Tears of Blood (wlw)

satin green dress

DEVYN POV

I haven't seen her for a whole week. I'm miserable. She hasn't reached out, and I haven't either. I wonder what she was doing.

She consumes every single thought of mine and I hated it. I haven't been eating or even sleeping well. I'm miserable.

"Devyn?"

Father stands in the middle of the room.

"Yes?"

"I will be making a very important decision tonight. I'll be sharing it with everyone at the debutante ball.So please be on your best behavior."

"I will."

"Have you chosen what to wear?"

I'm thrown off by the question.

"Uh- yes. It's a white suit."

"Suit? Why don't you wear a dress tonight? Only a suggestion, of course you don't have to, I just think-"

"It's fine. I'll wear a dress."

He smiles at me and gives my shoulder a little squeeze and walks out. I liked making him proud. There was a slight problem though, I had to find a dress now. I called up some of the maids and my tailor. They all helped sort through dresses and suggestions. I didn't want anything big or bright, I wanted something subtle. One of them lifts a black silk dress with a long split on the side.

"That one."

"Ma'am, do you think this is a good fit for the ball? It's.."

"I like it. This is the one." They nod and I try it on. I loved the way it fit and the color was amazing.

"You have to be kidding." Sage says as I walk down to meet them by the limo.

"What?"

"You can't be wearing.. that. It's revealing. And black? Come on." Sage herself was wearing a white gown with matching gloves that came up to her elbows.

"I like it, okay?"

"Whatever. Here you have to keep this on you." She swiftly passes me a small hand gun.

"Why?"

"Protection. Just in case. Stay alert."

I sigh and I strap the holster around my upper thigh so it was out of sight.

My father was coming in his own car so me and Riley climbed into our limo. From the window I see Sage getting into the other one with her kids.

"You look so pretty." I tell Riley and she gives me a small smile.

"You too."

The ride there wasn't too long, but just enough time to get lost in thoughts of Andrea again. I didn't fully understand what went down, but I now know that it was true that she didn't want to see me. She hadn't contacted me once since.

The limo pulls up in front of the People's Palace. It was much bigger than the Ackerman palace. The music and chatter of people filled the air. I take Riley's hand, entering the large hall. The ceilings were so high that I wondered how they even managed to hang the chandeliers up there. I suddenly felt hyper aware of myself as I saw people wearing bright colors, mostly white. I twist one of the curls hanging by my face, I had decided to put my hair up in a bun, leaving my front two strands down. We find our table, and proceed to sit down. Surprisingly, we were early, as a lot of the guests were just now filing in. Suddenly I stopped breathing. Entering from the door was someone in a green satin dress. She had her arm looped in a man's who was wearing a tuxedo, with his handkerchief matching the color of her dress. Andrea. I watch as she leans in to hear what Ashton was whispering, then she tosses her head and laughs. She was stunning.

"Is that Andrea?" Riley asks.

"Yeah." My jaw tightens. They don't spot us, and I'm half glad. Their table is two tables away from us and I have the urge to walk up to her and ask her why she decided to drop me like I was nothing. Like we were nothing. All that washes away as I see my Father taking the stage. Everyone takes their seats.

"Good evening everyone! I hope you enjoy your time here today. You know, I have worked so hard to keep this country safe and prosperous for so long, and of course I will continue to do so. But I want to thank all of you who stand by me, who love this country as much as I do. Without you, I would be lost. You all inspire me everyday to be a better leader, father, and citizen. My lovely daughters are in attendance tonight as well, so I thought I would share something. I have made the decision to appoint, Devyn Ackerman, as the Chief Minister of Districts 4, and 5."

The crowd erupts into applause and many of them turn to face me. My cheeks are on fire and my heart thumps in my chest. What was he doing? Was he serious? He waves at me to come join him. I get out of my seat gingerly and walk towards the stage.

"I have no doubt in my mind that Devyn will be the leader that these district's need." He steps away from the mic, making room for me.

"Hello everyone, thank you for your support. Thank you, father for this amazing opportunity. I will try my best to serve the people of Orion the best I can."

They applaud again and I catch Andrea staring at me in a confused daze before I sit back down. Everyone starts to talk again while food is served. I don't have an appetite anyway, so I look towards Andrea again, trying to be as discreet as possible. She looks like she's deep in conversation with the people at Ashton's table. The music turns louder and Ashton grabs her arm, pulling her to the dance floor. That's supposed to be me. Jealousy fills my veins, but I keep a straight face, not giving Andrea the satisfaction. I watch as she dances with him, getting lost with the music, his hands on her hips. She holds his hands and guides them to her back as she places her own on his neck. I swear she shoots me a smile. I laugh because I know she wants to make me jealous.

If that's how she wants to play. I stand up and find the waiter who served our table. My senses told me that she was checking me out before so this would be easy. Standing next to her, I lean to whisper into her ear.

"Do you know where they keep the extra towels? I had an accident with the wine." I saw with a sly smile. She picks up on my tone.

"I know exactly the place.Follow me ma'am." Making sure I was in Andrea's line of sight, I grab her hand as she leads me away from the crowd and up the large stairs.

We walk into the closest room and she locks it behind her.

"Where are the towels?" I say. She looks confused now, but she walks over to a cabinet and brings out a small towel.

"Here."

"Thanks." I start to dab at my dress and the white towel is smeared red.

"Oh, do you need help?"

"No I got it thanks." She looks disappointed that my accident was real. I felt a tinge of guilt for using her to make Andrea jealous, but I wasn't going to do more. She stands there until I'm done and takes the towel and leaves. This was a nice room even though it looked like it belonged to no one. I sat on the bed, gathering my thoughts to get ready to go back down when someone swings the door open. Getting up, I see Andrea walk in.

"Where is she?" She huffs. She walks around the room looking around like a maniac. Walking over to the door, I shut it so that no one finds us. I had questions.

"Who are you looking for?" I ask, leaning against the wall.

"Shut up, you know who I'm talking about."

"Well, hello to you too."

"Did you kiss her? Huh?"

"What if I did more than just kiss her?" I reply.

She walks over to me and pins me against the wall.

"I don't care if you fucked her. I don't care about anything you do."

"Then why are you here."

She let's go and steps back, breathing heavily.