The Miracle of You

Camille was lost.

Not exactly, since this was not a city or even a theme park. But the hall was large enough to hold a large number of people, and it was hard to distinguish faces in this room. The lavish costumes confused her eyes, and the sparkles from their masks blinded her for a moment when the lights shone on them.

The band was still playing romantic music, but it took on a more seductive tone, an instrumental that sang temptation in the air. The couples on the dance floor were dancing much closer and more intimately, and the atmosphere was charged with a different kind of energy than before.

Camille supposed that this kind of thing was inevitable. It was a party, after all.This is from NôvelDrama.Org.

She stared at her phone screen, waiting for Christian to message her back. When a minute passed by and there was none, she placed it back inside her pocket, feeling frustrated.

At that moment, a new song began to play. The sound was soft and gentle, a seductive lullaby that enticed everyone to sway to the beat.

Camille stood awkwardly as more couples swirled around the dance floor, passing her with smiles on their faces. She kept looking around for Christian when she suddenly felt someone grab her waist from behind.

Turning around and preparing to get angry at the intruder for touching her without permission, she immediately dropped her hand when she saw that it was the same man she was looking for.

“Don’t be alarmed. It’s just me,” Christian said calmly as he led her to the center, shifting their pose into a waltz.

“How did you find me?” she asked.

He gave her a mysterious smile. “I can recognize you even from afar.”

“…Did you put a GPS tracker on me or something?”

“Hmm-”

“Wait. Don’t answer that. You’d probably consider it or something.”

“Ah, you know me well.”

He was smirking now. She scowled. She didn’t mean to amuse him like that. It was really annoying that nothing bothered him, no matter how much sarcasm she sent his way. It was like trying to punch a stone wall and hoping to make a dent.

“Now, enough small talk,” Christian said as he twirled her around in a smooth curve before she spun back into his arms. “What did you and Michael McGregor talk about just now?”

Camille’s mind froze for only a few seconds before she answered in the calmest tone she could muster, “He just wanted to know why I kept avoiding him lately. He doesn’t want to distance himself from me anymore.”

She had been thinking about this answer for the last few minutes, ever since she had finished talking to Michael. She had to be prepared at all times so that Christian wouldn’t catch her off guard again. One wrong move and one wrong word would land her in his suspicious filter and she didn’t want that to happen.

“I see. So you told him the truth,” Christian mused aloud. “Interesting. And what did you say in response?”

“I told him that it’s nothing personal. Just that I’ve been too busy lately and the two of us belong to too different worlds to return to being close friends again. It’s exactly like I told you earlier.”

“That’s good. Keep going.”

“What?” She stared at him. “You want me to continue… avoiding him?”

“Yes, indeed.”

“But… why?”

“Your little plan has its own benefits. You can use it to your advantage starting from now.” He smiled. “It’s just how men are. They’d go crazy if their women kept pushing them away and playing hard-to-get. It’s an irresistible challenge, so to speak.”

She scowled. “That’s probably how you feel. Michael isn’t like that.”

Why did he keep on implying something romantic between them? It was seriously tiring.

“Tsk, tsk,” Christian said with a shake of his head. “You don’t know how men are like, Camille. Especially when it comes to the woman that they’re chasing. You’ll have to trust me. Men are all the same.”

“What the hell are you talking about? Stop that right now,” she hissed. “If you’re implying what I think you’re implying, then you’re dead wrong. Michael is not interested in me. He sees me as a friend, not some woman that he’s chasing. Please stop trying to make a romantic connection between us.”

At that moment, the song ends, as if they had timed it perfectly to coincide with the momentary shift in the conversation.

As the other couples left the dance floor for a break, Christian and Camille remained standing, staring at each other with different expressions.

In Christian’s case, he was staring at her so intently that she felt uncomfortable.

“What is it?” she finally snapped. “If you have something to say, just spit it out.”

“You…” He searched her eyes, but seemingly found nothing. For the first time, she saw a glint of surprise in his gaze. “You really don’t know, do you?”

She frowned. What was he talking about now?

“Don’t know about what?”

Christian sighed. “I expected a lot of things from you in the past years, but I never once pegged you to be so oblivious, Miss Parker.”

The remark struck a nerve in her and she glared at him. “Why do you keep talking in circles? Just tell me,” she demanded.

“I will tell you, but not here.” Christian took her hand and started leading her outside towards the gardens.

There weren’t many people there. Almost all of the guests were socialites and thrived on attention, so they preferred to mingle with other people in the hall. Not only that, there was plenty of food for them to enjoy.

Those who stayed in the gardens were those guests who felt they needed some privacy, a place where they could be free and honest with each other.

Christian led Camille towards one of the benches near the beautiful fountain and sat her there.

“Are you going to tell me what you meant by that earlier now?” she deadpanned. She really hated feeling like Christian was one or two steps ahead of her. It made her feel as if he were treating her like a child.

“I was considering whether to tell you this or not, but in the end, I decided to go with the truth.” There was a strange smile on Christian’s face. “After all, like you said, honesty is much better. So perhaps this will make things interesting.”

“The truth? What is the truth?”

“The truth is that Michael McGregor is in love with you.”