The Price of Gold | Fortune's Fool #1

34 | heart to break

• [ h e a r t   t o   b r e a k ] •

♥ gabriel ♥

MOUNTAINS WERE MOUNTAINS. Sure, the Flinders Range were a pretty set of mountains but they were still mountains. Literally just a huge, fat mound of rock. And even four hours later when we were all about to enter a posh nightclub, I couldn't quite understand what all the fuss had been about earlier.

Dangling from my right fingertips was an elaborate Venetian masquerade mask that Ashlei had given us all. It was a rich black colour with intricate silver lines traced upon it.

The chicks were totally digging the casual fitted shirt look if the number of phone numbers I'd been given was anything to go by. It came with its downsides considering a sixth of them were from women triple my age who clearly thought I was some toy boy.

Yeah, let's not talk about that.

I turned down yet another girl as I waited for the bartender to make two drinks. A frown pulled onto my face as I ran a hand through my hair thinking about how weird it felt to actually willingly turn an attractive girl down. But today I had better things to do.

"Cheers," I said to the guy with a ginger beard, taking the drinks from the bar counter.

My eyes scanned the sea of sweaty bodies with elaborate masks that moved to the beat of the music as I laughed to myself. You could tell how long people had been here at a glance; those who'd just got here swayed awkwardly at the sidelines with a drink stiffly clasped in their hands whilst those who didn't pace themself were stumbling messily.

Talisa was one of the latter.

I let out a frustrated sigh when I saw that an individual with a bottle green mask had returned from the crowd of dancing people and was sat beside Louisa. How the hell was I supposed to make Logan jealous and also find out what on earth was going on if I couldn't get a moment alone with her?

The news of their engagement had completely shocked me earlier. I hadn't seen that coming considering I was pretty certain things weren't as perfect as they pretended. I was aware young engagements were common at Forteaux and other prestigious institutions yet something told me this was more than a simple proposal.

"For you," I said putting a Daiquiri on the table in front of her. Lou's dark brown eyes flickered upwards in surprise as she took off her mask. It was a snow white colour with lace areas. Her softly arched Cupid's bow moved up and down as she said something.

Taking the opportunity, I brought my head closer to hers so that I could hear her. My eyes quickly searched for Logan as I asked her what she said. 

Where was the bastard when I wanted him?

"How did you know I like Daiquiri's?"

My eyebrows furrowed as I took off my own mask. I really wasn't sure, it was more of a random choice. "It just came to my mind. You seem like a Daiquiri kind of girl," I told her before raising my eyebrow. "I was right, wasn't I? See. I told you, Darling. We're made for each other."

Louisa's eyelashes fluttered as she analysed my face for a couple beats. "Funny. I'd rather hedge my bets on it being a coincidence."

Holding her gaze, I took a sip from my glass as a smile danced at my lips. "Your loss, Lou. Your loss."

Before I could continue, she had sharply turned to Talisa who was slumped besides her as if she had just remembered something. "Tal, you need to go with Gabriel. He's gonna take you to the bar and get you some water, okay?"