"Whoever is attending the after-party will be swaying their hips on the floor!"
"Now what kind of dare is this?" Someone from the circle refuted. All because Joshua made some ridiculous dares for a truth-dare game.
"And that will be applied to all of us present here, even if some people didn't join us," Joshua pulled out his smug face to the people who bailed out from the game including Stefan and Arthur.
"That was supposed to be my dare alone, Josh. Why punish all of them?" Alexis shook her head comically. She is finally grasping how to deal with Joshua, only a little bit.
"It's for the greater good," a dramatic wipe of tears was witnessed.
"Your husband is a piece of…."
"Nutcase? I know, and I signed up for it willingly," Rebecca interrupted before Alexis could finish. She wasn't looking any less dramatic when replying though.
***
Soft music started to play in the background after some heavy party noises as Rebecca scolded Joshua enough to stop that abomination called music and play something decent and soothing. Joshua sulked but complied to his wife. Alexis saw Rebecca curving a silent good boy compliment on her lips as he did so.
Alexis felt a little cold on her thin satin with almost non-existent straps. She loved satin, but she can not deny the fact it has zero survival skills in chilly weather. It just hugged her body, and just kept hugging it, nothing else. Although it makes anyone look sexy, at this point she would have liked something cozy right now rather than sexy. She felt jealous of Rebecca as she already changed her outfit to something elegant but cozy coming out of her wedding dress. It was a full sleeve white thin sweater which went beyond her knees, buckling in a belt on her waistline. Pretty.
Should she just dance? Won't that help her a little to ease the cold?
Suddenly a hand emerged on her view, as if asking for hers. Alexis looked at the owner of the hand in confusion.
"We can dance," Arthur implied, drawing all her attention with his distant yet cool voice.
Did he just mind-read her? "We can," she smiled a little.
Alexis took his rigid rough hands which felt rougher than any man's hand she touched so far. Not that she goes around touching the hands of men but she couldn't help but notice the difference. What does he do with these hands? Is he a gangster or something?
Well, he can be. Because the way he looks all cool and aloof; and his black and white boring attires make him look more intimidating than ever. Still she felt there was something missing in him to be a gangster, maybe because she couldn't find any cruel aura lingering around him. Who knows? People can pretend to look all harmless while being cruel all the time, can't they?
Alexis's eyes subconsciously went towards the corner she didn't want to glance at all for the whole night as she knew whom her eyes would find if she looked. Yes, just as she assumed, the stare was pricelessly pointed at her.
Why does he keep doing it? Is this a perfect example of old habits never dying? But what about his wife? She hadn't seen her the whole day, and dared not to ask about it to Rebecca, as the time seemed never right.
Alexis's eyes drifted to Arthur finally, as she was thinking about Stefan's wife. She didn't know how to bring it up or if she was allowed to bring this up to him at all. It's been six freaking years, yet she can't just measure a person's feelings with the course of time as she didn't know if Arthur still was hung up on her or not.
Alexis slowly walked on to the dance floor with Arthur where Joshua and Rebecca were already swaying with the melody with other dancing couples. Her outfit perfectly contrasted with the monochromic shirt and slacks of Arthur, but she didn't mind it. It made them look more like acquaintances than a couple and she felt glad about it. Not for everyone's eyes, but for herself.
"How do you feel after finally acting as a plus one? You started it, don't mind me ending this perfectly," she winked at him, mischievously.
"It was six years ago," Arthur replied as he took her hand which he held and placed it on his shoulder while his other hand placed itself on her waist.
"But whose fault is it to show up at every wedding I attend?" she replied, showing her gummy smile.
"More like you attend only one wedding once in six years," Arthur replied as his warm breath fell on her almost bare shoulders which caused her to shiver for some reason. "You're cold," and it wasn't a question.
Now she can't say she didn't shiver because of the cold, can she?
"Umm, not really. I have had it worse when travelling."
Their pace became faster with the music turning to a faster stage. The dance moves now required a more intimate touch on the legs but Arthur didn't lift his fingers up from her waist. Instead, he wrapped his arms around her waist for her to have firm balance as she lifted her legs on her own and let him swing her around on the rhythm.
"You're a good dancer," Alexis didn't let her admiration show but couldn't help appreciating his skills. His moves weren't intimate, yet graceful.
"I attend more public events than you travel to countries in a year."
Alexis's eyes widened in surprise, her deep coral green eyes shining in amusement. Did he just crack a joke? She didn't know if he was the type to crack jokes once for all, but she assumed he didn't. He doesn't even like talking from the looks of it, let alone being funny.
"You can be real funny," Alexis couldn't help but chuckle, finding the contradiction of his demeanor she thought he possessed.
Arthur looked at her in confusion, maybe debating if it's a compliment or not.
"Can be?"
Alexis liked how his eyebrows almost came together. Big frowny man.
As she wanted to tease him some more, she found herself interrupted, a cool hand touching her shoulder a bit more familiarly than she would have allowed anyone to let her touch for a long time.
"May I have the floor with her?" This time the frown was transferred to her from Arthur but Arthur remained expressionless. Stefan was standing beside her as if he always belonged at the spot, annoying Alexis some more. He should have asked her first instead of Arthur if he wished to dance with her.
Surprising Alexis, Arthur did exactly what was on her mind. "You should be asking the lady first if you want to dance with her," he stated, his tone sounding completely plain.
"Unless it's him who you want to dance with," Alexis added, without missing a beat. If Stefan chooses to be rude with her, she can be ruder.
"I apologize. May I, Alex?" Stefan didn't lose his composure at all. She knew he didn't. He was so used to it, being full of pride, being full of himself and thinking whatever he does has a charm of its own. She was also one of them who thought it was charming, but not anymore.
"Apology accepted. But I'm afraid I'm a little tired," Alexis gave him a soft smile that didn't reach her eyes while politely declined his offer.
She saw Stefan's gaze darken as she walked out of the dance floor, a few stares following her departure. She hated this attention. Wasn't it enough of the attention he gifted her when he broke up with her? Her last year on the campus was almost like hell for the people throwing questions at her about why she was left behind by Stefan when they were practically in a fairy tale worthy relationship. Fairy tales weren't supposed to be true anyway, but she wasn't in her right mind enough to tell them that.