A Proposal.

Later , all guests present gathered around Hugo Rodriguez and his wife as they arrived at the centre.

"Welcome to the 10th New Year's Eve gala hosted by myself and my wife; I'm so glad you could all make it. Unfortunately, Mr Pérez was unable to attend; this is typical of him, "Hugo said, smiling.

Loud cackles enveloped the entire hall as the guests clapped their hands.

"Anyway, I'd like to propose a toast to the success of this event, which was entirely due to him, to everything that has happened so far this year until this day, and a huge toast to the Borbón family for attending for the first time," Hugo said as he raised his glass and the guests did the same.

At the mention of Luis' name, Lola subconsciously began to scan the room, finally spotting Luis and his sister standing next to Santiago and Livia.

"No surprise, does that mean he and Santiago are now business partners?" mumbled Lola.

They all clinked their glasses and drank, then applauded as Hugo approached Luis and gave him a handshake.

'I'm glad no one noticed I'm not Lola,' Livia reflected, averting her gaze.

"I'm delighted you're here today, Mr Borbón," Hugo told Luis.

"I'm glad you invited me too," Luis chuckled, and Hugo joined him.

"Enjoy the party, okay?" Paula said, to which Luis and his sister replied, "we will."

"To be honest, I thought you wouldn't come," Santiago said as he wrapped his hands around Luis' neck.

"I'm glad we got to put our differences apart." Santiago added with a smirk on his face.

" Anyways, Enjoy yourself," Santiago let go of Luis and drew Livia along with him. Luis looked at Livia carefully with a thought in his mind, 'This woman isn't Lola. '

' Why is he here with another woman?'

"Where is Lola?" He mumbled as he glanced round.

'She's the only reason I went to this gala in the first place,' He whispered.

Esmeralda tugged the arm of his suit and muttered,

"Brother, I'm hungry; let me go find something to eat."

A warm smile formed on Luis' lips as he responded, "Okay, be careful."

"Yes," She replied, and went straight to where the appetisers were displayed.

As Luis scanned the room once again until his eyes landed on familiar figure in a red dress. He remembered Lola wearing the same dress at La Emperatriz.

She was keeping an eye on Maria to make sure she didn't get herself into any trouble.

"Come on Lola, I'm hungry, let me just have a taste of the appetisers," Maria pleaded with eagerness as she clasped her hands together.

"OK, you can go," Lola said while she massaged her temple.

Maria smiled and went straight to the table filled with delicious appetisers.

Whereas Lola's headache was getting worse, she decided to leave the banquet hall, climbed the stairs and headed straight to the balcony.

Luis was about to follow her when he was stopped by a group of men.

"Greetings, Mr Borbón," one of the men said, reaching out his hand for a handshake, to which Luis smiled and shook.

***

The thunderclaps began as the rain began to fall heavily on the streets of Mexico City. The only thing that brightened the sky was the lightning that struck constantly.

At the balcony, Lola stood elegantly in her red A-line off shoulder tulle evening gown, with long silky straight black hair and her mesmerizing pale gray orbs. She stared at the garden with an empty expression on her face. Even as the rain fell, the garden was a sight to behold. She then looked down at the lovely silver mask she was holding and thought,

" So this is what it feels like to be ..." She said as a strand of her hair was blown aside by the strong wind.

She came to a halt as she reached the rail, looked up at the dark sky, closed her eyes, and sighed. She began to reminisce about what had happened to her just a few days before.

"Really? How could he?" She mumbled to herself, she covered her face with her hands and began to chuckle darkly.

' I was completely fooled, and I was careless, at first. Anyway, wasn't my act few days ago marvelous ' She reflected as she pulled her hand away from her face and a shrewd smirk crept on her lips.

Even when Lola was so engrossed in her own thoughts she still noticed someone was standing behind her.

"Lola," The man muttered to himself as he caught sight of her long silky black hair.

"Lola, I finally got to talk to you," He said as he removed the sparkling black mask from his face.

'Huh?...wait...that voice sounds awfully familiar,' She thought.

She couldn't believe what she was hearing, so she turned back to see who had called her, and to her surprise, it was Luis.

' I did see him looking at me earlier but I wasn't expecting him to actually follow me. '

"Luis, " She called, turned and stared at the young man who stood tall in his black suit. Under the menacing glow of the lightning that struck again, he was radiant.

' Well since he is here that makes things easier for me, ' she thought.

She couldn't stare for long because everything blurred, her headache was becoming worst and she felt dizzy. 'What the hell? Why now ?The second phase of my plan will have to begin now, ' Lola thought.

"Lola?" Luis called, his voice worried as he moved closer to grab her.

"Hold on, Don't touch me, Luis... Keep your distance! " Lola pushed him aside, the impact causing Lola to stumble back, Luis grabbed her hand and pulled her closer to his chest.

Lola couldn't move away from him because she was too weak.

"Sometimes, I just want to give up everything," She mumbled as her eyes became heavy.

