Catherine's POV
My dress felt like a second skin, cold and sleek, while the diamonds around my neck felt like lead. I stood near a towering sculpture of a swan, watching the melt-water drip steadily into a crystal basin. It was a metaphor for the whole evening; expensive, temporary, and slowly disappearing under the heat of a thousand artificial smiles.
Julian had been gone for ten minutes. Ten minutes was an eternity in a room where all these faces felt fake. I scanned the crowd, my eyes darting past men in tuxedoes and socialites draped in more carats than I could count. I saw Gabriel near the bar, talking to a group of young interns. He managed to always blend in l because of his personality I guess.
My eyes caught Richard holding a glass, leaning in close to a major tech mogul while Lisa was standing just a few feet away from him, her hands clasped tightly over her evening clutch.
