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Vampire Academy is not mine. Bummer, I know.
Mia POV
Normally, I hate working these royal shin-digs. Walking around serving hour'dourves to a bunch of boring, self absorbed assholes is so mind numbing I almost want to kill myself. But tonight promises to be a can't miss event. Adrian is taking Rose and announcing their engagement. I so can't wait to see the look on all their self righteous faces. My friend Angela walks into the locker room I'm in getting ready, with an annoyed look on her face. "I can't believe I'm missing my favorite show for this. It's always the same old farts talking about the same old things, money and power and how they can get more of each. At the expense of us common folk, too I might add. God, I hate this." she sighs as she opens a locker and stuffs her purse inside.
"What show is it that's so important?" I ask her as I pull my hair back into a ponytail.
"Jerry Springer. I know it's stupid, but I can't resist a good cat fight." Oh, she is so going to be loving tonight.
"Well Angie baby, I have a feeling you're going to be very thankful you're working tonight." I say with a smirk. She just looks at me confused.
"What are you talking about, Mia? Do you know something? Spill!" she demands. Hmm, I could tell her, but I think she'll enjoy it more if she finds out with the rest of the room.
"Sorry, can't tell. Just believe me when I say you're going to love it." I say before walking out of the locker room.
"Bitch!" she yells playfully as I leave. I walk into the kitchen to see all the cooks running around frantically trying to get all the food ready for the guests. It's not a sit down dinner, but there is still a huge spread. I see my friend Mark barking orders on the other side of the room. He's the one that got me the job as a server. I had a bit of a crush on him until I found out he's gay. That's always the way it goes. The good ones are either gay or married.
"Hey Mark. I hope you could use a taste tester because I'm starving." I say rubbing my belly. He rolls his eyes at me because I always show up for work hungry.
"Taste away my dear. Just leave some for the guests or I'll blacklist you and you work around here again." he teases.
"Promise?" I ask as I place a stuffed mushroom in my mouth. Oh my goodness this is so good. I take a few more bites of various food before Mark claps his hands together to get all of our attention.
"All right people, let's focus. We're expecting a full house tonight, so we need to keep on our toes." He starts giving us our assignments on which area we're working on. I don't pay too much attention until I hear my name. "Mia, I'm putting you on drinks since I don't think I can trust that the food will actually make it out to the floor if you're carrying it." he says with a raised eyebrow as I stuff my face with a crab puff.
"Hey, wuffs that spos ta meen." I say with a mouthfull of food. He shakes his head with a chuckle along with the rest of the kitchen. Whatever. I get thirsty too. He sends us to our stations and I walk over to the bar with the rest of the beverage servers. "I don't suppose you'll let me sample what I'll be serving from here? You know, in case someone asks my oppinion on the flavor?" I ask one of the bartenders, Craig, with a smile. Unfortunately, he's worked with me before and denies me a drink. Damn.
The first of the Royals start to enter and we are sent on our way, trays full of champaigne or wine. Angela is also serving drinks with me and we walk together to the small group of guests. "I just know my ass is going to be black and blue from all the pinching it's going to get from all these old geizures." she says. I want to laugh, but I know from experience she's right. Most of these royal men think they can get away with anything, and do.
I find myself stealing glances at the door waiting for the main event to come strutting through the door. I'm trying to stay by the entrance as much as possible so I don't miss all the action, but my tray is empty and I have to go get more drinks. Please Rose, wait five minutes if you love me at all. I hurry over to the bar and plop my empty tray down and start drumming my fingers on the table, impatiently waiting for more. "Some time this century will be great, boys." I say to two busy, scowling bartenders.
"Mia, I'm going to say this once tonight. Give me any lip and I'll make your night hell." Craig says back. Touchy. I want to say something back, but I bite my lip knowing it won't help me get my drinks faster. I just give him my best smile instead and wait. I look over to the rear doors where the guardians enter and I see Eddie and Dimitri walk in. Oh shit, that means Lissa and Tasha are about to enter. And where Lissa is, Rose isn't too far behind. Craig is putting the filled glasses on my tray now, but stops before placing the last glass down. What the hell is the hold up? I look up to see a cruel smile on his face.