' What am I saying? I can't sleep now!' Struggling to keep herself awake but unfortunately she was too weak against sleep.

" Lola? What are you on about?" Luis inquired softly as he caressed her face, her jade-like skin soft and smooth beneath his touch.

But she didn't respond; she was already asleep. Luis grimaced, thinking, 'She must've been tired, I'm just glad I got to see her again, now I'm never going to let her go.'

***

Maria was looking for Lola in the banquet hall, while nibbling on her appetisers. Esmeralda was doing the same thing, but she was on the lookout for Luis. Due to that, They brushed up against each other slightly.

"Are you blind?" Esmeralda asked angrily as she turned to see who she had run into.

"I'm sorry," Maria apologised as she turned to face Esmeralda.

Esmeralda frowned; as soon as she saw the dress Maria was wearing, she recognised her.

' What is she doing here? ' Esmeralda thought and mumbled, "You?"

Maria folded her arms, rolled her eyes and thought, 'I wouldn't have apologised if I hadn't known it was her.'

"Hey, look, I'm not here to start a fight with you." Maria stated.

Esmeralda clenched her fist and was about to say something when Maria abruptly walked away.

' Shit! Why did I happen to run into her of all people?' Maria pondered.

Esmeralda was about to follow her when she was interrupted by a tap on the shoulder. She turned to see Hugo and some other men who appeared to be his business partners as well.

"Ms. Borbón, Where is your brother?" he inquired.

She looked around and realized Maria had vanished; she swallowed her rage, sighed, and returned her gaze to Hugo.

"He vanished, I've been looking for him, but I couldn't find him," She replied haughtily, strutting away to continue her search.

***

After a few hours, the rain had stopped, and Luis was caressing Lola's hair, while she was asleep on his lap.

His gaze was drawn to the sky by the first bang. He had stopped playing with Lola's hair and looked up in awe at the vibrant colours in the sky. The best part of the New Year's Eve celebration was the fireworks. The second bang was louder, with a more vibrant display of colours. The guests outside yelled in excitement, which woke Lola up, and the colourful display drew her attention. 'It's already the New Year,' she reflected. She realised she was lying on something soft, like a pillow, and she looked up at Luis, who smiled down at her.

"Happy New Year, Lola," He said with a smile, and she leapt from his lap to her feet.

"How long did I sleep?" She asked, her headache gone.

Luis thought for a moment and then replied, "For an hour."

Lola put on her mask, and Luis stood up from the floor.

"Let's go back to the banquet hall; the music is about to begin," Lola suggested as Luis put his mask on.

They returned to the banquet hall just in time and parted ways.

"It's time... let's dance, this will be your New Year's dance with your favourite friend, companion, partner, or whatever," Hugo said.

As the music became more upbeat, everyone began to dance with their partners.

Maria found Lola and approached her, asking, "Where have you been?"

"I went to get some fresh air," Lola explained.

"I see you're back to your usual self," Maria said blankly.

While Maria continued to talk, a smirk formed on Lola's face as she spotted a figure, slowly emerging from the crowd and approaching her. He stood tall, his two arms behind him in a relaxed slouch. His black suit complemented his black eyes and pale complexion perfectly. "Shall I have this dance?" He asked, reaching out his hands to Lola.

'Luis... just what I was waiting for.' Lola thought as she turned to look at his hands and then at his face.

Lola nodded and said, "Of course," placing her left hand in his and her right hand on his shoulder. He wrapped one arm around her waist and drew her to the centre of the dance floor and they swayed gently to the gentle music, smiling into each other's faces as they took it all in, a world full of possibilities just waiting for their feet to touch.

Maria was taken aback as she watched them dance.

"I'm surprised you accepted," Luis said with a smile.

"I wanted to talk to you about something," Lola whispered in his ear.

As they moved in unison across the dancefloor. Lola moved quickly, whereas Luis was assured and skilled.

Santiago was about to take Livia to the dance floor when he noticed Lola dancing gracefully with Luis, almost as if she was enjoying herself.

'Isn't that Lola?' he thought, recognising her almost immediately.

Esmeralda noticed them dancing as well, but she just glared daggers at Lola , also recognizing the red dress , 'That woman is that old lady, why is she dancing with him? I wanted to dance with my brother first.'

Lola's movements slowed after a few minutes.

"What did you want to discuss?" He softly spoke into her ear.

'It's now or never, Lola,' She reasoned.

"You're a partner in Santiago's company, so you accepted his offer, correct?" She stated.

Luis spun her around and said, "Yes, it seemed promising," not knowing and wondering where this conversation was going.

Luis stopped twirling her and drew her in close. Lola looked into his eyes, and he reciprocated. They appeared to be in love to those who were watching them.

"Why don't you leave his company and join mine?" Lola suggested.

"What are you talking about?" Luis asked, bemused by her statement.

"Let's get married, Luis," Lola mumbled .