Red Aint The Colour Of Love.

CH 1🎀

She looked into the mirror, the age-old stitch marks on her chin still stubbornly visible. A small scar of a slit cut on her forehead, an injury she can't remember still sits earnestly in its place. Earlier Osvane asked her to have her best makeup on and hence she kept pouring concealers upon concealers on her scars. There was no nervousness lining her mind as this wasn't the first time she would be walking in the mass of glamour. For months she has fluttered around at parties. Osvane's scoldings and punishments did improve her social etiquette as she was too horrible when it came to following rules. However, as she looks back at that time she is left with a handful of good memories to adore at the moment most of it not being the first eighteen years of her life.

"Glasle, aren't you ready yet?" her brother asked impatiently. 'It is time already?' She thought to herself. There was no escape or choice and she had to be ready. With a deep sigh, she replied with a loud yes while smoothening her pink evening gown. She couldn't deny that she wanted to taunt him with a 'no', yet she was in no state to trade another evening with harsh mockery.

"I am waiting in the car, you won't like it if you waste my time, I hope you remember what happened last time?" He screamed from across the wooden plank of a door separating this room from the aisle. She heard his footsteps fading away signaling that he had already left the hall by now.

Last time he made her stand on the porch after dark for four hours only because she was late for arriving at his luncheon. Why? Because she tripped and fell over a pile of books he had kept in her room. It made the dress rip at the edges making her change into another set of clothes.

With a final look into the mirror, she got up from the chair taking her handbag and her phone with her. The clanking sound of her heels hitting the floor was the only sound in this ghost of a house. She silently wished Osvane would have waited until she had come out of the room.

The screaming pink colour made her worry if she would be the centre of attention at today's party. She was already grateful enough to Osvane for letting her wear this dress rather than the hideous red fabricated one. After persuading him and hitting each other with blackmail back and forth for several hours today, he had given in.

According to Osvane today is one of his business partner's birthdays, , 'Birthdays were nothing but boring as they come once a year until people die. How can people celebrate their birthdays and torture innocent beings like us? It ain't anything special to watch people hiding under makeup and money. It's quite inexplicable why a time-saver freak like Osvane would even bother to visit all those parties. Perhaps it had something to do with business, of course, it has to be' Glasle thought to herself.

As she arrived at the flight of stairs that led to the driveway the black car stood with its door wide open, easily letting her have a glance at her brother who was looking at his phone. She walked towards the car as he looked up at her, his smile making him look a lot more puerile and delicate. But before she could capture the moment, he turned his concentration back to his phone. Sitting beside him after closing the door, she wondered where Miss Faiaca was, if it wasn't for her she would not know how to survive the tortures that the tyrant sitting beside her had put her through, he told her that she wasn't disciplined enough in her childhood and only harsh retribution can make her come in her senses, even though these were all his methods of scaring her, she couldn't deny that it didn't work.

"Whose birthday is it today?" she asked him, breaking the settled silence.

"Hyrt's!", his voice was calm yet the abrupt answer made her curious.

"Hyrt? Is he just a partner of yours?", she asked her interest tenfold after observing him.

" A partner, our family had been partners for a long time. You met him on my company's anniversary, don't you remember a tall man with black hair and a black tux? " He said while putting his phone in his coat's pocket.

"I saw many men, I might have seen more than a thousand guys in black tux and black hair after I came to you. You didn't introduce me if I am correct. " she sighed, starting off the window.

"Yeah, he left early though but I thought he caught your eye. Do you have poor eyesight too accompanied by poor memory? Let's add this to your to-do list then. Full life history of Hyrt Brusaint!" He dropped the matter pouring the silence that she was trying hard to escape from but then she thought it was better than him gibbering and making her say something uncivil that would ultimately put her in danger. His criticism didn't hurt her like it used to. The only quality she liked in him was he knew just where to stop but when we were in conversation he always left her on edge.

No one had to tell her that they had reached the spot of merrymaking, the music booming was enough to let the whole city know. Osvane on the other side, opened the door and she held onto his hand while walking into the building. The mixture of scents would already have knocked her off my feet if it wasn't for the practice of walking in them. Remembering the first time he took her to an extravaganza, it was almost one month after she had arrived at the Floink's. She had to puke up all the food and scents she had consumed later that night.

Her concentration pulled up as Osvane leaned and whispered a quick "smile". Now with an eight-teeth showing smile plastered on her face, she walked, her shoulders straight as her sexual orientation. As they passed everyone looked at them with a bright smile, it didn't matter if it was real or fake. 'They are trying to be happy...' she mocked them internally. The hall, like always looked like a limitless labyrinth of elevated colours, fragrance, food, and people.

Her eyes caught a shimmery object ocean of people. Somewhat due to human instinct, she was bent on grabbing more of what she saw. A man in a bundle of glitter? He wanted to be looked at and she had nothing to be ashamed of when their eyes met. His eyes went beside her, a smile spreading across his already glowing face reaching eyes. His realization wasn't something she was comfortable with right now. He knew Osvane.

With curiosity taking the best of her, she nudged Osvane asking him who the man in the glittery fit was. " Luvaric, Luvaric Duniac, the youngest of the two children that Mr Duniac had, trust me this brat is better than his elder brother, both in conscience and work field...he is a bit eccentric, yet perhaps not as much as his brother. He likes people, people like him.", He said his voice was lower than a whisper. Looking back at the man whose information just filled her ears, he was still staring at her. She changed her focus on his surroundings, as true as Osvane was saying women, men, everyone was gawking at him. 'But, why are their heads turning in sync?' she thought, again focusing on Luvaric as she saw him advancing towards them. The fight and flight hormones were starting to kick in if they hadn't yet. She had the sudden urge to run for the washroom, her lovely brother sensing the loss of my composer tightened his grip on her hand, signalling and warning her. Before she could think of any escape plan, Mr. Luvaric was already in front of them giving her the most passionate smile. Luvaric advanced to take her hands from Osvane's, yet as she looked up at Osvane, his face was shadowed his smile wavering.

"Osvane, would you bother to tell me who this beautiful lady is?" By the time he finished asking this question, her hands were already in his. Her heart raced at a much faster pace than it did a few minutes ago. The thing she was most afraid of happened, she heard gasps and felt everyone stare at her, the attention pooled in at the centre of the hall where she stood.

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Author Note - My exams are near and yet at such a moment, the solace and peace of mind is reached through my books and nothing else. I have been writing since 2020 and finally think that I am ready to put it out into the world. I am really grateful if you read this, do ask questions and give feedbacks on how you like the story. Someday I would like to talk about what and how this story came to be.