I Put A Spell On You

8: Invitations

"Hey. Coffee." Arizona smiled sliding Amelia the hot cup onto her desk.

"Thank you." Amelia smiled bringing the cup to her lips.

"So how was seeing Mr. Money?" Arizona asked as she sat in the chair across from Amelia.

"Well besides the fact his penthouse could be worth more than all of ours combined and doubled, he has this room that has no door knob, just a red square on it." Amelia said as she logged into her computer.

"Woah creepy. Do you know what's in there?" Arizona asked now very interested in what Amelia was speaking on.

"No because when I asked he told nothing that I would like." Amelia said making quotes in the air.

"Suspicious. Maybe you'll end up a case on Dateline." Arizona laughed at herself.

"Not funny Arizona. I'm trying to not get axe murdered." Amelia sighed as she took another sip of coffee.

"Okay, yeah I get that. Well maybe the more time you spend with him you can get more clues as to what's in there." Arizona said sitting her cup on the edge of Amelia's desk.

"I don't know. But he definitely is attractive and makes me feel things so he's not a no in my book." Amelia sighed as she clicked through emails.

"You told me all about how your meeting went where you could barely get two words out." Arizona laughed but stopping because Amelia wasn't.

"I don't know what happened to me. It's like my genius brain just melted." Amelia rolled her eyes.

"Well that happens. But was it worth your brain melting, was it a good kiss?" Arizona asked.

"Best one ever or maybe it was the thrill of him just doing it." Amelia said as she spoke with her hands.

"Damn it." Arizona cursed as her pager beeped.

"What?" Amelia asked looking up at Arizona who was standing up.

"911. My kid is coding. We will continue this later." Arizona said frustrated as she closed Amelia's office door.

Amelia's ringer rolled on the mouse as she clicked through emails, spam, work, board meetings, low funding. Basically things that concerned her but not at this moment.

Her attention was raised when an email from Atticus showed up in her inbox. The subject line only said "Join Me."

Amelia, her curiosity peaked clicked on the email. Met with a flyer of gold and black. Her eyes skimmed the picture.

It was an invitation to a charity masquerade ball. Amelia continued to read Atticus' invitation. Clothing, transportation, and all amenities would be provided if she obliged to going with him.

Amelia picked up her phone and dialed Atticus's number. She allowed the dial tone to play before hearing his firm voice.

"Ms. Shepherd." Atticus said in a strong tone as she heard his shoes tapping on the floor.

"So about this thing you invited me to. What all do I have to do?" Amelia asked as she leaned back in her office chair.

"Just join me and look pretty. Someone will do your hair and bring your clothes and pick you up. All you have to do is just ensure me you're coming." Atticus's voice spoke sending that all familiar heat through Amelia's core.

"But I don't have a dress for an event like this. Ive never been to a masquerade ball." Amelia countered his proposal.

"I've got that covered. If you send me measurements or a reference I can handle it. Again all you have to do is agree to show up and the rest is covered." Atticus said calmly.

"Okay. I'll join you." Amelia said hesitantly.

"I look forward to it." Atticus said before Amelia heard the dial tone once again.

Amelia sat in silence for a moment before going to her Google browser and typing in "what to wear to a masquerade ball?"

All that popped up was gown after gown and everything looked elegant and classy. Masks, heels, and lots of alcohol. It made her skin crawl thinking about how open the access to drinks at an event like this would be.

And it would be the good, expensive, hand crafted kind of drinks too. Amelia tried to push those thoughts away as she sent Atticus what dress and shoe size she wore.

"Thank you. I look forward to it." Was all he had sent back.

The more Amelia sat, the more she quickly realized. He belonged to a certain world of people, and those were certainly not her people.