"Ugh, you're killing me Smalls." I groan as I look to him with pleading eyes. He knows I'm anxious to get back out there and he's purposely making me wait. I need to get out there. I don't want to miss a second of the ensueing reactions. I grab the tray anyway and walk off, leaving Craig still holding the glass.
"You forgot one, Rinaldi." he yells to me. I flip him the bird as I walk swiftly away to get a prime spot for the show. This is going to be great. Angela must see the ridiculous smile on my face because she gives me her 'what's going on' look. I give her a wink to let her know things are going to start getting exciting. She looks in the direction I'm looking and sees Tasha enter followed by Lissa and Christian. Their are a few whispers because of the Ozera's, but that's normal. I'm know Rose and Adrian are next and I'm so excited it takes all my strength to keep from jumping up and down.
"Now arriving, Lord Adrian Ivashkov and his fiance Guardian Rosemarie Hathaway." The whole room goes silent. All eyes seem to gravitate to the couple walking in. She looks so beautiful in that dress. Rose and Adrian are smiling as he leads her over to where Lissa and Christian are. I'm so proud of them. It doesn't take long for the silence to be replaced with whispered conversations about the couple. I walk by some royal bitches about my age as they attempt to rip Rose apart.
"I wouldn't be surprised if she's blackmailing him. How else do you explain it? Adrian could have his pick of any Moroi woman and he chooses her? Definitely something going on." I want to tell the bitch off, but I know I can't, not without getting thrown out on my ass. As I continue my service I hear the words bloodwhore and drunk womanizer more and more. Such close minded people. I'm starting to regret working tonight. I try to find them again and see an old couple talking to them. The woman looks rather pissed as she grabs who I assume is her husband and storms away. Damn, I should have been closer to hear what was said.
I turn around and come face to face with Jesse Zeklos and Emily Conta. She really did scrape the bottom of the barrel to get a date. This should be interesting. "Mia." he greets me with a twisted smile.
"Jesse." I greet back. Emily gives me a glare as we stand there looking at each other.
"That's Lord Zeklos to you." she corrects me. Is she for real? I guess she needs to be enlightened with our history.
"No, when you've seen someone naked and had them groaning your name in pleasure on top of you, you're pretty much on a first name basis. Don't you think, Jesse?" I thought he'd be a little embarrassed that I brought that up, but he doesn't seem to be. Instead he looks me up and down as if seeing if I'd be good for another go round. He's such a pig. Emily looks pissed, though. Good. That was the point after all. "Champaigne?" I ask as I present my tray to them. They each take a glass and I turn to leave when Jesse decides to put his two cents in about Rose and Adrian.
"I always knew Adrian was banging Rose. I just never knew he'd do something so stupid as marry her. I mean, why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free. Or should I say blood?" I bite my tongue so hard not to snap at him that I probably have puncture wounds. "Of course he's such a crazy drunk, no decent Moroi woman would have him." he adds while taking a sip of his drink. I look over to Emily knowing she was pretty desperate for his attention. She blushes a little but doesn't say anything. I walk away from them, not wanting to test my restraint too much before I say something I'll regret.
I see Eddie standing on guard at the back along the wall, so I decide to go say hi. Ever since the incident in Spokane, Eddie and I have become good friends. But for some reason, recently I've seem to notice how handsome he really is. At dinner with Rose and Adrian last week, he seemed more attentive to me. Maybe it's my imagination, but he seemed to look at me more and let his frequent touches last a bit longer than normal. Every time he lets his gaze linger, I get all sorts of butterflies in my stomach. I wonder if he's starting to feel something for me too.
"Hey Eddie. Found yourself a good spot to watch all the action?" I say as I stand next to him, looking over the crowd. I turn to look at him, waiting to see if he'll respond when he looks back at me. Slowly, I see the corner of his mouth pull up into a little smile.
