I held his hand tightly as I walked to the dining hall with him. My whole body shook. As we took the first step into the dining hall I took a good look around. The table was at least 30ft long and every chair was filled, except two. I felt every eye on us as we moved to our seats. Will seemed perfectly calm and I hated him for it.
Conversation was going on all around us. Some of it was in English, but a lot of it was in French. I only knew a few French words so I had no idea what they were saying. It started to get to me a little.
It wasn’t long before I realized I was starving. I hadn’t eaten anything since breakfast. I had been hungry all afternoon but I was a little too shy to say anything about it. I normally wasn’t so uncomfortable with Will. Maybe it was the strange setting.
Finally a salad and a roll was placed in front of each of us. That was when I noticed I had four forks. We had never been formal at my house so I had no clue what to do. I looked over at Will to see which fork he picked up and did the same. I mirrored him the entire meal. He noticed it and smiled over at me. Conversation was still going on all around but I was too nervous to speak.
After the meal we all just sat there and continued to talk. I continued to sit there hardly daring to move. Will tried to comfort me my placing his hand on my upper thigh. I did feel some calmer, but not calm enough to talk to anyone.
After what seemed like an eternity we were all led to a spacious room. The only light in the room came from a huge crystal chandelier that dimly glowed and tall standing candleholders that were placed around the room with lit candles. From an unseen source came the melody of an orchestra playing Christmas carols.
Couples danced to the soft soothing music. Will gently grabbed my hand and led me onto the dance floor. He took my right hand in his and put his arm around my waist. “I’ve never danced like this before,” I warned him.