!" I yelled
"Freya," Reiss said in a low tone as he looked at me with much anger.
"I don't get it. You're angry with me? When she's the one demanding the impossible?" I am beyond amazed by this reaction right now.
Oh my gosh...
He still loves her.
That's the only logical reason he would take her side!
He moved closer and whispered in my ear, "One thing you should know about me is that I don't go back on my word, so compose yourself; it's just a dance. Stop this jealousy so you don't cause a scene."
My knees suddenly grew weak as I slumped back in my chair.
I had no words left to oppose them as they went hand in hand to dance to that accursed tune of theirs.
I was causing a scene.
I was causing a scene.
DANCING WITH YOUR EX-GIRLFRIEND
That's not causing a scene?
You call that just a dance! And that's not enough to get the media talking?
Yet I'm the one causing a scene and being jealous.
Right...