Filed to story: Loving You In My Final Days
They carefully opened the box and when they lifted the cover off, Abi and Kelly could not help but gasp at the sight. Inside the big box lay an exquisite evening dress, glittering from the silver and blue sequins that covered it. Abi gently lifted it out of the box and held it out in front of her, its shiny, silver sequins reflecting in her eyes, making them look like they were sparkling. The off-the-shoulder, v-neck, mermaid gown felt so luxurious to the touch that she couldn’t help but run her fingers over it. She then carefully hung it up in Kelly’s wardrobe, away from the mess in the room. When Abi went back to the room, Kelly was holding up a matching silver and blue mask, a velvet box and high heels!
“Oh gosh! That dress is definitely a designer piece! And these jewels and shoes, oh my god! Who’s this big fish you actually found, huh? Abi? I can already tell that this man is far richer than me!”
“Oh,” was all Abi replied. She didn’t understand why he bothered to send her clothes. Maybe he didn’t want to get embarrassed by her so he sent these to make sure? That man…
“Abi, I just know that the party you’re going to attend won’t be a normal one. I mean, these clothes are meant for high class parties and with a masquerade mask too! I’m not going to lie. I’m pretty worried about you… are you sure you want to do this?” Kelly held her shoulders firmly as she tried to gauge her friend’s reaction. She looked as if she would start discouraging Abi, or even try to stop her, if she saw a single hint of hesitation in her eyes.
But Abigail’s decision was already deeply rooted and Kelly couldn’t see any fear nor doubt nor hesitation in her friend’s eyes at all, so Kelly immediately gave up. She had never seen such decisiveness in Abi’s eyes before. She even looked as though this was a ‘now or never’ situation for her.
“Okay, then… Abi, let’s begin!.” Kelly finally relaxed as she started to create some magic.
…
It was already past seven in the evening when the masterpiece was completed.
“Oh god, Abigail-sama!!! Look at how gorgeous you are! You are now the most gorgeous lady on the planet that I have ever seen with my own two eyes!” Kelly’s non stop praises, as she circled her again and again, was making Abi feel her invisible sweat drops falling. But she understood her reaction because even she was shocked the moment she saw herself in the mirror. She never thought that a beautiful dress and enough grooming could transform someone to this extent. She almost couldn’t believe that the girl in the mirror was her.
“Thank you so much, Kelly. I really can’t thank you enough for this.” Abi said and Kelly waved her hands at her.
“Nah… This is all you and the dress, okay? I didn’t even put that much makeup on you. I just fixed your hair and dressed you up in that gorgeous dress and that was all it took to unearth your natural beauty. Ugh! I’m so jealous of this Mr. Qin. He’s way too lucky, that damn bastard!”
“Haha, hey, don’t talk like that. I bet you won’t be able to say that when you see him.”
“No, no, no… I still believe that he’s a lucky bastard no matter how handsome he is! Oh Abi, i bet that hose people who mocked you before might kill themselves if they see you right now. You look like a superstar, or a fairy princess, or a young queen!!”
With that, it was time for her to go.
Kelly accompanied her to the entrance. She was getting a little nervous about letting this gorgeous friend of hers go with someone she had never even met but her Abi was a grown up lady now. Besides, she promised to call her once she was there.
A limited edition, black Lamborghini stopped before them and Kelly was again stunned. This was the car of her dreams, after all, which she failed to buy because the other, more rich and powerful people got there first.
A man stepped out and Kelly’s eyes immediately narrowed. When Abi stepped towards him, Kelly suddenly pulled her back.
“W-wait, Abi. Don’t tell me that man is the Mr. Qin you’re talking about?” she asked with wide eyes, pointing her forefinger towards Mr. Black Leather.
Abi blinked at her as she shook her head. “No, he’s Mr. Qin’s friend. He’s the one whom he sent to pick me up.”
Kelly looked so stunned. She leaned in on Abi and whispered in her ear. “Abi… that man is… that man is a prince! And he was sent to pick you up?! Just who the hell is your Mr. Qin to command a prince to pick you up?” Kelly was obviously flustered and judging from her reaction, she was not kidding at all.
“Prince? You mean, prince of the entertainment industry or business world or something?”
“No! He’s a real deal, Abi! That man is a real prince!”
Abi creased his forehead and was about to ask her for more detail when their attention was pulled towards the man as he called her.
“Miss Chen?” he asked and when Abi nodded, the man spaced out for a moment as he stared at her.
“Oh… I almost didn’t recognize you.” He uttered as he smiled. “Shall we go now, Miss?”
Abi turned towards the still dumbstruck Kelly. “Kelly, I’m going now. I’ll call you, okay.” she said and began walking towards the car when Kelly finally snapped.
“Wait, uhm…” Kelly looked at Mr. Black Leather. “You are Prince Kai, right?” she asked and Mr. Black Leather jacket was surprised. He even looked around immediately to see if someone heard her. When he saw that there was no one around, he smiled at Kelly. It was obvious that he didn’t expect for someone to recognize him.
“You’re Miss Chen’s friend? Don’t worry about her, she’ll be in good hand,” the man said and without answering Kelly’s question, he boarded the car.
Kelly was left standing out front, completely stunned, just gaping at the disappearing car. This was too damn outrageously unexpected.
At a certain seven-star hotel.
A large, magnificent ballroom had been meticulously set up for what seemed to be a very important and very high class event. The chandeliers that dangled from the ceiling provided little sparkles of light from one end of the room to the other, giving the room a feeling of being under a bright, starry night sky. Many round tables were dotted around the room, decorated tastefully with a red and gold motif, colours of which represented wealth, prosperity and good fortune.
This masquerade ball certainly was a display of wealth and prosperity, from the crystal champagne glasses and silver and gold cutlery to the stunning paintings and decorations on the walls. But that wasn’t what caught one’s eye! Inside the ballroom were groups of people, each wearing millions of dollars worth of clothing, jewelry and other accessories. The women’s jewelry – their earrings, necklaces, bracelets, tiaras, rings – altogether shone brighter than the lights inside the room. Anyone who caught a glimpse inside the room immediately knew that this was a gathering of the most influential, rich and powerful people. And of course, this being a masquerade ball, each person, man and woman, wore a mask which covered a part of or all of their face, adding even more mystery to the already mysterious identities of the people inside.
Walking inside with her hand on Mr. Black Leather Jacket’s arm, this was the scene that Abi was presented with and her eyes became as wide as saucers as her jaw dropped in awe. She had never seen so much extravagance in her life! The tables, the decorations, the people! Oh My God! No wonder Mr. Qin sent her the dress and jewelry and shoes. He definitely didn’t want to be embarrassed by her at this important affair. She was also now extremely grateful that she had asked Kelly to help her dress up tonight, otherwise, she would have felt very out of place; not that she didn’t already do so.
She knew that the rich threw parties all the time. Kelly had told her stories of the parties that she had had to attend and she imagined what they would be like in her mind but this… this exceeded her expectations to no end. She never could have imagined such a luxurious affair. She thought parties like this only existed in the fictional books she had read.
She snapped out of her awestruck daze when Mr. Black Leather jacket guided her towards the champagne fountain. He took a glass and gave it to her before taking one for himself.
“Thank you,” she said, taking a small sip.
“For the nerves,” he replied as a smirk formed on his face.
