Dancing By Night [pt. 2/2] Christmas was always an enjoyable affair with most of the family brought back together and plenty of formal events where Alistair was able to mix with all sorts of important and intelligent people. Only this year there seemed to be something amiss and it didn’t take him long to figure out that this feeling likely stemmed from being somewhat spurned by his girlfriend. During the first half of term at Sonora, the young couple hadn’t managed to maintain the closeness that they’d regained during the summer break but that wasn’t to say that spending time together was no less fun, simply less frequent. Alistair had originally thought that being back at school and living under the same roof would mean that they’d be able to appreciate each other’s company more often but that didn’t seem to be the case. Both he and Joella had their own commitments and friends to catch up with and there were more reminders of how different they really were from each other.
Often in the midterm break he would have seen Joella Curtis at a number of the many events he attended but this year she seemed pretty thin on the ground. Occasionally he might see her parents or other relatives and they would tell him that she was rather busy with her horse. What that meant he wasn’t quite sure but Joella had informed him that she would be spending much of the Christmas holiday with her friend Audrey Montague. Alistair had met Audrey many times in the past and thought her a very nice girl but that didn’t stop him from feeling rather jealous now, not that he blamed her for Joella’s neglect.
It was only towards the end of the break that Alistair finally saw the girl who he was supposedly still dating. The party that his father’s cousin Philip was hosting was fairly large but Ali by no means expected to see Joella there. He hadn’t thought she visited Arizona often if it weren’t to see him and if she did happen to be doing so, Alistair would have thought she’d care enough to stop by at his house or at the very least write a letter to say she would be at an event nearby in the hopes that they would see each other then.
Because he hadn’t been looking for her at the party, Alistair didn’t spot Joella at first and it was only when he hit the dancefloor with a young blonde he wasn’t familiar with that he suddenly frozen on the spot.
“Is everything alright?” asked his pretty dance partner, breaking off from answering his question as to where she was from.
Ali wasn’t in the habit of being rude but there she was, giggling in response to something Darius Tavana was whispering in her ear. Joella’s unannounced presence at the party was enough to irritate him alone, but the way that Philip’s grandson held her close with one hand on her waist made him feel angry. Neither one of the couple seemed to notice him staring at them and continued merrily.
“Mr Johnson?” the blonde girl he had been dancing with prompted politely, looking rather anxious at the fact that she had been left standing in the middle of the floor with no explanation.
Darius and Joella were moving closely to Alistair, swaying in time with the many other couples before Darius outstretched his arm and sent Joella spinning around in her long dark dress with a wide smile upon her face.
One moment the room was spinning with her and the next Joella faltered. Something had caught her eye and made her stop, fortunately remaining upright on her two feet with only one dizzy step as she took in the sight before her. Alistair was wearing an expression she had never seen on him before but she didn’t need this to make her feel guilty. There was a voice in the back of her mind telling her that what she was doing was wrong but at the same time she wasn’t sure why.
“Joella?” Darius was surprised by the sudden halt from dancing and swiftly joined her at the elbow. When he noticed Alistair he opened his mouth to greet his distant cousin but Joella got there first.
“Ali!” she smiled at her boyfriend, ignoring Darius although a part of her did want to get back to dancing. Joella liked dancing and she liked parties and Ali didn’t look in the mood for either.
“Where’ve you been?” Ali did not return her smile. His eyes were focused on Joella so intently that he didn’t even register his partner politely excusing herself and slipping away.
“What do you mean?” responded Joella as though she hadn’t expected such a question.
“I haven’t seen you at all over the break!” Ali was normally contained and emotionally reserved but he had so much pent up frustration toward Joella and couldn’t help letting it loose now. “You have continuously ignored my invitations and tell me you’re spending all your time with your horse and Audrey. I haven’t seen you at any events and now you turn up here but you don’t think to tell me?”
Joella bit her lip. It hadn’t escaped her notice that she’d hardly seen Ali during the Christmas holidays but she saw him everyday at school so hadn’t thought he’d mind that much. “You don’t like surprises?” Okay, she hadn’t really decided to make an appearance at Philip Johnson’s party simply to surprise Alistair but she was sure that must have been part of her thought process when she’d accepted the invitation.
“I don’t think you came here to surprise me, Joella,” said Ali quietly, looking pointedly at Darius.
Joella glanced at Darius, knowing in her heart that she shouldn’t be surprised at such an accusation but at the same time feeling incredibly annoyed with Alistair. She looked back at Ali to respond and set the records straight but he was turning away. “It’s not what you think! Ali!”
Alistair just continued to walk away.
As she stood and watched him leave, a battle occupied Joella’s mind as to whether or not she should go after him. She hadn’t planned for things to end like this. Ali hadn’t even said things had ended but it didn’t take a genius to understand what the look on his face had meant.
“This isn’t anything to do with me, is it?” Darius interrupted her thought process, seeming to be way behind on the whole situation.
“No, no, of course not,” Joella shook her head. She didn’t want to drag her new friend into feeling guilty for doing nothing wrong. In actual fact she didn’t actually know the answer to Darius’s question but suspected he had been that final push that sent Ali over the edge. Joella had spent quite a bit of the break in Darius’s company it was true, but that had often just been coincidence because Audrey seemed to move in similar circles to him. Although it had to be said that he probably was the first thing that sprung to Joella’s mind when Audrey requested her company at Philip’s party, she was firmly certain that he had no romantic interest in her at all. She was glad that they’d quickly formed a friendship over the past few days but she couldn’t tell if it was something that would last.