* edited
=====
Monday
Claire POV
The dinner is wonderful, and the entertainment is ...wow. I found out that the tickets are over 1,000 per person and it shows -everywhere.
Dancing in his arms is a dream. I am nervous at first. He showed me several times back at his place how to do it, but I have never been out dancing like this before. I soon forget that other people are watching, and stepping on his toes is no great disaster. I relax and move with him. We are surrounded by music, lights, and strangers dressed in fantastical outfits from another century.
. . . . .
I am so glad the dressmaker gave me tips about the costume. Going to the bathroom during the Ball could have been a small nightmare. As it was I had to ask a stranger to help me re-tie a few parts of my costume before going back out.
We even spend a little while in a casino, and he gives me chips to gamble with... He plays a few rounds of cards using my kisses for 'luck'. I throw some dice down a long table after bets have been placed on what numbers will come up. We wander around trying a bit of this and that and just...having fun.
Macello POV
While she sleeps, I remember the letter Greg wrote to me. He said that he was going to get drunk and then died in a DUI. ...Too convenient? I think of things to check. Then choose men who I never ordered to watch Claire or Greg to follow up. The less they know the fewer connections they can make on their own. My cousin will take care of the hacking again; I don't tell him why.
===== Tuesday
Claire POV
Dru looks tired again but brushes it off. Today he surprised me with fondu for breakfast. He insists on feeding me himself. He lets me point to bits of food that I want before skewering and dipping it in the sauce. Half of the time I put my hand over his and direct the morsel into his own mouth. As the food diminishes my hunger -for him- does not. It is ...sensuous: the silence, the slow deliberate movements, warm and rich smooth cheese, the... intensity in the way he looks at me. I reach behind his neck and cover his mouth with my own. It's a good thing we hadn't bothered getting dressed yet...
An open air concert, acrobats, fire jugglers, street musicians and face painting... The city has become a fair, a festival, and everywhere is some form of art... including the visitors who become part of the sumptuous visual feast. Even without color it is a delight to the eye, to all of my senses. The costumes are not all what I expect. All eras are imagined or re-imagined here. Not just the over-the-top costumes and maskques seen in travel brochures and period dress, but superheroes and villains, cosplay, the occasional vampire or steampunk costume, royalty and roman soldiers... Masques may be blank white and surrounded by tafetta or richly painted... Some are decorated with feathers, crystals, layered and shaded paint, or lace. I even saw deep cracked seams illuminated by imitation fire.
YOU ARE READING
Don't Shoot the Messenger
Literatura Feminina{Completed} [previous title: Shooting the Messenger] Claire is a college student who works for a messenger service part time. She runs into trouble when she is hired to deliver a package, not knowing it is a bloody message being delivered...
