The Allure of Love

Chapter 21

The night wore on in a glittering whirlwind of clinking cocktail glasses, raucous laughter, and jaunty jazz riffs floating through the ballroom. Alumni spanning generations crowded the parquet floors, some giddily teaching spouses and dates their old school dance moves while others huddled in clusters swapping nostalgic war stories. The air fairly hummed with giddy excitement and wistful camaraderie.

And through it all, Anastasia remained wholly enraptured by the familiar warmth and solidity of Chris's presence beside her. 

She couldn't remember the last time she had felt this buoyant, this utterly at ease in her own skin surrounded by a crowd. There was just something about the way Chris effortlessly worked a room, drawing genuine smiles and sparkling conversation from even her stodgiest former professors with his understated wit. How he intuitively steered them clear of any exes or overly rowdy frat guys looking to corner Anastasia with cringe-inducing pickup lines and thinly veiled propositions. 

In his orbit, she felt anchored instead of unmoored for the first time all weekend - cherished and protected without being stifled. Like she could finally exhale that breath she didn't realize she had been holding, basking in Chris's undivided attention after so many years apart.

"I have to admit, you've definitely improved upon your wallflower ways, bookworm," Anastasia teased as they took a breather near the hors d'oeuvres table laden with gourmet appetizers. "Looks like someone finally figured out there's more to reunion schmoozing than hiding behind the potted ficus trees and praying for a swift end to the glad-handing."

Chris let out a surprised bark of laughter, eyes twinkling with mirth as he tossed back the last dregs of his champagne. "Oh trust me, that urge to fade into the background hasn't magically disappeared," he assured her with playful ruefulness. "You just happen to be exceptionally skilled at making all of this-" he gestured vaguely at the glittering throng of alumni "-feel far less agonizing than usual. Leave it to Anastasia Renshaw to turn even the most awkwardness-prone hermit into a semi-functional social butterfly for the night."

Anastasia's heart stuttered traitorously at his light-hearted praise, a becoming flush rising to her cheeks. "Watch it with the flattery, mister, or you'll have my well-coiffed head getting too big to fit through the exit at the end of the night," she parried, injecting a much-needed note of levity into the charged moment.

They shared a soft chuckle, eyes meeting and holding just a beat too long to be construed as merely friendly.  Anastasia's breath hitched as Chris slowly reached up to tuck a stray curl behind her ear, rough thumb grazing her cheekbone and sending sparks shooting down her spine. The rest of the ballroom faded into an indistinct blur, narrowing the world down to the scant inches of electric space between their bodies...

"Oh there you are, darling! I was beginning to think I'd need to send out a search party for my own date!"

Jack's jovial voice cut through the intimate bubble enveloping them, bursting it in an instant. Anastasia jerked backwards as if scalded, blinking dazedly up at her boyfriend's megawatt grin - though she didn't miss the hard, assessing glint in his cornflower eyes as he took in Chris's proximity.

"Jack! I was wondering where you'd run off to," Anastasia said brightly, despising the guilty tremor she couldn't quite disguise beneath her cheer. Stepping forward, she allowed Jack to loop a possessive arm around her waist and tug her against his side.

"You know me, just making my rounds charming all the key players," Jack replied smoothly, pressing a lingering kiss to her temple. His gaze never wavered from Chris as he added, "Hope you weren't too lonely without me, babe. I see you managed to scrounge up some...adequate company in the meantime at least."

The pointed undertone wasn't lost on anyone, least of all Chris, who immediately stiffened - his expression shuttering into something unreadable. Anastasia's stomach twisted with a barrage of emotions: sharp defensiveness on Chris's behalf, simmering irritation at Jack's uncharacteristic curtness, and most of all, an aching sense of loss for the recent memory of that all-too-brief perfect accord.

Before she could open her mouth - whether to soothe or chastise, she didn't know - Chris cleared his throat and took a measured step backwards.

"Well on that note, I should leave you to it," he said with admirable equilibrium, inclining his head at Jack. "I'm sure you two have plenty of other guests to dazzle tonight." The tiniest flicker of hurt flashed across his eyes so quickly, Anastasia wondered if she had imagined it. "Anz...thanks for the dance. It was good to catch up."

"Yeah...you too," she managed around the sudden lump in her throat, voice small.

As she watched Chris's broad shoulders recede into the crush of revelers, an inexplicable heaviness settled into Anastasia's bones. It felt like a door quietly clicking shut, a return to the inescapable status quo.

She startled slightly as Jack turned to face her head on, one hand coming up to cup her jaw as he ducked his head to peer at her with sudden intensity.

"Everything okay, Annie? You seem a bit...off tonight."

That single word - her old nickname, dripping with such off-handed casualness from his lips - abruptly shattered the lingering haze of wistfulness clinging to Anastasia like a shroud. A spike of irrational anger lanced through her chest, hot and unforgiving.

Anastasia pasted on a simpering smile even as she discreetly extracted herself from Jack's grasp. "Never better, _honey_. Guess all this reminiscing and glad-handing has just left me a little drained."

Jack searched her face for a long moment before apparently deciding to take her words at face value. Relaxing his stance infinitesimally, he grabbed them each a fresh flute of champagne from a passing tray, his signature devilish smirk back in place. "You mean you're not thrilled to the gills to be reliving every painstaking second of these glory days?" He teased lightly, bumping her shoulder with his. "And here I thought raucous frienemey reunions were your happy place!"

In spite of herself, Anastasia felt a tiny smile tug at her lips at Jack's playful tone, the familiar ease of falling into their witty repartee soothing her frayed emotions. _This_ was what she knew, what felt safe and right and real in the midst of all the nostalgic fog threatening to close in tonight. 

She had chosen her path long ago in Jack, and for good reason. It was high time she stopped dwelling in maudlin what-ifs and embraced the adventure unfolding right before her very eyes. She owed it to them both to be fully present in the life they were building together, thorns and all.

Knocking back the rest of her champagne, Anastasia linked her arm resolutely through Jack's and tugged him back into the fray. "Dance with me, you big lug. Let's show these Central State plebeians what cutting a rug _really_ looks like."

Jack's delighted grin was answer enough as he allowed her to sweep him up in an energetic lindy hop to the brassy strains of the jazz band. Any lingering whispers of regret and melancholy dwindled under the force of his megawatt charm, the two of them falling effortlessly in sync as they always did.

They made a striking pair, Anastasia's cobalt gown swirling around his suited legs as they kicked and twirled with joyous abandon - the very picture of carefree modern romance. More than a few envious gazes tracked their fluid movements across the floor, cementing their status as _the_ dazzling couple to watch tonight. 

And if Anastasia happened to sneak a few furtive glances towards a certain broad-shouldered silhouette lingering on the ballroom's fringes, a telltale wistfulness clouding her expression? Well, no one needed to be the wiser.

Some secrets were better off buried, even from herself...weren't they?