Red Alert

Chapter 7: Engagement Party

Ella's Pov

Today was nothing like any other days. I was woken up in the morning by my aunt who told me that someone was waiting for me. In a half-asleep state, I wandered outside to see Jennie waiting for me. I hadn't remembered that today was the day of the engagement party until Jennie forced me to hurry up. She grabbed the bag with my dress and pulled me along as we headed to a saloon.

The engagement party was being held in the Rhodes mansion. They had a huge hall just for hosting parties and according to Jennie business parties were a usual thing in their house. I sort of expected that since they're well, super-rich. Jennie also reminded me that there were going to be a lot of people present, which only resulted in me growing more nervous.

I had gotten dressed into the dress Jennie and I had picked out from the store yesterday. The dress I picked was a floor-length light blue colored dress. It was a see-through A-line and cap-sleeved dress with a round neckline, the bodice of the dress was embroidered in flowers and had a fitting from the top to my waist after which it flowed freely sort of like a gown but less flowy. The back of the dress was slightly revealing but my hair would cover that.

My hair was done flawlessly in a half-up twisted loose curls style and Jennie had forcingly convinced me into putting makeup on. I didn't like makeup all that much but I had to say that I looked amazing in the nude look the makeup artist gave me. Jennie had paired my dress with six-inch silver heels and silver jewelry and all I had to say was that her sense of style was on fire.

With everything ready and done I took a final look in the mirror as my mouth widened. I looked amazing and I had never thought that I could even look this beautiful. I always thought of myself as an average beauty but right I'm not going to lie, I felt like a princess. I have to enjoy this day as much as I can because even if it's all not real, it's still like a dream come true. Even if this is an arranged marriage, I have to think positive and enjoy everything.

Finally, with everything being ready all we had to was show up at the Rhodes mansion. Jennie got dressed in the saloon just like I did and with that, we both got into the car and set out for the house. I simply stared out of the windows trying to calm my thumping heart while clenching my fists. I was determined to get through this night without any embarrassment or anything.

"You don't have to worry much about reporters," Jennie said as I turned to her.

"Reporters?" I asked.

"Yeah, you know, those people who can't stop poking their noses in others lives. Dylan agreed to this marriage but he only had one condition, which was that this marriage would be kept a secret. You would be kept a secret." Jennie explained to me in short.

"What do you mean by secret?" I asked, wondering how that would work.

"I mean, people will know that Dylan got married but they won't know that you're his wife." Jennie cleared it for me. "You don't mind it though, right?" She asked.

"Yeah, I'm totally fine with whatever Dylan want," I answered. The rest of the ride went by quietly as I tried to compose myself. I kept telling myself that this would be over in a second but I was still very much nervous and anxious. The fact that they are going to be a bunch of people who I don't know at the party freaks me out. I like talking to people, I like conversing and I am quite friendly when I want to be but at this party, everyone's going to be fancy and rich. I just don't see how I'll ever fit in. 

We arrived at the gate as I stepped out being careful with the dress and the heels, that were very difficult to walk in. I stood in front of the giant house as I stared up at it. It was a marvelous and elegant looking house. If it looked os amazing from the outside,  I could only wonder how amazing it looked from the inside.

"Come one! Everyone must be waiting!" Jennie yelled as she pulled my arm. She seemed to be pulling me around a lot lately. 

As soon as we entered the house I could hear the voices of guests chatting and the faint sound of classical music. I could already imagine the hall filled with guests, which resulted in me feeling more nervous. We were about to enter the Hall when the door opened and out stepped Dylan.

Lying wasn't something I was very good at so I'm just going to come out and say that Mr. Rhodes aka Dylan looked very handsome right now. Although he was attired in a suit like he normally was, he looked like he had put some effort in and he looked impressive. He was wearing a navy blue suit with a white shirt along with a tie and a pair of black shoes that were polished so neatly that you could see your reflection right through them.

"Finally, you're here," Dylan said, spotting us and he walked over.

"Hey, it's not our fault the traffic so crappy at this time," Jennie replied with an annoyed expression. Jennie's use of the word 'crappy' made her brother raise an eyebrow as she rolled her eyes. "Yeah, I know 'language'. Anyway, I'm going to head inside and get my party on. You two should hurry up and get inside too, together." Jennie said emphasizing the 'together' as she walked towards the door. 

