"Scars too deep to heal, ghosts we refuse to bury - both hunt us in shadows....."

In the quiet private room, the seductive notes of Camila Cabello's "Shameless" painted the air with a secret , setting the stage for an electric encounter between Alice and Ash.

Ash, the daring playboy, closed the gap between them with a daring grin. "You can't hide forever, Alice. Beauty like yours deserve a spotlight." He said it in a flirty manner.

Alice, eyes burning with rebelliousness, countered, "Some of us bloom in the shadows, Ash. No spotlight needed."

As the lyrics whispered, "Don't speak, no, don't try; it's been a secret for the longest time," Ash's fingers traced the outlines of Alice's face. The room held its breath, captivated by the unspoken tension.

Their dance continued, each move a calculated step in a silent game. Alice, sensing Ash's closeness, pushed him away. "The night is young, but I'm not here for your games."

Undeterred, Ash followed her into the room, shadows casting an intimate dance around them. "Maybe I'm tired of playing games, Alice. Maybe I'm looking for something real."

The door closed behind them, sealing their secret encounter. Ash, with a daring smile, caught Alice's wrist, pinning her against the wall. "Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide," he whispered, the lyrics of "Shameless" echoing his sentiment.

In the charged silence, Ash's hands delicately traced the curve of Alice's back, a gentle exploration that mirrored the dance of shadows around them. His fingers continued their journey, brushing against her jaw, her cheeks, and finally, the nape of her neck, with the line, 'My emotions are naked and taking me out of my mind,' he uttered, the words hanging in the air like a confession. Just like the lyrics, Ash's emotions of desire and desperation were laid bare, signaling the imminent breach of the line between enmity and uncharted territory.

Alice stood there, ready to embrace the flames of tension, feeling the desperate yearning for each other's touch. The atmosphere, once shrouded in darkness, now illuminated itself with the knowledge that a furious and light-striking fusion between their contrasting personalities was about to unfold. One, a burning fire of hatred, and the other, a cool moon, seemingly perfect even in imperfection.

Alice, caught in the strong blend of desire and resistance, whispered, "Real is a dangerous game, Ash."

With this song hit it's line, "Right now I am shameless, screaming my name out for you and not afraid to face it, I need you more than I want to....."

And with this line, the room experienced the most clandestine and shiver sending fusion of two adversaries.

Their lips met in a slow, passionate dance—a fusion of longing and limitation. The room, now a silent witness to their unspoken connection, held the echoes of a rhapsody in shadows, where enemies blurred into something undefined. The lyrics of "Shameless" became the soundtrack to their dance of shameless desire, each note capturing the tension and yearning between them.

"I hate you"

In the secluded room, enveloped by the alluring notes of Camila Cabello's "Shameless," the dance between Alice and Ash reached a key moment. The room, covered in shadows, sole witness to the mysterious interplay of their connection.

As their lips merged in the passionate dance, Ash, with a sly grin, skillfully pulled out his phone. Without breaking the kiss, he managed to click a quick and captivating selfie—a stolen moment frozen in time.

Alice, deeply puzzled by the unexpected move, felt the delicate vibration of the camera click against Ash's fingertips. Breaking the kiss, she shot him a questioning look. "What are you doing?".

Ash, still holding the phone, flashed a mischievous grin. "Capturing a moment we won't forget."

The dim glow of the room reflected in the selfie, capturing the intensity and mystery of their secret encounter. Alice, caught between the allure of the captured moment and the enigma of Ash's intentions, couldn't help but be interested.

As the lyrics of "Shameless" continued to echo around them, the selfie became a visual artifact—a snapshot of a rhapsody in shadows, where enemies and lovers blurred into a dance of intrigue and desire. The room, still wrapped in the residue of their kiss, held the silent whispers of a moment captured in the lens of Ash's daring move.

"Birdy is now trapped in a cage" exclaimed Ash with an evil smirk

In the aftermath of their secret encounter, Alice, forced by a flow of conflicting emotions, pushed Ash away after the stolen selfie. The dimly lit room held the echoes of their quiet conversation and the residue of a kiss that challenged the boundaries between enemies.

As the shadows concealed her faded figure, Ash, wearing a mysterious smirk, watched her vanish into the confusion of the masquerade[mask party]. He expected the captured moment in the selfie—a visual artifact of a dance that went beyond the expected. With a self-satisfied grin, Ash pulled out his phone and dialed a familiar number. Speaking into the receiver, he declared, "Mission accomplished. Get ready with the money."

The corridor, now without of their shared presence, seemed to exhale the secrets it held. Alice, navigating the maze of corridors back to dance floor, felt the lingering tension in the air—a silent reminder of the mysterious connection faked in the shadows.

As Alice reached dance floor, the faint music from the masquerade party served as a fading reminder of the world she had temporarily escaped. The shadows, her silent companions, concealed her emotions as she navigated the path back to where it all began.

As Alice crossed the corridor, the echo of her hurried footsteps merged with the distant tune of the music from the masquerade below. Shadows stuck to the walls, and the night seemed to hold its breath, carrying the whispers of their clandestine encounter.

