Once she had regained her grip on reality, Ariella's eyes settled on the black velvet box. She carefully climbed out of bed and floated, as if in a trance, towards it. Slowly, she picked it up. Her fingers were eager to open it, but something told her not to. However, it did not out weight her eagerness and curiosity. With gentle fingers, she opened it, revealing its contents to her emerald eyes and her emerald eyes only.
After Tora's meeting...
"What did he want?" Ari asked as Tora approached her.
"Nothing, he just wanted to talk about business," there was an uneasiness in his voice.
"Oh," she could tell he hiding something, but decided not to ask him about it, "so do you want to hear the song I'm singing for the benefit?"
"Yes, I would love to," he said perking up a bit.
"Too bad," she teased him, "you'll have to wait like everyone else."
"That isn't fair!"
"Life isn't fair," she smiled, unaware of how her words were affecting Tora.
"You're right," he whispered. Life wasn't fair, he now knew that all too well.