Beer, Spaghetti, and Pharmaceuticals ||COMPLETED||

Twenty Four Part One

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Alice had never been to such an extravagant party in her life.

Both she and Mark paused at the entrance of the festive ballroom, marveling at the scene that surrounded them. At least two hundred people mingled in the giant area, each person dressed in the classiest formal attire, making Alice feel lucky that she had the epiphany to dress to impress rather than her original plan of wearing a random skirt and nice top.

A man behind Alice accidentally bumped her shoulder as he walked passed, reminding Alice that she and Mark should start moving. They made their ways through the crowd, trying to spot Emily in the sea of tuxedos and ball gowns. As they sifted through the chatting people, they found themselves in front of the dance floor.

Mark slipped his hand around Alice's waist as he watched the big band orchestrate the music for the singer who resembled a young Frank Sinatra, singing the lyrics to 'Let it Snow'. She smiled up at Mark, suddenly feeling very grateful that he accompanied her to the party. Maybe getting rejected from Isaac was a sign from the universe that Mark was who she should be with. Sure, he was flawed, but so was she...

Then something caught her eye that made her heart sink into her stomach, despite the faintest laugh leave her mouth.

Sitting on the shiny silver platters carried by the caterers were the tiniest, little balls of spaghetti, with an even smaller miniature meatball placed on top. Paired with the expensive china and chopped parsley for garnish, the informal food looked like a perfect piece of juxtaposition in an array of glamour.

It was so Isaac.

She reflexively shut her eyes and lowered her head as she tried to recompose herself, trying to ignore the nagging thoughts running through her head. Who else knew that Isaac loved spaghetti so much? Did anyone else realize that Isaac probably wasn't concerned about the decorative aspects of the party so long as he got to make his special request to the food menu? More importantly, if Isaac's love for spaghetti was common knowledge, how many people cared? How many people in this room thought it was the most unusual and endearing quirk they had ever seen in an individual?

A lump formed in her throat as her eyes stayed glued to the floor, but she swallowed it down. She felt Mark nudge her side and she peeled her eyes from the ground to meet his, a glimmer of concern hiding in his gaze.

"You alright?" he asked.

No.

"Yeah," she said and grabbed his hand. "Come on. Let's find Emily."

She led him by the hand, taking deep breaths through her nose as she navigated through the crowd, trying to desperately think of a quirk of Mark's that she found endearing.

Stop comparing Mark to Isaac, Alice, it doesn't matter anyway.

It was when they reached the bar, a likely place to find Emily, that she saw him.

About ten feet away stood Isaac and Fiona; Isaac smiling gracefully as he listened to a short, plump balding man yapping enthusiastically. His right hand remained loosely by his side, waving in the air at all the proper conversational cues, but his left hand remained in his pocket and Alice wondered if he was gripping his stress ball.

Does Fiona know about that stupid ball?

She clenched her teeth together.

Probably. She's his girlfriend. Not you.

Just as Alice was about to pull Mark in the other direction, Isaac's eyes shifted from the plump man to Alice, and the air got trapped in her throat as she watched the happy smile fade from his face. It looked as though the entire conversation drowned from Isaac as his eyes fixated on Alice, quickly flickering down her emerald dress, and back to her face.