A dull today...a brighter tomorrow

For a brief 30 seconds Alice felt as if she was dreaming until she realized his eyes were fixated on her. She wanted the ground underneath to open up and swallow her but instead she found herself swallowing her own saliva. That was a strange feeling because she had never felt that way for anyone and strange too that someone noticed her in such a large crowd. She blushed and adjusted the strap of her black dress and she saw a twitch on the corner of his mouth...she bit her lip so hard until she tasted blood. Whoever this man was, he was either feared or respected by everyone in this institution. When he spoke, Alice's heart almost jumped out of her chest. She just prayed that the people standing next to her don't hear the drumming of her heart. She has to find something to calm her nerves or else she would fail to give the speech she had prepared night and day for the past six weeks. Four years ago she came into this city with close to nothing and no place to sleep but today here she is...or maybe it's all just one big dream