MADDIE

"Are you sure your father is alright?" I asked Charles as we sat across from each other in his kitchen, eating.
"He'll be fine...he's just had a little too much to drink." He replied, looking a little sad, but smiling anyway. We sat in silence for a few minutes until he suddenly said,
"So are you going to the masquerade?" I hadn't even thought about it. The managers threw a theme party every New Year's Eve, but I never attended. Why would I? It was mostly high society and I wasn't. Deirdre, of course, went every year because of her mother and grandmother, not to mention the fact that her father was a wealthy lawyer.
"I...uh...hadn't planned on it..." I answered, taking a sip of the wine he'd gotten from the cupboard. I wasn't a big drinker, but today had been an emotional whirlwind.

He looked a bit disappointed.
"Oh." He said, quietly, biting into a piece of bread.
"Are you?" I asked him, and he shrugged.
"I really don't know...it depends."
"On what?" I asked him, and he winked at me.
"You." He answered with half a smile as my mouth dropped open and I began to stutter.
"Me? But I...I don't..." He laughed, interrupting my unintelligible blabbering. I couldn't help it, as my cheeks turned hot, I laughed at myself.
"I was only kidding, but Maddie, I do wish you would come...everyone is going...Deirdre, Gabe, my cousins are moving here before Christmas..." I had to admit, I loved his crowd of friends and family, but the thought of attending a party, a ball no less, frightened the hell out of me to be honest.

"I'd like to but...um...I don't have anything to wear..." I said, dumbly looking down into my wine. It was true. I didn't own anything but worn old dresses that girls in the ballet had tired of and given to me. I couldn't remember the last time I'd bought something new. Two years ago, maybe. A new corset. Most girls got a new one every few months. Charles looked amused.
"Oh no..." He joked, "You can never ever attend a ball because you have nothing to wear..." I glared at him and he feigned terror.
"Come with me." He got up and took my hand, pulling me from my seat and upstairs into a small unused bedroom.
"This is a guest room. Mother, used the closet as a storage because she couldn't bear to throw her old gowns away." He said, motioning toward the closet. I didn't follow where he was going with this tangent.
"So...what does this have to do with anything?" I asked him, a bit annoyed and he grinned.

"You can't go to the ball because you have nothing to wear...my father has been trying to find someone to give these gowns to because, obviously Mother is no longer here to wear them and they are just taking up space now." I backed away a bit, speechless.
"What?" I said, thinking I must have heard wrong.
"I want you to pick out any dress you'd like and wear it to the masked ball." He replied, satisfied with my reaction.
"Why are you doing this Charles? I still won't sleep with you..." I said, even though I knew he wasn't looking for a roll in the hay.

"Maddie, you deserve to have a great night just like anyone else. I know you've had a rough life, but don't you think it's time to start making some great memories?" He was so sincere I could have cried. I knew then that I had to go to the ball and I nodded slightly, smiling a bit. He opened the closet and gestured for me to go into it. I gasped when I peered into it. The closet was just about as big as my room at the opera! Charles laughed when he saw my face and I gasped again when I saw how many gowns were in that closet.
"I don't even know where to start..." I said, feeling small. He patted my head and said,
"I shall be in the kitchen, just pick any dress you'd like and take it." I felt very invasive as I rifled through the gowns. Charles's mother had gowns in every color from gold to lavender to ecru.

Many of them were a bit extravagant for my taste and I'd all but lost hope until I came to the last dress in the row. It had almost been hidden by the huge skirt of a maroon gown, but the light pink had caught my eye. I blew a bit of dust off of it as I took it from the row and held it against myself. I lost my breath for a moment. It was an off the shoulder gown with delicate lace and small roses around the neckline and a silk pink rose at the waist. The back had a flowing lovely train with three elegant folds of the beautiful fabric tied back. Tucked into the neckline were a pair of white gloves with a beautiful embroidered design on them, and to my extreme surprise a silver mask with a handle. I couldn't believe it. It was almost as if I had been drawn to that dress inexplicably and what a strange coincidence that someone had obviously worn it to a masked ball before.

