The air hung heavy with tension. Rosa had practically ushered Nicholas and Camille to the dance floor, despite Nicholas's protests. Rosa sent a satisfied smirk my way before sauntering off to God knows where. I remained seated beside the buffet table, watching the stiff rod that was Nicholas and a determined Camille. She seemed to be ill-informed about the role I played in Nicholas's life, judging by the glare she directed at me.

I averted my eyes to the buffet table and picked up a piece of cake. I bit into the cake and focused on the fluffy texture and burst of vanilla on my taste buds, rather than the constant tapping of my feet against the floor. My eyes moved back to the duo on the dance floor and the sway of the elaborate ruffles on the hem of Camille's dress. She held eye contact with me as she strutted her long, hairless leg between Nicholas's and pressed up against him.

I loved watching drama sizzle between people on reality shows but I didn't appreciate being a part of the drama, in real life. Can this night just end? I looked away and blew out a chest full of air as I drummed my fingers against my knee. It felt like eyes were on me and I didn't appreciate that feeling one bit.

"Green is an ugly colour on you," Evelyn remarked, an amused smile playing on her lips. She had her fist loosely balled up beneath her chin and her elbow propped against her crossed thighs.

For a minute, I'd forgotten she was seated across from me. "What? No." I shook my head and waved my hands, in front of my chest.

"It's okay to be jealous. I mean, if someone was pressed up against my husband like that, I will end them" she glanced at the dance floor then back at me.

Jealous? No, love. I want to leave. I chuckled as I shook my head. "I think you're reading too much into this relationship. We're just co-parents, that's all. This is for the sake of the baby"

"Keep telling yourselves that till you actually believe it," she said as she picked up a glass of wine from the table and sipped it.

I released a sigh and reclined into my seat. Being defensive would only prove one thing; she was right. Why was everyone insinuating romance in our relationship? Can't two people have a baby and take care of it without there being any romantic feelings? Was it a rule of some sort?

I drained another glass of water and excused myself to the bathroom. It felt like the baby was sitting atop my bladder, and my armpits twitched with perspiration. My gown proved once again to be an asset. With one hike, I relieved myself with ease. Imagine if I had to peel the dress off just to use the bathroom. Within the privacy of the toilet stall, I rolled out some toilet paper and dabbed at my wet pits. I blew out a raspberry as I trashed the used toilet paper into the toilet bowl and flushed.

I stepped out of the toilet stall and moved to the sink to wash my hands when I noticed a figure standing by the wall. Camille had her arms crossed over her chest and her full lips curled in distaste. Are you kidding me? ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME?

I sighed and went about washing my hands, ignoring her presence. She kicked off the wall and sauntered forward. I watched her run her eyes over my body, through the mirror on the wall. What is this? High School Musical?

"I don't know what Nicholas saw in you" she commented, looking at me through the mirror.

Apparently, it was being odd. Maybe you could try that. I turned off the faucet and flapped off water droplets from my fingers. I leaned closer to the mirror, inspected my makeup for smudges, and smacked the gloss over my nude lips.

"I'm sure, he was disgusted with himself when he realized what a hideous creature you were," she spat, bitter leaf juices sloshed all over her words.

Was that supposed to be an insult? Sweetheart, you came late. I've already been called worse. I chuckled and plastered a wide smile on my face as I walked past her. I didn't miss the dumbstruck expression that took over her features. Silence is very much golden. Also, what kind of person would I look like, exchanging words in a restroom?

Nicholas intercepted me, on my way to the table. He peered over my shoulder in the direction of the restroom then settled back on me. "You took quite some time in there. Are you okay?"

I nodded. "Yeah. Why wouldn't I be?"

The muscle at the side of his jaw ticked as he looked over my shoulder. I turned around in time to see Camille walking away from the restroom. He returned his gaze to me and ran them over my body. "What did she say to you?"

"Nothing really," I hooked my arm around his and turned him towards the direction of my seat.

"Are you sure?" he glanced behind him once again and gave me a wary look.

"I'm good" I patted his arm and changed course towards the dance floor. "Let's have one go at the dance floor"

He stopped in his tracks and in turn, halted my movements. "You want to dance? Are you sure you don't want to sit down for a while?"

I cocked my head to the side. "Excuse me, I've been sitting down since I got here," I retrieved my arm from his and crossed my arms over my chest. "You invited me here, you need to make my time here worthwhile"

"My apologies," he placed a hand over his heart and held out it to me. "Would you like to dance?"

I dropped my hands to my side and smiled. "How nice of you to ask. I would like to, thank you" I placed my hand atop his outstretched hand.

