Chapter1:The Gala
1378 Words
One last look at her gorgeous self in the mirror, and Lauren smiled.
Simple and classy had always been her thing. She adjusted the sleeve of her dress one more time before leaving the room. The sound of her heels must have rung down the stairs, and just as she had expected, Albie was waiting for her. His eyes were on the stairs just as she appeared.
She smiled immediately.
“I am ready,” she said as she stood at the top stairs, and he looked, really looked at her, for the first time in weeks, from her head to her toes, before a small smile appeared on his face.
“What are you ready for?” he asked, clear amusement in his voice.
She laughed a little while holding her bag.
“The party,” she said.
A small laugh left him too, but he sounded different, cold and mocking.
“In that?” he asked, and she looked at what she wore. She couldn’t find anything wrong with her dressing.
“I will be attending the ball alone, sweetheart,” he said dismissively when he saw her checking herself out, and she frowned slightly.
“What? I can change the dress if that is what you…”
“It’s not about the dress, Lauren. It’s about you. What is the point of taking my woman to a party when she avoids every camera?” he asked.
“But we already talked about that and…”
“And I know, so just go up and sleep,” he said. “It’s going to be a long night, by the way. I might come home very late.”
He walked out, the door clicking behind him softly.
Lauren stood by the stairs long after he had gone, the house feeling extra empty. He had taken their girls to his mother’s house for the holiday, and he had barely returned home ever since. She looked down at herself, the dress, heels,
Everything she had prepared just to look good, and he had dismissed everything in a minute.
Lauren walked to the couch and sat down slowly, staring at nothing for a minute.
Five years.
Five years of marriage, and things had changed overnight. She couldn’t even point out when it started, but Albie changed. Little by little, he had drawn himself away from her, and from the girls, maybe because he was still a
Responsible and sweet father, but he was always on trips, on business, or in his office. Days she would call him out, he went on…
“My children have to live life to their fullest.
But what about her? She was just the wife.
Every year, she attends the company’s anniversary gala party, and tonight… tonight would be no different.
She stood up, picking up her bag again, before walking to the shelf to pick up her car keys and heading out. If Albie was attending the party, then she… she would be there too.
By the time Lauren got to the venue, the party had already started. Cars filled the entrance, and guests in their glamorous attire walked down the carpet into the party.
Spencer Group’s yearly anniversary was turning into an event no elite would want to miss. Lauren put on her glasses as she rolled down her window before flashing her card at the guard.
Lauren Spencer.
Their expression immediately changed, and they opened the gate immediately while she wound up and drove into the parking lot. Lauren parked her car away from the flashy lights, got down, and avoided the red carpet as she walked in like every normal guest. She accepted a glass of wine from a waiter and moved silently toward a quieter corner, trying to act natural while her eyes searched for him in the room.
For a minute, her heart leaped. What if he didn’t attend his own ball? What if he was cheating? But that thought faded as her eyes found him.
Albie Spencer, standing confidently at the middle of the ball, surrounded by cameras, investors, and business partners while he entertained them with his charm.
At least now she understood why he wanted the spotlight alone tonight.
The company’s profit had increased drastically this year, and more profit only meant more attention and cameras.
She felt proud of him, the way he handled the floor, but the smile on her face disappeared almost immediately. A woman approached him.
Lauren’s hand tightened over the glass when the woman, whom she unmistakably recognized, wrapped her hand over Albie in a familiar hug, and Lauren caught the smile on his face before he introduced her proudly to the people around him.
She was none other than Marianne Cooper.
Albie’s ex.
Marianne looked just as she remembered, flashy, bold, and attention-seeking in her black gown covered with flashy stones.
Anyone would mistake them for diamonds, but Lauren could point out the difference.
Lauren watched Albie shift his attention to Marianne. They walked side by side through the hall, laughing softly together as though they were together. Lauren’s heart squeezed for a minute.
Marianne shouldn’t be the reason Albie had been acting weird toward her. She shouldn’t even fit in as a threat to Lauren’s marriage, but deep inside of her, she doubted that.
Marianne was Albie’s first love, and she really hoped he had gotten over her.
“Hello,” she jolted when she heard and turned to her left. A tall chocolate-skinned young man stood with a glass of whiskey, staring at her. She cleared her throat and sat up, her eyes on the stranger instead.
“Hi,” she replied.
“I’ve been watching you for a while now. You are so stunning,” he said. Lauren paused and gave a polite smile.
“Thank you,” she said, her heart racing as she kept stealing glances at Albie. Meeting him at a party she came to without his consent was one thing; being seen with a man was another.
“Can I sit with you for a minute?” he asked. She tried to recall if they had ever met, but he didn’t look familiar.
“Yes,” she said, knowing well she had no intention of staying for any longer. He sat beside her and watched the party unfold in front of them.
“I am Micah Howard,” he said out of the blue. She looked at him better this time while she tried to rack her brain for the name Howard. She had heard it somewhere, but it didn't seem to click where.
“I said I’m Micah Howard,” he said, softer this time, as if he wasn’t used to repeating himself, and he wore a light smile.
“I’m Lauren,” she replied carefully, her eyes catching Marianne nestling too closely into Albie.
“Nice to meet you,” he said without extending his hand.
“I heard his wife is very beautiful,” a lady said as she passed with her friend.
“She is a full homemaker and only knows how to cook. I heard she is even a baby-making machine, having a child every month and yet can’t produce a male child,” her friend replied as they gossiped past her.
Baby-making machine?
She had two children at a two-year interval.
“Marianne should better shoot her shot well because flocking with Albie Spencer is a big…”
“Lauren,” Micah called her back to himself as she strained to hear the full gist. She looked back at him.
“I was asking for your last name,” he said. She shifted uncomfortably and made to pick up her bag.
“I’m sorry, I have somewhere…”
The microphone tap cut her off, and she looked at the stage. Albie stepped forward with Marianne following him. Lauren straightened, her heart racing and her undivided attention on Albie.
“Ladies and gentlemen…” Albie started, smiling for the cameras. “Thanks for being here tonight…”
His voice carried across the hall, confident and practiced.
Micah leaned in slowly and asked her in a low voice.
“Are you okay?”
“I am about to find out,” she replied, her eyes never leaving her man.
- Writer
