The Glass Ballerina Who Danced On Knives

Impossible, infuriating, unrequited

We've travelled the seas, we've ridden the stars/ We've seen everything from Saturn to Mars/ As much as it seems like you own my heart/ It's astronomy, we're two worlds apart             Astronomy, Conan Gray

"Camden Lexington Archibald the III. Along with his brothers, he's set to inherit both Archibald Inc. and Archibald Enterprises, two of the largest corporations in Europe. He's close friends with Trinity and knows the entire family." Alisa whispers frantically to Avery, not having prepared a dossier on him, as this is unexpected.

"Cam." I breathe, unable to believe it's really him here. "What are you doing here?"

He cracks a crooked smile. "Just thought I'd drop by."

I don't respond. The last time I saw him face to face was at granddads funeral, and the words pass through space.

"How'd you get here?"

"Took dad's private jet. Wish I could have gotten here sooner, but as soon as I heard about the accident, no more excuses were made."

I punch his arm lightly. "That was like a week ago and there have been no immediate threats to my life so far."

He raises his eyebrows, and reaches out his hand, which I take.

He pulls me into a hug, not caring if makeup smudges onto him, if I wrinkle his shirt, if anything happens. He feels like... Cam.

And he smells really good.

"I suppose I ought to introduce you to the woman of the hour, Avery Grambs." I pull away reluctantly, and wave my arm over the small party that I came with. "Avery, Cam. Cam, Avery. And this is Maxine Liu, my favourite patriarchy smasher. Max, Cam. Cam, Max."

He does a little mock bow and holds out his hand.

"Pleasure."

He nods in Xander's direction and smiles at Alisia."

"Should we um, go in?" I ask. Camden holds out his arm.

"After you, Trinity." I loop my arm around his as he whispers into my ear. "I'm so happy to see you again."

"It's been a month." I smiled at him. "Where are you staying anyways?"

"The Edwardian."

"You can't stay in that ghastly hotel. Stay at the House."

We step into The Commons, and a little bit of wind is knocked out of me. The table clothes are a deep purple, the colour Emily told me I couldn't wear to her birthday party. The huge blown-up picture of her is one she asked me if I could see her pimple in it. It's a living, breathing reincarnation of the devil. Cam must sense my unease, because his hand snakes down my arm to hold my hand.

"You can't stand too close, or they'll think we're together." I whisper.

He smiles just a little bit. "Better me than anyone else."

"You joker!"

His smile widens, "I'm here for one job."

Max sidles up to us, beautifully clad in an ice blue mid-length dress, the sleeves floating about her.

"Did you see the waiter carrying those shrimp tarts?" She asks, eyes shining.

Camden sweeps his arm. "Would you like some, Trinity?"

I smile, "Sure. I want to talk to Max anyways. She's far more interesting than you."

He gasps in mock shock but backs up all the same to flag down the waiter.