The Fiery Ifrit And The Stone-Cold Iceberg

The Ball Part 2

The minute I emerged from the coach I started to doubt my plan to look pretty because beauty is utterly intolerable pain and agony. The blasted footwear was plotting to murder my feet! Women should be superior to men based only on what we survived each day. Corsets, the blasted heels, and crinolines and all the crap the patriarchy made us wear!

I limped into the ballroom and my mouth actually dropped in awe. There, in the corner, stood a table with a million kinds of solid chocolate. Lady Fitch was now my favourite person. I immediately set off towards the chocolate, inwardly singing a loving ballad to my beloved, solid chocolate. I picked up a plate and filled it up with the 14 different kinds of milk chocolate that were on display. Then, quite impolitely, I attempted to find out how many pieces of chocolate I could fit into my mouth at once. After a few disapproving stares I turned and sat down behind a large potted plant to enjoy my chocolate. After I had devoured it all, I stood and sat down on a chair and waited for a man to ask me to dance to make sure my aunt didn't come after me in my sleep. Not long after a fat, old man approached me and asked me to dance. 

My aunt's glare was enough to make me accept. I took the man's hand and danced with him. Quite satisfyingly he complimented me on my beauty at least 3 times. It was quite nice to know that Ella had done something right. Suddenly a huge commotion started and I started to hear whispers about Mr. Ambrose while dancing the quadrille with the fat, old man who I had learned was a military colonel. I soon felt a gaze as icy as the North Pole, no, icier freezing my body. Mr. Ambrose had found me. I idly wondered if Karim was outside. The music started to fade and the colonel kissed my hand and left. I wandered back to the chocolate and again began to stuff myself, actively ignoring my inner voice about my generous derriere increasing in size due to my chocolate eating tendencies.

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Mr. Ambrose's POV

As I walked into the infernal ball a large crowd formed around me, mostly consisting of mothers and their probably unmarried daughters. Unluckily for them, I only had an interest in a certain female private secretary of mine. I greeted the ball's host for the sake of politeness and instantly found Mr, no, Miss Linton dancing with an old colonel. Fire instantly started to burn in my body. I still had no word for this strange sensation, but it only seemed to rear it's head when Lillian Linton and a man were touching or interacting in any way. Rationally I knew that Miss Linton would not wed an old man like him but the logic did not do anything to change my body and mind's reaction to a man touching MY ifrit. 

After the music started to wane the colonel kissed her hand and walked back to his equally aged companions. I graced Miss Linton with a cold stare as she began to walk towards to the chocolate on the table placed in the corner of the ballroom.

I started to stride in a linear fashion towards her, with absolutely no plan for what I would do when I reached her. Soon enough I was behind her. Now that I was close enough I saw what she was wearing. It was the sea green dress that I had found in a quaint tailor's shop and sent to her. As if she had sensed my presence, she turned around. My mouth instantly became dry. The dress fit her perfectly and the color made her tanned skin look silky soft. The dress also placed her assets in plain view. Her hair had been put up in some sort of twist with some hair framing her face. I suddenly felt a stronger flare of that strange.... emotion.

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Lilly's POV

I turned around when I felt the familiar aura of power and money behind me. There stood Mr. Ambrose, his facial muscles twitching like mad. Had I managed to get this much emotion out of him? I must look ravishing. He stood there, silent, even after I called his name 3 times. When I was about to call his name for the fourth time he finally snapped out of his stupor. "Miss Linton. You look..... ravishing." My traitorous cheeks blushed so hard I was sure it looked like I had a tomato for a head. "Dance with me.". "No." I replied. Who did he think he was? Ordering me to dance with him! If he had asked I might have. No, I would have. Blast him and his chiselled Greek god face!

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Mr. Ambrose's POV

Why had she refused? Was there another man who she wanted to dance with? An even stronger flare of the emotion that I could not place ran through me on the thought of Miss Linton and some man together, dancing, talking and laughing. I immediately asked her, "Why?". The fire in her eyes burned immeasurably brighter and she replied "Because you're a chauvinistic bastard who expects women to bow down to them and obey their every whim! Maybe you should have tried to ask me to dance instead of ordering me to!"

After her exclamation, she walked away into the crowd of the room and left me there, with anger scorching my veins.

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Lilly's POV

I strode away like one of the rakishly handsome generals in my adventure novels to the other side of the ballroom. The glint of golden thread caught my eye, and I turned towards it. And there stood Captain Carter! He had on his usual mischievous grin and, of course, his tiger vest.

He noticed me at the same moment I noticed him and he began to walk towards me. He kissed my hand and asked me to dance the minute a song for a gallop started."Captain Carter, did you plan this?" I said, referring to the song for the gallop. "What if I did? May I have this dance?" Finally! A non-chauvinistic request for a dance! "Of course, Captain Carter."

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Mr. Ambrose's POV

I watched as she talked with some military man with her radiant smile on her face. What was happening to me? I had this almost irresistible urge to break the captain's neck. No. That would be a quick death. I would make sure he suffered. And even further he asked her to dance and she immediately agreed with an even bigger smile on her face!

Maybe he actually asked her instead of ordering her like you did.

As they jumped to the song for a gallop I discerned a flash of defeat in my blood pumping organ. No! I never lost. And I was never going to lose MY fiery and volatile ifrit to this Captain!

I strode over to them and almost..., almost became speechless by the smile that adorned Lillian's face. She was so.... elegant. so gorgeous. Suddenly I saw flashes of her with a wedding ring on her finger surrounded by brown haired and sea green eyed children. 

You love her. Why don't you admit it to yourself?

I waited until she finished the galop with the captain. I approached her and I kissed her delicate hand and asked, "Lillian Linton, may I have the pleasure of a dance?" For some odd reason, she looked at me like I had grown another head. After exactly 3.0025 seconds she replied, with a soft smile on her face, "The pleasure is all mine, Mr. Ambrose".

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Lilly's POV

Mr. Ambrose had actually asked me to dance. asked. What was the world coming to? After a few seconds of open-mouthed staring, I accepted. He immediately took my hand and pulled me to the dance floor.

A/N: All characters belong to RobThier author of the 'Storm And Silence' series.