章節 17: Chapter 17

Nathaniel had texted Jamal and Rhonda a picture of the ticket with a message saying: 'I need an outfit for this tonight. How about finding a costume within the theme for the King of Hearts?' the moment he had gotten in the car.

It was now a few hours later and he was staring at the most bizarre collage of pictures and rack of clothes he had ever seen. There were fishnet shirts, fishnet pants, chaps that had no butt to them with thongs that went underneath. He also needed to have lights and room for glow sticks added to his outfit. He thought that he was going to look foolish but apparently his assistants had done thorough research of past versions of this event and this was indeed the dress code. The only reason he was doing this was so that he could find Paige and then they could go on a date. He quickly selected some of the pieces that he could pull off and his assistants and a designer/seamstress took his measurements and got to work on creating his desired look. 'I'm going to have to get her back for this, but in a cute, maybe kinky way,' he thought. His mind often wandered to the future, especially with Scott's wedding comment. 'I don't hate the idea of marrying her. I didn't think I'd marry anyone until I was 35, and out of necessity at that. But, we will see. I have to hunt her down, first.'

Nathaniel had contacted his head of security. Marshall was an ex-CIA operative and knew a lot about technology. He came up with the idea to use facial recognition software to find Paige with the club's security cameras. Nathaniel said that he'd do that in the last hour if he couldn't find her. There was no way that he would go into this without a backup plan. He also wanted to get there early and see if he could find her in the line to get in.

He waited until his outfit was ready and tried it on. He was wearing shiny half white and half red pants that had king of hearts cards on the knees on the front and back. They had lights that went down the sides. He would wear red and white Air Jordans on his feet with light up shoe laces. He also would be wearing a white mesh shirt with a king of hearts card painted on the front and sliver gauntlets with hearts going up the sides. He'd have a crown on his head that was silver with rubies decorating it. It was fake, but looked cool. His assistant told him he'd need to wear pink glow sticks on the top of his arms, but they couldn't find any that fit around them. They did find some that would go around his neck, so he wore those. Finally, he had a red mask with a white outline that covered his eyes. Paige would be getting an eyeful, but he was okay with that.

Paige had painstakingly constructed her outfit when her friend, who is the DJ for the event, gave her tickets. She and Haley were supposed to go as the queen of hearts and the white queen, but Haley had an unexpected family event come up and she couldn't go. Paige wanted to wear a red wig, but she had too much hair to fit into a wig cap. She opted for an elegant updo with a few red clip on highlights. Her hair had taken two hours to do. She clipped on her fake silver and ruby tiara and appreciated her work. She opted for a smokey eye with red glitter for her makeup under her mask. Her mask was silver filigree mask with ruby-like stones that matched her tiara. She had deep red lipstick on. For her outfit, she wore a red, black and white striped corset that had light up red hearts on the lace trimming as well as on the middle of it. She wore black shorts underneath a black and red tutu that had fairy lights in it. She wore thigh high white stockings and knee high black boots. She painted the soles of the boots red with white hearts and put some light up hearts on the laces. She wore white gloves to her elbows that had more hearts on the sides of them and some glow sticks on her wrists and around her neck.

'I look cute,' she thought, appreciating her handiwork. She had put a lot of effort into her look and it paid off. It was time for her to go. She put her phone that had a spot for her card, license and a car key into her chest and left. She drove to the venue, parked and entered through the back. As she drove up, she had seen the line to get in and it was very long. She was grateful that she didn't need to wait in it. 'Poor Nathaniel,' she thought. She went in and greeted her friend, Kanddee Krush, who was DJing tonight. He was a former client who stayed at her shelter for a little while when it was first opening and had made a name for himself. Paige adored him; he was a dear friend to her and Carrie. She was excited that she got to support him. They chatted for a half hour before he had to go on stage. People were already being let into the club, so Paige went to go dance, with a ray of hope in her heart that Nathaniel would find her.

Nathaniel got to the club early but there were a lot of people already waiting. He parked and scanned the line for Paige, not finding her. He settled in the line, determined to look at everyone who entered behind him to see if it was her. Then, he would look around the club if he didn't find her, only relying on technology after a few hours of looking. Nathaniel, strangely, didn't feel nervous. He felt excited. He felt like a predator hunting for prey. The anticipation of the chase was giving him quite the adrenaline rush and he felt ready to find his girl. He would win a date with her and then win her heart.