As soon as her car pulls in front of the building, a servant rushes over and opens the door for her, holding it open until Sophia was out of the car.
She turns to her chauffeur, "I will call you when I am ready to leave." She says to him. And with a slight bow of his head, he drives off just as Sophia turns and begins to walk up the stairs to the hall. At the door, Sophia takes out her invitation and hands it over to one of the guards by the door. He takes it from her, slides it through the machine in his hand before returning it to her with a bow of his head.
"Welcome My lady." He says nodding at his companions who open the door and hold it for her to walk in.
With a slight nod of her head, Sophia walks in through the door, into the hall, and stands there for a second taking in the entire room. It was already filled with people, male and female alike, all dressed for the occasion. The lady this afternoon had not been mincing words, this ball was for the elite, and they were all here to show off. Sophia has been to more than a fair share of balls, but not one who was like this. Not that it was the most expensive, it just had a different atmosphere of luxury to it. Either that, or the people of Spain took balls much more serious than anywhere else.
Sophia uses her left hand to touch her mask as if to confirm if it was still there. Putting on a smile, she begins to move inside the hall, heading straight for the wine fountain.
~
Callum walks into the hall, his left hand tucked inside his pocket, as he stands in a lazy fashion, allowing his eyes to briefly scan the entire hall, a sigh escaping his lip. He was only just arriving, yet, the fragrance from the hall was already too much. Damn females and their over passionate sprays! But he was not here to judge tonight, neither was he here to be comfortable, he was here to find a trophy, and the earlier he starts searching, the sooner he will find one.
And with that thought, he begins to walk into the hall. Tonight, his eyes was like that of a hawk. He will have to sieve out a masterpiece in this over populated hall filled to the brim by money hungry, gold digging ladies. Well, it was fine, because tonight, he actually needed the gold diggers, a smart gold digger at that.
And one more time, he was grateful for the mask he wore tonight, he was also grateful to whoever had suggested the mask for the ball. It was the only reason he was not getting surrounded by females the moment he had stepped in here, which would have made it very difficult for him to do what he plans to do tonight the way he plans to. He had been extra careful in choosing his mask for tonight, he had picked one that would conceal his identity completely. The only way they will get to know who he is, is if he tells them who he is.
~
Sophia sighs just as she grabs her second glass of champagne. She leans slightly on the server's desk, allowing herself some space for the first time since she arrived the ball. This was not working. The ball was not working like she wanted. Not that there were no men in the ball, but for some reason, she was very uncomfortable with everyone she spoke with. Some were looking at her with eyes that said they were stripping her off everything she was wearing already, and some, she could tell they were bluffing. They had no single penny to their name.
Her years as an actress has taught her how to sieve some people for who they really are. And two of the men that had asked her to be their escort tonight, they were penniless broke men. Accepting their offer would leave her with nothing by the end of this ball. One of them had been a light finger, she could tell that from the way he kept glancing at her jewelries. At some point when he had touched her, his fingers had immediately brushed through her bracelet, in an effort to slip them off her wrist, but she was smarter than that.
The rest, they were just too fat or sweaty, or just too uncomfortable for her to be around them one more minute. Sophia sighs one more time. This has to work, this ball had to work. Right now, it was her only option. She needed to find a man who needed an escort, and she needed to do that very soon, before the first dance begins. She sighs internally, fine, if it meant she had to accept one of those uncomfortable men and be their escort for the ball, then she may have to shove aside her discomfort and accept their offer. After all, a beggar they say has little or no choice.
She was just taking the glass to her lips when she heard a presence behind her.
"Here you are." A voice says behind her walking over to stand in front of her. Sophia looks up to find one of the men she had met earlier, the last one she had spoken to who was always staring at her in a suggestive way. "I have been looking everywhere for you." He says with a smile.
"Have you?" Sophia says offering him one of her fake smiles.
"By the time I turned around, you were gone. One would think you were uncomfortable with me."
Sophia offers a smile. "Not at all." She says taking a sip of her wine. She watched as he watched her, his eyes following her every moment. He gulps when she swipes her tongue across her lips to be sure she had no drop of wine lingering on it.
Grinning, "I would like to introduce you to some friends I know. The Mando's are –
"I am afraid I must decline your invite, I may not have mentioned it earlier, but … I am with someone here."
He looks around her, then chuckles. "And where is he?" he asks with a shrug, stepping closer. It forced Sophia to take a step backward. He takes a step towards her again, "I doubt any man in his right senses would leave a woman as beautiful as you alone in a ball filled with thirty men as this one." He grins, leaning closer. Sophia had to lean back. "I know you are alone, and you are here to be an escort. I wil
l pay." He says almost like a whisper.