My breath hitched as I walked to the top of the stairs leading down into the entrance. Somehow, in the few hours I'd been locked in my bedroom trying to make myself look pretty, Jonah had made the mansion look even more beautiful.

Bouquets of flowers filled glass vases on the sides of the hallway leading towards the ballroom. The marble banister of the staircase was wreathed in a white silk. A seemingly untouched white carpet lead the way down the stairs and all the way towards the music.

I felt quite unworthy, even in my elegant dress.

As I reached the bottom of the stairs, I heard music trickling out from the semi-closed doors leading to the ballroom. I was hoping to go somewhat unnoticed as I walked through the doors, but Jonah didn't seem to want that.

"Eliza! Oh my god. You actually look nice," he commented, eyes wide. Of course, he wasn't even close to me. Like five feet away. Causing the group of three other elegantly dressed young adults to immediately turn and stare at me.

I blushed violently and tried not to crawl into myself. Seconds later, Jade came up behind me. I wondered how she'd managed to put herself together so quickly. Somehow, she looked even better than normal - which was saying a lot seeing as she literally looked like she should be walking the Victoria's Secret runway normally.

"Jonah. It's lovely to see you again," she said politely, giving a slight curtsy. Should I have curtsied?

"You too, Jade." I noticed how nice Jonah looked. For once, he wasn't wearing his usual work clothes. The light gray suit and navy blue tie really suited him. Pun unintended.

"So...anything exciting planned for this sha-bang?" I asked, nearly cringing at my own vocabulary.

Jonah smirked. "It's a ball! This is what's planned. You're supposed to mingle...drink...maybe take someone home." He winked at me as if I would actually be taking someone home.

I rolled my eyes. "Oookay. Will do."

Jade tapped my shoulder. "I have an idea. Would you like me to introduce you to some of these people? I'm sure you don't know everyone."

I raised my eyebrows. In truth, not really - I wasn't good socially. But she was being so nice in offering...and I did need to branch out a bit. I nodded and gave her a tight smile, hoping I wouldn't be an embarrassment.

She smiled warmly. "Get ready...some of them are a bit interesting."

As if I didn't already know.

The whole "introduction" thing took a bit longer than expected. It was a flurry of shaking hands "how are you"'s and fake politeness. By the time Jade was finished, I think I'd already forgotten ninety percent of their names.

As Jade and I wandered at the edge of the ballroom, she explained to me about her own history with all of the differing people in the room. "I don't remember where and when I met Jonah, we'd always merely been acquaintances, seeing each other at different gatherings, etcetera. Eventually, he started inviting me to these things and the rest is history."

I nodded attentively.

"But how'd you meet Jonah? Obviously, you aren't well-acquainted with many of the people here, so...," she said. She seemed curious, and I found myself wanting to keep quiet.

I didn't enjoy talking about myself - not when I liked to keep my own life completely private from the public.

And yet, a part of me wanted to trust Jade. To tell her more of the truth than what I usually admitted.

"Well...I actually have known Jonah forever. His work is right next door to mine, and..."

Before I could say another word, I saw Jade's eyes light up. "Wait? Are you serious?"

I felt myself begin to blush.

"You're the CEO of Barnes aren't you? Jonah's mentioned you before! Wow...I knew that you liked to keep that sort of thing secret, but that's so cool..." She seemed a little surprised. I was even more surprised that this random European princess happened to have heard of my company.

"Yeah, but...I'm trying to keep it a bit secret. You know, avoid the publicity and all that," I mentioned, voice low.

She nodded vigorously. "I understand. Don't worry - my lips are sealed."

I smiled and I knew she was telling the truth. She did not seem like the backstabbing type.

Suddenly, a waitress walked by carrying a plate of drinks, filled to the brim with amber liquid. She stopped and smiled. "Would you care for a drink?" she asked with a slight European accent.  

Jade took one politely and turned to me. I considered it for a moment. I despised losing myself, and knew exactly what was in that glass, what it did. 

Finally, I let out a sigh and also took one, taking a small sip. I'd monitor myself.

I was a liar.

Somehow - don't ask me how - I'd ended up having a bit too much hours later. It wasn't just me. The entire ball had become reasonably less elegant. Somebody had replaced the calm classical music with modern rock, and multiple others were fighting over what to play. As I hovered by the side of the room, I watched the massive throbbing crowd of elegantly dressed rich kids jump up and down, pounding their fists to the beat. Jonah was in the middle of them. Correction - Jonah was on top of the middle of them - they lifted him above them like a king. 

I didn't feel so good.

I was really regretting many things at that exact moment.

Jade had left my side to go join the throng, leaving me alone with my thoughts and regrets.

Out of nowhere, a small group of completely wasted party-goers emerged from the group, stumbling towards the side, directly towards me. I realized, then, that I was standing right next to the drinks - probably not the best place to stand. But before I could move away, one of the party-goers stumbled, fell, and knocked a few of the champagne glasses over, splashing alcohol all over me and causing multiple glasses to break on the tiled floor.

And me, being as incompetent as I was, had the fortune to trip stumble and slice my ankle on one of the many pieces of broken glass.

God, I needed to work on my clumsiness.

I winced and sucked a sharp breath in through my teeth as the pain of the glass came in full force. It stung worse than anything I'd felt before - I wasn't sure how big the glass had been, and wasn't sure how deep it'd cut. I didn't want to look. Tears pricked my eyes as I kept them shut and clutched the wall for balance.

I heard a rushed sorry as I finally looked towards the group again. The boy who'd stumbled was wandering away, oblivious to his mistake. I hopped away from the spattering of broken glass, and immediately sat down a few feet away, breathing heavily.

Oh god. It hurt.

Why on Earth had I been standing right next to the drinks? Of all places?

Still dizzy from my own share of drinks, I tried not to look at my ankle. I wasn't even sure what to do really.

Then, I felt a hand lightly touch my shoulder. "Are you all right?"