Cato buries himself in his research, once again avoiding me, but this is what I want, isn't it?

I told him to separate ourselves. After his late-night visit that first night, he finally decided to take my request seriously. Call me selfish, but that small fraction of me misses his constant attention.

But this is better for us. He keeps his research, his job, his engagement intact, while I get to continue on as the simple servant that I am.

Today, I miss Cato's attention more than ever. When twilight strikes, so will the beginning of Cato's engagement party. There's a small dinner before the celebration. The guest list remains short, (only the happy couple and their remaining parents). According to Georgia, Cato's head chef, the menu appears to be larger than ever.

Annie and I find ourselves in the kitchen assisting the cook. Annie has been going on nonstop about Calvin.

"He's got the cutest dimples," Annie tells me as we chop veggies for Georgia. "And his smile is to die for!"

Apparently, Calvin worked for the previous owners of the estate. When Cato bought it, he kept the same maid service to operate the place. Calvin came when he was young, and has been a major asset to the estate's repairs and heavy lifting.

At least she has a distraction for the evening. In only a few hours, Cato's estate will fill with guests for his engagement party. It's a party in which Cato will be flaunting Gemma on his arm for the entire night. Worst of all, Gemma arrived last evening and sleeps in Cato's room. It's a thought I never want to think about ever again.

The image of the two of them can burn in hell.

The dinner hour nearly approaches. Appetizers set on silver platters remain ready for Annie and I to take. Georgia rushes around like a mad woman trying to organize her chaotic kitchen. I will admit, she looks uptight about serving the Leveque's and Patton's. To be clear, she hasn't had to cook such a grand meal in a couple years.

"Maureen?" Georgia calls out, waving an empty pitcher at me. "Go and fill the glasses before we begin serving them."

"And don't worry about serving the soup," Annie adds with a wink. "We all know Cato would never accept that after what happened last time."

I fill the pitcher of water up and peek through the windows of the doors separating the kitchen from the dining room. There's only four seated at that grand oak table. Cato sits at the head—afterall, it's his estate. Gemma sits at his right hand with Frank Patton, her father, next to her. Audwin sits on the other side of Cato.

It must be strange for Cato to see his father and Frank Patton interacting. At first, I'd think nothing of it due to it being a business meeting, but Audwin owes the man boundless amounts of money. Cato's just doing his part by marrying Gemma, essentially saving the Leveque's from further bankruptcy.

I glance at Gemma through the window, and immediately hesitate.

Gemma's seen me before.

She's seen me at the estate the night of the space gala, but not because I was serving. Then, I was a guest. Actually, Cato told her that I was a journalist. Surely I look different from then to now, but would she recognize me? My blonde hair braids down my scalp in a messy tangled rope, and my clothes are certainly not up to the standards of a wealthy heiress.

Behind me, Annie gives me a weary tilt of her head as she catches sight of my hesitation. I have to go out there. It's my duty.

And I told Clotilde that there was nothing between Cato and I, didn't I? It's not like she would switch my duties now.

So I push open the doors.

No one notices me but a pair of green eyes that belong to Cato, but he quickly reroutes his attention back down to his family and guests. Of course, the wealthy are accustomed to ignoring those found at the lower tiers of life. Yet, I gaze at him a little longer. His chestnut hair is groomed, but still a little unkempt, while he dresses in a crisp black tuxedo jacket. He has a few buttons undone at the top of his chest. A little casual, yet classy enough.

I first approach Frank Patton, and fill up his glass. Not once does he even look at me, but I can hear their conversation as clear as day.

"Perhaps you should look for alternative methods for your research, hmm?" Frank says, looking up at the head of the table.

Cato smiles that charming grin of his. "I understand that the growth rate is alarming, but it's still better out there than in the city. At least not until the research centre is finished construction."

"It should be finished in four months," Frank mutters. "My suggestion still is that we terminate it."

"No," Cato retorts, a little too quickly, almost in desperation. "I'll check on it tomorrow morning."

