Reception

I felt the carriage stop and assumed we had arrived at the reception. James stepped out and helped me out of the carriage. There was a large carpet rolled out from the outside to the inside, for us to walk on.

Inside there was a vast dance floor and the room was filled with at least 80 round tables scattered. There was a table for two at the front of the dance floor for the bride and groom. Commodore spotted a table where Elizabeth, Will, and that mysterious man sat. James pulled me over to the table to greet them. "Mrs. Turner, Mr. Turner, Mr..."

"Bukater. Jonathan Bukater." The man responded.

"Hmm, pleasure meeting you."

I sat down across from Mr. Bukater and he stared at me. I held his gaze while I sat down, the candles in the middle of the table illuminating our eyes.

"How rude of me, Mr. Bukater. I am Alyssa Miller."

"What a pleasure it is to meet you." He replied with a grin. Luckily, no one saw his gold teeth because the golden glimmer of the candlelight. It made his other teeth blend in.

James began the small talk. "What brings you here, Mr. Bukater? I don't think I've seen you here before."

"I've come from England to get something I want back and to visit my dear friends, Elizabeth and William." He replied eyeing James.

I looked at him and raised an eyebrow. I was about to ask him a question when I was interrupted by someone clinking their fork on a champagne glass. It was Harry.

"Excuse me, but before we begin this wonderful reception, we'd like to say a couple of toasts."

Everyone had turned in their chairs to face the couple. I felt something drop in my lap and then slide off. It was one of the heavy earrings Lana had made me wear. I reached my hand up and felt my lobe to be empty. I cursed silently under my breath and crawled under the table to find it.

I was about to do something very unladylike but I had to find it. I got on my hands and knees looking down on the floor. I suddenly bumped into someone and sat up under the table to face Mr. Bukater.

"Ow, bloody hell, watch where you're going." I hissed rubbing my head.

"What's the matter, love?" He asked somewhat kindly.

"I have a name you know." I glared at him, then spoke again. "I lost my earring. It should be around here somewhere." After a couple of minutes, I heard him say, "Is this it?", while holding up an earring identical to my other one.

"Yes. Thank you."

He scooted closer to me. "Here, let me." He clasped the earring on my right ear. Something gleamed in my eye and as soon as he finished, I grabbed his hand and examined his pinky ring.

I looked from the ring to his face several times before letting a sharp sigh from my nose and letting go of his hand. Mr. Bukater looked tense for some reason but I paid no attention to it.

This isn't Jack Sparrow. What about the ring? I kept reassuring myself that it wasn't Jack Sparrow. He was in town today. It was only a coincidence.

I really didn't feel like thinking about this. "I need a drink." I muttered before crawling out from under the table and back into my chair. My glass was filled with champagne and the toasts were about to end.

"What happened, Alyssa?" James inquired.

I glanced towards Mr. Bukater before answering James. His eyes were solidly on me. "I'm fine, I told you already. I just lost my earring."

James nodded in comprehension. "Very well." He put his hand on mine and I could see Mr. Bukaters gaze on me.

"To eternal love..." Harry and Lana rose their glasses and everyone else responded also lifting their glasses. "To eternal love!" I brought the glass to my lips and chugged the whole thing. I set my glass down and shook my head slightly, the bubbles still in my throat.

Mr. Bukater looked at me oddly and I laughed. "What? You've never seen a girl drink?"

James ignored my comment. I raised my glass asking for some more champagne. James looked at me like I was crazy when I downed half the glass. Mr. Bukater just looked amused.

I turned to Elizabeth and Will. "Mrs. Turner, I believe you haven't introduced me to this William Turner." Elizabeth put down her drink and spoke. "Oh, I'm sorry. Will, this is Alyssa Miller. She's a friend of Lana. Alyssa, this is my husband, Will Turner."

I nodded with a smile. "Nice to finally meet you."

Suddenly, soft music began to play and Lana and Harry began their first dance as a married couple. They waltzed across the dance floor looking into each other's eyes.

I downed the rest of my champagne and stopped a nearby waiter. He had some red wine with him, luckily. He poured some into my glass. I fingered my sapphire necklace while I stared absent-mindedly at my wine.

I snapped back to reality when I saw Mr. Bukater lean over and whisper something in Elizabeth's ear. Her eyes widened and I heard her hiss something faintly. "You didn't tell me it was her!"

I furrowed my brows and chose to ignore that statement. I heard the music end and the many people in the room engaged in their own conversations and some even began to dance.

I took a sip of my wine and James stood up next to me. He extended a hand in front of me and asked me a question. "Would you care to share this dance with me?" For some reason I stole a glance at Mr. Bukater and he winked at me.

"Of course." We both walked on the dance floor and began waltzing with all the other couples.

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