Find Me

1. Stranger on the balcony

The enormous mansion of the Hoying family was bursting from the amount of guests in it. The hall was jammed, you couldn't spit without hitting some another celebrity. A giant chandelier that was hanging from the ceiling was swinging a bit because of the loud music. Some popular band was entertaining the guests on a small elevation next to the further wall of the room. Everything was gleaming with richness and luxuries, you could judge by gold and coffee colored walls, floor and ceiling. High columns were decorated with bright streamers and could hurt your eyes if you look at them for too long.

I was going up the stairway to the second floor trying to get away from the loud crowd. Every second person who walked by decided their duty was to greet me by patting my shoulder. I don't even know half of these people, but still greet them back with a polite nod. My father stated the task pretty clearly: not to discredit our family and not to discredit myself. Well, daddy, you son achieved something impossible - didn't fuck up a single time tonight.

I walked a long corridor and entered one of the rooms that turned out to be the library. I hated this place since my childhood - my parents used to force me to sit here for hours every day reading tons of books, but now this place was the quietest in the whole mansion.

I did another glass of some hard alcohol, pushing the oaken door. The room welcomed me with a pleasing scent of old books and absolute darkness. Feeling a switch on the wall beside me, I turned on the lights. Well, tried to, because fifteen failed attempts later it came to my drunken head that the lamp was dead. I let out a heavy sigh and make a few steps forward, immediately hitting a massive table. 

My target was to reach the balcony to breath in some clear air. I walked around the table to the touch and went straight forward, trying to remember the placement of the furniture. A soft carpet was muting my steps, I knew there were two armchairs by my sides and a lot of bookcases. I went on putting my two hands in front of me being scared of bumping into the glass door of the balcony. I felt more dizzy than before, my steps were halting. I shouldn't have drunk that much. But that was the only thing I could do to not shame myself. I just had to busy myself with something.

My fingertips touched the smooth surface and I understood, that I reached the target. Wow, I didn't even crash anything! The door opened with a soft squeak, cold air messed my hair up a little. I inhaled deeply and went out to the freezing night, so rare for August. The lights of the main entrance were highlighting the open place, perfectly polished floor showed a reflection of this charming magnificence which couldn't be seen from the balcony. I reached the border and sat there, putting the weight on my arms letting my legs hand down relaxed. The surface underneath me was shaking a bit from the bass vibrations, but I couldn't hear the music itself - exactly what I needed now.

"Tired of the crowd?" The voice that came from the right made me jump and almost fly down to the ledge. I turned my head but only saw a silhouette of a girl sitting in the same position as me at arm's length. Poor lights didn't let me see her face.

"What are you doing here?" - I asked roughly, not caring about how rude that must've sounded. This is my hideaway and no one else's. "Hiding." She replied calmly not paying attention to my tone. I tried to focus my misty-eyed gaze on the stranger. Who is she? Most likely some kind of celebrity, there can't be any other people in this house tonight. "From whom, if that's not a secret?" I decided to soften my attitude.

She didn't seem arrogant to me, unlike any other guest on this kind of party.
"From my boyfriend." She put her head down as if she was feeling guilty for trying to escape her boyfriend. I grinned.

"Let me guess, he drank too much and became touchy?" - "Wrong," her voice was cold, "I just don't want to overburden him with my presence". I nodded, understanding what she meant, and stared right in front of me. Darkness with some colorful glares appearing in it, telling me about my non sober condition. I blinked, but the glared didn't fade.

"Want some?" - the stranger handed me a half empty bottle. I smiled and nodded in agreement, taking the alcohol. There is way too much of it in my body tonight. 

Unnoticeable for us, we started talking. Most of the time the girl was asking me about me, my hobbies and dreams. This type of conversations usually happens under the effect of alcohol. We sat there for about an hour, just chatting and enjoying each others company.

"Scott, I'm cold" She shivered from the freezing wind. In this situation I couldn't ignore my good upbringing so I silently came closer and hugged her, letting her warm up from the warmth of my body.

She put her head on my shoulder and her arms around my waist. I felt her heartbeat, how her chest goes up and down with her deep breathing and how she lightly trembles, with her body pressed onto mine. She only had a tight dress on, I also noticed that she wasn't wearing any accessories. Exactly now I was blaming myself for not wearing a jacket with the suit. It would be perfect now because I was getting a bit cold too sitting on the floor.

"Do you like orchids?" She asked suddenly. I shrugged. "I don't understand much about flowers. Why?" - "You smell like orchids," she replied quietly, "I adore them."
She turned her head to me and looked directly in my eyes. With her being this close to me I could look better at her face.

Straight black eyebrows, gorgeous dark eyes, accurate nose and full lips. She looks like an angel. I'm serious, this was the first thought to cross my mind. Just with black hair.

I don't know, what made me do it (probably alcohol), but I leaned to her and kissed her. She didn't pull away and only leaned closer. Endorphins went to my head, I closed my eyes and fully enjoyed the feeling of calmness and pleasure. 

Her phone rang, interrupting us. She flinched and reached to her clutch. She pulled out her phone, glanced at the screen and whined: "Damn, this is my boyfriend. I got to go." She jumped on her feet and rushed away, fixing her dress in process.

"Wait!" I got up after her, "What's your name?" - "Cataleya." She replied running away, her silhouette fading in the darkness.

I stayed beside the glass door and pressed my forehead onto the cold surface, already feeling the mysterious stranger taking a huge place in my mind.

§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§

Hey hey HEYYY!!! The 1st chapter is here and im pretty proud of myself. Its my 1st experience in translating something from my mother tongue (Russian) to my target (English). Hope you liked this and are looking forward to reading more. Expect my favorite character to appear in the next chapter ;) LOVE Y'ALL 

Mer, well known for Ficbook readers as Your_Infinity.

@/when_you_think_of_the_top/ on IG

@/when_you_top/ on TW