Chapter IX

They avoided each other during the following days. There was no need to prolong the embarrassment of that night. Eventually, Madge went out again with Ferinse. Reluctantly, Gale agreed not to follow them anymore, but couldn't keep quiet until she returned home.

He made a habit of going to see if she was well on those nights. He would wait until she fell asleep and go to her unclosed door to see if she was sleeping. He never stayed long. It made him feel tense and like an intruder. But only then he would return to his room and finally sleep.

One day they asked him at work to go to deliver some reports to the Mayor, and Gale took the opportunity to unwind a little. The atmosphere at the Nut was tense, with the arrival of the celebrations of the first year since the fall of the Capitol. He had a lump on his throat just thinking about seeing the image of Katniss on television, or worse, in District 2.

When he reached the Mayor's office, his secretary wasn't at her usual spot near the door. Gale was surprised but knocked on the door and opened it just enough to put in his head, and saw her serving a cup of tea to a woman sitting with her back to the door.

"I apologize for intruding, but there was no one out here..." Gale began to say but was interrupted by the Mayor.

"Hawthorne, come in" The Mayor stood up and gesticulated to Gale.

Gale closed the door behind him, and the woman turned around. "Enobaria" he said, surprised. "I didn't expect you back so soon."

"I came early," she said, rising. He wore a dark blue tailored jacket and skirt that hugged her curves, with a peach silky blouse underneath, and her hair tied in a bun. She approached him and gave him a kiss on the cheek and Gale's nostrils were filled with the perfume of roses and sweet almonds.

With her hand on his upper arm, she turned on her heels and smiled to the Mayor with her pointed teeth. "The Mayor and I were talking about a dinner-party tonight with the Capitol representatives. They will visit all the districts before the celebrations, to see how everything is going, and thought they could show a little of 2's hospitality."

"What a wonderful idea!" Cried the Mayor, sitting. He was a short and round men, with a bushy mustache and rosy cheeks. He didn't seem like a dangerous man, but Gale knew that no one should stood up to him. "You should come, Hawthorne, as one of those responsible for training the new Peacekeepers. And you should bring your District 12 friend."

"She is still here?" Enobaria asked, looking at Gale with her eyes shining.

"Yes," he said a bit reluctantly, grabbing hard the dossier in his hands. "The papers aren't back yet. She can't leave until they come."

"Too bad" Enobaria walked away from Gale and sat back in her chair. "I'll pick her up today from your house to help her get dressed. I bet the poor thing doesn't even own a party dress. Lucky me, I have a few to spare."

Enobaria and the Mayor laughed, but her eyes didn't.

"Enobaria, that's not needed," Gale began, but was interrupted by her.

"Gale, please," she raised her carefully manicured hand. "It's my pleasure. I think it is time to know each other better, anyway."

"Well," Gale said, walking and putting the file over the Mayor's mahogany desk. "Here are the requested reports. Thank you for the invite, I'll be there. Good afternoon."

He hastened to leave the room, but still managed to see Enobaria's eyes when he closed the door.

The day passed slowly, with Gale worried about Madge and Enobaria. Not that he didn't trust Enobaria, he knew she wasn't going to harm Madge, but he couldn't be less apprehensive. As soon as his shift ended, she rushed to get home as quickly as he could.

But once he opened the door, he was greeted by silence. She was no longer there. He hoped she wasn't be upset by Enobaria's surprise. So he decided to take a shower to cool off after that strange day of work.

He allowed himself to stay under the shower for a longer time than he was used to. He let the water fall from the top of his head to his shoulders, down by the muscles of his arms and back until it found its way to his ankles, feet and ground. He felt his muscles relax under the warm, and for a moment he didn't think of anything else.

But he had to leave the bathroom and get to dinner. He didn't like these formal events, he felt trapped when he had to wear a tuxedo and bowtie. He was accustomed to use comfortable clothes that allowed him to have a wide range of movements.

He dried his damp hair with a towel, and combed it to look at least decent. He put on his onl white shirt, his coat and the varnished shoes he kept for times like this. Even before putting on the bowtie, he already felt restricted.

Before leaving, he looked in the mirror one last time. He wasn't that bad when cleaned up. He let himself smile and left home.

Arriving at the house of the Mayor, he felt a little diminished. It was the largest mansion in District 2, separated from the street by a high fence and a large garden full of trees and stone paths. He had been there a few times, but the feeling was always the same.

A Peacekeeper let him enter, and Gale still took a minute to get to the front door. There, he could hear the sound of music and cheerful conversation of the 100 most influential friends of the Mayor, rich families from District 2, Peacekeepers chiefs or important people from the Nut.

Upon entering, he crossed paths with McDermott, who was accompanied by his wife. After a little chit chat, Gale apologized and entered the hall, looking for a familiar face.

And he saw her, with a dark red strapless lace dress glued to her body, which seemed to have a semi-transparent black fabric over, that corever two inches of her bare leg and all the skin up to her clavicles. Her blond hair was stuck on her head, too relaxed not to be intentional, and he had never seen her with make up before. She looked like a completely different person.

