Rouge (7 page)

“Yeah, I just... I want you
to know that it means a lot to me that you’re coming tonight,” he said, color
rushing to his cheeks. He wasn’t very good at giving compliments. “Really, I
know you hate it, but God knows I need the support and... well you’re all I’ve
got.”

Lights flashing past the
taxi as it sped through traffic glowed like silver in his pale blue eyes. She
remembered having nightmares about a cackling man with eyes just like Joshua’s
when she was a kid. His eyes were unnatural, almost alien-like. But they were
his, and always would be.

“Stop gushing Joshua,” she
chuckled. “Besides, I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

“Keep the change.”

Joshua urged Hunter out of
the taxi after it pulled up outside the grand staircase of the Oaks Hotel,
which towered over them in a magnificent display of sheer black glass and
glimmering lights. He and Hunter rugged themselves up and jogged through the
raging storm into the warm, rich plaza. Its low roof cascaded before them in a
pristine-clean cream. Luxurious couches, glistening chandeliers and plants of
all sorts were scattered among the lobby. There were many people in their
formal gowns and neat tuxedos laughing and drinking champagne and making their
way past the security checking guests off the list.

Joshua guided her through
the crowd and straight to the front of the line of waiting guests, most of
which shot them snobby glares of annoyance.

“My name is Joshua
Harrison,” he announced to the bouncer. “I’m receiving an award tonight and was
told to arrive early.”

The security guard was a
stocky, middle-aged man who looked as if he’d seen his fair share of
bodybuilding supplements. After glancing down at the guest list typed up on his
iPad, he nodded towards the elevator and Joshua smiled in thanks.

“Well, aren’t you special?”
Hunter grinned, ignoring the queasy feeling in her stomach as the elevator shot
to the top.

Joshua tried to keep his
cool, but Hunter could tell he felt very special tonight. She often thought
that he was largely unappreciated for his work at the university. He was the
most intelligent person she’d ever known, and his passion wasn’t greatly
received by the student body. Sure, rocks and their history weren’t the most
fascinating of subjects, but Joshua knew them like the back of his hand. He was
a science man down to his very core.

Joshua nervously
straightened his tie as the elevator rose higher. “I’ll probably have to leave
you alone soon, so will you be okay to mingle on your own?”

Hunter couldn’t think of
anything worse, but she put on a brave face and nodded astutely. “I’ll be fine,
just... enjoy your night okay? You deserve it.”

“Thanks,” he muttered,
looking as if he might embrace her, but Hunter knew better.

The classical music hit them
in the face, along with the loud laughter and chatter of the party. The golden
doors slid open to reveal a huge, hexagonal banquet hall with a gigantic
glass-domed ceiling. French doors surrounded them at every corner and the room
was filled with conversing groups holding champagne and wearing elaborate gowns
and suits. Waiters in formal uniforms carried silver trays of canapés and
plants as tall as the elevator behind them stood in huge alabaster vases.

From where she and Joshua
stood, all they could see was the beginning of the crowd of mingling university
lecturers and guests.

“There are some people I
want you to meet first,” Joshua said in her ear, but he still had to speak
loudly over the din.

Hunter nodded and let him
drag her through the mass of people.

As they zigzagged, Hunter
focused on how completely glamorous her surroundings were. Women laughed and
chatted regally, flashing their glittering jewelry around. The men in their
suits and combed back hair were smart and poised. She felt underdressed in her
black heels and fifty dollar dress from the Chic stall at the markets, but she
shrunk into her gray trench coat and pretended she worse something ridiculously
expensive underneath.

They were coming to the
other side of the hall, and Hunter was glad they were heading outside and away
from all the older men and women staring at her as if she didn’t belong. They
passed a small string quartet playing an energetic number with violins, flutes
and a cello, then Joshua was pulling on one of the golden French door handles
and they were outside where the night was cool and it wasn’t so loud.

