10

Back at the house, Senan was still sitting on the couch, playing around on his phone.

Nothing was to be seen of the other two, so I was just about to sit down next to him, but the front door was opened and Odran stormed in, loaded with several folders.

His white shirt was tight against his chest and his dark suit trousers only suggested he had a lot of work to do.

Behind him I suddenly saw the spectacled snake from the day of my wedding. The same pushy woman who groped me and who Odran wanted to see in a so-called "private room".

She adjusted her glasses and looked at me just as curiously as I did at her. Her hair was tied in a strict bun and her outfit resembled that of a porn actress who would have disguised herself as a good teacher.

"Mrs. Gallagher," she spoke to me in a friendly manner and came towards me, but I only looked questioningly at Senan, who was sitting on the couch behind me and grinning stupidly. "I'm Yvonne and actually her husband's secretary, but I'll do my best to prepare her for this evening."

I stared at her in confusion and while she just smiled and adjusted her glasses, I raised one of my eyebrows.

"What kind of evening?", I then asked rather addressed to Odran, who was just spreading out the folders on the table.

"Didn't Rian tell you anything about the dinner?" he then wanted to know and sat down on one of the chairs, looking at me waiting for an answer.

Then I remembered.

"Yes, yes, but what should I prepare for? How to put a fork to your mouth?" I giggled overwhelmed by everything and when Senan joined in my laughter, Odran suddenly slammed his fist on the table and jumped up from his chair.

Although he came towards me and I stopped laughing, the spectacled snake took a step back in fear.

"My God, Keeva! This is no ordinary dinner. More of a gala and there will be many highly respected people! In the folders you will find pictures along with their names, their political interests and small talk facts, so sit down with Yvonne and do something for being allowed to live here!"

He was trembling with anger, but suddenly, without really meaning to, I went into a kind of frenzy.

"That I may live here?" I repeated, snarling, tapping his chest with my finger several times. "I'm here to give your brother a better chance and if you yell at me like that again I'll leave right now and tell the papers what's really going on here!"

I trembled with anger at the way he was talking to me, but immediately I pressed my lips together and couldn't believe the threat I'd made.

"Oh yeah?!" he wanted to know and I saw the sheer anger in his eyes.

He stood up in front of me, glaring at me hatefully and just because of how tight his shirt suddenly was, I got scared and took a step back.

"Odran!", Senan intervened and wanted to pull the giant away from me, but he suddenly drew his weapon and held it right in front of Senan's face.

"What are you doing?!", Senan admonished, but Odran gave me an angry look again while I bit my lower lip so much that it started to bleed slightly.

"Do what you're here for and don't even think about threatening me one more time," he said very calmly and then turned away from me, finally catching my breath.

Odran angrily stormed out of the house while I stood there terrified and Senan wrapped his arm around my waist protectively.

"Sit down. I'll get you something to drink," he reassured me, and when I sat down on the chair Odran was sitting on before, Yvonne ran to the table very nervously and opened the first folder without paying attention.

She was probably afraid that Odran would rip her head off otherwise.

Unfortunately, Senan left us right away and I spent the next few hours looking at all kinds of people, memorizing their faces and names and watching Yvonne grabbing her head again and again until I decided that it was enough .

I felt as if I had to study for the hardest test of my life...

"Did you remember everything?" Yvonne then asked and rummaged through all the pieces of paper again, whereupon I just nodded annoyed and got up from the table.

My head was pounding and I was even slightly dizzy, so I grabbed my glass and refilled it with water in the kitchen while Yvonne rushed out the front door.

"They all have a speed on it," I murmured and briefly touched my forehead.

"Here," she spoke to me again and had a large box in my hand, which I looked at briefly and gave her a questioning look again. "Your evening dress."

I took it with a confused look and before I could say anything else, she was out the door again.

"Great," I breathed, glancing at Nero who was standing next to me. "Then let's go."

We ran upstairs together and I eagerly laid the box on the bed to open it curiously and immediately get big eyes.

It was beautiful and looked extremely expensive, so I carefully lifted it out to hold it against my body and smiled.

While it was off the shoulder at the top, it fell to my feet at the bottom and was very form fitting.

I spun in a circle and then did a fun little fashion show in front of Nero, who, to my surprise, was also jumping up and down excitedly.

"As long as the food tastes good and the dress fits well, I don't care about anything else," I giggled amusedly and looked again at the box, where I suddenly discovered a card that I hadn't noticed before.

I carefully laid the dress on the bed and unfolded the card.

"For true beauty."

Even though it was only four words, my heart suddenly jumped in my throat and I couldn't help but stare at this little card with bated breath, a smile on my lips that shone brighter than the sun outside, which was slowly went down.

Finally there was something I was really looking forward to and I quickly padded to the bathroom to strip down to my underwear and style my hair.

Since the dress was strapless, I decided to blow-dry my brown hair in a slightly wavy way and then put on subtle make-up that emphasized my eyes.

And then it was time.

I walked back to the bed, glimpsed out into the darkness, and then pulled on this beautiful dress which, to my relief, fit me like a glove.

"I've never had anything so expensive on," I whispered to Nero, proud of my looks, and spun around in a circle one last time, then admonished myself.

"Don't freak out now," I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. "It's just a dress and that was just four words on a note. He's still the guy who keeps turning you away."

After I had brought myself down a bit from my naive feeling of happiness, Odran called me from downstairs and I quickly put on black, flat ballerinas to walk down again together with Nero.

"Rian will be right there. I'll take Nero for a walk, if that's okay."

He hardly looked me in the eye and I didn't really know how to deal with him either. I had seen him angry once and wanted to avoid another one at all costs.

"Okay," I said very quietly and then watched the two of them disappearing onto the terrace together.

