The Mystery of Chloe B.

5 - Mysterious J.

The next morning Chloe still couldn't believe that she had been dancing with one boy for the whole evening! In addition, with the stranger! She didn't want to admit it aloud – even in secret it didn't come easy to her – that she had had really great time with him.

It turned out that he danced perfectly. As the expert of many areas of life – oh, not to say that almost all of them – she could say with a hundred percent certainty that he had had to take dance lessons. Dancing with him, she felt as light as a feather. And she was quite picky when it came to dance partners. But she always said that her daddy had spent too much money on her dance lessons in the best schools and with the best teachers, to waste her time with Neanderthals like Kim!

Yesterday when all guests had left, she was surprised to find out that she didn't even know the name of her partner. He hadn't told her anything about himself, though they were talking all the time. How was that possible?

She snorted with frustration into the pillow. She planned to spend as much time in her bed as she wanted, as it was Saturday and she had nothing special to do. In the afternoon Sabrina would probably come with homework – already done for Chloe, of course. Yes, life went on. The best thing Chloe should do right now was to forget about yesterday.

With this resolution she finally got up. She quickly dressed and went downstairs for breakfast. It was like nothing had happened yesterday. Chloe had great skills at drowning out unwanted thoughts. This day, however, nothing worked. Sitting over a croissant, Chloe was still thinking about the mysterious boy. And that was throwing her off the balance.

She began wondering how he had got to her party. After all, she invited only her classmates, and that boy certainly didn't go to her class. He didn't even go to her school! She would definitely notice him! So, how had he got an invitation? How did he managed to come in? The security wouldn't let him in if he didn't have the invitation!

Secondly, she analysed their conversation and concluded that she unwillingly let him get too close to her. In fact, if he wasn't such a good dancer, she would get rid of him just after their first dance. And how did he make her forget about all that anger and frustration? She even stopped paying attention to Marinette and Adrien's dancing. Except of seeing them leaving her party... wait! Together? Holding hands? Had it happened or was it her last night dream?

She was totally confused!

Instead of coming to any conclusions, she returned to her apartment with more questions without answers than before breakfast. Suddenly, she stopped frozen in front of her door. On the doorstep there was a red rose. And a ticket. She looked around carefully but didn't see anyone. She bent slowly and picked up the flower and the piece of paper. She could read: "Thank you for a wonderful evening. J." and she blushed. Probably for the first time in her life...

***

So, his name started with "J". She didn't know any Jays. The only "J." that came to her mind was the famous rocker Jagged Stone, who certainly didn't have anything in common with the boy from her birthday party.

It was Sunday afternoon. Chloe was sitting on the terrace, relaxing in the sun. The rose, she had got yesterday in such a mysterious way, stood in the vase on the dresser. The thank-you ticket was tucked into a drawer, where Chloe kept the most important treasures. Yesterday she read this short letter a thousand times, and every time she did it, she felt a strange sensation in her stomach.

There was something romantic about giving her a rose, and Chloe for the first time didn't want to drown out that memory. On the contrary, she allowed herself making a rather bold assumption that this mysterious boy might have some kind feelings to her. And she wouldn't even mind allowing him to show them. It wasn't about her feelings, of course! Well, she could eventually admit he was objectively handsome. Oh, and he danced perfectly. Well, OK... He had the ability to entertain her with a conversation, so that she didn't even notice when the party was over. Right. But there was no way she could fall in love with him. Since she didn't even – EVEN!!! – fall in love with Adrien, there was no man in the world who could win her heart!

Suddenly her thoughts were interrupted by a noise coming from the street. Annoyed, she got up and approached to the railing to see who caused that noise and to call papa to deal with that. She looked down and froze. It was him! Her "J."! No, not "her"! Just "J."! What he was doing here?

She watched as he dismounted from the scooter and came up with a package to the door. She couldn't hear the words, but she could guess he had a package for someone. After a while he got back on the scooter and left the hotel. She sighed in disappointment. "J." was a dispatch runner. The ordinary dispatch runner!

No wonder he managed to get in her birthday party! If he was constantly on the route to the Grand Paris hotel, the security knew him well. He passed them without any problems both before the party and yesterday with the rose for her. She snorted with irritation. She let him deceive her! Oh, and this rose!

And think that she almost... almost... Oh, that was unbearable! What a disappointment! No wonder he was picking up her! It must have been a great honour for him to dance with Chloe Bourgeois herself! And she let him do it for the whole evening! God, when people found out that she was dancing with a messenger, she'd be finished at school and even in the city!

She went back to the room and looked at the rose with fury. She wanted to tear it apart! But she refrained at the last moment. The flower was too beautiful to be destroyed in anger. Yet, she needed to ease these emotions somehow. She needed to leave! She took her jacket and a purse and ran to the door. At the same time someone knocked to the door, and Chloe stopped in surprise. She pulled the handle so suddenly that butler waiting outside almost had a heart attack.

"M-Miss Chloe, there is a parcel for you."

"Thank you, Jean-Jacques!" she replied and quickly took the package.

She closed the door so rapidly that the butler didn't even winked. She looked at the parcel – it had the size and colour as the box carried by "J." a minute before. She snorted like an angry cat. The dispatch runner! What a slander!

But the curiosity won. Chloe ripped open the paper and checked the box as quickly as possible. There was a letter lying on something that looked like... a wig? She took the letter carefully with two fingers, so as not to accidentally touch that... artificial hair.

"Chloe,

I know you found the rose from me. I would like to apologise to you for the lack of manners. I realised that I didn't introduce myself. My name is Jerome. And I would like to explain a few things to you. Would you agree to meet me in the park tomorrow after school? I thought you might prefer to meet incognito. Hence the idea with a red wig. If you don't like it, treat it as a joke.

But the invitation is for real.

J."

Damn it...

She still didn't know much more, except his name, and all her anger was gone. What should she think about all this now?!