Smoke & Mirrors

Chapter 1: New Year's Eve

December 31, 2021, she arrived around 9:30 and the club was already in full swing, as she made her way through the crowd of swaying bodies looking for the person who convinced her to come out for the first time in forever. Nothing about her made her stand out in the crowd of people as he scanned the endless flow of bodies but for some reason, she caught his eye. Her light blond hair fell to the middle of her back and was loosely curled, her pale green eyes searched the crowd, she wasn't skinny or fat or curvy, she was by all accounts unbelievably ordinary, she might as well have been wallpaper or a table in the corner, no one knew she was there, except him, he saw her. He saw her over all the other girls there, the ones that looked like models, the ones so clearly full of silicone and lip injections, the ones in tiny skirts that are consistently throwing themselves at him, and he watched her approach a tall, mildly muscular dark-haired man in his twenties and a twinge of jealously ripped through his body as she wrapped her arms around his neck and smiled. The man smiled back at her clearly happy to see her. They way held each other's eyes, both of them smiling at each other made him boil over with anger. He imagined her smiling at him before he did horrible unspeakable things to her and the thought aroused him. He wanted to watch her eyes drain of life as he wrapped his hands around her neck, she was a perfect mixture of innocence and frailty he had been searching for over six months now.

Allison made her way through the crowd looking for him, when she spots him standing in the corner with several other men and women around him. Always the life of the party she thought to herself. He looks over the crowd he has been entertaining and spots her. He begins clearing the bodies as he gets closer, he wraps her up in an all-consuming hug and smiles at her with perfect teeth. She takes a minute to breathe in his scent, she was definitely not lost on how attractive he was, but she hadn't allowed herself to go there as there was things she could not do or tell anyone. She smiled back at him and his hazel eyes made her feel warm and safe something she rarely felt these days.

"'Allison, you made it!" he said in disbelief.

He had been trying to get her to come out for months, since the first time he met her 8 months ago. They had spent countless hours working together at the paper but tonight she looked different. Her loose curls framed her face just right and this was the first time he had seen her with make up on and her perfect pink lips caressed her smile. He had always known she was beautiful, in fact he had been interested in her for months but tonight he was captivated by the difference in her.

"You didn't think I would show up, I promised didn't I. Although this really isn't my scene." she said through a smile.

"Can you blame me; I have been trying to get you out for months." he suppressed the smile threatening to overtake his face.

This was true she thought it had been months since he began asking her to accompany him to various parties, movies, he even resorted to just asking her for coffee almost every day and when she refused even that, he would bring a coffee to her desk, and they would spend lunch talking. This couldn't be misconstrued as a date, they were to co-workers having coffee at their designated lunch time, definitely not a date.

"No blame here, I have a tough time in crowds." she said, while fiddling with her fingers.

He placed his hand on the small of her back causing her to flinch but relax against his hand allowing him to lead her out and away from the crowded club and on to a small patio. There were a few stragglers outside talking quietly on the other side of the patio, but right in front of her Elliot stood six and a quarter foot tall with his smile beaming down at her.

"So, what changed? Why tonight of all nights, shouldn't you be with him, it is new year's. Isn't New Year's Eve supposed to be a big thing, you know the whole 'who you spend your New Year's Eve with sets the tone for the new year.'" Elliots smile fading slightly at the mention of Allison's fiancée.