Song of the chapter: Dazed & Confused by Ruel (in my dreams where this story gets turned into a movie this would definitely be the trailer song)

When the night of the gala finally arrives it has been a week since I've seen or even heard from Theo. He hasn't contacted me, with Theo being the one to usually initiate our outings, and I certainly wasn't going to be the one to take the first step towards reconciliation. For once, I was not the one that pulled the rug out from underneath our fragile relationship and so I'm just going to sit back and wait for him to make the first move. 

Part of me begins to wonder whether he will. There is no precedent to base a potential reconciliation on, so I contemplate whether he will actually put in any effort. I had always said that eventually what I had going on with Theo would have to come to an end, that I would have to get Theo out of my system and that there was no other option, but I certainly didn't consider that this would be how. I naively thought that I would have a say. 

I try to look at the situation with a positive perspective— maybe we need the space from one another after such a fast pace that has engulfed us since meeting. I struggle to comprehend how it has only been a few months since I met him that night on his balcony, completely oblivious to how he would come into my life and so easily have my mind in such a disarray. 

Somehow Theo has simultaneously had me drifting through these months, dazed from how he has infiltrated in my mind and conflicted me, and also on edge at every instant, as though he has  injected adrenaline through me both emotionally and physically. I'm both hesitant and eager to see him tonight. I'm not sure how he'll react to my presence since he wasn't exactly receptive of the idea of me attending the gala. I've been deconstructing every aspect of our disagreement for the last week and trying to determine what exactly had him so frustrated so that I know what could irritate him tonight if we do bump into each other— was he upset that I was specifically attending with Damon or that it just wasn't with him? 

I truly can't afford to be so caught up in thinking about things because it has rapidly decreased the rate at which I'm completing my makeup. Fortunately, I had Jess help me with my hair earlier so that now as I try and try again to put on eyeliner successfully I don't have to worry about doing that too. I also would have had no chance at executing the classic Hollywood waves that I wanted like she can. 

It was when Jess had already started doing my hair that I had actually received a message from Damon. We've been in touch ever since that lunch we had weeks ago where we had our talk, with his messages conveniently increasing over the last week to fill the gap that Theo has left. Taking a break from scrolling aimlessly through my Instagram feed while Jess did her magic, I checked the message from Damon only to find that he had been invited to go straight to the gala with his bosses during a lunch today. He was checking if it would be okay to just meet there since we had planned for him to pick me up and go together to the gala. Honestly relieved by this, as I could really use the extra time to finish getting ready, I eagerly told him that it was fine and that I'd just meet him there. 

And so, one taxi ride later, that is how I end up walking into a random gala by myself; clad in the same navy cowl neck dress with a criss-crossed back that I had worn as a bridesmaid one year ago at my cousin's wedding. I had nearly forgotten the whole mask requirement but a quick run to a store by Jess delivered a white and gold lace trimmed mask to go perfectly with my gold bracelet and drop diamond earrings. Although, unlike the other attendants of this gala  I'm pretty sure I'm the only once whose accessories were all purchased for less than a hundred dollars. 

I'm pretty damn cold, with my coat left at the coat check upon arrival and my back exposed, but as I walk into hall where the gala is being held I can immediately fell the warm air from the heating flow over my skin. Fortunately, my thick hair flowing down my back also helps to some extent, albeit minimally.

I'm here. Let me know where you are, I message Damon as I walk through the gatherings of people near the entrance, aimlessly searching for him and our table among the sea of people. Quickly locating our table but not him and certainly not wanting to sit there all alone, especially since I had no clue who anyone else is at the table, I continue what seems like a hopeless search for him. I'm about to give in and reluctantly return to our table to sit alone, slightly irritated that Damon wasn't responding since he's the one who invited me to this thing and promised he wouldn't leave me alone, when I spot him not far from the bar. I clearly recognise  him in his grey suit alongside two black tuxedo clad men, with his black phantom-of-the-opera type half-mask doing little to disguise him. But just as I am only metres behind him I recognise a face among the group of people he is talking with, even with the standard mask on that surrounds both of his eyes.

