SEVEN DAYS

¦BOOK II¦- 34~ Hearts Ajoined

"Passionately kissing a woman in front of a crowd, should not be grounds for any such bizarre writeups. Don't worry, I'll take care of it, if that's what you're worried about. Neither your name nor your photo will be splashed on any tabloids tomorrow. I guarantee it. But that's not what's really the problem, is it Raven? I know you so much to accurately judge you and tell you that, that's not where you have a problem with. What just passed between us, which on my level is nothing at all, as I'm unapologetic about the way I feel about you, unnerves you, scares you... embarrasses you..."

As he listed his precise impressions of how he thought she'd felt after the kiss, Raven watched him with a sinking heartfelt, sensation in her stomach.

Trust Mikhail Constantinovich to be good at reading others utterly, even when they don't want to be read. Never before had any other man made her feel like a specimen in a slide under a microscope before.

"Now why should honest hunger provoke shame?" Mikhail questioned softly. "Why not pleasure?"

Just as he'd said that, Charlotte instantly burst up into their duo, standing in the gap between Raven and Mikhail. Raven hadn't even heard Charlotte approach them before. Men she was lost already. Lost in the acute enigma of Mikhail Constantinovich.

Charlotte loudly cleared her throat, instantly putting an end to whatever conversation had been going on before she came in, and then began addressing the both of them. "Now that I see you guys are well acquainted, before Mikhail carries you off like a caveman into the night and y'all go missing till the next morning, how about you grace these fine halls with a dance first? From the both of you? It still is Raven's birthday after all. And as her humble host and best friend, I will not let her leave this hall without a dance. Although I know how badly the both of you wish to catch up, but you see this crowd of people here? How did you think I got them to come here? I promised them that Mikhail Constantinovich would be here, and that he'd dance with a Belle tonight. And by Belle, I mean a beautiful woman. So to help me save face, you'll have to Honour that promise by dancing with a woman tonight, Mikhail".

"And nice to see you too, Charlotte. I see you've changed... not a bit" Mikhail smirked.

"Nor you, Mikhail. Nor you" Charlotte's eyes glistened in humor.

"Charlotte... You knew he was going to come for the party. And you didn't tell me" Raven sputtered, feeling hurt, and Charlotte at least had the good grace to blush in embarrassment.

"It was meant to be a surprise. Besides, he made me swear to him that I won't. That he'd have my head for lunch, if I still went ahead and told you. I value my head too much. Besides I know just how much you like surprises. This was a good one. Now Raven, before you dance, I'd like to give you my final birthday gift of the evening. A dress"

"A dress?" Raven quirked her brow, folded her arms in amusement. "No thank you, Charlotte. I've had enough with dresses from you, for a lifetime"

"Oh relax! It isn't that bad. This dress you're putting on, is absolutely gorgeous. But who says the dress I'm giving you is a new one? I did tell you the woman who personally customized this dress for you, is absolutely amazing right? And you didn't believe me, because the dress I gave you from her, looked like the kind of amazing dress, just anyone about as good with a machine can sew. Well, I'm about to show you what makes the woman so astounding. Remember how the dress was itching you in the car, on our way here? Here's why..." Charlotte stopped speaking, brought out some sort of control panel from her purse and turned on the first button. All at once, every single light bulb in the hall went off. The whole place was cast into pitch darkness. And people began murmuring in fear.

Then ever so slowly, a soft hue of light began to glow from the bulbs. Casting the entire hall into a dimly lit enchanting hall.

It was precisely at that moment that Raven began to feel something almost akin to fire lick at her skin. She raised up startled eyes to Charlotte, to find out that Charlotte had pressed the second button on the remote panel. It seemed like this one was somehow affecting her, Raven, not the light bulbs, or any other part of the hall.

Raven looked down at her dress and gasped in shock and wild bewilderment. Before her very eyes, her dress was burning off, and a new one was taking its place. The light it emitted, was so bright, different enchanting mixture of colors. The mixture was nothing short of beautiful.

The entire crowd gathered around her, as she had instantly become the only source of light in the hall. Or more accurately put, her dress had. It glowed like the very stars themselves. Raven was amazed. The crowd was enthralled. Gasps were emitted at various locations. It felt like she was in a dream, or Peharps maybe she had become the dream in itself.

Few minutes later, the transformation was finally over and Raven was now in a new, sparkling dress.

"What's a queen without her crown? What's a princess without an insanely cool, fire lighting up ball gown?" Charlotte whispered in awe. Yes, she'd been the one to arrange with the tailor and customize the gown, but she hadn't actually seen a trial of how it would look like. She didn't want to ruin the surprise for her own self. And damn was this dress a work of art. The Surprise was definitely worth the wait.

Mikhail was the first to recollect himself before everyone else. Honestly, things like this shouldn't even faze him any more. He'd already known that the woman in his arms was full of varying possibilities.

She looked like the goddess of light. An enchantress. And he felt like the proverbial frog, not worthy enough to tie her shoes. She'd always been the good one. The better one of them, but when had that ever stopped him from going after her and claiming her solely as his?

Blinding camera flashlights were being generated everywhere, people were taking out their phones, making live videos, even he was powerless to prevent something like this from reaching the news media come morning. The dress was jaw stopping. Trust Raven to make the best entrance of all, in her own quiet, little way.

Third chapter! If you didn't download the picture, please go back and do so, to aid your understanding of the chapter... I spent quite some time working on it, just to help you see what I saw, when writing the chapter... As always, don't forget to drop your votes, and share your thoughts in the comments section below. We're going to have some sort of discussion, in the next chapter...