There had been no doubt in Hannibal's mind that he would attend the evening. He wanted to be out of the office. He wanted to be where he might run into people he didn't work with. And, of course, there was the hope that he would run into River. He hadn't been able to find her by wandering the streets, and she wasn't home when he'd gone to check there - each of the times the apartment had been empty.
It was as if the City itself didn't want them to find one another.
Or perhaps it had been waiting just for this night for it to happen.
He was given a rather ornate ring when he handed over his invitation. He slipped it onto his perfectly formed sixth finger on his left hand. It seemed a fitting place for a gift from the City to go. An abnormal gift for an abnormal appendage. The small box he tucked away in the inner pocket of his suit. A fancy thing that had been left in his closet. All black. He liked it. The cut was Italian and very fine. The fabric wasn't anything to sneer at, either.
As he moved into the room, he scanned it. He saw her right away. Gracefully, he pushed through the crowd until he was standing behind her. He leaned close to the back of her neck and spoke.
"It's been a while, has it not? I hope that you haven't forgotten about me."