On dance floor, the air carry the delicate tension of an unfinished dance. Ash, still leaning against the wall, pocketed his phone with a smirk that hinted at the victory of a mastermind arranging a not so obvious game.

In the quiet aftermath, Alice found herself standing at the edge of the room where it all began. The dim light spilled from within, casting long shadows that danced across the hallway. As she pushed the door open, the room greeted her with the lingering essence of their shared secrets.

Simultaneously, Ash, having ended the call, prepared for the next move. The scent of conspiracy hung in the air as he stepped away from the wall, his eyes reflecting the puzzle of the night's. Alice reentered the room, the silence was broken by a voice from behind her. "Back so soon, Alice?" Ash's voice, laced with a playful tone, carried a magnetic pull.

She turned to face him, the mask of boldness back in place. "Don't get too comfortable, Ash. This doesn't change anything."

He approached with measured steps, his eyes shiny with a mixture of fun and curiosity. "Perhaps, but it's undeniable that we've danced into uncharted territory."

The room held the lingering tension of their encounter, the captured selfie on Ash's phone a silent witness to the shadows that had intertwined. As the masquerade party continued below, Alice and Ash stood in silhouette, each thinking the echoes[events] of a night that had blurred the lines between adversaries, leaving them poised on the edge of an unpredictable narrative.

With a self-assured smirk Ash remark, "This doesn't change the fact that we dance into uncharted territory."

Alice, keeping her cool and undefinable composure shot back to Ash remarking, "Of course, but Mr. Ash don't mistake the uncharted with unmanageable. Don't mistake shadow for brightness often shadows can be deceiving yet tempting and brightness truth yet shattering."

The air once filled with the sensual dance of the two enemies now replaced with that of conspiracies and boldness but still deep inside the moments of dancing are beating in their heart with the shadow being the sole witness and the Ash's phone being the only to keep those dance alive.

After this masquerade party, these artificial masks could be remove but what about the mask that is being worn by both of them putting these phase of their life in darkness from the beginning.

The masked ball continued its enchanting rhythm, but beneath the façade of elegance, a clandestine drama unfolded. Ash, with his charming demeanour, led Alice through the dance of masks and intrigue. Little did she know, the shadows he embraced concealed a deeper, more treacherous game. The tune of shameless was now also change with that of 'Smells like teen spirit.'

Upon reaching the party hall Alice excused herself from the Ash company and went to the other corner of road and making her comfortable on the chair near bar and ordering a White Wine Spritzer using a light and crisp white wine with some sparkling water to ease her mind and stay clear headed after her and Ash brief shaking encounter. And maybe she need it even more cause a biggest hurricane very silent yet dangerous was about to strike in her life.

On the other hand Ash saw Alice with his proud smirk once again being disappeared in the shadow and getting merge with other mask putting people. Ash was clearly aware of the effect he started to held on Alice after their encounter, and nevertheless was loving it.

When Ash was busy being drown in Alice, he felt that someone was down there holding his leg and shaking his leg trying to grab his attention, upon looking down he saw there a unknown little kid dressed in a formal attire, upon seeing the kid he bend down and asked, "Hey, Lil champ, are you by any chance lost in the party?", the unknown kid vigorously shake his head from left to right, saying no, and just handover Ash, a note and ran away.

Ash, once confusion stricken face was now turn into a biggest sly smirk, as he read the note, happiness was clearly evident on his face, the note goes like, "Well done, money is on the way. Thanks for everything you did, now make sure things don't go south." Reading this, he put the note in his pocket, and take a sigh of relief while cracking his neck and went towards his group.

Across the masquerade, Alice, who was quietly and peacefully enjoying her drink while looking at others enjoying and dancing, she saw two people kissing each other passionately and this was enough to bring back her memories of "THEM", and maybe the cruel air who was the witness of that clandestine union of this moon and sun was also want to have some fun by already mentally disappear Alice, for whom time more likely to stop at their union. For her, there was no past or future just the present of them being together with her being like a fish with no water under Ash touch. And this cruel air was also leaving no chance of taking her back to that shadow room. Their union was sealed in the envelope of the shadow room while the moment being a letter with air being their only postman, letter which passed through everyone but can be only read by those two.

Alice who like every now and then was taken to that moment to that room, came back to the room and her sense after her phone started to ring, she put her glass of wine away and pick the call and put on her ear and said, "Hello, Alice speaking, who's there?", only to be totally numb by the voice coming from other side, her heart skipped a beat when she heard that deep, velvety voice, she heard that voice for first time in all these years, "Hola Jenna or should I say Alice." Alice was by this time totally panic and afraid, fear engulf her totally, her breathing became abnormal, she was sweating badly, her body shaking continuously just like a kid who saw a nightmare.

And as the song goes "

It's fun to lose and to pretend

She's over bored and self-assured

Oh, no, I know a dirty word

Hello, hello, hello, how low?

Hello, hello, hello, how low?

In the intricate tale of Alice's life, just when she believed a new chapter with Ash was beginning, a haunting page from her past turned, reopening a chapter she thought she had learned from. The shadows of deception loomed larger, and the echoes of a whispered deceit threatened to rewrite the story she had hoped to leave behind.....

To Be Continue.....