"It was interesting. It's a good thing I took an oath not to harm Moroi or else a few of these old perverts would be sporting black eyes for their comments about Rose's attributes." I see his eyes wash over me quickly before he puts his guardian mask back on. He likes me. I'm about to ask if he has any free time tomorrow when the Queen comes in. Damn. I give him one last smile as I go back to work. I walk around the room while the Queen gives her speech, picking up empty glasses people have abandoned everywhere. After leaving the dirty glasses with the dishwasher, I go see Craig for a refill. I stand there waiting for my drinks daydreaming about what it would be like to kiss Eddie, when the sound of Rose's and Dimitri's names bring me back to reality. I hear applause but don't know why.
"What's going on?" I ask everyone around me.
"Guardians Hathaway and Belikov have been announced as the Queen's new personal guardians." Craig tells me. Holy Shit! I start jumping up and down and clapping at the good news. "Why are you so happy?" Craig asks while putting the last drink on my tray.
"They're friends of mine. Can't a girl be happy for her friends?" I smile as I walk away with a full tray.
About a half hour later, I decide that I need a break. I walk outside through the kitchen to see Angela already sitting on the steps smoking a cigarette. "How did you know Ivashkov is marrying his guardian?" she asks me.
"I found out last week. We're friends. Could you believe some of those old hags and what they were saying?"
"Well, I'm majorly bummed. I've been waiting for Ivashkov to notice me and come sweep me off my feet like in the movies for the past two years. I always thought I never had a chance because I wasn't royal. Now I see I wasn't even the right species. Who knew?" she laughs before taking another drag.
"Sorry Angela, but if you knew them like I do, you'd know they really do belong together." We sit together and tell each other they best gossip and rumors we heard. My break over, I walk back in to get back to work, when I hear loud male voices coming from the ladies room. I peek inside and see Rose surrounded by four Moroi men. I start to panick knowing Rose is in trouble. I have to find Adrian. I run back to the ball room and almost knock Adrian over as we collide.
"Rose..." is all I get out as he pushes me aside and runs straight to the restroom she's in, like he already knows she's there. I see Dimitri and Rose's mom following him so I join them. Adrian bursts through the door and runs right to Rose, who's on the floor looking like she's on fire. I see the water running in the sink and automatically pull the water and send it to Rose to put the fire out. Adrian has her in his arms in a matter of seconds. Moments later the others catch up and walk in.
I just know notice Lord Conta standing there and Emily sitting on the floor with quite a shiner. Man, I wish I was here to see that. Dimitri has a look on his face that scares the crap out of me. Rose's mom sees it too and pulls him back before he can hurt anyone. But not Adrian. He gets up and starts beating the crap out of Conta. Go Adrian. Yeah, punch him harder. Unfortunately, Dimitri stops Adrian's fists of fury too soon for my liking. More guardians come in to take Rose's attackers away. I so enjoy seeing Emily being cuffed and dragged out as I smile at her as she passes. Ha ha.
Out of the corner of my eye, I see Rose's dress on the ground. It didn't even register to me that she didn't have it on. Well, she can't go around in her underwear, so I bring it over to her. I see her mom hugging Rose and Adrian and I wait until she leaves to kick the everyone else out so Rose can get dressed. I look her over and I feel so bad for her. She looks horrible with her makeup all smeared and streaked. We need to get her cleaned up before she scares people. "Honey, you look like a raccoon in drag. Let's wash that make up off. It's not like you need it anyway." I tell her as I pull her over to the sink. We get her looking like herself again and walk out to everyone waiting outside the door. Of course Lissa practically knocks her over when she tackles her in one of her hugs. After Rose reassures us all that she's fine, Adrian takes her home. I knew tonight was going to be exciting, I just didn't know how right I was.
I hoped you liked Mia's point of view. I wanted to give someone else a chance to be heard. Thanks for reading and don't forget to review and tell me what you thought.