"Did you find anything?" Charles's voice came, startling me as I spun around facing him, still holding the dress to myself. A smile played at his lips. "So you did...it's perfect." He said, satisfied with himself.
"Almost too perfect...did you plan this?" I asked him suspiciously and he shook his head.
"I swear I didn't. It must be fate." He said, winking at me and most likely remembering I had said fate was overrated. I snorted.
"Yes fate." I said, nudging him out of my way and pretending to brush him off as I left the closet, but I wasn't so sure anymore. In a span of four hours, too much had happened.
"Come on Charles," I said, walking back toward the kitchen, "I need a drink."

I must have drunk too much for I found myself giggling at everything Charles said. He watched me, half drunk himself, half amused as I leaned on him in his sitting room as the hours crawled by.
"Do you want to dance?" He asked, his eyes twinkling in the firelight.
"But...there isn't any music silly Charles!" I giggled. It was so strange. I knew I was being ridiculous, but it was like I was watching myself act stupid from across the room and I couldn't do a damn thing about it. He smiled in an adorable giddy way and extended his hand to me.
"So what? Use your imagination silly girl!" He said, pulling me up and against him. Suddenly my head felt very heavy and I leaned it against his chest, for the first time realizing how much taller he was than I.

He whirled me around the room, making me dizzy with delight as we laughed so hard our sides hurt. He dipped me and stumbled as he did, making us both fall to the floor, still laughing. He stopped laughing, but never lost his smile as he looked into my eyes with those silvery green eyes of his. Again, they seemed to glow yellow in the firelight and I couldn't take my eyes off of them. I pouted my lips and tilted my head up toward him only to find myself saying,
"Charles, you can kiss me if you want..." He drew back, suddenly sobering.
"What?"
"Kiss me Charles..." I whispered, reaching for him, but he stood, picking me up with him. I truly did want him in that moment, in my drunken way of thinking.

"Madeleine," He said, using my full name sternly, "As much as I'd like that, I can't. I can't take advantage of you like this..." When he said that, my eyes snapped open and the room came into focus. What the hell was I doing? Two glasses of wine and I was clay in his perfectly shaped hands? I sank down onto the sofa and buried my head in my hands.
"Oh my God, Charles, I am so sorry..." I said, completely ashamed of myself and my stupidity. He sat beside me and patted my back gently.
"Maddie...it's fine, but I am going to take you back to the opera now..." He said sweetly as I nodded. I picked up the gown and we got into his carriage as he drove and we sat in silence. I felt so horrible about the way I had thrown myself at him, not to mention my head was now beginning to throb as the drunkenness wore off.

He walked me to my room and I smiled at him as I opened the door.
"Thank you Charles..." I said leaning up to kiss his cheek softly. He repeated the gesture and we suddenly found our faces less than an inch apart. Realizing this, we both quickly moved back awkwardly as I said,
"Well...I should get ready for bed...it's been a long day and I have rehearsal in the morning..." I said uncomfortably and he nodded.
"I better go see how Dad's doing..." He replied and I nodded too, awkwardly.
"Well...goodnight Charles...and thank you from the bottom of my heart for lending me your mother's gown..."

He smiled at this and bowed extravagantly.
"My pleasure m'lady...sweet dreams." He said, and kissed my hand as I rolled my eyes, but laughed anyway. As I made to move into the room, he still held onto my hand.
"What now?" I asked with a laugh and he suddenly looked serious and unsure of whether he should say or not. Sighing he said,
"Who is Chloe?" I knew by this he had seen my locket and I breathed deeply, thinking of it. Any other time I would have been angry that he had looked at my personal possession, but I felt surprisingly unaffected by it and sighed.
"Chloe was my mother...she died when I was six." I said and a sad expression came over his face.
"I'm sorry Maddie..." He said, and I shrugged.
"Life goes on. I've moved past it." I said, fighting the inevitable tears that always came and he patted my cheek.
"Goodnight Madeleine."
"Goodnight Charles."