Mal was sitting in her office when Uma burst through the door, which banged loudly on the wall. Mal jumped in her seat.

"Jesus, Uma!"

"You will forgive me in a few seconds when I tell you who called," Uma moved excitedly standing in front of Mal's desk.

"Who?" the blond sighed and looked at her computer screen again.

"Michael Johanson," Uma said with a big smile on her face, waiting for her friend to catch on. Mal just looked over her working glasses not impressed at all.

"Who?" she replied. Uma's face fell, and she sighed with annoyance.

"The co-founder of that magazine that visited us a while ago,"

"If he is not related to Scarlett Johansson in any way, I am not interested," hummed Mal.

"... I am not sure, but I will ask the next time. Listen, though," Uma continued, "He invited us to a fancy Gala night that will be filled with opportunities to popularize our Gallery!" the taller woman's eyes beamed with excitement after the news.

The new information made Mal focus all of her attention on her partner. She took off her glasses and put them on the table.

"Amazing, who knew a magazine could open such doors?"

"I know right, so what do you say? We going or what?" Uma smirked and sat on the edge of the desk.

"We'd be fools to miss such an opportunity,"

The fancy meeting was in a few days and time flies. Mal wore her best clothes, which included a short black dress and leather jacket because a dress and a blazer weren't the best combination.

Mal walked into the underground garage to her car. She rarely drove around, but now she had to go to Uma's and pick her up. Once she made it to her friend's apartment building she didn't wait long. Uma opened the door and adjusted her gold cocktail dress on her seat.

The drive to the hotel where the event was held, wasn't that far away and soon enough both of them were walking into the five-star place.

"Damn, this shit's fancy," Uma remarked, amazed by the place.

"Too fancy if you ask me,"

"I ain't asking you then," Mal chuckled at her friend.

As they were stepping into the huge lobby, a man with a blue suit walked up to them.

"Good evening, ladies. Are you here for the Mister Johansons' event?" the bald man asked.

"Evening, yes," Mal replied. The man nodded and smiled.

"Follow me please," and they followed him, going through a dark-lit corridor and stopping in front of a large dark oaken door. "May I get your names, please?"

"Mal Bertha and Uma," Uma replied and Mal cringed at her weird name. The man looked at a list that was sitting on a small table next to the door.

"Thank you, may I take your jacket, Miss?" he looked at the blond woman. Mal shifted and took off her jacket, smoothing her dress as much as she could, preparing for a long long night.

"Thank you," she said to the man who just smiled and opened the door for them. Once the door was fully opened the sight of many people dressed in fancy clothes came into a view. Both women walked in awe and scanned the place. They have never been invited to such an event.

"I don't think I can pull this off," Mal suddenly said worriedly to her friend. Uma nodded, swallowing a lump in her throat.

"We can do our best at least,"

A few minutes after they walked in, Michael Johanson walked to them to greet them.

"Lovely meeting you in person, ladies,"

"The pleasure is all ours," Mal has said shaking his big hand. Mr. Johanson was tall, with blond hair to the shoulders, accompanied by a light beard.

"May I say thank you for how many new viewers got us the article we published about you?" the man smiled and guided them to a table filled with drinks and fancy snacks.

"May I thank you for being interested in our humble business?" Mal deflected the question and both of them laughed.

"I'm glad that you came to this event, many people reached out to us with an interest in your gallery. From what I have seen and heard, you host quite the memorable exhibitions,"

"The pleasure is all ours, the opportunities that you opened for us- we are truly thankful," Uma said. Michael smiled at her with bright eyes, clearly interested in her.

"Of course, I have also had the pleasure of inviting your friend from 'Four Hearts', miss Evelyn Grimhilde. The work you did with her regarding the photoshoot definitely got my attention."

Upon hearing Evie's name, Mal straighten herself and pushed the urge to look around.

"I am glad to hear that, she is very talented. Her work is extraordinary and her mind can take you places," Mal said and Uma smirked at her remark.

"A lot of people tell me the same thing about her, she has quite the personality," Michael hummed with an agreement and picked up a glass of champagne. "I am happy to announce that she is coming our way," upon hearing his words, Mal had barely enough time to turn her head around and catch a glim of a yellow suit.

"Michael," Evie said with a smile on her face.

"Evelyn," he returned, and they hugged.

Evie was wearing a yellow suit, and her hair was in a ponytail. She then turned around and her smile got wilder; her eyes sparkling.

"Mal, so glad to see you here," she leaned and hugged her as well, then turned to Uma. "Nice to meet you, I am Evie, you must be Mal's business partner,"

"Uma, pleasure's all mine,"

It was easy making small talk after that. With Evie's charismatic energy and Uma's jokes, everything was casually formal, if that even made sense. Mal found herself enjoying the company. After a few glasses of champagne and talking to so many unknown people, her social battery dropped drastically.

In the restroom, Mal met Evie again and they walked back to the big hall together. They were halfway there when Evie stopped Mal to fix her dress. Mal wasn't sure what needed fixing but the taller woman stood behind her, she couldn't come up with anything that might be wrong. But then again, she drank a lot. Moving her blond hair to the side, Mal hold her breath until Evie's hands were no longer on her body.

"There, you are all fixed up and magnificent," Evie's bright expression contrasted with Mal's. She could feel her cheeks burning at the compliment.

"Says the fashion Goddess," Mal returned a few seconds later with a half-smirk. That seemed to spark something in the dark-haired woman since after that she held Mal's hand dragging her all the way back into the crowded room.

When they walked in, there was some music on, and a few couples were dancing around. Mal decided she has talked with enough people and needed to sober up. She didn't realize that she was dragging Evie with her until she stopped to get a few bites of an appetizer. Their

hands still linked.

Mal spotted Uma on the other side of the hall, talking with Michael. They were laughing in their small bubble. Mal hasn't seen Uma flirting since high school. She didn't know if she was scared or glad that her friend was having such a good time.

"Do you want to dance?" Evie has asked her, tugging on her hand. Mal's mouth was full of food when she turned to reply to her. Evie laughed at her and finally let go of her hand so she can take a napkin and clean Mal's mouth.

"Thank you," the blond said after swallowing the food, "Yeah, sure," she added after that.

"Great, wait just a minute," Evie disappeared into the crowd only to return a few minutes later.

"What was that for?" Mal asked curiously. Evie pulled her to a clear area where they can dance.

"I just wanted them to play a song that we can dance to," the taller woman replied with a small smile on her lips.

And soon enough, the song slowly shifted to a soft guitar intro. Mal was not a good dancer, but when Evie moved closer and put one of her hands on her waist - and the other one held her hand, she realized it was not that hard to sway to the melody.

Evie was so close to her.

"I can't really dance," Mal admitted in a few seconds.

"You are pretty good at not dancing then," Evie chuckled softly next to her ear. Mal giggled at the remark.

When Evie started singing quietly in her ear, Mal felt shivers run through her body. Evie's voice was just so smooth and soothing that made her close her eyes and lose herself in the moment.

" 'Cause, it's you and me and all of the people with nothing to do, nothing to prove. And it's you and me and all other people.. And I don't know why, I can't keep my eyes off of you,"