Chapter 20: The gala party

White Palace is known as the residence of the President of the state and his family. It is also the workplace of other government officials. It has a beautiful landscape in front and the building itself is designed with a row of big Corinthian column in front as the structure is huge.

The party is held at the hall room of the White Palace. The arrangement of the venue is quite luxurious. There were chandeliers hanging by the ceiling and the walls are decorated in a mosaic style. The stage was design in a colorful manner as a symbol of harmony between the six countries.

Leila came at the party at exactly seven in the evening. She was greeted by Lt. Madrigal by the door of the White palace as she knows that she will also attend at this party. Then, after that they started to walk towards the hall room and they were stopped by the soldier guarding the door. Since Leila and Lt. Madrigal are both soldiers, they just presented their I.D. and said that they were on duty to accompany Ms. Emily. Once the soldier confirmed their identities, Leila and Lt. Madrigal gained entry at the hall room.

The theme of the party is about the harmony of the six countries and so the guest can wear whatever formal attire they have. Some wore their national dress especially the Presidents, Prime Minister and the Representatives, while some were like Leila which wears a dress.

Once inside, they first look for Emily which was mingling with other guests. Emily already saw them so, she excused herself from the guests she's talking with earlier then, approach Leila and Lt. Madrigal.

"I'm glad to see you here, Leila. I was worried that you won't come in this party", Emily greeted the two with a smile.

"Thank you, Ma'am. It is an honor for me to be able to attend this kind of party and so, I'm thankful that you invited me here, Ma'am", Leila replied in a courteous manner while a smile is plastered on her face.

Emily sighed exasperatedly then said , "Can you two stop calling me Ma'am. I want you two to become my friends and besides, tomorrow I will fly back to country E so, there is no need for you two to become so formal and just enjoy ourselves in this party".

"Also, I'm only slightly older than you two so, stop calling me Ma'am", she added with a slightly irritated tone which garners a giggle from Leila and Lt. Madrigal.

The three went to the assigned table for them as the party were now about to start.

The party started with the usual program of starting it with a prayer, then, the opening remarks from the Pres. Maxillano, thanking the guests for attending the party and such. While a set of intermission numbers were the performers performed the different folk dance and songs of country P where commencing, the people can start eating their dinner from the buffet table as it was already eight thirty in the evening.

Nicolas were roaming around the area, though he already saw Leila earlier but, it seems like our dear Col. Gen. started to feel cowardly in front of a woman as he just went on his daily routine and can't even approach Leila. It was not because he wants to avoid his responsibility or anything but, it's just, he also wants to sort mind first as things quite happened suddenly and he couldn't adapt yet to the situation as now he will become a father. He still haven't talk with his family about though, he doesn't want to hide it or anything, so he just wants to sort his feelings for a few days first before he approach Leila.

Since the party will end by twelve in the evening so the trio consisting of Leila, Emily and Lt. Madrigal were just sitting by their table and were chatting about anything that goes in their minds while a certain rock band from the Country P were performing on stage.

Leila already notice that Emily seems to be quite a drinker as she already refilled her cup of wine for a several times now, as Leila cannot drink wine as she is pregnant, Lt. Madrigal were the one who was being nudged by Emily to accompany her in drinking wine earlier, but now, Emily started to drink a whiskey.

Leila was quite worried as she knows that Emily still has her flight early in the morning. She cannot drink a lot or else it will be troublesome if she gets drunk so she wants to stop her but, she only said that she can drink a lot so there is no need for her to get worried.

A waiter again approached their table and Emily once again gets a cup of whiskey. Once, it was already ten in the evening, Emily started to feel like she needs to go to the comfort room to relieve herself as she now felt a little tipsy. Leila and Lt. Madrigal accompany her on the comfort room.

Once inside, Emily started to feel dizzy then, fainted. Lt. Madrigal also felt like something is wrong with her body as she also started to feel dizzy though she tried to maintain consciousness and so, she warned Leila before succumbing to sleep.

Leila was worried as the two fainted on the floor though she tried to wake them but it was no avail. A few minutes later, two women wearing a formal wear and seem to be one of the guests entered the comfort room. Leila were relieved to see them as she thought that they might be able to help them but, she was suddenly assaulted by the two women and they put a white fabric on her nose and she also started to faint.