Inferno

~65~ Prom

Ellie's POV

It's the night of the prom, and I'm nervous. I don't want to do this. Sasha has barely spoken to me since the fight we had.

Mason actually came back into my office a few days after his accident.

"I'm sorry, but is there any way you can look at this? I can't get in to see my doctor until tomorrow and it's really bugging me. I think I got it infected," he says, embarrassed.

"Sure," I say, as I sit down. He puts his hand out and I unwrap the bandage.

"Woah, yeah it's infected. It looks painful," I say, turning his hand over.

"It is, ma'am" he says, still not looking at me.

"Can you call me Ellie, please? I know I'm old, but ma'am makes me cringe," I say, smiling at him.

He shakes his head. "How about Mrs. Preston?" He asks with an embarrassed smile.

I chuckle a little and go back to inspecting his cut.

"How many times did you change the bandage out?"

"Not enough. It made me too squeamish" he says, rolling his eyes.

I laugh out loud. "Ok, I have a friend at the hospital.
I can have her call in a prescription. I can run over there on my break and pick it up for you."

"I can't ask you to do that" he says, shaking his head.

"I never heard you ask" I say gently.

He smiles slightly. "Thank you ma'am.....Mrs. Preston."

"I'll run it up to you when I get it. Do you have time for me to put a clean bandage on?" I ask.

He just nods.

As I'm putting on a new dressing, I sigh. "I'm going to be transparent with you. I'm chaperoning the prom."

He nods "Because I'm going to be there?" He asks quietly.

"I'm sorry" I say as I put the last of the tape on him.

"Don't be. I get it" he says, dipping his head. "I appreciate your help," he says, as he leaves.

As I come down the stairs in my stupid dress and long curly hair, I trip on the bottom step. Taylor happens to be there, and catches my fall.

"Are you ok?" He asks, concerned.

"I hate high heels. They're stupid," I say darkly.

"You look absolutely radiant. How are you in your late 40s? You don't look older than the day I met you," he says, his eyes burning with passion.

"You're just saying that cause you wanna get lucky," I say, reaching up and giving him a kiss.

"Well, yeah, but it's still true" he says, kissing me back hard. "Keep your hair down tonight when you get home, will ya? Those long curls are really working for me," he says, squeezing my butt.

I just laugh. Sasha and her date are already gone. They went to dinner first. She was breathtaking. Taylor thought her dress was too revealing, but I thought she looked beautiful.

"I'm so nervous. I can't believe I'm actually going to the prom. Without a date," I say, rolling my eyes.

He just laughs. "Have fun, my love. If you're going to dance with Lance, make sure he doesn't get too handsy."

"Oh stop that," I say, smacking his butt.

I get to the school and I'm running late. My hair took longer than I was anticipating. I get in and scan the room. Lance is in the room, talking to Mason. As much as I hate to admit it, both men look extremely handsome all dressed up. If I wasn't already married to the absolute love of my life, I think I would be crushing on Lance. If I'm being totally honest, Mason too, but he's young enough that he could be my son.