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The October evening was unusually warm. I opted to walk instead of taking the car and driver my mum offered. It gave me time to think about my next move to win Adaline back. Fifteen minutes later, I arrived at the side entrance to the Empire Hotel. The room set aside for welcome drinks was right ahead of me, the laughter spilt out from the open doors. I smiled and shook hands with donators and friends of my father who were standing in the foyer with champagne glasses. Making small talk with these gentlemen were easier now that I had a few functions under my belt. The thought of Adaline still here in the building, motivated me to enter the room of strangers. If she were by my side, she would squeeze my fingers to encourage me to talk to them. I decided that she was with me, I imagined her soft fingers entwined with mine. She would wear a scarlet red dress with her hair loose in soft waves down her back.
I spotted my mother in the far corner laughing with a group of women I recognised. Steph and Felicity were among the women. Steph spotted me first and beckoned me over. A waiter offered the tray of drinks as I passed and I took two glasses of champagne. I downed one glass in two gulps, leaving the server with the empty glass and took the other with me.
I kissed the women on the cheek by way of greeting and kept silent as I heard their stories. My mum kept glancing my way, and I refused to give her a smile to show I was all right. I was not all right, I wouldn’t be whole again until Adaline came back.
“Have you seen Scottie?” Steph asked, shielding her mouth with her glass.
“No. Did you arrive together?”
“Yes, but he disappeared almost immediately, that was half an hour ago. I can’t imagine where he might be,” Felicity said and looked around the room that had now filled with people in their finery. My tuxedo was custom made. It was the only extravagance I made because I didn’t want to let my mother down with her gala night. Celebrating ten years of the charity was important to everyone in this room. It also signified ten years without my dad.
“Where is Elliott?” I asked her in return.
“Also done a disappearing act but Steph says he does that a lot. She says he’s usually doing the rounds to talk to his business associates.”
“I’m sure he’ll be back soon,” I said to Felicity.
“Who will be back soon?” Scottie asked, taking us both by surprise. His tuxedo fitted him perfectly. My mum had insisted that she would buy them their outfits for the evening. She wouldn’t take no for an answer after she had heard they couldn’t come because they didn’t have the right clothes to wear.
“Where have you been?” Felicity asked him. “I don’t know many people here, and I was running out of conversation.”
Felicity wore a navy long sleeved velvet gown. It was off the shoulder and Scottie couldn’t take his eyes off her. She was beautiful, and they made a handsome couple. It pained me to think of the word couple when I was here alone.
“Just been fixing a piece of the stage, good job there was a carpenter in the crowd,” he winked at me and then kissed Felicity’s neck.
Elliott joined us a few minutes later, just before it was announced that dinner was served. The event staff pulled back the dividing doors to reveal the room. Giant sweet statues were dotted around the room. The backdrop to the stage was a curtain that looked like sheets of chocolate flooding the stage. As the crowd spilt into the room, the chatter rose to an excited level. A bubble gum machine was the centre piece to each table, with coins scattered over the table cloths. I had been transported to a sweet factory, and my inner fat boy was begging to be let out and run amok, snatching every sweet he could find.
Felicity looked at the table plan on an easel at the entrance, then lead us to our table. It was a table for ten people. I circled the table to look at all the names, but none of them was Adaline’s. She really wasn’t coming. I downed another glass of champagne and heard Adaline’s voice in my head to eat some food before I drank any more alcohol.
“She’ll come around, this isn’t the end,” Steph said as she took her seat next to mine.
“I don’t think she will. She’s only asked me to do one thing, and I blew it,” I said.
Steph shook her head at my defeatist attitude and picked up the menu to stop herself from saying more. The table filled with our guests. I should have known that our biggest donors would be on our table. Scottie and Felicity were directly behind us on another table. I was positioned between Steph and my mother.
The four-course dinner was served, and I enjoyed more wine to give me the courage to talk to the men and women who came to speak with my mother. She introduced me to all the donors. She knew them all by name. Guilt settled in that I didn’t spend enough time with her over the years and that I didn’t take part in the fundraising side of the charity. Building the schools seemed enough at the time but watching Adaline organise this event and my mum working the crowd like a professional, I knew I had to take more responsibility. This was a night of relaxation and Elliott was still working while he spoke to the business men and women. I needed to decide what I wanted to do next, fairly quickly.
The speeches had finished, and the volume of conversation rose throughout the room. It wasn’t long before the tables were cleared after the auction and the music started. This was my cue to leave. I twisted the glass of whisky back and forth in my hand, debating what excuse I could use to leave early.
“Have you enjoyed your evening, Callum,” she asked.
I turned slowly, begging my senses for it to be real, for Adaline to be sitting next to me. I pushed my glass away and prodded her bare arm. She was real. Her dress was in two halves. The top, an intricate crochet of lace covering a satin piece of material at the front. At the back, it was bare apart from a horizontal strip holding it together. Her midriff was bare, and then her satin skirt fell to the floor. I had no idea what shoes she was wearing, but I was dying to find out. My vision earlier of what she would wear was a poor choice. She looked stunning. Her hair was up and intricately woven into a 1940s style. Her drop earrings touched her shoulders. Adaline was leaning forward, resting her elbow on the table, holding her chin. Her fixated gaze rested on the couples dancing. I leant forward to be a breath away from her ear.
“It has substantially improved in the last minute,” I said. I wanted to touch her, pull her onto my lap and kiss her. “Have you been here the whole time?”
“Yes,” she said still looking at the couples.
“Will you dance with me?” I asked.
“Yes,” she said and stood, still not looking at me. She held out her hand, and I took it, lacing our fingers. She took us to the dance floor in time for a new song. It was a slow song. I took her in my arms, held my hand flat on her skin at the base of her back. She draped one hand around my neck, and the other unbuttoned my jacket and then slipped around to my back at the waist. I was hopeful. What I didn’t understand was why she wouldn’t look at me. She had her face turned away looking at the DJ on stage. I cupped her cheek and guided her face to look at me. The dark smoky makeup surrounding her eyes caused me to take a breath. Her eyes were accusing me of a crime, a crime I was guilty of committing.
“I’m sorry,” I said, I mouthed the words, there was no way she could hear me over the music.
“I’m sorry too,” she said.
“Why are you sorry? I’m the one that went against your wishes.”
“I didn’t tell you why. I should have told you everything.”
