341 words.
Charity
Charity balls were the last place he
wanted to find himself. The only people that looked remotely normal were the wait
staff. Slipping around the throng, he passed some god-like warrior with a
menacing faux machete on his belt. He paused briefly to contemplate the two
before he pushed forward.
These tickets had come months ago,
back when he was with her. Back when
he was going to have a damsel in distress on his arm. Passing another couple,
he frowned as his eyes remained transfixed on the woman head of him.
It wasn’t that she was nearly nude
that bothered him. Several of the guests were wearing less than a tea cozy. He
was paralyzed by the sight of her.
She still came; her date holding her possessively around the waist. A gruesome
monster strolled in the space between the, blocking his view for a moment. Forcing
his focus elsewhere, he found himself at the dessert table. Noticing the usual
range of high class sweets, he took note of the extravagant rollercoaster cake,
surprisingly untouched. For a charity, this was some rather expensive food.
Hoping to distract himself, he
grabbed a small plate and wandered away. His tail was a firm train as he pushed
between people and planted himself as the wallflower. With the majority of
guests in costume it was tough to determine who was who. All he wanted was
someone to talk to, to keep his mind off of her.
His mind had other plans,
continually returning to her. She was
currently feigning interest as her date chatted with what he assumed to be
fellows. Recognizing them as big rats from The
Nutcracker, he smirked, finding that image rather fitting. But as he
observed them, his eyes returned to her.
They had said it was mutual, that
this was for the best. It felt like another of her mind-games. A simulation to
prove he wasn’t over her; that he needed her so he would be more than just “that
guy.”
He didn’t want to be “that guy.”
