"Hey,

a casual affair

that could go anywhere,

and only for tonight."

I LET MY feet take me to where the hauntingly beautiful music was coming from. With my head tilted to one side and eyes half-closed, I listened to the soft, desolate ballad. I could tell I was near the source of the music when it became louder as I turned the corner. Once again, I had taken one too many wrong turns in one of the huge buildings, and ended up here. I didn't mind getting lost, most of the time. I always managed to discover new, hidden rooms in the school.

I came to a stop outside one of the many music rooms, and peered through a small gap of the open door. The person behind the piano, the one responsible for giving me wondrous goose bumps, was someone completely unexpected. I wondered, daringly, why we always seemed to run into each other.

I watched as Robin's slender fingers moved swiftly across the piano keys, producing such a sad, haunting tune. I was, in simpler terms, completely entranced by him and his music. His eyes were closed, his long lashes caressing his high cheekbones as his body unconsciously swayed from side to side as he played, the broken melody echoing off the walls of the empty music room. His finger paused at the last key and his eyebrows scrunched together slightly as if he had sensed a disturbance in the stagnant atmosphere. His eyes shot open.

I gasped aloud when his deep, ocean blue eyes locked onto mine. He slammed his hand across the piano keys, making me jump at the loud, harsh sound that the piano made. The peacefulness and calm I had felt just a few minutes before vanished.

"What are you doing here?" Robin asked, clearly annoyed that he was interrupted. As usual, his signature frown graced his sharp face, turning his handsome features into a sinister scowl.

"I was walking along the hallway and I just happened to pass b-by," I explained, cursing at myself for sounding so unsure, for letting him know how nervous I was. I expected him to at least reply, to say something rude to me as he usually did. But he only stared at me with a strange look on his face. It seemed to me like he was in deep thought, and I could almost hear the whirring of engines in his head as he made sense of his thoughts. Suddenly, his eyes lit up like he had discovered a great treasure.

"Come in and close the door," he commanded, his harsh voice a stark contrast of the way he gently closed the lid of the grand piano.

I raised an eyebrow at his demand, but did so anyways. I knew we weren't exactly the best of friends, but deep down, I knew he wouldn't hurt me. Physically, at least. Call me an idiot. Besides, I was curious. I wanted to know what he had to say.

"What?" I asked when the door closed behind me, crossing my arms.

"Be my date to a ball," Robin blurted out in a rather ungentlemanly manner. I blinked, and then burst into a fit of laughter.

"What's so funny?" Robin demanded, his eyebrows furrowed together as he crossed his arms together angrily. The muscle in his jaw ticked as he stared at me expectantly, waiting for an explanation. Slowly, I began to realise he was being completely serious.

"Wait. You're actually being serious?" I asked, my jaw dropping so low it almost hit the expensive marble floor.

"I don't see what is so unbelievable about this."

"You said you didn't have time for dates," I said slowly, reminding him of what he had told me a few weeks back, staring at him in disbelief. "And if you forgot, we kind of hate each other."

"I don't hate you, Alexandra. I have no time for such petty emotions," he said, raising an eyebrow. "And this is precisely why I'm asking you to be my partner to the ball. So I don't have to waste time going on an actual date."

"You are seriously strange," I said, before narrowing my eyes at him and glancing around the room to look for any hidden cameras. "If this is some sort of sick joke, you better stop it right now."

"Jokes are also another thing that I do not have time for," he replied simply, letting me know that he was being completely serious and further confirming that he was an emotionless robot.

"What kind of person asks someone such a question? You don't even know if I have a boyfriend or not!"

Robin rolled his eyes and scoffed, "Awfully pretentious of you to think I give two farts about your love life, isn't it?"

"Well, normally I wouldn't dare think such a high and mighty, oh-so-charming gentleman such as yourself would spare even a minute to look at me. However, my thoughts have changed the minute you asked me to be your date!" I snorted sarcastically while shooting him a dirty look.

Smiling lazily, he leaned against the piano, "As pleased as I am to hear that you find me charming and a gentleman, you still haven't answered my question."

"Wasn't my answer clear enough?" I seethed. This cheeky bastard!

"No."

"My answer, Robin, is a big, fat 'No.'," I said slowly, as if I was speaking to a child.

