Here, Here, and Here

The piano plays softly in the background, a bittersweet melody filled with remorse and sorrow enters his head and he can’t help but think of the irony in the evening. A lean, well-built man, charming and charismatic.1

A heartbreaker capable of making any woman swoon, someone who’s had the world handed to him on a silver platter, not due to birth but due to work-only did treacherous and deceitful doings allow him to climb the proverbial latter of success.2

Even in the most unfortunate and miserable situation he should ever have to face in life he remains calm, putting on a poker-face, eyes black and soul-less as he makes his way through the crowded ball room.3

He wears a mask, just like the rest of the masquerade guests, but unlike the others his does not hide his face but the emotions that his face so often displays. He mingles, shaking hands here and there but secretly searching, trying to see behind the masks of the women, trying to find his loves. A man with such deceitful charm as his does not constrict himself to one single lover, and despite his many talents he finds himself finding a crack in a perfection, a clink in his imperishable armor-women.4

Pushing past his black-and-white clad acquaintances he continues to search. Two women on the opposite side of the social spectrum, one an icy beauty just as deceitful as he, the other a warm-hearted girl with the wisdom of an old woman filled with love and compassion. They’d forced an ultimatum upon him and finally he’d made a decision.5

His soul-less eyes meet hers, a chill runs down his back, her eyes-two blue pools of ice are surrounded by the finest white silk which is outlined with intricate black lace. Stunned by her beauty he forgets to breathe, without thinking he takes her pale hand in his and brings it to his soft lips for a kiss. “Bonsior Mademoiselle.”6

“Bonjour mon amour.” She removes his hand slowly from his and runs it through her fine black hair, knowing how it makes him feel. He cringes, wishing that he could tilt her head up towards his and kiss her seductive black-glossed lips. With a great amount of mental force he resists temptation and breaks his gaze away from her, knowing that his true love is out somewhere on the dance floor.7

“Why do you fight me love?” He freezes when her snow-white hand touches his chest; his heart beats faster as he imagines her long nails gracefully sliding down his body. No. He thinks, repeating the word over and over as if that small, insignificant word would make her go away, make the temptation of it all evaporate into thin air. “No.” He says firmly, not even aware that his thoughts had been spoken aloud.8

“Oh yes, you want me love as I want you, don’t fight the universe, you’ll never win.” She taunts him in a low, thick voice filled with lust. “That’s enough, my heart belongs to another now, go find someone else to be your pawn.” He knocks her hand away forcefully yet gently at the same time and stares into her mesmerizing eyes, unwilling to show any sign of weakness.9

“That witch has put you under one hell of a spell, you’ll regret this Christophe.” Like a spider reeling in its prey she puts a hand on her hip and gives him an pouty, icy stare, her graceful black-and-white diamond dress swaying with every little move she makes. “No Mademoiselle, it shall be you who will be feeling the regret.” And with that he sharply turned on his heels, straightened his shoulders and began to walk forward, ignoring her shocked, frustrated gasp.10

He took but one step away from her before his heart stopped. His blood ran cold and his mind stopped working like a clock whose gears have frozen over. “Ma-Mathilde.” He managed to stutter out, trying to keep his emotion-hiding mask. Her dainty, pale face holds the same serious expression despite his efforts to charm her. Suavely he pulls himself together and takes her hand gently in his, when he lifts it to his lips she pulls it away quickly, crossing her arms across her chest.11

Her bright red lips are pursed tightly together, her cloudy aqua-eyes filled with distrust.12

The piano begins a new sad serenade, and she cautiously looks him in the eyes. He rests his hand on her rosy cheek and plays with the edge of her swirly silver mask. “Why put on a mask? It hides your beauty.” He murmurs, surprised that she’s let him touch her at all.13

“Why are you displeased? It’s you I love not her, you silly creature.” She responded to him with silence, the kind of silence that made him want to frown. He wrapped his arms around her waist; she didn’t move away but grew rigid and unmoving. “You do not love me.” 14

In that moment his mask shatters and he looks at her with eyes that are no longer soul-less but rich and deep, eyes so black it feels as if you’re staring into the center of the universe. 15

“Mathilde, you must be joking. I love you! You, the very being who brings color into my dull, placid life!” His voice is no longer cool and suave but now desperate, his mind reeling. “Oh, but you’ve said that before Christophe, so many times before.” She shook her head, causing her golden-brown hair to spill over her shoulders. “But don’t you love me?”16

“That isn’t the question! I don’t have a doubt in my heart about whether I love you; it is you who I have my doubts about!”17

He finally looks away from her yet he can still feel her harsh gaze upon him as his arms drop to his sides. “You say that we are of one mind, soul, and heart, that not even a thousand miles can tear us apart but does that mean you love me? How can you of all people possibly know what love is?” She cries out passionately and time seems to stop.18

All that can be heard is the piano which seems to be playing the same melancholic melody over and over again. 19

He looks back up at her, when their eyes meet a moment of realization occurs, as if in that small moment they both understood their feelings for each other.20

“I know what love is, it is because of you.”21

A man with the devious tongue of a snake finally spoke a truth after all of his despicable lies.22

She then moved her hands up to his shoulders and allowed him to gently grasp her sparkling mask and remove it, revealing her beautiful heart-shaped face. He then forgot about all his other troubles, he forgot about the ravenous beauty who would soon seek revenge on him, he forgot about his miserable past and the horrid future to come and in that moment of forgetting he pulled her body closer to his, leaned down and kissed her passionately.23

He then knew that this was a battle that the universe had lost, and knowing that he was overwhelmed with pride and love and then swept her off her feet and onto the dance floor, dancing to the now sweet, joyful chords of the piano they became lost in the moment of it all.24