Page 94 of When Glitter Meets Gold

“Who cares about her?” Francis waves me off, his eyes tracking every male in the vicinity before settling back on Drew. “Let’s get a drink.”

He pulls me beneath a towering archway of violet and ivory flowers. My breath hitches when we enter a grand hall, my wide eyes absorbing every lavish detail. The walls are decorated with golden paneling and enormous oil paintings. Huge white vases with lilies perch upon Greek-style columns which erupt from gleaming marble floors that shimmer several tones of bronze and gold. The place is lit by a series of chandeliers, all glowing on a low setting, bathing the hall in dim, subdued warmth.

In the center is a table with a staircase-like structure of wide-brimmed champagne glasses. The arrangement is surrounded by delicious appetizers such as plump shrimp and trays of twinkling oysters on ice.

A waiter is about to pass me a glass of champagne when cackling laughter threatens to rupture my eardrums. Kandi is fake laughing amongst a crowd I don’t know.

I take the champagne but before I can move away from the table, Kandi steps back, knocking into me.

“Oh pardon…oh”—her face twists from apologetic to inconvenienced—“it’s you.”

“What are you doing here?” I don’t attempt to hide my disapproval.

“Before you came over, I was trying to have a good time,” Kandi says. “The question is, what areyoudoing here? After allowing the Vandenberg figures to get out under your watch, I don’t understand how you have the nerve to even show up.”

While she smugly sips champagne, I look at Kandi’s pretty makeup - at the touch of sparkle at the inner corner of her eyes I’ve seen before and always wondered the brand. I look at her beautiful dress, and her shimmering accessories not too dissimilar from my own. I think about her work ethic, her attention to detail, her drive to succeed. I think about all the things we share. And…it disappoints me.

“You know what I don’t understand?” I say eventually. “Why we never became friends.”

Her brows pull together for a split second before she quickly smooths her expression. Despite the eye roll she’s currently delivering, I continue, “I liked you from the day we met. I liked your hair and I thought you were funny.” I shrug with a pout. “Yet every time I reached out, you batted me away. You invented this…competition between us.” It makes me feel wriggly and ugly to suggest it, but it’s the truth. “You do it with everyone you meet. I watch it every day in the office.”

Kandi shifts on the spot. “Obviously it’s a competition.” She scoffs. “You know Walter will step all over you if you don’t become exactly what he wants. Don’t be mad because I played the game a little smarter.”

I shake my head. “This is what I’m talking about. It never should have been me against you. It should have been us against Walter. Figuring out how to beat him athisgame.”

She’s silent. And for the first time, I think I might havegotten through to her. Right before her eyes narrow to tiny pin holes. “I do what I have to. Excuse me.” She steps around me, slinking off into the swelling crowds.

Obviously it’s a competition…I do what I have to.

I gasp before twisting to Francis. “You don’t think she had anything to do with leaking those files, do you?”

“I’d bet my entire Prada collection on it,” Francis says without hesitation.

From behind, a hand grazes my arm.

“Sara, hey.” Drew, wearing an ivory tux, beams down at me with his blinding smile. “Isn’t this awesome?” He gestures around us.

“Hey, you.” Francis grins at Drew, who nods, ignoring his attempt at flirting.

“You didn’t tell me you were coming,” I say as I elbow Francis out of the way.

“It was a last minute thing. Kandi said she could get me on the guest list.” He leans forward. “I mean, it’s the Hemmingvale ball, right? Listen to that quartet.” His thumb points over his shoulder at a stage of straight-backed violinists who sway in time with their dreamy melody.

I shrug because, honestly, I don’t know who wouldn’t leap at the opportunity to attend such an exclusive event.

And then I’m zoning out because I can’t stop thinking that Kandi is guilty. And if she turned up tonight, while she and Jack are in the middle of a situation that involvedlegal issues, then what if she’s here to cause further chaos? And then the blazing urge to know exactly what’s going on between them consumes me. I’m turning on my heel, spinning and standing on tiptoe to seek out Jack. I cut through the crowds, brushing past swaying skirts and clusters of bodies congregating on an enormous dancefloor.

People pair off, dancing and twirling around me. Icontinue to cut through the center of the dancefloor, until someone catches my wrist, and draws me close.

My body melts against his as his arm comes around my waist.

Safe.The word hovers around me, enveloping me in a cage of protection.

“Jack…” I whisper, looking up at him, my hands travelling up his biceps as we begin to follow the sway of the crowd around us. “You found me.”

He smirks down at me. He’s in his signature midnight black, the sharpest suit I’ve ever seen him in. “You can’t turn up looking like that and not expect me to notice you.” I feel his thumb rub small circles at my lower back. “Missed you, baby,” he whispers against my ear.

My hand slips around his neck as our bodies connect after days of no contact. A swell begins to form deep in my stomach, warm and fluttering, and replaces the absent ache I’ve felt since that terrible conversation over a week ago in the lobby.

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