The Masquerade.

"Calvin?" Someone asks. Hmm? I look away from the photographs that are piled on my desk. I look up at the person standing over me.

"Oh hey, Dianna." I smile warmly at her. I can notice her slightly blushing. I look away from her. She still likes me... I sigh.

'You need something?" I ask as I continue looking at the photographs. None of these will work.

"Oh, well, u-um. I know you haven't found any photos that would be a good fit for our most recent story. And my friend Alexis invited me to a party. She said I could bring someone along.." She blushes, then stammers. "-N-Not as a date though! Just so we could get some better photos!" She says quickly raising her voice, causing people to look at us. I raise my eyebrow.

"Ok sure. What type of party is it? We have to make sure it is a party that would be related to our story topic. I wish we had pictures from masquerades. That would do better." I look at Dianna and she smiles brightly.

"What?" I ask. She grins wider.

"The good news about this party is that -it is a masquerade party!" She says. I stand up from my chair.

"That's good! Ok. When is the party?" I say. Now that we actually have a masquerade party that we can go to, we can get some better photos than these. I look down at the desk as I gather all of the photos to put them away.

"In 2 months. We should have enough time to prepare two stories. One with the photos we got or if the masquerade pictures are good, we'll have another story prepared for that. Once we return from the party, we'd have two weeks to finish the story." She says. I hum in response.

"Ok.. well. I have the photos for the first story. We have to wait two months to get the other photos for the second story. So, our work should be complete for now. Contact Ms.Solim and Mr.Greenslades. Tell them what we are planning and tell them to get to work." Dianna nods. "-Oh also, tell them to make sure both stories are good. And not to slack on the second one they write, because that might be the one we want." Dianna nods and walks away.

After an hour or so I decided to leave the office. I say my goodbyes to the other employees and I leave the building. I get outside, automatically feeling the wind brush hard against my face. Then it rained. Shit.. I don't have a hood on my jacket. I run quickly towards my car. I get inside and start the engine. I hope the story goes well. I drive towards my house.

_A FEW DAYS LATER_

I grab my coffee from the cafe worker, thanking them. I walk out of the cafe and I mix into the crowd of people walking along the sidewalk. I look up at the sky. It looks nice out. Maybe I will invite some of my friends to dinner.. Yeah, I'll do that. I smile to myself. It's been a while since I went out with some friends. After a few minutes, the office comes into view. I step away from the crowd and walk towards the building. People that are also walking into the building gather around me. They ask how my day is going and I reply with 'It's good, thanks.' We all walk into the main office, getting ready for our meeting to discuss the masquerade/party project. I feel someone slap me on the back. I stumbled forward a bit. I then turn around. Dray.

"Hey, Calvin!" He says. I take a breakfast bar out of my bag, which is placed on the side of my body. I then handed it to him.

"Hey, what's up?" I ask. He grins widely as he starts eating the breakfast bar.

"Guess whght?" He asks with his mouth full. I look at him in disgust.

"Ew, Dray, finish eating before you talk." I say. He nods his head, giving me an apologetic look. He finishes the breakfast bar as we get settled into our seats around the big meeting table. I nod my head towards him, allowing him to continue.

"Ok, so me and Dianna were hanging out yesterday." He starts. Dray likes Dianna. He has for 2 years. "-I had the guts to ask her out-" I look at him with my jaw dropped.

"No way! What did she say!?" I yell in a whisper voice, causing co-workers to look at us. I hear the meeting room door creak open. I look towards it and I see Dianna. She walks over here. Please don't talk to me, please don't talk to me, please- She walks past me. I let out a sigh of relief. I look over to Dray and I gasp. Dianna leans over him and they kiss.

"Oh my god!? Y'all are dating!? Meaning, Dianna, your gonna be off my back, right!???" I yell. Everyone in the room applauds in approval. Dianna chuckles.

"Yes, I am, Calvin." She says, laughing. I laugh with her.

~~~

After the meeting I had already asked Dray, Dianna, and a few other people to have dinner. We are walking out of the building now, I decided on a Mexican restaurant. The others agreed. We all pile into my small car and I start driving. When we get there, the waiter brings us to our table and we then order our food. As we wait for the food, I tell them I'm going to the restroom. I go into the restroom, and when I'm done, I start washing my hands. I then hear another toilet flush. What..? I could've sworn no one else was in here. A man then walks out of one of the stalls, and he looks at me for a second and goes to the other sink next to me, to wash his hands as well. He has a sharp jaw, neatly spiked hair, black eyes with a tint of brown, pale. I then catch myself looking at him for too long, and I quickly turn away.

I grab one of the paper towel rolls and I wipe my hands. I then hear a chuckle. I look over at him to see his eyes fixed on me. He points to the mirror. I gasp, the blush. He must have seen me looking at him through the reflection. I'm so dumb! I turn away with my face tomato red and continue drying my hands. I can hear him drying his own hands, then I feel a pat on my back, then a voice.

"Don't be embarrassed. Your all good." I blushed even harder. Then I start stammering.

"I'm s-sorry! I shouldn't have stared at you, that was rude of me." I look at him to see him smiling. He then rubs my back again and walks out. I look at myself in the mirror. I look like a tomato.

I find my way back to the table, and I see the food here. I then sit down.

"Hey, what took you so long?" Dianna ask. I shake my head.

"My stomach hurts, that's all." I lie. They nod and continue eating. I stare down at my food and continue eating. One Question remained on my mind.

How can someone be so hot, and be so kind!!!?!?!?!