The return of an old foe

Jenny let out a sigh of relief as she watched the mother and son disappear into the crowd and turned to the other direction for the nearest bathroom. Unfortunately she couldn't get the stain out completely with just water and soap. Though it was barely noticeable now, it was still there. Jenny felt bad for ruining it. It was beautiful and must have been quite expensive, but above all it was a gift from Jason. Something he had spent time and effort on to pick for her. Only for her to able to wear it just this once. As she turned her dejected eyes from the faded stain on her dress, they met up with Jason's eyes. He had been leaning on a wall across from the ladies bathroom, waiting for her to exit. His eyes were filled with warmth as he watched her. Jenny felt quite embarrassed to know that Jason had probably seen and heard what had happened, so she shyly tried to push one of the strands of hair framing her face behind her ear, only for it to bounce back right away. Jason chuckled as he decided to walk over to her. When he reached her, he placed a hand on the small of her back and did his own attempt at pushing one of the stubborn curls behind her ear. He too was unsuccessful, but he payed it no mind as he gently rubbed over her flushed cheek. Jenny looked up at him with slightly reddened eyes as she said "I'm sorry. I ruined the dress you bought for me after just wearing it once."

He shook his head "As you said to the little boy, I love to spoil you. I would buy you a thousand more dresses if that was what you wanted. Change them three times a day and throw them away after you wear them for all I care. As long as it makes you happy, I am more than willing to schedule time for dress shopping. This time you can join me so that I can have a private fashion show" He said teasingly. Jenny let out a laugh. "That would be too much of a waste, but I will keep your offer in mind the next time some of your fans are running their mouths." A flash of coldness swept past Jason's eyes as he recalled their actions and words. "Don't worry about them, I have already thought of how to take care of them." "Thanks, that saves me the trouble to get even. Just when I thought to have a quiet party with you and not have too much attention placed on me, those damn jealous trollops had to cause a scene. Scaring that poor boy into tears." Jason chuckled as he looked at he angry expression. Like a kitten frowning and showing you it's soft and fluffy claws. "Were you able to enjoy the food? We should get ready to leave for the next party and I am not sure what they will serve there, so if you want to get something to eat, you should do it here." "No, I am fine. I had just put a lot of food on my plate, so that is why it seems quite full, but I ate plenty. I am fine to leave when you are. Except...I might have to do something about my dress.." Jenny said as she looked down.

"You just worry about not making any new enemies when you walk to the entrance and just wait for me there. I have a few people I have to say goodbye to and then I will take you somewhere to take care of our little dress problem." Jenny looked at him with stubborn eyes and a forced angry expression on her face. "Tss, would I have any of these enemies if it weren't for you? If you stop spreading your charm, then maybe I will be able to attend a party without running into trouble." Jason chuckled as he rubbed her cheek once more with his thumb and pulled her face in to place a soft kiss on her lips. "I will try", he whispered next to her ear before letting go of her and leaving towards the main hall in a hurry. Jenny let go of the fake angry expression she had on and smiled slightly as she walked to the wardrobe check-in to collect her coat.

However, like Murphy's law states 'anything that can go wrong will go wrong'. So it was only to be expected that the events at this party would be topped with the return of an old foe. "Look what the cat dragged in." She heard an all too familiar voice say from behind her. Jenny turned around to see it was none other than Elizabeth, who apparently had some other engagement for her to show up so late. If only she had arrived a bit later, so that she didn't have to run into another annoying creature. Elizabeth payed no mind to Jenny's expression which screamed 'I have no patience for this' and instead zeroed in on the stain on her dress. "Looks like it's something from a sewer. Is this how you carry yourself around Jason. You sure have a way to embarrass him, hmph. Keep doing things like this. Soon everyone, including Jason, will see how unsuited you are for him. That way I will be able to reclaim my place next to him that much faster. Ruining a dress worth several thousands on the first night he takes you out to a social event of the upper class. It's almost as if you are trying to prove you don't belong here."

Jenny wanted to retort when help came from an unexpected corner. Nick came up from behind and wrapped Elizabeth in an unwanted embrace from behind. "Lizzy! I didn't know you would attend this party as well. If you had told me, we could have come together as each other's dates." Elizabeth was visibly startled and struggled to get out the moment she recognized who the voice belonged to. "Ugh, stay away from me and don't call me that. Who wants to be in the same room as you, let alone be your date. Let me go so that I can leave." However Nick was relentless and with no effort at all kept her locked in his arms "Ah so soon." He said as he lowered his face next to hers "We can't have that now can we? I have to spend some time with you before asking our parents to match us up don't I." "Don't you dare. I refuse to marry such a sleazeball like you. Now let. me. GO!" "Sleazeball? Ouch that hurts. Don't be so upset. I know I didn't recognize you right away, but neither did you right. So let's do something so memorable I won't be able to forget" He said with a provocative voice and naughty eyes. Though Nick only meant about a third of what he was saying, he loved the reaction he got from Elizabeth. Her fiery eyes, her retorts and her unwillingness to be with him, made him want to tease her more and more. Her trying to mess with the fiance of his good friend, who didn't seem to like him all that much, gave him the chance to have some fun and give him some brownie points with Jenny. So it seemed like a win-win to him. Now that one form of entertainment was leaving, it was only right for another form of entertainment to make its way into the party and he wasn't about to let it escape!