"Well, young men, it has been a pleasure chatting with you but I must go find my wife before she scolds me for abandoning her for work talk," an older man says before handshakes are exchanged. "Will you say hello to your father for me and send him my way if you find him  Harrington?"

"Of course, Mr Cho. Hope to see you soon." Theo replies, standing there as charming as ever in his black tuxedo and gelled over hair looking like a quintessential 20s gentleman. I realise that we have unintentionally matched our outfits, both opting for a classic Hollywood look. Black silk mask or not, I recognise him instantly by his raspy accent or even the tall and somehow elegant stance he has too.

Now that this Mr Cho has left, Theo and Damon are left awkwardly standing by each other, the hostility between them no secret to me and confirming for me that me being Damon's plus-one tonight was probably the reason for his frustrations with me.

As though he is reading my mind somehow, without even knowing I am near, Theo says: "So I hear Ella is your date to this."

Nodding his head but refusing to look Theo in the eye, Damon scans the room for what a second ago I would have hoped was in search for me but now hope otherwise as I guiltily eavesdrop on them. 

"She is. How did you hear?" Damon asks. 

"We talk." Theo succinctly answers, with what I think I can see is a smug little smirk forming at the corner of his mouth from where I am standing. 

"Oh yeah?" 

Damon's head stops in its tracks, finally looking towards Theo. 

"Yeah we do. Heard she ended things with you, sorry about that." 

God, I can't help but want to laugh a little at Theo's unabashedly taunting approach; having to bite at my lip to stop myself. Damon has never done anything for me to dislike him; in fact, he has proven to be quite a decent friend as of late and particularly useful in providing me someone to talk to about my career concerns. We even met up during our lunch breaks the other day and it was great to get all the things off of my chest that I always pushed away with Theo. And yet, when Theo is here playing with his strings so easily after everything Damon has done and said about him I can't help but be amused. 

"Yeah, well...  we're still really close." Damon persists, with his head raised stubbornly. 

"Where is she?" Theo questions, not letting Damon maintain even a second of his confidence. 

Damon looks anxiously from side to side, and fortunately not behind him, as he attempts to not be caught out by Theo. "She's somewhere here. I haven't actually seen her yet." he admits.

"You didn't come together?" Theo enquires curiously, ears almost perking up upon hearing this.

"We were meant to but I ended up coming straight here with your father and Mr. Cho. She messaged me to say she's here though." Damon explains. 

"Oh course you did." Theo mutters under his breath with an amused scoff, although evidently not quietly enough since I can hear him. 

Nevertheless, it appears that Damon didn't hear his snide remark or just didn't care, because he doesn't react in any way. Instead, he asks him "Is that her?", nudging his head towards a woman standing maybe a meter away from them at a bar table alone on her phone and looking up for a short moment to scan her surroundings. I don't know why he'd even think I'd just stand a metre away and not recognise him. Surely he didn't think I was that oblivious to home because of his mask. Assessing her appearance, I can kind of see where Damon is coming from with his suggestion though. It's honestly a miracle that they haven't noticed me yet, both still turned in the opposite direction facing the entrance.

"No." Theo quickly dismisses, barely taking a second to evaluate Damon's suggestion.

"But how do you know? She's brunette, white, seems to be the same height and have the same figure." Damon questions, trying to discreetly analyse the woman but failing miserably as he leans forward to squint at her. Theo looks on, embarrassed, as the woman turns around to find Damon all but gawking at her before walking away with concern clear from the scowl on her face. 

"Well, as much as I'd like to say otherwise, I don't think Ella would have walked away from you with a look like that on her face," Theo teases. "Anyways, she has the wrong eye colour."