Hunter noticed Joshua’s body
become stiff and tense the moment they were out in the cold. The snow had
calmed down and almost completely stopped, the wind protected by the covers
shielding the balcony. A group of men lighting cigars and a couple talking
intimately as they leaned against the balcony railing were the only people
outside.

The three men turned as
Hunter and Joshua approached. One of them looked very merry and quite content
smoking his cigar, a clump of ashes caught in his beard and his kind brown eyes
creased into a permanent smile. The one beside him didn’t look nearly as
pleased to be at the party, let alone talking to the bearded man. He looked
quite bored, but strangely powerful at the same time. The other man was much
younger than the both of them, and his eyes were wide and attentive. Hunter
guessed he was some sort of assistant or trainee, because he was promptly
ignored by both men. Clearly, these were the most prestigious members of the
university, or Joshua wouldn’t be so anxiously stiff.

“Mr. Bradshaw,” he greeted,
shaking hands with the bearded man. “Mr. Akerman,” he said, locking eyes with
the other. Joshua didn’t even acknowledge the assistant, who was oddly
comfortable with this. “I’d like you to meet my... daughter, Hunter. Hunter,
this is Mr. Bradshaw, the university president, and Mr. Akerman.”

Hunter was prepared to look
good for Joshua’s sake and shake their hands firmly with a warm smile, but the
introduction caught her completely off guard.

She and Joshua had always
been comfortable with the fact that he wasn’t her real father. When Joshua took
her in he became her guardian, nothing more. It suited the both of them just
fine. Joshua never embraced her or told her how beautiful she looked, because
that wasn’t in his nature. 

Having Joshua introduce her
to his boss -
the
boss - as his daughter was almost like a slap in the
face. The effort it took for her to swallow the swarm of rage within her was so
great, Hunter forgot to smile as she shook both their hands.

“P-pleased to meet you.” She
took her hand back quickly and shoved it inside her coat.

“Miss Harrison, you must be
very proud of your father!” said Mr. Bradshaw, his hands clasped around his fat
belly. He was almost like a modern-day Santa Clause. “He’s done so much for the
university. We very much appreciate his efforts.”

“Thank you, Sir.” Joshua
nodded modestly.

“Oh I am proud,” she
replied, shivering in the cold breeze. Her bare legs were littered with goosebumps.
“Are there any other awards being given tonight, Mr. Bradshaw?”

“Several,” snapped Mr.
Akerman. He had hawk eyes and breathed loudly. He gave her the notion he was a
hard-hearted man.

Joshua’s glow faded
slightly. “Well, uh, there are many in the university who deserve to be
rewarded for their efforts.”

“Too true, too true!” said
Mr. Bradshaw. “In fact I believe we should be gathering inside for the
introduction. I must find Andrea, she should have the others rounded up. Will
you follow me, Mr. Harrison?”

“Of course,” said Joshua,
and as Akerman and Bradshaw - flanked by the assistant - parted through the
French doors back into the rowdiness of the party, he turned to Hunter.

For a moment, she forgot
about her anger. If Joshua could see it had bothered her, it might distract
him. She didn’t want that at all; tonight was about him.

“Go on, I’ll be fine!” she
assured him.

Joshua’s smile gleamed.
“Wish me luck!”

She couldn’t resist pulling
him towards her and wrapping her arms around his neck. His body was stiff and
cold like a block of ice, but he relaxed in her embrace and gave her a tight
squeeze.

“You don’t need it,
Professor,
”
she said with a smirk and watched him trot into the crowd after Mr. Akerman and
Mr. Bradshaw, his cheeks pink from embarrassment and discomfort. It had been a
long time since they embraced.

This was the part of
Joshua’s benefits that Hunter loathed; the part where he would have to leave
her alone so he could meet with other colleagues or speak to his superiors.
That was usually when she could no longer ignore the stares.

