Travails of love

Was that him?

It was Saturday and Claire was off from work, feeling relieved, she prepared a cup of coffee and went out for a jog.

As she prepared to take a nap after her return, Dove, her best friend called and as soon as she picked up, Dove began talking quickly.

"I don't know if you will be around tonight but I have somewhere to be, Would you accompany me? "

"Of course, I will. I am chanced today, I will," Claire replied and a big smile came on Dove's face.

"That's splendid, alright, I am coming later to pick you up. Be dressed your best," Dove said and Claire ended the call.

"What to wear?" She mumbled to herself quietly. She fished her Wardrobe for dresses. She cursed herself for having mostly corporate and casual wear.

"This is why a time out for shopping is necessary." She mumbled.

Claire sneezed as she brought out dresses she barely or never wore from the wardrobe.

"I still have this," She muttered and smiled lovingly at the dress she picked up, she sighed and dropped it on the bed.

After searching for a while, she gave up her search and waited for Dove to come and help her pick a dress.

Dove appeared at the doorway and was shocked to see that Claire was not ready yet.

"You must be kidding me!" She said in exaggerated exasperation and walked straight to Claire's wardrobe.

She searched but didn't find any dress satisfying, she was about to turn to Claire and give her a dirty look , her eyes caught a big box.

"What's in there?" She asked her eyes pointing at the box.

Claire looked at the box and her countenance changed and she whispered in a low voice.

"Don't go there."

"Now you make me want to check," Dove said and brought out the box. She opened it carefully ignoring Claire's repeat of,' Don't go there, Don't open it.'

Dove opened it and a sigh of wow filled her lips as she set her eyes on the beautiful red dress in her sight.

Claire kept asking questions about where they were heading, but Dove refused to disclose the information saying it was a surprise. Claire had known Dove since she relocated out of the country three years ago. Then, she was looking for an apartment and met Dove dressed in her fancy clothes and fancy car.

She was driving so recklessly that she had almost hit Claire, hurried out of the car to ask if Claire was okay and she was not injured and then helped her with Claire with her search for an apartment, and that was the beginning of their friendship and they had always stood by each other ever since.

At that time, Dove had left home to get away from her parents because she felt they were too controlling, she left home and only returned back to the country when Claire decided it was time to come back to her home town. They both discovered they were from the same city, this made their friendship grow stronger. Dove's parents were rich and highly influential so they try their best to control her so she won't do anything reckless with her "I don't care" attitude. Claire had met Dove's parents a couple of times during those three years whenever they came visiting and they had a good bond.

They got out of the car when they finally reached their destination, Claire looked around and was sure they had come to a party. She gave Dove a look that could kill. Dove knew really well that Claire was not the type who fancied parties especially when it came to the rich folks parties.

Dove defended herself by saying she couldn't come to the party alone with her parents who had forced her to attend the party so she needed a partner and knew Claire wouldn't have just agreed if she told her where they were going so she didn't talk until they got there. The party hall was massive with lot of people dressed in suits and beautiful dresses it was decorated beautifully and Claire the true meaning of elegance and wealth just by taking a look. As they entered they were offered masks and they both took the ones which matched their dresses and mixed with the crowd.

Richard arrived at the party right on time, looking strikingly dashing, he wore a fine red suit which hugged his body and outlined his physique more. Women gasped and stared at him as he got down from the car but he ignored the buzz around him.

He entered the hall and put on his mask when he sat on the seat that was reserved for him. He was sipping the wine the waiter had offered him when his eyes caught the sight of a woman in a dress he had not seen in a long time and he thought only one of those dresses existed.

He stood up to move forward to the woman when the hosts of the party came to greet him. By the time they finished exchanging greetings he looked around for the woman he had just seen but he could not find the dress or the woman wearing it. He moved carefully in the midst of the guests looking for the woman in the red dress but he could no longer find her. It was as if he had just imagined her. He scratched his head and sighed in relief.

Claire needed to use the toilet so she stood up and walked towards it, on her way she saw a silhouette of a man who she seems to know. she felt shivers run down her spine she took another look again but the man was no longer there, she sighed in relief and made her way to the toilet thinking what she saw was just her imagination.

Claire returned back and saw Dove dancing with a fine looking man and since she was not interested in the party she took a seat and watched them and then a man appeared and offered her to dance with him but she was not in the mood for dancing, she turned down the man politely.

She was starting to feel uneasy so she texted Dove who was dancing that she would like to get going. Dove asked her what the reason for the sudden urge to leave was but she refused to talk and just dragged her along to the car.

In the car, Dove asked her the same question again and Claire explained what she saw and Dove kept quiet thinking about it and then told her not to worry. They departed after Dove dropped Claire at her home and also got on her own way. Claire could not get any rest that night all she could process in her mind was the question

"what if that was him?"