"Why not?" he asked, tilting his head to one side and furrowing his eyebrows in confusion.

"Because!" I said, throwing my hands up in exasperation. "We haven't even dated! And you're kind of an ass!"

"So?" Robin shrugged nonchalantly.

"So? So it means that I would be getting myself into a big mess!" I cursed, shaking my fist at him in frustration.

"Calm down, woman. Hear me out first," Robin sighed, rubbing his temple. I glared at him but motioned for him to elaborate.

"My parents insisted I bring a date, and I don't have the time to go looking for one. Besides, I'll give you money, as much as you like," Robin explained. I felt my anger resurface at his last sentence.

"Do you think I'm some sort of object that can be bought?" I snarled.

Robin's eyes widened, "What? No! I'm just saying I am offering you money to help, like a job!"

I tried to calm myself down and glared daggers at the floor.

"A thousand dollars," he continued to say, as if he was introducing a new scheme to his employees. "For one date."

My eyes immediately widened. That's a lot of money!

Robin smirked at my reaction, "I can raise the price, just say it and I'll do it. Just accept the job."

I eyed Robin suspiciously, still gnawing at my now swollen lip as I tried to decide.

"If you're worried that you'll fall head over heels for my high and mighty charm, that's not my problem. All I'm interested in is having you on my arm when I attend my parents' anniversary ball," Robin sighed, checking his watch impatiently. My jaw dropped at how crude and blunt he was, and gnawed at my bottom lip as I debated whether or not this was a good idea.

"Why can't you ask someone else?" I couldn't help but ask. Robin frowned slightly, looking very displeased.

"You're the only girl I know," he admitted, pursing his lips.

"Siobhan? Reiko? Any one of Logan's dates?" I suggested, and to my surprise, he wrinkled his nose.

"Siobhan and Reiko are off limits. And my parents know them," he said, crossing his arms. "And Logan's dates are annoying."

"So you don't think I'm annoying?" A smile threatened to break out on my face.

Robin rolled his eyes, scoffing. "Trust me, I'm trying very hard not to."

"Jerk," I cursed under my breath. He pretended not to hear my insult.

"A thousand dollars, minimum. That's what I'm offering now, and it's your decision whether you want the easy money or not. My parents expect me to show up at their twentieth wedding anniversary ball with a girl on my arm, and that's in four days. So I'm giving you four days to make a decision," Robin stated in a business-like tone before standing up and walking towards me.

He stopped right in front of me. Robin bent down until his lips were a hair's breadth away from my ear.

"Besides, Alexandra, who would be stupid enough to pass up so much money?" he murmured, almost mockingly. His smirk widened as he said it, because he knew it was true. His warm breath made me shiver, and I was reminded of the time we had to hide inside the janitor's closet together. The warmth from his body that engulfed me in the dark, and the feeling of him brush up against me accidentally back in London made my cheeks turn pink with embarrassment. This was definitely not the time or place to think about things like that.

"I─"

He straightened his posture, putting a distance between us again. I could finally breathe again, and I stared at him and tried to look for some sort of punchline, for an ulterior motive but came up with nothing.

"I'm not expecting you to give me an answer straight away, but think about it," he sighed, shoving his hands into his pockets.

"Remember. Four days," he said over his shoulder as he turned and walked out of the room.

❁❁❁

"PUT THIS ON," the snobby stylist commanded, shoving a short, glittery red number in my face. I gritted my teeth and took a deep breath.

This was the fourteenth dress the stylist had forced me to try on, and like the other thirteen dresses I had tried on, I was pretty sure the stylist will only scowl and shake her head, before asking me to take it off.

It doesn't compliment your figure!

It's not the right color!

It's way too casual!

Just like I predicted, the stylist, who had introduced herself as Martha, only sighed and shook her head, "It's not the right cut."

Hurry the hell up before I shit on everything you own, I thought grimly. If I knew I was going to be subjected to this sort of torture, I would've never agreed to do this.

"What's taking so long?" I heard Robin grumble from behind the door. He's been waiting outside for over an hour. He only took five minutes to change into his tuxedo. It was only because he prepared beforehand and had a tailor and stylist of his own to work on him a few weeks ago. His custom-made suit was already ready for him. Since I was...joining him so late, we had to make do with the ready-made dresses Martha had lying in her studio.

