Calore Dance Academy// Red Queen AU

Chapter 63

Hello lovelies! I hope ya'll enjoy part 1/2 for the brunch scenes . . . next chapter be getting a little intense. :)

This chapter is very much about setting up the scenery for the future. Mare will begin frequenting the Calore penthouse, so I spend A LOT of time describing the penthouse scenery in this chapter, so watch out for my heavy descriptions, haha. As always, enjoy!

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Everything on Billionaires' Row glitters.

On West Fifty-Seventh Street, sleek glassy buildings mix with elegant brownstones and old-fashioned golden architecture. Windows wear gold and metallic silver tints, and the glass of pencil towers reflects crystalline blue sky and fellow skyscrapers. Hotel flags flap in the calm autumn breeze, and even the air smells expensive, like an old socialite's perfume or fifty-year-old wine. The glistening sidewalks are perfectly paved, and lustrous black town cars park along the shoulders of the street.

Billionaires' Row is two blocks south of Central Park. It's home to ultra-tall high rises made of glass and wealth, and only the richest of the rich in Manhattan can afford its penthouses. For God's sake, the penthouses on this street put the Upper East Side to shame with their sweeping views of the city.

"So. Brunch. You must really be climbing up in the world now, Mare Bear."

Shade, clad in a pair of washed blue jeans and a crew sweater, grins at me. Trying to hide my nerves, I smile back in my own pair of plain jeans and a black sweatshirt.

It's a casual affair.

As I expected, Maven and Cal approached me at the barre yesterday morning and invited me to brunch. They told me that I could wear whatever I wanted and bring a friend or family member. Apparently, according to Maven, Mister Calore and Elara want to get to know their son's girlfriend, though that sounds like an excuse to me. Elara sees me on a regular basis, and Mister Calore, if the photos on his desk were any indication, has no interest in his younger son's love life.

He'll want to talk to me about my contract. So will Cal.

In the highest penthouse on Billionaires' Row, Mister Calore, Elara, Anabel, Maven, and Cal wait for me.

There's something so illustrious about Fifty-Seventh Street that I feel like I should've been accompanied by Maven to make the turn from Broadway. There should've been palace guards down the sidewalks and grand gates at the intersections.

"Yes," I return, my tone tighter than I'd like. "We've never eaten brunch before. Do you think I'll do okay?"

"With your appetite? I'm sure you'll do fine. With the eating part, at least."

I've decided to kill two birds with one stone.

Tyton gave me one week. Just to piss him off, I'll tell Shade about my secret boyfriend before even two of my seven days are up.

It's a casual affair.

Or it was, anyway.

I've decided to have Shade be my plus-one to the Calores' brunch.

The good news is that he isn't pulling any Scarlet Street Fighter-related shenanigans while we're here. He's just coming to brunch as my brother. My annoying big brother, who undoubtedly has plans to tell embarrassing stories about me and spend the better part of brunch sympathizing with Cal about my lying and manipulation.

In a lapse of traffic, Shade and I cut between a parked yellow taxi and a Rolls-Royce.

We approach a particularly imposing building. Somewhere around one-thousand feet tall, it has to be one of the tallest buildings in the city. Dark and light glass makes vertical stripes and manipulates the steadily-growing sunlight of the late morning. Arches and setbacks in the architecture of the building make for a shimmering masterpiece that seems to stretch and bleed into the autumn air.