Chapter 7: The Masked Stranger
"Where did that crazy girl go. Why did she vanish so instantly?"
The tall man entered the garden with quick and long steps. His faced show how eager he was to immediately reach his destination. The man wore a black tuxedo similar to the majority of the guest inside the hotel, except he carried his own suit with great dignity and poise, almost similar to a professional model.
Upon reaching the marked spot, he looked from left to right, searching for the girl he left behind. She was nowhere to be seen. She could have fallen asleep somewhere in the garden. He thought. She was such a sweet girl but a little bit psychotic too. Honestly the girl was not even beautiful, she was the average type but he wondered what made him stay by her side longer. There must be something with in her that charmed him into staying.
The man carry a cup of scalding hot coffee on his right hand which was a complete insult to his manly ego. He did not attend this party to become a lowly butler of a perfect stranger. Honestly he was just forced to attend this dull party. If he was to choose he will not go in the Elite Hotel. Instead, he would rather prefer the silence of his room. Anyway, the girl keep him amused for an hour. He no longer remember how bored he was. Atleast that made him owe her something.
He surveyed his sorroundings. The girl was gone. There's no one in the garden except him. The crazy and talkative girl finally recovered her senses and left the garden. He suddenly regret leaving her behind. She could be harmed or something since she drank a lot of wine.
He was not wearing his mask anymore . His handsome face was exposed, flaunting a pair of deep mesmerising eyes that seemed to be attractive if it did not have it's intimidating gleam. With the absence of his mask, his deep black hair that sparkled against the moonlight formed an angelic halo on his head.
He focused his eyes, back to where he last saw her and frowned after seeing the girl was gone to the place she was sprawled like a scarecrow and what was left was the evidence that she was once been lying on that ground. He was sure that after the gardener found this out he would go 'gorilla' for his beloved grass which was well groomed and trimmed to perfection was flattened into a female figure shape.
He was bothered seeing her gone to the place where he'd left her a while ago. He knew she was not so drunk only spent but he can't help but feel so worried with her absence. He was afraid that she might stumble somewhere and break a bone or she might encounter a stranger who could do her harm. He should have told her not to go anywhere but he doubt so, seeing her stubborn nature he wonder if she would do so.
He suddenly smiled at the memory of her stubbornness. He should have gotten her water but he remembered her pleading expression and that made him change his mind. So instead of water he'd brought her coffee since it was what she's asking. He then looked at the cup of coffee on his hand. He wonder what he was going to do with it since she was already gone, maybe stuck somewhere.
He shook his head in both amazement and annoyance, he was still battling what to feel in between the two. He was just wishing that she did walked on the right path and hadn't fallen into a manhole, if there was any around the Elite Hotel's vicinity. He also hope that she hadn't scared anyone with her appearance.
He sat down on the bench and waited for her to resurface which he knew she would if she did not lost her way around the wide perimeter of the hotel. He smiled upon remembering her somber expression which nearly brought him on the edge of devilish laughter that would lead him to his death if he had not suppressed. She definitely choked him to death if he hadn't stopped himself from bursting out with laughter in front of her a while ago.
Time passed by but still she hadn't returned yet. Maybe she went home already, he thought and decided to go inside the Grand Hall. Anyway a man like him doesn't wait for just anyone... Not even to a woman. It's not just his forte. He was Azrael Caine Raine and women cling at him like a piece of magnet. Why is he wasting his time for a total stranger?
Yeah, why is he wasting his time with that woman now when he already wasted an hour of his precious time with her? There must something about her. He admitted to himself which made him stay at her side. If she happen to be a different woman, he was sure as hell that he would not waste a single of his minute with her company. He could have walked out the moment she opened her mouth but instead, he chose to stay.
He was assuring himself as he finally made his way inside the Grand Hall that she would be alright. After all she seemed to be a very strong woman although she'd broken down and cried in front of him. The weight in her chest must be too much for someone as gentle as her to handle. She simply needed someone to burst everything out. He was simply there and that made him her instant shock absorber.
I hope she was safe, away from harm and danger. She's a wonderful girl with a little bit of insanity.
He muttered to himself while trying to ignore the tightening in his gut. For the last time he tried to vanish the unfamiliar emotion that unexpectedly sprung in his chest and finally walk inside the Elite Hotel.
'She will be fine.' He assured himself one last time.
-- Gift
received