Page 71 of The Encounter
After locking the stall door, she leaned against it and held a hand to her mouth. She really thought she had it. She was finally going to get a little bit of her mom back, even if it wasn’t actually her mom’s necklace. Instead, Samantha would wear it.
She sniffled and took a deep breath, trying to steady her emotions. Pushing her tears back, she stood up straight and smoothed out her dress and glanced around her. The bathroom was as fancy as the ballroom. The stall was completely enclosed, leaving no gap for anyone to peer through as the doors went from floor to ceiling. Marble floors looked like the walls. Even the toilet paper dispenser looked expensive.
When Maddie walked out several minutes later, Samantha was waiting by the sinks. Maddie ignored her and went to a sink, washing her hands and checking her makeup in the mirror. A flashing glint of the necklace caught Maddie’s eyes, and she tried her hardest not to stare.
“This necklace sure is pretty, huh?” Samantha said, her voice icy.
Maddie smiled, despite wanting to rip it off Samantha’s bony, ungrateful neck. “Yes, it is.”
“It’s quite challenging winning something like this. Perhaps you shouldn’t have walked away.”
Maddie grabbed a hand cloth off the counter to dry her hands, where only linens were presented instead of paper products. She dried them off quickly, not caring to be around Samantha longer than she needed to, then tossed the hand towel in the linen basket where a garbage can would normally go.
“Perhaps not,” Maddie said, before walking away. Just as she reached the door, Samantha’s voice called after her.
“He won’t stay with you. He’ll tire of you like he has with the rest and come right back to me.”
Maddie stopped short. Jace hadn’t mentioned Samantha was a past girlfriend. Instead of commenting, she straightened her shoulders and continued out the door. The evening already felt like it had been ruined.
24
Jace looked around for Maddie, concerned that she hadn’t come back from the bathroom yet. She was clearly upset over losing the necklace, but he couldn’t tell if it was because she really wanted it, or if it was just the fact that Samantha had won it that bothered her.
It was as if she was in a trance when she looked at it, so he suspected it more had to do with the fact that she hadn’t won. If he had thought fast enough, he would have gone back and made sure she had won, but their relationship was new. He didn’t want to throw around his weight and possibly upset her.
Before they whisked the silent auction items to the back to be claimed by the winners, Jace snagged a picture. It wasn’t a necklace he would picture her choosing over something else, but she loved it. And for that reason, he loved it.
She weaved her way through the tables and came back to theirs where he was waiting with his parents and the rest of the board members. The staff was already bringing out the first course of their meal and placing them on the tables.
He smiled at her and pulled her chair out, letting her take a seat before he sat down next to her, and then he leaned close to her ear.
“Are you okay?”
She smiled, but it hadn’t quite reached her eyes this time. The light had dimmed. “Yes. This salad looks delicious.”
Not wanting to draw attention to her, he switched gears as she had. He would ask her about it later.
“It does,” he said.
Maddie was silent as they ate. Jace looked in her direction several times to make sure she was all right, but she just wasn’t her normal, bubbly self.
Samantha walked by the table, smirking at them as she rubbed the necklace between her fingers. She winked at Jace. Once she had passed them, Jace looked over at Maddie who was staring down at her salad, no longer eating.
He settled his hand on her leg and gave it a small squeeze. She looked up at him and smiled slightly.
“You know, I was keeping this a secret, but I hear the auction for a fancy dessert is something special,” he said.
“The auction for a dessert?” she asked.
“One of the live auction items is to bid on a special dessert made by the chef here at the hotel. It’s specially made for this event. Whomever buys it, buys it for their entire table and they’re the only ones who get to eat it.”
“Sounds interesting.”
“Oh, dear, it’s so good. This year I heard it was something different. Something like, ice cream topped waffles? I don’t know. Sounds strange to me, but apparently it’s good,” Jackie said.
Maddie looked at Jace, and he couldn’t help but smile. “How did you…?”
He shrugged. “My little secret.”
