“Yeah. You’re right.” He grabbed his mask from the table and slid it on. It skewed left a little, structured black felt with two cutouts for his eyes. I’d asked the rental company for the simplest mask they’d had, knowing Bill wouldn’t wear anything elaborate. “How do I look?”
“Good.” I picked up my own mask and fingered it. It had come with the dress and was more intricate—ivory lace overlay, glass pearls at the corners of the eyes, and a spray of white feathers off to the side.
“What’s wrong?” he asked when silence stretched between us. “Are you still upset about this afternoon?”
I gave him a reassuring smile. “No.”
“K.” His shoulders slackened, and he smiled goofily. “Tonight’s going to be fun. I’m looking forward to it.”
I nodded, wondering at his shifty mood. As of late, our dispositions had rarely been on the same page. So, as I stretched the mask over my hair and fixed it on my face, I promised myself that I would be in high spirits for the night. No matter what.
18
Tickets to the animal shelter’s masquerade ball had been expensive, but Bill knew how much supporting the shelter meant to me. It was held on a temperate September night at a private mansion just outside the city, a lavish home with curved staircases and velvety gold décor that reeked of luxury. Bill and I circled the silent auction table, joking about how much we’d bid on an eighty-two-foot yacht or a ten-day Jamaican vacation. We found Lucy and Andrew hovering over courtside seats for the Bulls.
“You look stunning,” Andrew said, appraising me. “Well done.”
“Thanks,” I said with a sheepish smile, turning to Lucy. She donned an ornate sky blue dress that matched both Andrew’s tie and her Venetian mask. “You guys look great, too.”
“Your waist is so tiny in that dress,” I heard from behind me.
I turned to face Danielle, Lucy’s sister. “Oh. Hi, Dani.”
“Really, Liv, you’re so little,” she continued.
“I’m notlittle,” I said with a hint of irritation. I’d never been that close with Dani, but had she always been so patronizing? “Lucy’s barely five feet—she’slittle.”
“You know what I mean—skinny,” Dani said, waving her hand nonchalantly. Her long, chocolate-colored hair was styled in perfect, luxurious ringlets, her eyes especially green behind a brown mask. A pang of envy washed over me, and I remembered the stupid pink hoodie. Hadn’t David broken things off? Why did she look so happy?
I glanced around. Was he here tonight?
“Not much of a mask, Bill,” she quipped.
He shrugged. “Better than Phantom of the Opera over here.”
Andrew visibly blushed under the white mask that covered half his face. “What’s wrong with mine?”
“You look very handsome, honey,” Lucy said.
We all laughed and headed into the ballroom to take our seats. Since Bill and I had been seated at a table closer to the front, I waved at Lucy from across the room and texted her to save me a dance. The director spoke about the shelter’s mission and their goal to spread the word about animal adoption and the plight of homeless animals. Bill squeezed my knee. He whispered he was proud that I’d been regularly volunteering there the past few years, even though I knew in my heart it wasn’t enough. When the director’s speech concluded, the room filled with applause.
“That was nice,” Bill commented as the dancefloor filled up. When ballroom music started, he turned to me and grabbed my hand. “Come on.”
“What?” I hesitated. “I don’t know how to dance to this.”
“Just come,” he said, pulling me to the dancefloor.
I started laughing, more from nervousness than anything. “Bill,” I protested between giggles.
He whirled around and stood in front of me before bowing at the waist and offering his hand. “May I have this dance?”
I adjusted my mask and put my hand in his. “Certainly.”
He stood just slightly from my body while gripping my hand in the air. He began to dance, leading me in a waltz. I wasn’t surprised, since I knew of his childhood lessons, but I was thrown by how confidently he led me. I moved easily with him, unable to hold back a big smile.
We glided across the floor, darting through some couples while the less experienced ones moved aside to watch. He danced in sync with the tempo, and I let myself get carried away, spinning faster and faster as the music hit its stride. His posture lengthened with the acceleration, and soon, the flurry of my skirt and the violin had swept me up. As the music hit its apex, Bill whirled me. I spun around. Chestnut-brown eyes hit me like a wall. At David’s masked glare from across the room, I lost my step, and Bill broke just in time to catch me. My smile fell instantly at the piercing fury radiating from David, despite the distance between us. Bill whisked me around again, and David had disappeared. I finished out the dance, not wanting to ruin Bill’s moment, but dread built inside me.
When the music stopped, Lucy and Andrew gushed over our dance. Bill gave me a hurried kiss on the cheek, laughed, and explained to them how his parents had made him take ballroom dancing as a teenager for his college apps. With my heart in my throat, I excused myself to the bathroom.