With Jennie gone, it was only me and Dylan standing in the room as I started to fiddle with my fingers. In case you haven't figured it out by now, fiddling my fingers is something I do when I'm nervous and don't know what to do. Silence took over as Dylan stared at the closed door to the hall and I stared at the ground, finding it very interesting. Seriously though the floor was very interesting since the tiles were made of fancy marble that looked like wood, which gave the house an extra antique touch. Honestly, I was just trying to keep my eyes from looking anywhere but at Dylan. We both were uncomfortable and standing in the silence just made it awkward.

"You look nice," Dylan spoke breaking the silence as I turned to look at him. I felt myself internally smile but I'm pretty sure I was blushing visibly.

"Ah...Thank you. Y-You a-also look nice." I stuttered since I didn't know what to say so said what first came to my mind.

"So, shall we?" He asked as he held a hand out towards me. I didn't know what to do as I nodded before slowly taking his hand. 

We walked towards the door and as soon as Dylan opened it, my eyes were in awe. I subconsciously let go of his hand as I stared at the huge hall full of guests. The room was five times the size of Aunt Janice's apartment and about a hundred guests were filling it. The thing that mesmerized me the most was the crystal stairs chandelier that hung from the ceiling in the middle of the room. There was a long table set to the left side of the room on which there were different sort of dishes placed along with drinks and dessert.

"Woah, this is..." I couldn't help but mutter to myself as I looked around the magnificent room. Imagine that this was only one room in the mansion, there were a bunch of other rooms and who knows how elaborate they are. 

"Follow me and just smile," Dylan whispered as he stepped a bit closer to me. 

I stopped gazing at the room and turned to him just as he put his hand around my waist. I almost jumped at the sudden contact but forced a smile onto my face as a couple approached us. I was a bit uncomfortable with Dylan's closeness I admit, but as more people approached us and time passed, I adjusted myself to it. By 'time passed' I meant ten minutes passed and I was already feeling overwhelmed with the amount of attention I was getting from just standing next to Dylan. I would just smile as Dylan would greet and shake hands with people. 

After five minutes, I was simply standing and looking around as Dylan was conversing with a group of people. I was afraid of this happening and it did happen. Being alone in a crowd of unknown people was not my specialty. It was then that I spotted Mr. Matthew walk up to a podium as he started to speak.

"Ladies and gentlemen, first of all, I would like to welcome you all to this event. Thank you, everyone, for joining us on this special event. A lot of you might be wondering what the reason for this gathering is so I'm here to put an end to all the suspense. As you all know, in a few months, I will be handing over my company to my son, Dylan. But before that, we will be holding a wedding." Mr. Matthew said as the crowd of people started to whisper and look and each other in confusion. "This isn't just any simple gathering but it is instead a party to announce my son, Dylan's engagement to his soon wife-to-be, Ella Jamison. Ladies and gentlemen, please join me in celebrating such a momentous event and enjoy the rest of your night." Mr. Matthews finished his speech as he stepped down from the podium.

All of a sudden everyone's attention turned to Dylan. People were coming up and congratulating him all while asking the question 'who the lucky girl was'. Dylan simply replied by pulling me closer to him as he introduced me to several people. All I had to do was smile as Dylan talked to the guests.

After all the congratulating and greetings were done, Dylan walked away to talk to potential business partners, as he put it. I stood by the side of the wall as I watched the crowd. Jennie was talking to a girl her age as she laughed while drinking her cup of juice. I would've eaten something but seeing the available dishes just made me lose my appetite. There was nothing that I knew about, I mean caviar, what even is that? 

I walked over to the table deciding to have one last look at the dishes since I was starving. It was better to eat something I didn't like than to have the whole room hear my stomach rumbling. I was just having a look around when all of a sudden I noticed a blot of red fall on the table.  There was one blot, two blots, and then three. I moved my hand up to touch my nose instantly feeling something wet. 

I already knew what was happening as I gasped and clutched my nose. I grabbed a bunch of tissues from the table as I put them to my nose. I could feel my nose burning as tears sprang to my eyes. I kept my head down, trying not to attract any attention as I ran out of the hall and into the empty room. I looked around for a bathroom but realized that I was in a foreign area and had no idea where it was located. I was on the verge of freaking out as I decided to leave but a voice stopped me in my tracks.

"Ms. Jamison?" Dylan's voice called out from behind me.

This was the fifth time I was having a nosebleed. I don't know why this was happening but it was quite random. Just a day before yesterday I had a nosebleed when I was going to bed and before that even. I was thinking about going to a doctor but what if it wasn't anything serious and I was just overreacting. I'll have to get this looked at but for now, I have bigger fish to fry.

"Yes?" I called, not turning around as I could feel the tissue getting soggy.