As Hunter passed through the
crowd towards the food and drinks table - as she usually did when she was alone
at these kinds of gigs - she could feel eyes on her back. Not only was Hunter’s
hair a stand out in posh crowds such as this, but often the way she presented
herself around others almost asked for comment.

It wasn’t as if Hunter
dressed specifically so people could label her a tart. She dressed the way she
liked and if people got the wrong impression, then so be it. She had learned
not to pay attention to what people thought of her.

As the crowd thinned and she
came to the food and drinks table, she moved back against a tall potted plant
and started shoveling food into her mouth. She busied herself with pretending
that no one was watching her. The miniscule appetizers were so delicious that
she reached for more, when a voice beside her froze her in her tracks.

“They thump those pigs, you
know.”

Hunter turned to her right
and her eyes fell upon a young man, roughly her age. He stood smartly in a neat
black tuxedo, his blonde hair curled in a side part like a hipster James Dean
and his square glasses glimmering in the many lights around the room. His
expression was more serious than Mr. Akerman’s had been the moment he laid eyes
on her.

“Excuse me?” Hunter froze
with the canapé in her hand.

Immediately after he spoke,
the boy’s eyes dropped down to his shiny dress shoes and tweaked his glasses.
“Uh, w-what I mean is… that in your hand is a red onion marmalade and pork
appetizer. The part of the pig you just swallowed belonged to a living,
breathing animal who went through… immense pain before he was brutally picked
up by his hind legs and thrown against the ground until he died.” He eyed the
tray of food as though it were made by the devil himself. “Then they skin them,
cut off their body parts and sell their meat.” He turned his gaze back to
Hunter’s. She noticed he had strange green eyes speckled with brown behind his
glasses. They reminded her of a tortoise shell. “You were about to eat a
thumped pig.”

Momentarily stunned, Hunter
simply stared at the boy. He was beginning to look like he regretted ever
opening his mouth.

“Uh, I’m Eli by the way,” he
added somewhat uncomfortably. The strength he’d portrayed in his words had
vanished, almost as if a switch had been flicked.

Intrigued, Hunter shook his
hand. “I’m Hunter. Nice to
meat
you.”

Eli caught onto the joke and
gave her a sideways grin. He had well-kept teeth and a simple smile.

“I’m sorry about what I just
said, I don’t usually go around telling random girls that they shouldn’t eat
meat. It’s just… sometimes I get a bit-”

“Carried away?”

“Passionate,” he corrected.
“It’s kind of a weakness.”

“Well it’s a very healthy
weakness Eli,” she told him firmly. “Don’t ever give up on what you believe
in.”

Eli raised an eyebrow ever
so slightly at her. “I... okay. So... are you here for business or pleasure?”

She snorted a laugh.
“Neither. I know someone who’s receiving an award. You?”

“Well I’m too young to be
involved in the university, and this party is far too dull to ever give me any
pleasure.”

“You’re not wrong about
that,” Hunter said and took another canapé from the dinner table - one that
looked vegetarian, for Eli’s sake. “So why are you here then?”

“Oh, I-” Eli was interrupted
by the loud smack of a microphone being tapped and the noise in the room died
completely as someone stepped up to a podium on the far side of the room. Eli
and Hunter drew their attention to Mr. Bradshaw as he beamed down at the
audience, his eyes bright and his cheeks slightly red. A large screen above his
head gave the people at the back a close-up view of their host.

“Good evening, ladies and
gentlemen, and welcome to the annual benefit of Columbia University.” The audience
applauded dutifully and Mr. Bradshaw raised his hand in modest appreciation.
“Thank you all for coming this evening. For those who do not know me, I am
President Andrew Bradshaw, and your host for this evening.”

Hunter scanned the crowd
closest to the platform to where Joshua might be standing, and caught the very
top of his head as he stood waiting beside Mr. Akerman. On his other side was a
stunning woman in a slimming red gown. Joshua was looking for her too, but
before he caught her gaze, Mr. Bradshaw was calling him up.