"Yes, I'll be right there! It'll take-"

I turned to the front door and looked straight into the eyes of Rian, who was holding his cell phone to his ear, but staring at me frozen and only slowly lowering his arm with the cell phone, as if he couldn't find the words anymore.

The way he was looking at me sent goosebumps down my arms and then as I witnessed him momentarily lose all control and smile broadly while biting his lip seductively, my breathing stopped and I felt heat coursing through my body, making my hands sweat instantly.

Have a nice evening.

***

"You really see-"

"Acceptable out?" I interrupted him with a smile and immediately he ran a grin through his black hair.

His facial features were breathtakingly beautiful, if he allowed himself not to cling to this otherwise so icy cold for these fleeting moments...

"You should get in the habit of letting me finish," he said with a raised eyebrow, slowly walking towards me to stand right in front of me.

His black hair was casually styled to the side, the dark shirt fitted perfectly to his toned body and just as I was about to look down at him, he took my chin between his fingers and forced me to look deep into his eyes again.

"Sorry," I murmured, mocking a pout and immediately feeling the pleasant tingling in my stomach that only he was able to produce with just that little touch.

When he glanced down at me and noticed on my chest how fast my breathing was going through his proximity, he released his hand and put the phone back to his ear while my heartbeat only slowly calmed down again.

"We'll be there in 20 minutes," he told someone on his cell phone and then put it in his pocket.

"Let's go."

I nodded and preceded him out the door, where John was leaning against the black Range Rover and started moving as soon as he saw me.

"Good evening Mrs. Ga-"

"Keeva," I whispered in a friendly manner and let him open the back door of the car so that I could carefully get in with the long dress.

Rian got in immediately after me on the other side and after we buckled in and John started the car, Rian seemed to be a completely introverted person again.

He didn't even look over at me, just stared blankly at his phone and generally seemed very distant.

He was probably just worried about how the evening was going, after all he cared a lot about it, but I couldn't assess him. He was always very controlled, gave little insight into what was going on inside him, so I was all the more pleased that he had at least smiled when he saw me in this dress.

"It's going to be a nice evening for sure," I nervously tried to start a conversation and he immediately looked at me, seeming as if he hadn't really heard me.

After he just nodded and focused back on his phone, I took a deep breath and tried not to let on how insecure I was feeling again.

Couldn't he just ride with me through this darkness, smiling? Did he have to make me feel like those brief moments of happiness were just the beginnings of emotional emptiness that followed?

This back and forth was unbearable...

"We'll be there in two minutes," John's voice sounded, and now that I wasn't worrying about Rian anymore, but about this evening, I played nervously with my fingers on my lap and felt all alone with my insecurity. ..

"Stay with me and if someone offers you alcohol, you politely decline. No private conversations."

I nodded and took another deep breath before John parked the car in front of a long flight of steps lined with crowds of well-dressed people chatting happily.

When Rian wanted to get out first, I held him back by the sleeve of his shirt and when he turned to me questioningly, I swallowed hard and looked at him pleadingly.

"Please don't leave me alone in there", I came out quietly, almost breathing, and I hoped that he would smile and give me his hand, promise that he would stay with me, but he only brought a cold "yes". , passed his lips and left the car without paying any more attention to me.

"Don't freak out," I said to myself a few more times, and when John opened my door and gave me his hand, I gratefully accepted it and put on a fake smile to hide my grief.

Rian stood at the bottom of the stairs, looking around between the people and after I nervously stood next to him, he silently handed me his arm, which I hooked on, and then together with him the stairs to this insanely beautiful building to run up.

It wasn't big but it was wide and the red carpet and lots of lights made it look like something out of a movie.

"Ahh Mr. Gallagher," Rian was greeted at the top by an elderly gentleman whose face with the white mustache still haunted my mind, but I had forgotten his name.

"And that must be your lovely wife," the gentleman turned to me and I gave him a friendly smile.

I had a fleeting thought that if I could pretend to be mute, then no one would expect me to remember their names, and thinking about it, I suddenly grunted in amusement and got a startled look from Rian.

"Sorry," I mumbled, then really tried to listen to Grandpa's boring ramblings.

Thank God it didn't take long before they said goodbye and we finally ran inside, where I opened my eyes in astonishment.

I had never seen such a high hall with such beautiful paintings on the ceiling, not even on television, and I admired them in awe before I looked around further and saw white-covered high tables everywhere, which made an incredibly beautiful contrast with the dark marble floor .

On the back stage, a band was playing classical music and everywhere you looked you could see beautiful dresses, tailored suits and expensive champagne.

"That's crazy," I said a little louder and could hardly close my mouth until Rian stood right in front of me with a serious look and stared at me warningly.

"Watch your language," he criticized me, and just as I was about to roll my eyes, he grabbed my hand and squeezed it a little tighter. "Now dare you to roll your eyes."

"What then? Do you want to shoot me in the hand?" I raised an eyebrow provocatively and just as he was about to say something, a woman approached us, who looked at Rian waiting.

Yvonne had explained to me that men had to greet women at these events and when he looked at her in perplexity I realized he had forgotten her name.

Smiling, I squeezed his hand and enjoyed this power game when he suddenly looked at me for help.

"Good evening, Mrs. Walsh," I greeted the lady courteously and she immediately turned to me with a smile.

She looked a bit like the Queen and I chatted to her about the great dresses here and to my amazement this old lady had the same interest in art as I did.

We looked up at the ceiling, admiring the magical use of the right colors and quickly some of the gentlemen joined us and while I seemed to impress everyone with my ramblings about art, I suddenly felt Rian's thumb stroking the back of my hand.

I glanced at him briefly and then when he formed a "thank you" with his lips, I smiled mildly and turned back to the others.

I did it for my mother.