Damon looks at Theo as though he has just made the must absurd comment out there; his expression quickly shifting to one of self-doubt and the gears visibly turn in his brain. "They're blue. Doesn't Ella have blue eyes?"

"Not exactly."

Not exactly? Where is about to go with this?

"Not exactly?" Damon asks, echoing my thoughts. 

"They're not quite so bright of a blue like that. They're this combination of green and blue that you can't really put your figure on. And I swear they even change colour, like when she's happy they become a bit more like the blue of the ocean, or when she's upset or stressed they're more of a soft green." he explains, caught up in his description. 

I stand here, speechless from the degree of detail Theo provided to what I would think is just a simple question. I would have just gone with blue like Damon suggested or green, and yet here was Theo with all these observations. I know we've spent a whole lot of time face-to-face in recent times but I could not have foreseen just how familiarised he had become with me. 

"Oh, right." Damon timidly responds, not really sure how to respond to that just as I am right now.

Wanting to put Damon out of his misery, and also not wanting to be caught just standing around behind the two of them, I decide I should probably reveal my presence. Walking forward, I tap Damon on his shoulder.

He quickly snaps around, a sigh of relief apparent as he realises it is me.

"Ella! You're finally here." he remarks as he quickly embraces me. Meanwhile, Theo is only just registering my arrival as Damon shouts my name, eyes widening as he turns to find me behind him.  

I can hear Damon saying something along the lines of an apology for not meeting up with me as planned but I am too preoccupied with taking in the presence of Theo for the first time in a week to notice. I begin to worry what his reaction will be as he stands their expressionless; concerned that he'll just dismiss my existence. But I reassure myself that the same guy who knows all those little things about me surely wouldn't do that. 

Fortunately, my reassurances are proven as correct as Theo offers me a small put present smile. As Damon moves back, Theo hesitantly steps forward and greets me. 

"Hey Ella," he says, kissing me on the cheek as we go in for a side hug, "You look beautiful."  

Over his shoulder I can see Damon's eyes widen as the light bulb goes off in his mind, evidently hearing the complement and probably adding another tally for being the first to compliment me in Theo's column within the ridiculous competition he has formed. 

"Thank you." I timidly respond, unable to meet his gaze for long between me being unaccustomed to compliments and the tension between us after a week with no contact. 

"Yeah, Ella, you look great!" Damon chimes in enthusiastically as Theo and I separate, to which Theo responds with a subtle eye roll. "Again, sorry about the last minute change. It was just a really great opportunity."

"All good. I understand." I assure him, especially since it really didn't affect me other than having to pay for a taxi bill all by myself. 

"Did you find your way here okay? The traffic was pretty bad tonight." he checks although I can barely maintain my attention on him as I'm conscious of Theo's gaze fixated on me. I mean, I know it's not absurd for the guy to be looking at me but I'm just so much more aware of his gaze after not seeing him or speaking to him for the last week.

"Uh, yeah. I got here fine. The traffic seemed to have passed by the time I left my apartment." I answer, deciding to just avoid Theo's eyes so that I don't have to be the first one to say something next.  

However, my plan is failed when Damon is ultimately more distracted than me. 

"God, Ella I'm so sorry to do this again but do you mind if I leave you for a minute or two just to go talk to someone really important over there?" he checks, bouncing on the spot as he gestures to someone.

Looking over my shoulder in the direction that Damon's gaze is facing, I spot yet another tuxedo wearing man beckoning for Damon to come over. All of the wealthy tycoon type men are honestly beginning to blend in with one another. 

"It's fine. Go ahead." I tell him, even if I'm really not that okay with it. He's already had me looking around aimlessly for him after changing our plans at the last minute. Now that he's been with me for barely two minutes he's wanting to run off again while I'm stuck here not knowing what to say next to Theo. But, being the push over that I am, I don't actually tell him all of that.

