I smirked; he was finally forced to wear his penguin waiter uniform. I stopped and let him walk ahead. I didn’t want him to see me and make some stupid comment. He sensed that someone was behind him and turned around. A smug smile washed over his face when he saw me. “Queen Arelia, you look absolutely ravishing tonight. Green really is your color.” “Shut-up Ivan.” I got out of my deer in head lights pose and sprinted to the spiral stair case. Ivan followed. “See you got all that mud off, you wash up pretty nice.” He clutched a piece of my hair and gave it a nice long sniff. I slapped his hand away. “Don’t touch me, ever,” I said, as I recalled Aunt Mae’s warning. Never let weird people near you. I turned my back on him and practically ran down the stairs, a move that I regretted given the fact that I was wearing Sabrina’s insanely high Jimmy Choos. Downstairs, the main floor looked unearthly. Marble floors gleamed, crystal chandeliers sparkled and the sound of a lively jazz band radiated from the ballroom along with the chatter of slightly drunk guests.