I finish filling Gemma's cup and lean over towards Cato, filling his glass slowly. I feel his foot kick back against mine as I pour, tapping slightly against mine. Even though his green eyes stay locked on Frank as an attempt to win him over, the small gesture shows me that he's acknowledging my presence.

"May I interrupt?" Audwin asks as I swing over to his end of the table. "You're asking to terminate the first living organism that we've found beyond Earth that's bigger than bacteria."

"Yes, I know how damaging this can be to the scientific world," Frank takes a sip of his champagne. It's clear this man has the upper hand on all this, "but you are not scientific, are you, Audwin? You're just a businessman."

Audwin's jaw clenches tightly, and no words leave his lips.

"Neither are you," Audwin finally says. "The only one with a smidge of scientific knowledge at this table is Cato."

Gemma groans. "Yeah, he is, so can we please stop talking about his fucking pet alien he has?"

I spin away from the table, wishing to stay longer to catch bits of the conversation. This isn't any ordinary engagement dinner.This is a meeting, a discussion of next steps and calculations on what to do with the deathly occisor, Cato's unfortunate discovery from outer space. Frank Patton seems to be against Cato's research of the creature.

I hate to say it, but I agree with him. Something as deadly as the occisor deserves to be destroyed.

I enter through the doors, nearly bumping into Annie who awaits my return. "So? How was it?"

"Just fine," I stop when I see the tray in front of me.

Soup.

I must look petrified due to the soup, as Annie starts laughing. "I'll take the soup this time. You just worry about the drinks and refreshments."

Annie goes through the doors with the trays of soup. Meanwhile, I fill up the pitcher of water and prepare a few bottles of champagne before heading back into the dining room. Only now, I wait near the edges of the room like the fly on the wall. None of the guests notice, aside from Annie who passes by me with a now empty platter. She gives me nothing more than a nod before disappearing through the kitchen doors.

It seems since then and now, the conversation switches itself. Gemma seems to be rattling on about the upcoming wedding. I bite my lip to refrain from vomiting at the words.

"Cato wants a small wedding," she jabbers on as she sips on a half-empty glass of champagne. "But that's not fucking fun, right?"

"You want to invite the entire city," Cato mumbles as he spins his spoon around in a bowl of soup.

"Isn't that the point? It's going to be a party that'll last for days. I'm sure there's enough space here to accommodate all my guests."

"And what about mine?"

Gemma frowns. "All your friends are up in space right now. They won't be back in time for the wedding date."

Cato looks up from his soup, his green eyes ablaze with pure annoyance. He takes one glance at his father, who also finds more interest in his soup than discussing his son's wedding. Frank Patton certainly won't help the situation, because he's probably paying for his daughter's wedding. Even more so now that I know the Leveque's are nearly bankrupt.

I look away from the table, only to have a large crash echo through the dining room.

Shards of a soup bowl spill over the ground as Cato stands up, his trousers covered with soup. At least this time, the spill isn't due to me.

"Fucking soup," Cato grumbles. "I need to go get changed."

He goes to leave the room, but not before looking in my direction for the slightest second and giving me a quick wink.

At least he found his own way to get out of an unbearable dinner.

Almost immediately afterward, Frank Patton waves me down. "More champagne."

I roll my eyes at the demand.

It's gonna be one long night.

* * * * *

Guests. So many of them.

Most of them seem to be friends of Gemma—an assumption of mine.

As I dance through the throngs of guests with glasses of alcohol, I keep my eyes on Cato. No matter the chaos surrounding us, those green eyes manage to snag on me through the crowd.

It brings me back to the gala. The moment Cato saw me in the crowd, I captivated his world. I became his sole attention, and everything faded away. Although Gemma hangs off his arm, and although he flashes that charming smile of his, those green irises belong to me. I could build forests in the green of them.

Through the music and noise and mess of guests, he's all I see—

Someone bumps into me, nearly knocking the glasses off my platter.

I gasp, but manage to balance myself without spilling. Two hands touch my waist, but only for a moment to set me upright.

"Easy there, Maureen."

I spin around, only to meet a pair of blue eyes.

But not the ones I fell in love with.

"Levi?"

-----

*throws a tomato at Gemma*

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