Arriving at the Gala

I have never been so nervous in my life. Tonight is when I find out if our company Chick Clicks is going to win the Blackbourne Award. If we win, we will have enough money to keep our business running for a long time. We will be able to write articles that help people instead of the pathetic articles that ClickIt writes. My girlfriend Leah has even more riding on this night than I do. If we win the prize money tonight, Leah's sister Andi will be able to move in with her permanently. I would really like this because I have come to love that wild teen almost as much as Leah. That is not surprising to me since Andi is a part of Leah. All of those thoughts in my head would drive me crazy if Leah weren't holding my hand now.

The main drawback to going to this fancy party is that I will be meeting the people that I used to work with. I am not looking forward to meeting Martin again because of what he did to make me quit my former job. He wanted to make me go out on dates and them just so I would have click bait. I couldn't handle that so I pushed Martin into a chocolate fountain. There is the snarky TJ who propositioned me every chance that he got. It made my skin crawl every time he hit on me. There were times when I was tempted to punch him in the nose.

The main reason that I am dreading the Blackbourne Gala is that I am not looking forward to meeting Leah's ex Camilla again. That bratty oriental somehow twisted my poor Leah around her finger when they were going out. There was a time when Leah wanted to break up with Camilla, but they wound up going on an exotic trip instead because of Camilla's manipulative actions. I know that shrew has a passionate dislike towards me since I am dating Leah now. It is perfectly fine if Camilla doesn't like me since I am not too crazy about her either. She had her chance and I am going to give Leah everything that Camilla wouldn't give her. Just the thought of that shrew is enough to tense up the grip I have on my girlfriend's hand enough for her to feel it.

"Are you okay?" Leah asked with a look of concern on her face.

"Yeah, I guess... I don't know..." I grumbled.

"Do you want to try again?" Leah admonished while giving me a stern look.

"I have never been so keyed up before. If someone tapped my shoulder, I would probably fly to the moon."

"I feel the same way, but you shouldn't forget about the wonderful support system that we have no matter what happens," Leah consoled me while glancing at a spot behind me.

I looked behind me and caught a glimpse of all of our friends who were here to support us. They were all wearing their best clothes. I was kind of surprised to see Sereena dolled up in a pretty black dress since she hardly ever dressed up. I wonder if she put on a dress just for the occasion or if she did it to impress her long haired girlfriend who was latched on her right arm. The only one of our friends who stood out was Horatio who was wearing his beanie hat. I think that he would rather die than take it off. You have got to love that beatnik.

"Ready to go inside?" Leah wondered while wearing a peach chiffon dress.

"Sure," I gave in.

I took a glance at my purple dress studded with sequins to steady myself as my date leads me into the fancy banquet hall. The place is well lit by a chandelier hanging from the center of the ceiling and by all of the fixtures on the walls. There are several rectangular tables covered by white table cloths. Each table has eight chairs around it. Leah leads me to the table reserved for our company where our food experts Felix and Isabel are already seated. Felix is wearing a sharp black tux and Isabel is wearing a stunning blue dress.

"So, I hear you two are an item now," Isabel commented.

"I also hear that there was a lot of competition for your heart, Sadie," Felix added.

"It took me a while, but I finally realized that Leah was the only one that I had any real feelings for," I explained.

"Well, I'm happy..." Isabel started to compliment us.

I looked around for the reason that Isabel stopped talking so suddenly and it did not take me long to find it. The ClickIt gang were approaching us with Martin in the lead. I couldn't help but notice that Camilla was trailing the pack and she had her eyes fixated on me. Her smile might have conveyed happiness, but I was not fooled. Her eyes seemed to shoot lasers towards me. I knew that if looks could kill, I would be dead.