"Why, hello there, Miss." A male voice called a few paces away from Ava. "You look absolutely gorgeous tonight. Would you care for a dance?"
It was a masked man who looked to be in his mid twenties. There was a polite smile plastered on his face but the way his eyes roamed Ava would make anyone haul.
Kyla quickly laced her fingers with Ava's own and gave the man a piercing glare. "Can't you see she's with me?"
The man's eyes dropped to where their fingers were interlaced and his smile drooped a little. "Oh, I see… that's a bit of a shame." He said then winked. "But if you do change your mind, come find me."
"What a gross dude." Kyla spat irritatingly after he left.
Ava could only press her lips together to suppress her laughter at her friend's words.
Just then, the earpiece in her ear crackled to life and a male voice came through.
"If you can hear me, tilt your head to the side a little." Vince voiced and they all did as he instructed. "Good… our mission and the reason for our attendance here… is to gather information."
Ava looked dumbfounded. 'Just that?'
"The mission's simple. Move around, mingle and take note of everything that's important." Vince commanded. "We'll meet after the gala to sort things out."
Kyla and Ava exchanged looks and it seemed like they shared the same thought. Was there more to this "simple" mission that they didn't know about?
"Ahem." Kyla cleared her throat with a lopsided smile. "Hey, it's pretty good, isn't it? At least we don't have to kill anyone."
Ava pursed her lips. "Yeah".
She was definitely relieved at that fact. Still, she didn't feel good about the mission, not one bit.
'What kind of information are we supposed to gather? He didn't even give us the details…'
"We should go our Separate ways now." Walter voiced, obviously anxious to get away from them as quickly as possible. "We'll meet back at the rendezvous point when we're done."
Kyla nodded her head at him as he left and rubbed Ava's lower back soothingly. "Good luck, Cookie."
Ava forced a smile. "Yeah, you too." She said, as she watched Kyla walk over to a group of giggling women.
She scanned the party and the bustling people around her, unsure where to begin. After a moment, her stomach gave a low growl and she quickly placed a hand on it as if to silence it.
Her lips twitched, unamused. 'Well… looks like I know where I'm going first…'
She was clearly hungry after that nerve racking situation earlier, so she decided she might as well go to the snack table.
'What… what are all of these…?' Ava mused wide-eyed as she stared at the layout in front of her.
Nothing looked familiar… nothing.
Of course, she had been to a considerable number of parties but at least she saw a few dishes she was familiar with, something she could eat without looking completely out of place…
Well, they weren't rich people parties… just regular ones. The only people in her group who attended these kinds of parties often were Vince and Coyle.
The rest of them were always in the shadows…
'Oh… Oh my God…' Ava thought as she unconsciously covered her mouth. 'I'm doomed… I can't eat any of this… but I'm so hungry…'
Was this what rich people were like?
She began to back away from the table one step at a time. 'Maybe I'll just drink something instead… Urgh… are those… fish eggs? Caviar… right… It looks gross. They eat that? Unbelievable… rich people are weird.'
"Are you allergic?" A low masculine voice suddenly sounded from right behind her.
Ava whipped her head around in surprise to meet a pair of emerald green eyes staring down at her. His raven dark hair was combed clean and he was ridiculously tall and pale.
"Oh…" Ava exclaimed in a small voice. He was the man she saw when she was trying to off Evie Alrosa… What… was his name again? Eitan?
'He looks even better up close…'
Eitan raised a brow at her inquisitively and Ava quickly came back to her senses.
"Oh… Hello." She said, tucking a few strands of loose hair behind her ear and thought for a moment. "...Allergic to what?"
Eitan gestured with his chin. "To the caviar, I mean."
Ava followed his gaze briefly before she turned back to face him. "Oh, yes." She started, her eyes darted to the side to avoid meeting his gaze. "I'm… I'm quite allergic to everything here you see…"
Eitan's lips twitched ever so slightly. "I don't think that's possible."
'He almost laughed just now, didn't he?' Ava thought suspiciously, a little offended and a little surprised too. His features looked so cold, like someone who was incapable of smiling in years…
Ava pursed her lips. "Well, I'm telling you, aren't I?"
'In a way I'm speaking the truth.' She said inwardly. 'I literally cannot eat anything here… I just might puke.'
Eitan studied her for a bit before he put a hand on his chin thoughtfully. "I see…"
Ava wanted to hide. 'There's no way he bought that…'
"Hmm… you must be a nouveau riche then." He concluded.
'Huh?! What's that?' Ava couldn't help but ask herself. She felt so stupid and at this rate she was going to be caught.
Her eyes darted around. "Umm…"
Eitan tilted his head slightly to the side. "It means you're new money."
"Oh." Ava blushed, a bit embarrassed. "Yes… yes I am." She lied. "Quite obvious, isn't it?"
Eitan nodded and walked around her to the other side of the long table. "You must not have tasted many of these since you're new to it." He said scanning the snacks on the table before pointing at a plate filled with a desert that looked like coloured sandwich cookies.
"Why don't you try these?" He asked.
Ava seemed skeptical. "They sure look… appealing… but are they any good?"
Eitan shoved his hands into his pocket and tilted his head. "I wouldn't recommend them to you if they weren't."
'Well, rich people have weird tastes!' Ava retorted inwardly before she hesitantly picked up one of the snacks and took a small bite out of it.
It was crisp, chewy and… "It's sweet!" Ava exclaimed happily, she was so overjoyed that she could cry. "Ah… finally something I can eat! I was so hungry…"
Pfft!
Ava froze. "Did you just–"
"I didn't." Eitan interrupted curtly with a fist to his lips before she could finish. "You must've misheard."
"Hahaha, there's no way it was!" Ava chuckled. "If my reaction was enough to make a total stranger laugh, then I must've looked so silly."
"Hmm." Eitan huffed lightly. "You're indeed the silliest person I've met at this party."
Ava blinked, amused. He'd said that with such an indifferent face and voice but it didn't sound rude at all, it was almost like he approved of it.
She laughed inwardly. 'Will his expression shift if I told him I called him bitch earlier?'
He seemed so nice though. To think she had almost killed a friend of his earlier…