His lips tugged up in a small smile as he led me to a spot on the side of the dance floor. An ongoing song came to its end just as we stood and faced each other. I placed one hand on his shoulder and he took the other then he encircled an arm around my waist. Soft piano chords struck to begin our round of slow dancing. We started with a slow sway from left to right then relaxed into swaying in whatever direction our feet took us.

Other than a Christmas ballroom dance presentation when I was in Primary school, I'd never experienced waltzing with a grown partner. It wasn't exactly as pleasurable as the movies made it seem but it was nice to reenact almost every romantic movie.

I leaned against his firm chest, pressing the side of my face against his tuxedo. I hope my makeup doesn't imprint on his jacket. I retracted my head and eyed his jacket. I'm good. I rested my head back against him. This is actually nice . . . and warm. Now, I see why those female leads loved this activity so much. I breathed in his cologne and sighed with ease. He smelled of fresh musk and alcohol with a hint of bergamot and berry.

I moved my line of sight to the band a few feet away from us and tried to decipher what song was playing. After a few minutes of straining my ears and mind to pinpoint any kind of familiarity, I gave up. I probably don't know this one.

"Are you not going to ask about her?" Nicholas broke the silence.

I tore my eyes away from the band and lifted them up to meet his grey orbs. "Do you want me to?"

"I don't know. I thought you'd be a bit curious" He moved my hand and placed it over his chest then slid his arm behind me, joining the other.

"I'll admit, I am curious about the story between you two. It's obvious both of you were involved" and that it ended on bad terms.

"We did date when we were younger, in college. She broke it off – she wanted to figure out her life alone. Turned out, that she just wanted to move on to someone with a larger pocket. Someone who wasn't dependent on their family" he said

I glided my hand up his chest and settled on his shoulder. "And you still feel angered, seeing her again, right?" I began to knead the muscles of his neck with my fingers.

He shut his eyes for a second, exhaled and reopened them. "Maybe. I don't get why my mom would invite her here"

Because she's not okay and is ridiculously petty for a grown woman. I shrugged my shoulders. "Enough about them. So, how's uh— Business?"

He cocked an eyebrow as the corner of his lips tugged up. "Business?"

A peal of laughter escaped me and I shook my head. "I didn't really know what to ask. It was that or your family"

His chest vibrated with laughter but he didn't let it out. We resumed our silent swaying to the music. At some point, Nicholas surprised me with an abrupt slow spin and light dip then returned back to the status quo.

"Thank you," Nicholas whispered, his jaw resting on top of my hair.

With my face pressed up against his chest yet again, basking in his cologne and warmth, I tried to lift my eyes up to him but couldn't see past my lashes. "For what?"

The band's performance rose to an epic crescendo before coming to an expected halt. Dancers pulled apart to give a round of applause to the band whilst I stared up at Nicholas as we distanced our bodies, drowning out the noise.

"Being here" he mouthed and caressed the side of my face with his fingers.

His fingers glided down to my chin and his eyes lowered to my lips for a millisecond before switching back to my eyes. The air between us charged up. Heat surged beneath my skin and my heart rate picked up. I couldn't hold the intensity of the eye contact, the smouldering look that set out to bind me in a transfixed state. His determined grey orbs didn't leave my face as took a step closer and tipped my chin upward.

"Pfft," I sputtered as I stepped out of his grasp and waved a hand in front of my face, letting out a halfhearted chuckle. "It's no biggie." I felt behind my neck with the pad of my fingers and pushed out my upper lip with the swipe of my tongue. "I need – I'm going to get some water now," I pointed at the buffet table with my thumb and didn't await any responses before hightailing.

I blinked rapidly as I reached the table and picked up a sealed bottle of water. My hands trembled as I unscrewed the cap and took one big gulp. I dabbed the corner of my mouth and exhaled, letting my hands fall limp onto the table. Wow, that got intense, real quick.

"You still think you're co-parents?" Evelyn emerged from my side and picked up another bottle of water.

Really? I cocked my head to the side and pursed my lips at her.

She raised her hands in mock surrender and took a long sip of water, an amused smile playing behind her bottle.

I cleared my throat. "So, what's the deal with this Camille girl?"

Her smile fell and she screwed her water bottle close. "Well, she's the daughter of one of my mother's close friends. She's basically a family friend"

"Okay..." I nodded, holding up for more information.

"The short of it is, my mom wants them back together," she said, sweeping her palm over her laidback hair.

"After knowing the reason why they broke up in the first place?" I lifted a brow at her.

She shrugged her shoulders and sighed. "She's under some kind of impression that Camille was immature and has now changed. Look, I'm against the whole idea but only much can be said to change my mother's mind. She's like an iron-clad armour when her mind is made up"

What's better than a supposed pregnant gold digger? – A non-pregnant, family-acquainted one. What a wonderful world.

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