14th of February. Day of the lovers.

The sun was climbing over the horizon, light slipping through the blinds and hitting your face. The sharp light making you squeeze your eyes and forcing you to roll over. Today was a special day—for couples, who else?

You and Mel were work partners. The problem was, you were still partners, maybe the “work” was there just to make it feel riskier, or maybe it was that Mel couldn’t choose between you and Jayce. Was it really that hard? What did he have you didn’t?? Yeah, sure, he was known as the golden boy but because he stole all the credit! Or did he?

Yesterday, she mentioned a party, something with the Venus planet.. or something like that. Said something about showing up together as a couple, making Jayce jealous, or proving some kind of her point. You didn’t really listen to the details. It sounded ridiculous, stupid, silly, immature!—but she’d asked, and you didn’t see a reason to say no. It was just another stunt to make the choice harder for her.

By the time the clock hit 18:20, the limousine she sent pulled up in front of your place. It was sleek, black with golden stripes and too much for a night like this. Typical Mel. The second you slid in the drove locked the doors and drove to the charming building. It reminded you of the Palace of Versailles.

When you stepped out, the building loomed ahead — high ceilings, glass walls, the kind of place that screamed money. Inside, everything smelled like champagne, gossip, lies, cheats and expensive perfume. The crowd was already in motion: laughter, clinking glasses, music too soft to care about. Not that anyone was even dancing, why?? You thought it was a day of celebrating your significant other.

Then you saw her.

Right in the middle of it all. Mel.

She stood out without even trying, like she was built for attention. Every move of hers looked deliberate. The way she held her glass, the way she turned heads. She knew very well what she was doing. Jayce was up at the balcony, no Viktor by his side. You knew Viktor wasn’t much into these type of actions, but why would Jayce go here alone?

You walked over. Talked. Laughed a bit. Drank more than you planned. It was easy to drink with her, something about her coaxing you to dumb your rational senses. She flirted, of course she did, should you flirt back?

Now here you were, hours later, letting her take your hand. Her fingers were cool. She didn’t look back, expecting you to follow without a question or doubt or anything in between. She simply took your hand, gave you that sly look and turned her back to you, creating an eager and hasty pace. You didn’t know where she was leading you, she didn’t bother with informations.