Black Rose

Ch.7 Ballroom Distracting

Sly knocked on the large, wooden door, a slot for a pair of eyes opening as a man spoke. "Do you have your tuxedo now, sir?"

"Of course, I'm here to dance."

"And the lady?"

"I'm the main event dancer, outfit in all." Rae answered, having removed her mask as not to give herself away.

"Then come on in!" The slot closed as the door opened, the two entering only to be taken in separate directions.

Rae was taken by a couple hairdressers in the opposite direction of Sly before being taken into a room. "Do you have your costume?" A hairdresser asked.

"Uh, yeah." She pulled the outfit out from in her pouch.

"Then feel free to get all dolled up for the master!" One of the girls giggled.

"Yeah, sure..."

"But don't take too long, you'll be going on soon."

She waved it off. "I'll be ready soon." The hairdressers then left.

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Rae stared at herself in the mirror as she was dressed in her white outfit. It consisted of white, laced pants that were a bit flared at the bottom; a white, laced sash tied around her waist; a solid white halter top, her entire midsection exposed; and silver bangles around her wrists. Rae quickly searched around until she found a solid white cloth. Grabbing the cloth, she tied the fabric around her head to cover her nose and mouth, only showing her eyes as the cloth wasn't made of a see-through material. Once she was ready, the ebony fox was led to where the other dancers were, who were dressed in either red or blue. When Rae was in position, she quickly stretched her arms and legs before running her fingers through her hair, ruffling it a bit to give a semi-messed up look. Suddenly, Rae heard Sly and Bentley in her earpiece as she listened.

"Your disguise is working perfectly, Sly; no one will recognize you in that outfit. Now during the heist you'll have to distract Carmelita, but first, you need to impress her because she's very picky with her dance partners."

Sly fixed his bow tie. "Alright, I think I know just the girl for the job."

Rae peeked around, gazing at Sly before her eyes scanned around the room, until a soft gasp escaped her lips. Seated in his throne chair, looking rather bored as he waited, was the Indian tiger, Rajan. Rae quickly turned away, pressing her back against the wall a as she gripped her arms. Images of her and that tiger flashed in her mind, the fox shaking her head to try and regain her focus, but she couldn't stop her trembling body.

"No way... I can't do this..." She muttered.

"Rae, what's the matter?" Came Sly's voice on the other line.

"It's him."

"Rajan?"

"Yes, Rajan! The bastard that almost took advantage of me!"

"You never told me that... Look, we don't have time to go about this, you're going to have to do this, Rae."

"I can't, he'll find out its me."

"Is your face covered?"

"Yeah, but what does--"

"You'll be alright, I promise. He won't find out it's you."

"But, Sly--"

"Just trust me. Have I ever steered you wrong?"

"Well, I haven't really known you long enough to know..."