"Are you alright?" He asked as I smiled even though he couldn't see me. I didn't know what to reply with as I fought back the tears.

"I'm alright. I'm fine...great actually!" I said a bit too enthusiastically, sounding fake. My eyes teared up and the burning of my nose only increased as all I wanted to do was get out of here. It was already embarrassing enough with Dylan here, I didn't want anybody else to see me.

"Are you sure?" Dylan asked as I knew there was no escape. I put a bit of force on my nose as I tried to stop the ceaseless bleeding. At this rate, my nose was bleeding like a waterfall and I would have laughed at that but seeing the situation right now I couldn't. "Ella, turn around." His blunt and monotonous voice spoke. 

I knew that when he used my name he was serious and honestly his voice was kind of intimidating. I could just run away or do something but I was too tired to argue or hold back, so I did what I didn't want to do. I turned around, feeling embarrassment and humiliation wash over me as I looked at Dylan, whose confused expression changed to a wide-eyed one. He took a step towards me but I moved back as I held my free hand up.

"Please...stay away." I pleaded as my eyes teared up. I was beyond embarrassed right now. I hated people seeing me when I was helpless and Dylan was here at one of my weak moments, seeing me with a freaking bloody nose. I probably looked even more ridiculous than I felt.

"Stay away?! What the hell are you talking about?!" He shouted but kept his volume low enough for no one in the hall to be able to hear his voice. I couldn't help but flinch a bit at his high volume because the only time I had been yelled at like that was when I was serving ten years in the mansion. I think Dylan noticed me flinch as his expression softened. 

He simply sighed, running a hand through his hair as he grabbed my free hand and pulled me up the stairs. I was pulled up the stairs and through the corridor by Dylan as we entered a room. He locked the door before letting go of my hand and switching on the light as he started rummaging through a drawer.

"W-What are you doing?" I asked him as I looked around the room.

"Just be quiet!" He exclaimed as he opened a different drawer, continuing to rummage through. I simply turned away as I clutched my nose.

Meanwhile, I had a quick look around the room, noticing the luxurious furniture. There were also some pictures on the wall and by squinting my eyes a bit, I realized that there were pictures of the Rhodes family by which I evaluated that this room belonged to Dylan. I turned to look at Dylan just as he took out a transparent box with a red plus made on it.

"What's that for?" I asked, pointing towards the box.

"Just shut up and sit down." He replied rather rudely as I followed his orders and sat down on an armchair. Dylan knelt beside the armchair I was sat on as he put the first-aid kit on the desk. He opened the box as he took out a pack of tissues and opened it. "Move your hand," Dylan said as I slowly and carefully removed the tissues from my nose. The bleeding had thankfully almost stopped but I'm pretty sure I looked like a mess right now. Dylan grabbed a tissue as he leaned towards me but I moved away.

"I can do it," I stated as I moved my hair to the front, trying to hide my face.

"No, just let me." Dylan insisted, his voice sounding authoritative. I had to give in as I let myself relax but tensed up once again as Dylan leaned closer to me to clean my nose. Good thing was that he wasn't being rough but instead quite gentle. "How did this happen?" He asked as I shrugged,

"Honestly, I have no idea." I sighed.

"You are alright though, right?" He asked as he glanced up at me. I was about to nod but the feeling of humiliation washed over me. Dylan Rhodes was famous and insanely rich yet here he was cleaning a useless girl bloody nose. "Hey, are you...why are you crying?" Dylan questioned as he stopped and looked at me. I touched my face not realizing that I had been crying as I abruptly got up and turned away.

"Uh..yeah, I'm alright...just embarrassed," I spoke the truth as I gave a small humorless laugh. "I'm sorry for ruining the party for you. You should...uh...you can leave if you like. I can do this myself." I turned back around to face Dylan as I smiled at him.

"I was actually getting bored of talking so, I'm glad you gave me an excuse to leave." He replied to my question. "Besides we're getting married might as well help each other when one's in trouble or pain." He said as he moved closer to me and continued to clean my nose.

"Well then...thank you," I mumbled, feeling a light blush on my cheeks. As soon as my nose was clean, I looked in the mirror to compose myself as I took a deep breath. "We should head back I think," I said as Dylan nodded and opened the door gesturing for me to go first as I stepped out.

He closed the door of his room and stayed inside as I simply shrugged to myself before heading downstairs. I didn't want to go to the party anymore but it would be too rude if I left so with a deep breath I opened the hall's door and walked in. Looking at the crowd of people present made me nervous once again as I leaned against the wall. This was surely going to be along night and I had yet to spend two more hours here.