Nights Like This

Chapter 46

At ten PM Alexei walked through the ballroom at Palacio Mondragon. Bouquet-filled vases perfumed the air. Green garlands with white and blue flowers, the national colors of Almurias, and small twinkling lights decorated the ballroom. Young women in ball gowns danced with young men in tuxedos. He looked around, and wished Metty was with him. He had given her information to follow the event online. He missed her, and wanted to hear her voice.

He found Dolores. "Our dance, Dolores. Are you tired? We can sit this one out."

Dolores shook her head. "I'm dancing every dance tonight if it means Dad has to carry me to bed." They laughed. The orchestra played a waltz, and they danced.

"Is your night going as well as you dreamt?" he asked?

"Better," Dolores said, her brown eyes sparkling. "I led the debutantes into the ball, had the first dance with Marco, and sit at Popi's table. What more could I ask for?"

He looked wistful. "Maybe to dance with the one you love?"

She said gently, "Do you miss Metty? Mom and I thought you liked her."

"More than like," he said with a sigh. "I wonder if she is thinking of me tonight."

*

Metty carried a cup of hot tea with lemon and honey into her old bedroom at her mother's house, sniffling and wiping her red, raw nose. Her eyes watered, and her throat was sore. She had a head cold.

She curled up on the bed, pulling an old crocheted blanket over her. She was getting over the cold, but still felt miserable. She was glad to be resting at home. She warmed her hands on the hot cup. She should be over the worst of the cold by Christmas, thankfully.

It was midnight in Almurias. The debutant's ball had started three hours ago. The link Alexei had given her was for a news channel providing live coverage. News cameras were not allowed into the ballroom, but the Prince's Press Office showed carefully selected clips taken by their staff. Almurian TV stations took their own coverage of guests and their arrival.

Metty enlarged the picture on her laptop. She selected a clip showing the debutants escorted into the ballroom. She played a news clip in Spanish, showing the debutantes and guests entering the main hall at Mondragon. She watched the views of the magnificent palace, the clear starlit night. The groups of men in tuxedos and women in ballgowns, wearing diamonds and jewelry sparkling like stars, were getting out of limos and entering the palace.

She froze the screen when Alexei appeared, escorting a dark-haired girl. She was petite, and he bent over her, smiling and listening to something she said.

She's so much prettier than me. Metty wondered what it would be like to go to such a ball, how she would feel walking in on Alexei's arm, envying the dark-haired girl. Alexei, do you wish I were there with you?

She sneezed again and again. She grabbed tissues and wiped her nose. The Winter Dance had been wonderful, but compared to this ball it was flip flops to Cinderella's glass slippers. Not that flip flops weren't the right shoes in the right place.

*

The late supper at the ball ended, and Sebastian and Alma led the guests back to the dance floor. A few more hours, and the night would be over. It's been a good night, Alexei thought. Several girls had flirted with him, hoping he would be interested. He flirted back without committing himself, Metty on his mind.

The only difficult part of the evening was Marco and Drusila. Marco had been no more than friendly to her, although she sat next to him at dinner. She looked happy but Alexei felt the misery she hid from view.

Alexei had the next dance with her. She danced gracefully. Drusila was beautiful, with her dark blond hair, brown eyes, and clear complexion. Petite and graceful. She was intelligent and good natured. He thought Marco unwise to pursue Madison, but he knew now one didn't always love wisely.

"Are you enjoying the ball, Drusila?" he asked.

She sighed. Her eyes grew moist, but no tears fell. "I should be." She looked at him. One tear dropped slowly down her cheek. She slipped her hand from his and wiped it away. "Marco and I were always so close. Now he has removed himself from me. How do you say it in English?" She put her hand back in his and he felt moistness.

"Distanced himself," Alexei whispered.

"Yes," Drusila nodded. "The world has come between us."

"He's home now. Perhaps he will remember the good life, the good friends, he has here," said Alexei.

Drusila stopped dancing for a moment, bringing him to a halt. She looked at him with resignation. "He is in a world with Madison Portnoy." She shook her head sadly. "No. He goes down a path we will not travel together."

"Drusila," he said, gently. He knew no words would help.

"Don't worry, Alexei. Life has many twists and turns for us." She looked up at him, calm and resolute, and Alexei wondered again how Marco could swap Drusilla for Madison. "Some we choose; some we don't. We may find adventures or a simple life. Happiness or grief. I choose to make tonight a beginning of, of something, a new and unexpected future, full of hope and—and adventure." She smiled ruefully. "Tonight will not give me the future my family, and, I think, yours, planned, but the years to come can hold wonder and happiness."

The dance ended, and he escorted Drusila to Marco, her next partner. Marco smiled at her slightly. Alexei knew he was concerned Drusila would cause a scene, but she was not the childish and spoiled Madison.

Drusila took Marco's hands. "This is our dance, amigo," she said. They moved onto the dance floor.

*

Alexei's partner for the next dance was the young woman who had just danced with Marco. Jessica smiled at him. He blinked, then smiled back.

"Alejito," she purred in the voice that once thrilled him. She gave him her most seductive smile.

He had longed for that smile from Jessica in the past. Now he could only remember having that feeling. It was forever gone, despite her beauty and the fascination of her bold personality. "Our dance." She moved into his arms and they danced away. In her flat dancing shoes, she was several inches shorter than him. "Are you surprised to see me here?" She smiled that smile at him, and he blinked, but was relieved he admired her beauty but was no longer enraptured. She gazed up at him through her lashes, and he thought she was still one of the most beautiful and desirable women he had ever met, and now, one of the most boring. He sighed.

"Are you tired?" she asked. "Would you like to sit this one out? We could go on the balcony." Code for an intimate talk.

He shook his head quickly. "Let's dance," he said. He didn't want to talk with her or be alone with her. She'd either ask about Marco, or watch for him.

"I heard from Madison," she said, smiling at him innocently. The spider to the fly.

He looked at her sharply. "I didn't know you two were so close."

"We're sisters. ETAs." She watched for his reaction.

"How is she doing?" He didn't want to ask any leading questions. Jessica knew something and wanted to learn what was happening with Marco and Madison. What do you know? What do you want?

"She misses Marco," Jessica said. He smiled at her, but she knew he was relieved. "She likes the life she thinks he leads. Who wouldn't? She doesn't realize how dedicated one must be, to be a good wife to Marco. It's not all money, travel and jewels. It's more than a jet set life." She managed to look noble.

"Like any life, it requires discipline and sacrifice," said Alexei. "The rewards are more than luxury and power. Love, family, home. A country that is peaceful and prosperous."

"I've seen how Don Sebastian and your family devote themselves to Almurias. I've always admired and respected them." She laughed gently, as though they shared a secret. "Madison doesn't realize a girl can only wear one tiara at a time."

"Verdad." He grinned at that thought. Madison misses Marco? Does Marco miss Madison? I am afraid he does.