Simon had one thing. He couldn't stand to look at the injustice.

And now, standing closer to the exit of the large banquet hall, he watched as one Lieutenant (fortunately, from another team) openly ignored the girl standing next to him. You came with him a couple of hours prior, your smile wide, the fabric of your dress sparkled in the light of a huge lamp on the ceiling. Simon even got distracted from his conversation with Price for a second when he saw you. And couldn't take his eyes off you ever since.

You seemed to be made for such events. With your smile and the grace with which you held a glass of champagne, you attracted all the caring and even heartless jerks like Simon himself. Standing like a work of art, surrounded by pathetic likenesses of people who didn't deserve to breathe the same air as you.

But Simon noticed how your smile dropped over time. How your hand, which once was on your companion's elbow, now hung along your torso when you were rejected after several attempts to resume physical contact. The idiot seemed to have completely stopped noticing you, just brushing aside your attempts to keep up a conversation with other soldiers, and soon he took a step closer, leaving you outside the perimeter of the makeshift circle.

This made Simon clench his fists.

You didn't deserve to be treated like this. The kind of disdain and outright ridicule that your boyfriend (maybe husband?) have been translating towards you all evening was unacceptable.

And when Christmas party came to an end, Simon decided to do something he would never have allowed himself.

When you were standing near the wall, pulling on your coat, he came closer, taking advantage of your companion's indifference. Your breathing stopped for a second as the tall stranger adjusted the collar of your coat, and his hands slid down your lower back. But before you could see his face, he was gone, leaving behind a heavy air and the smell of unfulfilled desires.

That evening, when you returned home, you found a note in your pocket.

"If you ever realize you deserve more, I will never take my eyes off you."

Simon left you his number, as well as a direct hint that he would have treated you much better. Like art that just have to be admired.