"Thank you." he eagerly says with a hand on my arm in gratitude before he scurries away, leaving just Theo and I alone. I'm honestly surprised that he would leave us two together, knowing his feelings about Theo. But then again, if there was anything that Damon was more passionate about than his disapproval of Theo it is his job. After all, his career was supposedly why he has such a strong opinion on Theo. 

"So, how've you been?" Theo asks, tapping relentlessly on the bar table that he had been leaning against. 

Preparing to settle in for some uncomfortable small talk, I move forward and rest my clutch on the table to relieve my hands for a short moment. Giving in, I also take my mask off and place it beside my clutch as it was beginning to annoy me and I honestly saw no purpose for it since no one but Theo or Damon would know me here anyways. 

"I've been good. You?" I reply, not having much more to say.

"Yeah, I've been well." 

With that topic quickly out of the way, I join him in tapping my fingers against the table top as we search for what we can talk about next while still tip-toeing around the topic we really should discuss— where we had left things. A waiter gives us some respite as he offer us some champagne, which we both eagerly accept and promptly consume in one long sip. The waiter can't help but look on in shock as he awkwardly offers us another glass which we both kindly reject.  

As we are left alone once again, I scramble for something to ask him. 

"Is this a usual event that the company holds?" I enquire, not really that intrigued but certainly eager fill the silence.

"Uh, yeah. It is. The company holds it every year. It's a bit bigger this year though because of the whole partnership thing with the hotel, so there's a whole lot of people who I've never seen before. It's basically one big press event." he explains, surveying the room and looking a little lost or overwhelmed now that I'm really looking at him. I'm surprised not to find him with a drink by now, with alcohol typically his relief whenever it came to his father and the company. I recall how dishevelled he had been not long ago at the company Christmas party.

I want to console him, to tell him he can talk things out with me if he needs to like we did that night, but I refrain from doing so. I keep my hand firmly away from Theo's, even if it feels like second nature for me to just move forward and place mine over it just to let him know that I'm here for him. 

Instead of words of support, I chicken out and just say "right". 

Fortunately, someone comes to my rescue and pulls our attention away from the discomfort between us as we hear a familiar voice call out my name. I turn in the direction of the voice to find Monique, standing behind me in a fitted red off-the-shoulder gown with a faux fur shawl wrapped around her shoulders and an opulent diamond necklace hanging around her neck. 

"Elizabella, I'm surprised to see you here." she remarks, not so discreetly looking over my outfit. Monique isn't always the best at hiding her reactions so when I don't see her respond with instant disapproval at my appearance I know I must not have done too bad, surely. 

"Oh, Monique. It's good to see you," I reply, not having expected to see her here. I'm her assistant and yet this surprisingly was never mentioned or put into her calendar. I begin to contemplate, could it have been a last minute thing? Or was there some reason she'd have kept this hidden from me? 

Realising that I should probably remember my manners, I proceed with justifying my presence at an event which is way out of my social class and price range. 

"I'm actually here with a friend." I explain. 

"Oh, Theodore," she remarks with astonishment as she looks to my side to who she probably assumes is the friend I mentioned only to find Theo. Her inability to hide her reactions is here proven as her eyes widen with shock. "It's lovely to see you again."

"Likewise." he replies, outstretching his hand for her to shake.

Monique takes a second to process my presence here and association with Theo, shaking her head slightly from side to side as she brings her attention back to us. 

"I noticed you over here and just thought I would come over to tell you that I read your article. I was happy with it and so I spoke to some people and, well, it's going to be published. It still needs some working on but it's definitely got potential." she reveals. 

My heart feels like it has dropped as I attempt to process the words which just came out of her mouth. I hadn't expected to hear from her for some time, and certainly not to receive any positive information or at this gala of all places. And yet, here she is saying all the right things and leaving me utterly speechless. I'm only brought back to the present when Theo's hand moves across the table to squeeze mine as he smiles in encouragement at me. I can't help but grin back at him, albeit slowly as I adjust to the