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"You were about to fall when I caught you." He smiles at me before holding out his hand. "I'm Robert, by the way."

"Cynthia." I shake his hand. "Where did you get the juice from? I thought they were just serving alcohol at this party."

"I bribed one of the servers." Robert winks at me.

"Nice," I laugh quietly, sipping the apple juice.

We stand there in comfortable silence for a while, and then I glance at him. "Who're you hiding from?"

"I was invited as a guest." He sighs. "I'm not fond of such large functions."

"Same here," I murmur. "I'd do anything to be back home in my pajamas."

He grins. "Well, hey, we do have something in common."

It's very easy talking to him. I see his smile fade a moment later when a group of young women pass by us. One of the women coughs in her hand, snickering. "Look, Frankenstein came."

As she passes by me, I press my heel into the tail end of her dress. A sharp ripping sound has her gasping. I immediately cover my mouth, pretending to look shocked. "Oh, no! Did I do that?"

The girl shoots me a hateful look before rushing off to check the damage.

"That should keep her busy," I murmur, taking another sip.

"Now, that was just mean." Robert laughs. "What if you ended up ripping her entire dress?"

"What a pity," I sigh. "It would have been an excuse to leave."

"What're you going to do?" He grins at me. "Rip the dress of every woman here when they make a nasty comment about my face?"

"I don't have that much free time on my hands," I comment. "You could always share the burden."

His laughter is delighted.

Feeling a pair of eyes boring into the side of my face, I look over to my left and see Adam and Tina standing together at a distance. Adam's hand is on Tina's lower back as she leans into him.

"They make a nice couple," I murmur, my tone sad.

"Who?" Robert follows my line of sight. "Them? Nah. She's trying too hard. I don't see the chemistry."

"They fit well together," I disagree, knowing that while each word out of my mouth is hurting me, if I don't face reality, I will never overcome it.

"Are you blind?" Robert peers at them. "They mix like oil and water. I don't see it."

"Well, they're together, aren't they?" I demand, annoyed now by this man's persistence to not let me dwell in my misery. "Do you need to see them kiss to see what I see?"

"Meh." Robert makes a face. "You and I are standing together as well. Doesn't mean we're a thing."

"He's holding her––"

"Like this?" Robert puts his arm around my waist. He doesn't touch me, but he positions his arm such that it gives off that effect to onlookers.

"Cute," I narrow my gaze, "now step away before I break your foot with my heel."

Grinning, he holds up his hands, stepping away.

"Uh-oh," he murmurs, "I think we upset somebody."

I look over to see who he's talking about when I catch Adam glowering in our direction. I turn my head away, saying coldly, "Ignore him. Maybe he's jealous of your tie."

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