The lights were low, and the ballroom was lit only by brass candelabras on the walls. The candles flickered, and flickered, but never went out.
Unlike Valentina Fiore's patience.
She had been waiting at this dreadful party, waiting for a chance to leave.
Unfortunately, the hosts had been quick to spot her unrest every single time, and immersed her in smalltalk.
The food wasn't so terrible, but came in unreasonably small portions. The stereotypes made about rich-people food were true, Valentina rolled her eyes.
The champagne in her glass was coming to an end, so she made her way to the refreshments table. Her suede black heels clicked on the marble floor as she strutted in her black, chenille mini dress.
She yanked the gold-foiled champagne bottle out of the ice bucket, and made a generous pour. Then, she leaned against the wall, and looked for something to rest her eyes on.
At that moment , something caught her eye.
Or rather, someone.
Valentina may have been bored, but she was still as observant as ever.
There was a man here, a man that was not there before.
As she was taking him in, their eyes met.
Valentina immediately straightened up from the wall she was leaning against, and tried to brush the encounter off.
Not a moment later, the man turned her way, and started looping through the partygoers.
In all her efforts to avoid a conversation, Valentina started walking to the white french garden doors.
We are not about to do this, she kept thinking.
She swiftly opened the doors, champagne still in hand, and slipped through, careful as to not catch anybody's attention.
As soon as she felt the crisp cool air across her face, she sighed in relief.
That was close, she thought.
She yanked off her heels, and walked barefoot onto the path. She had found a bench in a quiet nook along the way, and decided to rest there for a while.
She had closed her eyes for not more than a minute when a voice interrupted her. The stranger was her best guess.
"Can I join you?"
Valentina opened her eyes to meet his, a pair of chocolate brown eyes.
She opened her mouth to say, 'No, thank you.' , but hesitated. Instead, she replied with, "Sure."
He sat down next to her, and glanced around the garden nook.
"You've found a beautiful spot to hide in."
He had an almond brown complexion, and flawless skin. His dark brown hair was styled and gelled back. He was wearing an all black suit, with only a dark green tie to contrast, the color of a serpent's scales. His shoes were black and shiny, and only added to his height.
"Hide in?"
"You were running from me, correct?"
"I- yes. I was trying to 'run' from you, but I had a reason."
He smiled for a moment, and asked,
"What reason, pray tell?"
"I didn't want to talk to you."
"That's it?"
"Yes. A little anti-climatic, but that's the truth."
He paused and said a little more quietly than before; "Well then, if that's the truth, I guess I'll spare you of my presence now."
He stood up to leave, but Valentina stopped him.
"Wait!" She started, noticing too late that it sounded a little eager, "You could stay if you wanted to." She shrugged her shoulders to make it seem like she didn't really care, though she did.
This man had interested her, even though their conversation lasted less than a minute.
"Then, if we are to spend more time together, we should get to know each other's names, right?"
"I'm Valentina-" She said confidently, "Fiore."
"I'm Judas, Judas Dolivo."
