It was Christmas Eve. He looked at his watch as it reflected the lights of the tree that glowed brightly with many different lights. The watch was a gift that his fiancé gave him last year, before they were officially engaged. He changed the band of it multiple times in the year, but he kept the timepiece close to his heart. It was engraved on the back, and the words, "To my Matthew, with all the love in my heart, Dana," gave him the courage to give her the wedding ring on New Years. This would be the first Christmas they would be together as a happily engaged couple and they were more then likely going to be late to the company banquet. Palanski Advertising just received the account of one of the largest companies in the tri-city area, thanks to Matt's wheeling and dealing. He was going to be able to give a grand life to his fiancé. After the years of struggle after they both finished college, they were finally going to make it big. He didn't mind being late, but there was a fine line between being fashionably late and rude.
"Honey," he called out, "Are you almost done? We need to be there by eight o'clock."
Matt looked at his image in the mirror. He didn't look bad although he hated wearing these monkey suits. His dark hair was combed back, keeping his bangs out of his dark eyes. For someone that didn't work more then his brain on a regular basis, he looked fit and trim in his black tuxedo with black vest, for he hated those cover-bun. He adjusted the white rose on his lapel when he noticed her reflection in the mirror.
She came into the room, to him an image of perfection. Her blonde hair was piled high on her head. Her green eyes shone brightly even over the reflections of the various Christmas lights that were strung around the perfection. He was glad that he let her talk him into decorating his place. The soft lights showered her magnificently. Her long black dress was tight on the torso and hips, but hung loosely down to the ankles. A pair of black heels and a black handbag made her look like a work of art.
"Let's go," she said as she hurried out the door. He didn't have time to even open the door she started out so quickly. She had been a little bit distant to him the past couple of days. He figured it was a female thing and that she'd get over it.
The ride to the party was a short one, as he had the pedal to the floor most of the way there. He tried to make conversation but Rachael just stared out the window of the Saturn. They pulled into hotel parking lot and handed the key over to the valet.
"Dana honey," Matt asked her, "You're being awfully quiet, are you okay?"
"I'm fine," she said to him as they walked into the large, almost ball like dining hall. The walls had a red velvet coat to them, and the motif was continued with red tablecloths. Holly and mistletoe were hung over the room, giving people the opportunity to catch that kiss they always wanted to catch. There we're people dancing in the center of the dining hall and everyone was making merry. Laughter echoed through the hall as Christmas music came from the live band.
"Matt! Matt Sanders!" shouted a voice, Mr. Palanski is who it belonged too. He tried to wave Matt over, but Matt wanted to stay with Dana so she didn't go too out of place. He was talking to the people from Murray Automobile Company, the states leader in car sales. It also turned out to be the account that Matt pulled in for them.
She seemed to notice his dilemma, "Go see him, I'm going to get something to drink," she said kissing his cheek, "I'll be fine."
"Are you sure?" He asked.
"I understand you need to show your face, go!" she said pushing him in that direction.
"If you insist," he thought. Normally she wasn't that insistent about these things. He went over to his boss and got down to his mingling. Mr. Palanski kept dragging him around from place to place. It seemed not only were workers here, but clients were also wandering around too. It was almost like he wanted to rub in one of his hardest working employees that brought in the most profit. He looked at the watch on his wrist and thought of Dana. He looked around, the large red room and couldn't find her.
"You have to excuse me sir," Matt said, "I need to go find my fiancé, she's been a bit under the weather lately."
"By all means then," said Mr. Palanski. Palanski laughed a jolly laugh. He would be coming out to the party later as Santa Claus. For an old guy that ran the company, he sure liked to do his fair share to make the employees know that he could be approached. Rumor has it that anyone brave enough to ask Santa for a raise normally got it. He grinned to himself and thought Dana could probably get him a nice one. He put that aside and looked around.
You would have thought that it would be easy to find a woman in a black dress while in a red room. He found out otherwise. Diners were all over, mostly wearing black. The wait staff was also set in black dresses and black suits. Women primarily wore black, red, white, and green. There wasn't a sad face in the crowd. He noticed a doorway and exited through it. It turned out he stepped out onto a balcony. He noticed her looking out at the stars. He walked behind her and wrapped his arms around her.
She pulled away. This wasn't like her at all.
"Honey," he said, "Are you okay? You've been acting strange."
She sighed. He knew that this wasn't going to be good for some reason. He always feared the worst because normally it wasn't bad and he would feel relieved.
"I came here tonight because I didn't want to have a scene," she started.
Uh oh, he thought, this was bad.
"Last week, I cheated on you," she said taking the diamond ring off her finger, "and I liked it. Before you ask who it was, I'm not going to tell you. Primarily because you don't know the person."
He was stunned. He didn't know what to say, so he let her continue.
"I knew though that I couldn't live this way anymore. Matthew, I love you, but I would keep causing you pain. I don't think that it's wise that we get married. I need to find myself, and I can't find myself being tied down to a relationship," She walked over and put the ring in his hand. His mouth was still open wide in shock. She kissed him on the cheek, and he could see that her eyes were wet, "I'm sorry." She said as she dashed off the balcony. It took him a minute to get his senses, and he followed. Once again he seemed lost in the red and black room, and finally made it out of the room. He took the elevator downstairs and walked out of the front of the hotel. He noticed the valet and flagged him down.
