Fire - Betrayal (37 page)

But, Ben just
remained there, his hands behind his head, staring up at the ceiling, his heart breaking.

Hope comes in bounds and dwindles away with disappointments.

Hope. One must never give up hope, and dreams.

And yet, he remained on his bed, lifeless
, and deeply saddened.

***

I carefully placed the mask on my face as I arrived at the Masquerade Ballroom at 7:30pm. It was a stunning piece of venetian elegance, made from a soft metal that had been laser cut to provide an elegant and delicate design. It had a satin silver gold finish to the front and was adorned with ornate patterns.

My
heart was aflutter.  Soon I would be seeing Nic again, and I couldn’t wait.

I
caught the elevator to the 76
th
floor with at least eight other belles of the ball.  They were all as excited as I was, and enthusiastically left the elevator and rushed to the Grand Ballroom Entrance to show their tickets.  As we neared the doorway, which opened to the fairytale adventure, we could hear the murmurs of the men.  The girls shrieked with excitement.

Collecting
my calm, I walked in together with the group, past the ogling men dressed up in their tails and phantom masks, to the other side of the room, to find our seats.  Then we joined the other group of women who had already arrived and were enjoying sipping their drinks out of the tall fluted glasses.

At 7:45 precisely, the signal was given for the first compulsory dance to begin.  Everyone formed a circle on the dance floor, the men on the inner circle and the women on the outer circle.   As the music began, the men took the women’s hands and started the first dance of the evening. After one minute, the music changed signaling for the women to move on to the next dance partner.

I saw Nic halfway around the circle. He was so breathtaking in his suit and mask. My heart started to flutter.

Finally,
Nic’s eyes met mine directly, and I smiled seductively at him. He smiled shyly back at me, melting my heart. I couldn’t wait to get him alone and to kiss him and for him to hold me in his arms.  I couldn’t wait.

At the conclusion of the first dance,
we all returned to our tables where we were served the first three of the five course meal, and the auctioning of the night started to raise money for the children’s fund.  I did not see Nic’s placement in the room. I was eager to see him, and touch him again.

I
decided to get up from my table and walk over to the bar to order a drink.  That way, my height advantage would let me look around the room for him.  But I was disappointed.  I couldn’t see him anywhere.  Perhaps he was sitting with his back to the bar?

I
turned around to the barman to collect my drink.

“Madame, what a surprise to see you here,” Nic whispered in
my ear, standing closely behind me, his voice rough.

I smiled, and then
put my drink down, and turned to him to hug him.

“You look so beautiful
Cate, so delicious that I could eat you,” Nic commented.

Just then, a Ballroom
Minder quietly approached us and insisted that we take our seats again, as we were causing a distraction to the auction, and encouraging others to leave their tables as we had done.

I
smiled at Nic, without saying a word, and then turned and walked away from him, excited to meet up with him again at some other time tonight.

After the third course, the Ballroom Guests were given permission to mingle and dance.  I
mmediately I left my seat and fought my way through the groups of men and women looking for Nic.

But
Nic found me. He took my hand and bowed to me, “Madame, would you like to dance?”

I
curtsied to him saying, “
j'aimerais à -
I would love to.”  He held my hand and walked in close proximity to me as he led me to the ballroom floor, then held me closely in the waltz pose as we swayed to the music.

“Nic, thank-you for coming to the Masquerade Ball,”
I said gently.

“I’m glad that I did.  With all of these men wanting a piece of you, I don’t think there would be any of you left by the end of the evening. I love you
Cate,”

Then the music ended, and Nic walked
me back to my table.

The girls chatted animatedly about who they
had met and what they looked like and if they got their phone number, and if they were going to meet them after the ball.  Everyone was on a high, and eager to take part in the final compulsory ballroom waltz.

At
10:30 pm, the final signal was given for the compulsory waltz to begin.  It would take at least one hour for every man to dance with every woman. Again we lined up as before, bowing to our partner and waited for the music to begin.

A romantic composition filled the ears of the ballroom dancers, as the final waltz had begun. Again after every minute, the music changed and we would change partners.

I
didn’t have to wait for long until I found Nic this time. His eyes burned into mine.

I
floated on air as I danced with the rest of my partners, politely looking into the eyes of my new partners, but not really noticing them, my mind was dreaming of Nic.

Then t
he music changed again, and I bowed to my partner before moving on to the next one.   I put out my hand for him to take.

As soon as
he
touched me, I felt a surge of electricity.  Shocked, I looked up and into
his
eyes.  They were cerulean blue.  His hair was very dark and wavy, with a cow’s lick on the right side, and he was infinitely handsome.
His
eyes looked deeply into mine, and my heart skipped its beat numerous times.  As our waltz time ended,
he
bowed to me, kissing my hand, burning
his
cerulean eyes into mine.

He
took my breath away.

