Legion of Loch Ness

Chapter Seventeen

     The gymnasium had been transformed. This year'stheme was a Victorian-era ball. Of course, thoughtVictoria as she walked in on Noah's arm, Malvernstudents thrived on any opportunity to wear expensivegowns and jewelry. Just another much-neededopportunity to show off their privilege and superiorityover each other. She would have been disgusted if shehadn't been determined to enjoy the evening as much aspossible. She laughed at herself as she realized that shewould never have noticed any of the superficialities ofMalvern if she hadn't spent so much time in Arabella'scompany. 

     Arabella made her question everything she hadtaken for granted or assumed was normal in her life. Ithad changed her perspective a lot. She took a moment tostop and admire the "ballroom". The lights had beendimmed and replaced with candle sconces. There was alive orchestra playing in the background. An array ofdizzying colors of silk and taffeta twirled on the dancefloor. 

    Victoria looked up and smiled at Noah. He had been through so much. She had been amazed at the gracehe had handled everything with.Noah noticed her looking at him and looked down ather and smiled, making her heart skip a beat. He lookedbreathtakingly handsome in his tuxedo tonight. Shecouldn't believe this was their last dance together. Theywould be graduating next week, and he would be movingto the other side of the country in a few months. They hadagreed to give the long-distance relationship a try, butboth knew how difficult it would be to maintain. Whilethey had been in Chicago, it had been easy. They hadmade a conscious effort to take time out of their busyschedules and see each other often. If Noah had to be atthe gym to work out, Victoria adjusted her meetings andjoined him there. If Victoria had a lot of paperwork at thecompany, Noah came to her office with her and caught upon schoolwork there. How would they manage their timewhile being hundreds of miles away from each other?Victoria resolutely pushed her thoughts aside and decidedto start enjoying the evening. She picked up two glassesfrom a tray and handed one to Noah while taking a sipfrom her own.

     Noah took the drink from Victoria's hands and pausedfor a moment to admire her properly. She was stunning inher plum silk gown. He knew it was a vintage designergown, borrowed from her grandmother's collection. Itstarted at her shoulders and dropped just above her knees.It was molded to her body. Only Victoria could carry offthis dress and manage to look so sophisticated, he thoughtproudly. 

     "Have I told you how beautiful you look tonight?" 

     "Only a few hundred times," laughed Victoria, "but byall means please continue."Noah put his glass down and took Victoria's hand. 

      "How will I manage without you Vic? You have beenthe only sane part of my life." Victoria put her hand on his cheek and stroked hisface. 

      "We will power through Noah. We will be just fine."She closed her eyes and sighed."Both of us have so much to deal with. So much tolook forward to. There are a million things in my life thatI am afraid of failing. You and me though, we are meantto be. I'm not worried about us. You'll see, we'll make itwork somehow. I promise."Noah pulled Victoria close and held her against him.He hoped she was right. 

                                                                                  *** 

       Jason swiftly exited his car and opened Arabella's doorto help her out. His small sports car had not been ideal forArabella's big flared gown, he thought for the umpteenthtime and regretted not bringing the bigger car and thechauffeur. He just wanted to be alone with her for theentirety of the evening. She had been so busy planning forher move to England in the fall, and he had been soconsumed with work that they hadn't had time to see eachother nearly as much as he would have liked. He tookArabella's extended hand and pulled her out. While heusually respected her self-reliance and independence ineverything she did, he had to admit he was finding herdisgruntled expression rather amusing right now. He triedto school his features into nonchalance but knew from theslight narrowing of her eyes that she hadn't been fooledfor a moment.