Ha ha, no

I sat on the floor of the master bathroom, painting my toes a matte white that went with my dress. We had about five hours to get to the ball, but I had a bad track record with nail polish. Who knew how long this was going to take.

The door slammed open, and I turned around to glare at Antonio.

"Why do you always break down my door? You made me mess up."

He rolled his eyes. "You've been in here for the past hour, I just wanted to check up on you."

"You could have knocked."

"I'm getting take-out for lunch, what do you want?"

Annoyed as I was about him invading my personal space, I also didn't want to push him, seeing as he was ordering the food.

"Can you get me the vegetarian lo mien?" I asked, turning back to fix my nail polish.

"You're a vegetarian?"

I could see the gears in his brain working, trying to remember if I'd eaten any meat during my stay at the manor.

"No, they use more noodles if you ask for vegetables."

He snorted before leaving to go call the Chinese place.

I finished painting my toenails and was debating whether to do my fingers, when my phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Hi darling, how's Paris?" Rosa said, sounding out of breath.

"It's great, are you ok?"

"Oh, I'm fine, it's just—" I heard scuffling and someone shouting in the distance.

"Rosa?"

"Go away! Sorry, Sergio is trying to get me to leave, he thinks I made the manor to 'girly' because I put up pink curtains in the living room. I think they look amazing."

I laughed. "Why doesn't he take them down himself?"

"Because he knows I'll set the dogs on him if he does."

"Was there any particular reason you called?" I asked, walking out of the bathroom while trying to keep my toes in the air.

"Oh, yes, I want you to send me a picture when you have everything on, I want to see how good you look."

"Mkay, but why didn't you text?"

"Because my hands are full right now— Sergio give me back my purse!"

"Well ok, I'll leave you to it then."

"No, wait—"

I ended the call before she could say anything more, walking out of the bathroom to see if the food was here. I was starving.

"Who where you talking to?"

I jumped higher than I have since we had to do hurtles in middle school. Spinning around, I put my hand up, ready to karate chop someone.

"Gosh, how are you so quiet when you walk? I sound like a walrus when I try to get anywhere, it's unfair." I grumbled, crossing my arms over my chest. He raised one eyebrow, waiting for me to answer his question. "I was talking to Rosa, why do you care?"

"Just making sure you aren't conspiring against me."

"If I wanted to conspire against you, I would have done it in a dark alleyway, not in the same hotel room."

He spun around. "The food's on the table."

.............

I lay sprawled on the bed, clicking through the TV channels. I heard Antonio walk in, flopping down next to me.

"We have about two hours until the ball, I suggest you get ready."

I sat up, glaring at him. "Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

"Well you seemed to be having so much fun watching Elmo's World in French, I didn't want to disturb you."

"Hmph."

Walking over to the closet, I took out the dress, followed by my shoes and makeup bag. I went to the bathroom to take a quick shower.

Who am I kidding, none of my showers are quick.

I squeezed the last bit of hotel body wash into my hand before rinsing off and drying with a fluffy towel. I sat down at the counter, dumping all the makeup onto the rim of the sink.

I spent about thirty minutes beating my face, and all the hours of watching James Charles seemed to pay off. I kept everything natural, hoping that the dress would do the talking. Curling my hair in loose curls, I slid into the ball gown and high heels, doing a test walk in them. I looked at myself, feeling very proud that I managed to pull it all off.

I strutted out of the bathroom, going to find Antonio.

Not being able to find him anywhere, I did what any normal person would do.

"OH GOD, THE PAIN! SOMEONE MAKE IT STOP, I CAN'T POSSIBLY GO ON!"

As if he was summoned, Antonio burst through the kitchen doorway, running over to me. He grabbed my shoulders, frantically looking me up and down.

"Are you ok? What happened, who hurt you?"

I smiled at him, batting my eyes. "No one, I just couldn't find you. How do I look?" I twirled around, giving him a full 360 of the outfit.

He stared at me, still looking concerned. "So you're ok?"

"Yes."

"No injuries?"

"None."

"No intruder? No—"

"Antonio, I'm fine," I said bringing my hand up and squishing his face.

He glared at me, releasing his death hold on my arms. "Don't do that again. You could have just called me."

"I have your number?"

He sighed closing his eyes for a moment. "It was in phone before you got, so you could contact me if there was an emergency."

"Why didn't you tell me? I totally would've been blocked by now."

He looked at me, confused.

"I'm an annoying texter." I said, as if it cleared things up. "Right, ok, anyways, are we leaving or what?"

I stepped back, taking in his outfit. He wore a black suit with a tie that was suspiciously close to the color of my dress. I raised my eyebrows, looking at it then up at him.

"Oh, haha, what a coincidence." He laughed nervously, scratching the back of his neck.

"If you wanted to bang, you could have just said it."

His eyes widened. "What? No- aha I— I mean- but- uh-"

I snorted as a tinge of pink rose to his cheeks. "You're so freakin' adorable," I said, turning to head out the door, so we could finally get to the ball.

"What? No I'm not, I run a mafia for pete's sake, I literally kill people and sell drugs for a living."

"Whatever you say, bunny."

.............

A chauffeur opened the door to our Mercedes, offering me his hand as I got out. I took it since why not, it's his job.

I met up with Antonio, standing beside him. "This place is really fancy. Do you think they have wine? Ooo, or maybe champagne."

"We aren't here to have fun, Eva." He said roughly. "Don't trust any of these people. They wouldn't hesitate to put a bullet through your head if they thought it would benefit them."

"So is that a yes?"

He grumbled to himself, grabbing my hand and dragging me through the entrance. "You better behave. Don't do anything stupid."

"Of course I won't!" I said as we walked down a hallway towards the ballroom. "Does stealing that gold vase count as stupid?"

"Yes! Now don't wander too far from me. We're just here for a meeting with the Russian boss."

"Just a meeting? That gun in your waistband says otherwise."

We finally made it to the ballroom, its high ceiling and ivory walls made my jaw drop. Antonio ignored my comment, seemingly unfazed by the beautiful room.

"Now, how find out which one is the boss." He said to himself.

I hardly heard him as my eyes landed on one man in the crowd, his tall frame standing out. He had gained more muscle, no longer a lanky college freshman, and wasn't wearing his usual lopsided smile. Even so, I would recognize him anywhere.

"Alex?"

Even though there was no way he heard my soft gasp, his eyes met mine, widening in shock.

I saw him mouth my name from across the room.

"Eva?"

............

Writing is hard, how do people do this

*chucks computer out window but immediately regrets it*