I
moved on to my next partner, in a state of shock.

It couldn’t be
him
. But as
I continued looking back at
him
, I realized that it was
him
.  There was no doubt.  My heart began aching, and tears came to my eyes.

Here,
I was at the Masquerade Ball with my new love Nic, and then, unannounced,
the
love of my life, that I had said goodbye to long ago, appears as if from out of nowhere.

I
began to panic.  What was I to do?  Nic loved me deeply, and I loved him.  I didn’t want to hurt him.  Ben loved me deeply, and I still loved him deeply, more than I loved Nic.  My heart pained.  One of the men that loved me, and one that I loved was about to get hurt, was about to have their heart broken, and there was not a damn thing that I could do about it.

Then at once, the music stopped, and applause broke out. It was
11:30pm.  It meant that our masks could be removed, and no more rules were in place.

I
mmediately, I ran from the dance floor, and out onto the balcony of the 76
th
floor, distressed.

I
needed some fresh air. My head was in a spin.  My heart was beating rapidly.  I didn’t know what to do.

Swiftly Ben followed
me out, trailed closely by Nic.

I
stood at the balcony, facing the city lights, my back to both Nic and Ben.

Then I
felt
him
near, my body still so highly attuned to his.

Slowly,
I turned around and faced
him
. 
He
stood there silently, looking deeply into my eyes, being ever so cautious with me.

He
had returned for me.

I
stared at him with disbelief written all over my face. It couldn’t be
him
.  I had left
him
in Une Autre Terre to seal his love with Jacinta.  My love with him was forbidden.  We couldn’t be together.

Tentatively,
Ben took another step towards me, his face full of emotion.

He
slowly lifted his hand to touch mine, and immediately I felt the jolt of electricity from him.  I had forgotten how good it felt. His touch instantly awakened every cell in my body, making me feel so alive, so happy, as only he could.

I
looked down at Ben’s hands, searching for a ring to signify his marriage to Jacinta, but I saw nothing. I gently touched his fingers, running my soft fingers along his, looking up into his eyes.  He knew what I was searching for.  He had promised his love to me for eternity.  I was his only true love.  He had said that there would be no other woman for him. He had said that he could never love another woman as he loved me.

Then he
lifted his hand to the side of my face, and moved closer to me.  He burned his cerulean eyes into mine, mesmerizing me, then brought his lips closely to mine, but not touching. Slowly he pressed his lips against mine. I let out a soft moan, as he kissed me slowly and deeply with passion.  I responded with a matching passion, wrapping my hand around the back of his head and twisting my fingers through his hair.

Ben pulled away, and walked away a short distance, placing his hands at the back of his head.  Then he walked back to
me, his face pained, and kissed me with great depth again.

He
held me closely against his body, tears streaming down his face. And I held on tightly to him, my eyes closed as my tears flowed.

Then
Ben kissed me tenderly yet again until I whispered his name.  Then he lowered himself down onto one knee.

He looked up at
me, his eyes intense, and held my hand.

“Marry me
Cate.  I cannot live without you.  You are the shining light in my life.  My heart beats only for you. My body feels alive when I am with you.  You are my only reason for living.  Marry me Cate.  Marry me Cate…I want you to be my wife tonight.  I cannot be apart from you, ever…”

I looked at Ben…..but I did not answer.

He stood up and looked into my eyes, reading my emotional state.

Then unexpectedly, h
e stepped back, looking at me.

“You love him?”
he asked questioningly, the words choking in his throat.

He
looked over at Nic.

Then Ben focused his eyes on
the ground, his eyebrows pulled together.

When he
looked up, Nic was gone.  Ben walked away from me, and found Nic at the bar. He sat beside him.

Ben spoke to Nic, but Nic did not make eye contact.

Then I watched as Nic placed his drink down and then left the bar and came out to me. His face was shattered.

He stopped in front of
me and held my hands.

I
did not feel the jolt of electricity from Nic that I felt when Ben touched me.  And then I realized that the love between Ben and me
was
a bond that could not be broken.

“So
Cate…I met Ben……He told me that you love me, and that he was willing to step aside, if you choose me over him……………….I love you so deeply,” Nic said sadly, looking deeply into my eyes. And then he brought his lips to mine, and kissed me, as though it was his last kiss.

Nic released
me from the kiss.

He
looked out over the city lights, his hand over his heart.

“I know who you choose
Cate.  I knew I was up against Ben from the moment I saw his photograph in your bedroom.  But you convinced me that it was totally over, and forgotten between the two of you.  I raised my hopes about you.  I tried not to fall in love with you, but you were just so addictive. I won’t forget you.  I will always love you.  I totally understand why Ben came back for you.  It is exactly what I would do.  I would actually fight Ben to the death to have you, but, I’m not that barbaric, and if it is him that you love more, then you must be with him.  I wish you nothing but happiness.”