Lost

Chapter 5

Hundreds of people gathered in the enormous ballroom which had been converted into a dining hall, filled with circular tables and chairs. The guests were all elegantly dressed in sequenced tight fitting dresses of every color and uniform tuxedos. Beatrice felt like she stuck out like a sore thumb. Traditional formal wear was not her forte. She was wearing high waisted black pleated pants paired with a thin white mock neck sweater under a dark black v-neck sweater vest which was tucked into her pants. Her outfit was completed with a black blazer- it was made with a soft women fabric similar to suede- thrown over the top. Her hair didn't lie elegantly on her shoulders as the other women's did, it was pulled into a loose bun, small strands of her hair fell over her face. The divinium ring that Camilla gifted her sat in it's usual place on her index finger where she often fiddled with it and the small pendant in the shape of the seal of the order of the cruciform was pinned to her lapel. The blue shinning stone in the middle of lay dormant, it would light up if the other one was activated in an emergency. Many people walked up to her and wanted to meet her, she made small talk and shook many hands of the other faculty members friends and families, and she had only had two drinks which was surprising given her half Finnish roots, the  fact that there was an open bar, and her new found taste for drinking.

"Beatrice! Beatrice!" Her name being called out caused her to spin around in a circle trying to find out who was calling her name. The bald head of the Dean of Zurich bobbed towards her followed by a red haired woman. Nervously she straightened up preparing to meet the wife of the dean of one of the most prestigious schools in the world. "Beatrice I would like you to meet me wife, Josephine." The woman was much taller than the dean who was an objectively short man, she flashed a perfect pearly white smile. She was much younger than the dean, most likely a trophy wife or she was enthralled by an older man with a substantial amount of money. An extended hand met her own and she shook it firmly.

"It is quite nice to meet you Miss Beatrice." She responded with a cordial smile and a nod of her head. "Beatrice here is the youngest professor to ever teach at Zurich and she is the new head of our historical department. She has grown to be of ETH Zurich's best." The dean said boasting about her. A look of amazement was painted upon the woman's face, it was true, she was the youngest professor but it wasn't anything to be amazed at, any capable person with the right connections could do it.

"Wow, that's impressive, how are you liking it so far?" Josephine looked like she had nothing behind her dark brown eyes and unnaturally red hair, she stared up at Beatrice with large blank eyes awaiting her response,

"Yes I'm liking it quite well actually, the faculty and students are very nice and the environment and atmosphere is very welcoming." The dean smiled proudly at her statement, she was praising his school which was all he really cared about, it was the main reason why he was so fond of Beatrice because she brought publicity and that brought money to the school, which was the whole point of this gala, it was a fundraiser, it was just dedicated to the faculty so all their friends and family members and richest acquaintances would donate money. "Well, it was very nice meeting you but I think Im going to grab a drink and maybe a few hors d'oeuvres." Beatrice left the couple talking near a table caroused the dining hall. Watching the people around her. There were so many, chatting, heads in their drinks and faces stuffed with food as they all visited the buffet table. A lot of people were a little too drunk for the occasion, and a lot of the people that were drunk were people she recognized that taught at the school. It was no secret that the other professors had their cliques and drank together in the lecture halls on the weekends, but to see them so openly drunk in public was a different story. When Beatrice heard the opening call for people to return to their seats and finish up at the buffet table she made her way to behind the stage, pushing away the heavy black curtains. Beatrice found a woman sitting on the steps up to the stage with a glass of whiskey in her hand.