"Sorry, Mr Clair. Ms Knight just doesn't suit any of the dresses," the stylist cooed, fluttering her eyelashes and giggling softly as if Robin could magically see through the wooden door. I groaned internally, trying to calm myself down.

Think about the money, I thought, shutting my eyes. Think about the money, Alex. Think about all the sushi you can buy.

"Let me in," Robin demanded, causing my eyes to widen in panic. I was in my bra and panties! No way!

The stylist looked over at me and rolled her eyes at my deer-caught-in-headlights expression before throwing me a robe, which I gladly put on. I made sure to fasten it tight.

The stylist opened the door and Robin strolled in, looking as handsome as always. He was in an all-black tuxedo, paired with a forest green tie. His honey blonde hair was styled neatly as usual, and his scowl was ever-present. Suddenly, I felt really under-dressed. After all, I was in a white fluffy robe, paired with bunny slippers.

Robin strolled over to the rack of expensive evening gowns, ruffling through them casually before pulling out a flowy evening gown that matched the colour of his tie. It was a forest green silk dress with thin spaghetti-straps and a plunging neckline. Yet, it still managed to look extremely classy. He handed it to me.

"Wear this," he mumbled and walked out of the room.

I eyed the dress sceptically, before Martha let out a half-groan, half-snort.

"Put it on already!"

Pursing my lips, I cast a glance at the stylist. This better be the last dress I'll be putting on tonight, or God so help me, I'll go insane!

I slipped on the dress, noticing that while it was a little loose around the waist but was otherwise a great fit. This dress was gorgeous, fit for the occasion and dress code and yet, not overly extravagant. Martha nodded her head in approval and I grinned, letting out a sigh of relief.

"Now, sit. It's time for your makeup," Martha said, beckoning me to sit on the chair placed in front of a big mirror. "I'll keep it natural, you don't need much makeup anyway."

That was probably the closest thing to a compliment I could get out of her.

Martha applied mascara on my eyes to make my eyes look bigger and some blush on my cheeks to give my face a bit of colour. Finally, she lined my lips with a wine-red lip pencil and swiped a deep matte burgundy shade across my lips. Martha inspected my face, and finally gave a small nod of approval. She walked over to the rack again, and reached underneath where a mountain of shoe-boxes sat. She dug under the pile of shoe-boxes, and finally pulled a dusty box out.

"What foot size are you?"

"Uh, thirty-eight."

"Perfect," Martha said, smacking her lips together as she opened the box, revealing a gorgeous pair of nude pumps.

"Put it on, and you're ready to go."

I did as the stylist instructed and straightened out my dress. I looked into the mirror one last time, feeling breathless. For the first time in years, I felt and looked like a real-life princess. Martha had put my hair into a messy bohemian bun, and the loose tendrils of hair that managed to escape the tight elastic framed my heart-shaped face. I smiled softly, twirling in a circle with a laugh. With a deep breath, I walked out of the room.

"Took you long enough," Robin muttered as he saw me approaching him. He let his critical eyes scan my outfit, pursing his lips slightly. "I'll get the car. Meet me at the entrance in five minutes."

Because it was a Saturday, hardly any students were in the campus. Most of them had went out to explore the city with their friends or went home to visit their families. I strolled towards the large carpark in front of the school, which on a normal school day looked like it was some sort of expensive car exhibition. Now, only two cars were parked in their lots. I couldn't help but admire the Bentley and Mercedes-Benz parked in the lots. I heard the slow hum of an engine, and turned around.

I let out a dreamy sigh at the sight of the dark blue Bugatti Veyron and I felt excitement pump through my veins at the thought of sitting in this beauty again. The car stopped in front of me and Robin exited the driver's side and walked over to where I was, opening the door for me and gesturing for me to enter.

"Come on, we're already late," Robin said sharply. He didn't have to ask me twice. With a barely concealed squeal, I slipped into the passenger seat.

"Still not going to get over this car?" he asked, although he almost sounded like he was teasing me. Almost. He still sounded like a monotonous, automated robot.

"Nope," I grinned. Robin shook his head and revved up the engine. Soon, we were on the road and headed towards the grand La Royale.

  ❁❁❁  

Song of the Chapter: Casual Affair, by Panic! at The Disco.