Heartless

5

A month went by with absolute silence at my court. No one spoke to me; well mostly because I stayed in my room most of the time and didn't allow anyone to enter. I was in a quandary. A bunch of different plans piled up and made everything even more confusing.

Christmas came two weeks after the incident. It may not have been the most perfect Christmas but I still did quite enjoy it. I purposefully came out just for a few days to go shopping and it felt good to take a break from reading the same books over and over again and constantly staring at the wall till a plan popped up out of nowhere.

"Invite your close friends for a large Christmas Eve dinner party tomorrow," I told everyone. At first, there was silence. I guess it was a big shock because I never seem to care for others. Once everyone realized I was actually being serious, people suddenly cheered and came to give me the most random hugs.

I may have made a regretful decision but in the end, it did end up being a relish. Everyone forgot (what I hoped for) about the incident and acted like it never happened. Everything was ornate and wonderful.

"Ah Nox! I'm so happy you decided to have a dinner party," Brea came up to me and pulled me into a hug.

"Oh, it's nothing," I lied. It was definitely something.

"I've got to say I was surprised because this is a new concept," she said. Brea was right. I don't remember the last time I was in a gathering of sorts. It's not that I don't enjoy company here and there, but I like to spend some alone time most of the time. "I would like you to meet my husband, Harry." A tall, slender man came up and shook my hand with glee. His dark, brown skin gleamed against the lights of the chandelier. His cheeks were narrow and glamourous, like a fox I saw roaming about the forest.

"Oh I'm quite happy to meet you, Ms. Nox," he said, "Brea has told me an abundance about your adventures and amazing skills."

"Why thank you. Brea is one of the best workers I could ask for."

"I wouldn't say that!" Brea grabbed my arm playfully. "Come on, I'll show you around," she said and went on introducing Harry to others.

The night felt long yet too short. Everyone was euphorically drunk but I kicked them out when I had enough of someone tugging my arm from lost balance. But it did feel good to be surrounded by somewhat decent people.

After what I barely considered a shower and a change of clothes, I fell asleep and woke up to the blankets still fully tucked in at the corner and not over me. My makeup was smudge at the corners of my eyes and my lips still held the tint of blood-red lipstick. My head was ringing and my entire self felt extremely heavy to move around.

I told myself I wasn't going to do another party in a heap amount years.

It was Christmas. The windows were fogged up from the cold outside and my heated room inside. Dainty, icy crystals floated about in the air and covered most of the entire front and back. The trees became a pile of white snow and my car was no longer visible except for the black roof.

Quiet was what I heard when I came downstairs. Not one person was trotting about the rooms except for me. That wasn't a surprise though. Each Christmas and New Year's, I let my workers spend one or two days with their own happy little family; which left me alone here. It didn't bother me much because I became easily used to it since I ran away from the orphanage.

The Christmas tree was still lit in the corner of the living room. Nothing else around me made it feel like Christmas except for the tree. There were still lots of remnants of food from yesterday night but I didn't feel like eating anything. I made myself a scorching breakfast tea and skimmed across the hallways towards my library.