"She's amazing, isn't she?" Asked Enobaria's voice, as she placed a hand on his shoulder. He looked away when he saw Madge receive Ferinse with a smile, when he came near her with two glasses in hand.

"In fact" Gale turned to face Enobaria. "You did a good job. On her and on yourself. You look incredibly sexy tonight."

"Thank you" Enobaria didn't smile, and he thought she knew how beautiful she was. She wore a black silk dress, with her back completely exposed, her hair half up, falling on her bare shoulders. "I thought you wouldn't notice me. Lately you only had eyes for the little 12's girl."

"You know that's a lie" Gale smiled, but couldn't avoid looking at Madge and Ferinse from the corner of his eye.

At that time, the Mayor called everyone to dinner. Enobaria quickly presented Gale to the Capitol representatives, before entering the Dining Room. One was a man from District 13, that Gale knew vaguely from his stay there, and the woman looked like a natural Capitol, still with all their extravagance in her wear. She was probably someone who was very familiar with visitaton protocols, as used to correct her colleague for the most minor things, fairly reserved.

Gale sat beside Enobaria, and Madge and Ferinse sat more to the bottom of the table. The meal was served with pomp and circumstance, and Gale tried to keep his composure, taking into account that he was created with few luxuries and wasn't used to this kind of situation.

Throughout dinner, Enobaria made a point of touching his legs with her feet, or move her hand on his knee. This made Gale feel uncomfortable, especially when he saw Ferinse leaning over Madge on the other side of the table, pushing a lock of her blond hair away from her face.

When dinner was over, the Mayor invited everyone to join him in the Salon for coffee, tea or whiskey, and Gale managed to get away from Enobaria when she got distracted by the Capitol representatives. He needed some air, he felt too stuffy inside that house.

He got out through the Dining Room glass doors, which opened onto a small balcony that allowed to see the garden in front of the mansion. Leaning over the railing, was Madge. Gale felt unsure about going to talk to her, but decided to go ahead. They couldn't continue to avoid each other forever.

"Overwhelmed by all the people?" He asked, standing beside her, hands in his pockets.

Madge turned slowly, smiling. "A bit. We didn't have parties like these back at District 12. "

"I wouldn't know, I was never invited" Gale joked, also smiling, and looking at her through the corner of his eye.

"For someone who isn't accustomed with this sort of thing, you wash yourself up quite nicely," Madge let out a small giggle.

"The same to you," answered Gale. Madge seemed to be both happy and sad at the same time, if that were possible. He assumed that she must have been thinking about home in District 12, her parents and all that was lost that year.

"Your friend Enobaria helped me. Never thought she was a pro in makeovers" she said, touching the railing with her belly, and leaning on one foot.

"Enobaria shouldn't take any credit. You're already beautiful." Gale smiled, and leaned his elbows on the railing, approaching her.

"Now you're trying to fall on my good graces" Madge turned her head towards him, leaning a little to the railing as well. She grabbed the handrail with more strenght than necessary, but she did it so he wouldn't realize her hands were shaking with nervousness.

"No, I am not," he said, looking away from the garden and staring at her. "You are the most beautiful woman in this party."

Madge gasped. They were only mere inches apart, close enough to touch. And oh, how much she wanted him to end that small distance. They stayed there, staring at each other, getting closer, when someone walked into the balcony and called her name.

"Madge?"

She almost jumped in her place, but Gale held her cheek and rubbed a invisible spot underneath her eye, and recited too loudly, "There you go, now your make-up is flawless."

Madge looked at him, confused, while he straightened up as if nothing happened. When she turned she saw Ferinse looking at them both. "Is everything okay?"

"Sure." Said Gale, careless.

"The Mayor was asking for you, Madge," said Ferinse, still looking at Gale with suspicion in his eyes. Madge approached him and Gale turned his back to them to face the garden. "Are you sure everything's okay?"

Madge looked one last time to Gale's back, uncertain, but smiled when she looked at Ferinse. "Yes, everything's fine."

Gale felt his hands close into fists as he listened the two whisper behind him. He had to breathe and count to ten in order to stay calm as they left the balcony. Why did the felt to troubled? He never felt that kind of attitude before. He never let himself be lead by primary instincts before, like Madge was making him right now.

Lost in his thoughts, he hardly noticed that Enobaria hugged him from behind. "A penny for your thoughts," she said, and he turned around to see her and smiled, running his fingers on her jawline.

"I was wondering if you wanted to spend the night," he said, and for a few hours he didn't felt guilty. He didn't felt guilty when he kissed her in the balcony, he didn't felt guilty when he took her to his room, he didn't felt guilty when he repeated what has done with her countless times. He didn't felt guilty until he left his room to have a glass of water and saw Madge's bedroom door, unusualy shut.


Author's Note: I'm so sorry for my absence! To my defense. I've been extra busy with school these past months, finishing projects and getting ready to move to Spain for a semestre, and then got a heartbreak of my own :'( So for a while I didn't feel like writing anymore, but now I feel better and I think I will continue this for good! Again, I'm sorry and I hope this won't happen again :) thank you all so much for waiting for this update! xoxo